NAEB Newsletter (Jan 1952)

Complete Text of JCET Statement The complete text of the JCET’s statement follows: "The Federal Communications Bar Association has filed with the Federal Com¬ munications Commission recommendations relating to procedures to be followed in the processing of television applications. The Joint Committee on Educa¬ tional Television believes that certain of those procedures, if adopted, will have a most detrimental effect on the development of a nation-wide television service, and for this reason, the Joint Committee is making its views on the subject known to the Commission. Opposes FCBA Position "The Federal Communications Bar Association has recommended that in a compet¬ itive hearing all television applicants should be considered as requesting a television facility rather than a specified television frequency regardless of the channel specified in the application nd that the Commission should designate the channel to be assigned to each successful applicant.. Such a procedure would mean that in all communities where VHF and UHF assignments have been intermixed, all applicants for both "VHF and UHF channels would be consolidated in the same competitive hearing. "The JCET believes that there should be no consolidation between the two categories of applications. If the VHF and the UHF applications are con¬ sidered separately, it is conceivable that in large cities a number of UHF grants could be made without hearing, thus stimulating earlier development of the UHF service. Adoption of the Bar Association’s proposal would guarantee as a practical matter that no UHF grants could be made in any city of sub¬ stantial size until the consolidated competitive hearing was concluded. Since such hearings may well take two or more years after the lifting of the "freeze" and another year or so would be required for construction, the JCET believes that to delay the development of UHF service at the outset may well deliver it a blow from which it may never recover. Its Flan Would Hasten UHF, Says JCET "The JCET is interested in the development of television on a nation-wide basis to provide a well-rounded commercial and educational television service to the people of the United States. In its allocation report of 19h5 the Commission itself recognized that it would not be possible to establish a thoroughly nation-wide television service in the VHF band alone. Such a service will not come into being until after the UHF band has been developed. With respect to educational television stations, the Commission has proposed the^reservation of seme 127 UHF channels for non-commercial educational television stations. Educators may be naturally reluctant to move forward with the necessary plans to develop television stations in the UHF band so long as that service is considered experimental. The only effective way of removing the experimental tag from the UHF band is to have as many UHF sta¬ tions as possible on the air as quickly as possible. The operation of such stations, particularly in the large cities, will also give manufacturers the necessary incentive to produce and market UHF converters and all-band tele¬ vision receivers. Itfithout the mass, production of such UHF converters and all¬ band receivers, the development of the UHF band might very well be inhibited for many years. If proof on this point is required, one. need only look to FM where what hasbeen characterized as the finest aural broadcast service has been