NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1945)

January 1945 11 KFI BREAKS GROUND ON MOUNTAIN-TOP SITE FOR TELEVISION ANO FM UNITS Salt Lake City Prepares For Television Service SALT LAKE Cri'Y.— After four years of laboratory work with standard RCA television equipment, KDYL has applied for television broadcasting licenses. S. S. Fox, president and general manager of the Intermountain Broadcasting corporation which operates KDYL, said his company already has all the materials at hand to undertake broadcasts on an experimental basis, and that his staff could prepare for commercial broadcasts in a very short time. Fox explained that his television equipment includes a score of RCA television receiving sets which he is prepared to place at strategic points about the city so the public may view actual reception. He acquired the RCA unit when 441line pictures were being broadcast. The station’s engineers under the direction of John M. Baldw in, vice-president in charge of engineering, converted the unit to send 525-line images. The station applied for an experimental license last September and recently filed for a commercial television broadcasting permit. Demonstrations at several department stores and at the state fair have proved extremely popular, and Fox has been invited on several occasions to use his equipment for further demonstrations throughout the West and in Mexico City. LOS ANGELES. William B. Ryan, general manager of KFI and the radio division of Earle C. Anthony, Inc., recently was host to civic and educational leaders and outstanding personalities in the radio and picture fields at groundbreaking ceremonies for KFFs new fre(juency modulation and television transmitters on the top of Mount Wilson. In a special broadcast from the mountain top, Ryan stated: “In the postwar years ahead, two new developments will serve us all— frequency modulation and television. Standard or AM broadcasting as we know it today is by no means perfect. FM broadcasting will mean virtual perfection in broadcasting — reception without noises, static and interference from other stations. “Television, of course, will open new avenues of enjoyment and education, will prove a humanizing force that will bring us all closer together.” Mayor Fletcher M. Bowron of Los Angeles, who participated, said: “The ground-breaking ceremonies for KFFs new FM-television station here symbolize many things to me. “There’s the evidence of American in ventive genius which frequency modulation and television represent. There’s the exciting glimpse into the vital age of the future and its many new developments in varied fields. But most of all it signifies to me another tribute and triumph for the American Way, for the freedom of enterprise which take such things out of an inventor’s head and off a designer’s drawing-board and put them into the homes of all Americans.” Also taking part in the ceremonies was the noted inventor Dr. Lee de Forest. Others taking part in the broadcast and ground-breaking program were: Charles B. Smith, West Coast representative of the R-K-0 Television Corporation; A. C. Childs, president of the Mount Wilson Hotel Company; and Fred Wolcott, assistant to the i)iesident in charge of engineering for Gilfillan Brothers. Assisting in the arrangements for the groundbreaking ceremonies and broadcast were H. L. Blatterman and Curtis Mason, KFI engineers; Don McNamara, program manager; J. G. Paltridge, public service director, and Bob Purcell, special events director. A photograph of the ceremony is on page 8 of this issue. Top-Rating for WNBT NEW YORK.— The election night service presented by station WNBT drew top ratings from the television audience, according to an anonymous NBC survey. A total of 4.528 questionnaires was mailed on November 22 from a blin d address. Of the 835 questionnaires returned by mid-December, 595 or 71.3 per cent said they had viewed the returns on their television screens, and 338 reported that they had viewed WNBT only. More than 70 per cent of the set owners who tuned in the three local stations named WNBT as providing the best sight-and-sound service. An average of 7.7 persons viewed the returns in each group and the actual viewing time was 4.1 hours per set. Approximatelv 70 per cent of the returns stated that the television set w as in constant use throughout the evening. VIDEO TESTING — KDYL’s television laboratory in Salt Lake City. Engineers Keith Hopkins (left) and Charles Stockdale are checking equipment.