Sponsor (July-Sept 1962)

WASHINGTON WEEK What's happening in U.S. Government that affects sponsors, *i ccdTcupcd 100 / agencies, stations 24 SEPTEMBER 1962 / c^yri«ht i»«2 ° I Prehearing conference on the proposed NBC swap of its WRCV-TV, Philadelphia, for RKO's WNAC, Boston, brought out a prediction that NBC's existence as a network is in jeopardy in the proceedings. However, it must be noted that the statement seemed extravagant to all concerned in the complicated proceedings, especially to NBC. Also involved is the Philco application for a new tv station on Philadelphia channel 3 which, if granted, would leave NBC nothing to trade. RKO General counsel W. Theodore Pierson was the one who foresaw the great danger to the network. He said the only way Philco could win the channel would be to prove NBC unfit to operate it, and, if NBC were so found in Philadelphia, the same thing would be true elsewhere. Finally, since a tv network can't operate without o&o stations, Pierson reasoned, the network would go out of business. Pierson's whole point was that if Philco won the channel from NBC, that company would have a third station, there would be only two tv networks still in business, and hence Philco couldn't give Philadelphia network programing. Irving R. Segal, representing NBC, appeared more amused at the hypothetical chain of events than alarmed. License renewals for the Boston and Philadelphia stations, Philco's competitive bid for Philadelphia channel 3, and the applications for the projected RKO-NBC trade are all that remain of the most sweeping series of station sales and trades in the history of broadcasting. Actual hearings are slated to start on 22 October; another prehearing conference is set for 3 October. Prospects are still for a long and bitter battle. Philco appeared to lose a point on the seriousness with which RCA-NBC antitrust nolo contendre pleas would be considered. But antitrust matters will be the Philco main line of attack. Justice Department, which dictated NBC divestiture in Philadelphia, wants to take no part in this case. Stability of TV channel allocations seems assured for at least 10 years. Conclusions about the success of the all-channel-set law in encouraging construction of uhf stations will be withheld for at least five and more likely eight years after the early-1964 cutoff date for making of vhf-only sets. Chances are, if it is found that uhf stations still can't compete, a totally new set of Commissioners will have to face up to a renewed problem of what — if anything — to do about it. However, such a new Commission wouldn't have one of the most pressing problems confronting deintermixture or a larger scale shift of tv to uhf. That would be set incompatibility. Meanwhile, there has been some stepup of interest in uhf channels, and there is a possibility of even more when additional uhf receivers are in the hands of the public. However, there is still doubt about the economic ability of the nation to support too many high-cost tv operations in a community. Another interruption in the FCC trend toward "tough" decisions could be in the making with a hearing examiner's recommendation against cancellation of the license of KWK, St. Louis. KWK was hit with another of those charges revolving around contests. FCC hearing examiner Forest L. McClenning absolved the ownership for misdeeds of a station manager, who was fired after the irregularities came to light. The decision is, however, subject to Broadcast Bureau appeal to full Commission. SPONSOR/24 SEPTEMBER 1962 51