Washington report (October 15, 1963)

CHANNEL 37 RESERVED FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY By Report & Order (Oct. 4), the FCC made TV Ch. 37 available for the exclusive use of radio astronomy for a period of ten years (to Jan.l, 197*0 throughout the U.S. Ch. 37 is not being withdrawn from the table of TV broadcast assignments but, to aid and protect radio astronomy, it will not be assigned for broadcast purposes for ten years. No present TV service will be affected. There are only two cities where applications have been filed for this channel -- Paterson, N.J., and Melbourne, Fla. The Commission will propose a replacement for the Paterson assignment in its contemplated revision of the UHF assignment table which is expected to be released within the next week or two. The NAEB recommended table of assignments (based on a computer study carried out in recent months in cooperation with the FCC under a USOE contract) which will be released before the end of the month will also provide for a replacement for the Paterson channel, which had been requested for educational use. The NAEB study has also found replacement channels for Ch. 37 in Weston, W. Va. (where Ch. 37 was a part of the state plan), and other critical, areas where Ch. 37 is being withdrawn. ARTHUR SCHATZOW HEADS FCC RESEARCH & EDUCATION DIVISION The FCC has announced the appointment of Arthur Schatzow as Chief of the Research & Education Division of the Broadcast Bureau. After service with the Dept, of Labor and the Wage Stabilization Board, he joined the FCC in i960 and served as senior economist in the Research & Education Division until recently when he became its Acting Chief. NEW ETV CHANNELS SOUGHT Maryland, Alabama, and Virginia have all requested the reservation of additional channels for ETV. The Maryland State Board of Education has requested the allocation of the following channels to Maryland and their reservation for ETV: Annapolis - 53; Baltimore - 72; Cumberland - 17; Frederick - 62; and Hagerstown - 52. The Alabama ETV Commission has requested that Ch. 25, assigned to Huntsville, be reserved for ETV use in that city. The Advisory Council on ETV of the Commonwealth of Virginia has requested the assignment and reservation of eight UHF channels and reservation of seven existing UHF channels for ETV use in 15 communities "as a necessary and further step toward the establishment of a Commonwealthwide ETV system." NEW ETV STATIONS On Oct. 3, the FCC granted a CP for a new ETV station to the Regents of Eastern New Mexico University (Portales). Station to operate on Ch. *3; ERP 57.2 kw visual and 28.6 kw aural; antenna height 1,400 ft. On Oct. 10, Hearing Examiner Kyle issued an Initial Decision looking toward granting the application of Northern Calif. ETV Assn., Inc., for a new ETV station to operate on commercial channel 9 in Redding. INTERCITY RELAY APPROVED FOR MAINE The Commission waived Sect. 4.631 (e) of the rules and granted applications of the University of Maine for a three-hop intercity relay system to transmit educational program material from main studio of WMEB-TV (Channel *12), Orono, to Colby-Bates-Bowdin's noncommercial educational station WCBB-TV (Channel *10), Augusta. Though not licensed to the University, WCBB -TV will be an integral part of the State network, rebroadcasting substantially all of the programs originated at the University's Orono main studio.