Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan 1951-Jan 1952)

14 Grants of power increases to 19 more stations this week bring total to 41 (see story p. 3). For all previous grants, see Vol. 7:31. This week’s authorizations, all permitting full 5-kw transmitter output: WBRC-TV, Birmingham; KNBH, Los Angeles; KFMB-TV, San Diego; WENR-TV & WNBQ, Chicago; WHBF-TV, Rock Island; WFBM-TV, Indianapolis; WOI-TV, Ames-Des Moines; WWJ-TV, Detroit; WKZO-TV, Kalamazoo; WNBF-TV, Binghamton; WCBS-TV & WNBT, New York; WSYR-TV, Syracuse; WCPO-TV, Cincinnati; WNBK, Cleveland; WKY-TV, Oklahoma City; WCAU-TV, Philadelphia; WTVR, Richmond. Applications still pending at week’s end: KRON-TV, San Francisco; WBEN-TV, Buffalo; WABD, New York. In addition, KTSL, Los Angeles, and WTTV, Bloomington, request temporary increases pending action on applications to move to new sites. Broadcasting Inc., formed by group of Atlanta business men offering to pay Atlanta Newspapers Inc. $525,000 for facilities of WCON-TV, last remaining pre-freeze CP holder (Vol. 7:15,18,22), was declared by FCC legally, financially and otherwise qualified to hold license — and Commission approved deal in Aug. 9 order (No. 51-815). At same time, FCC rejected oppositions of Georgia Tech’s WGST and E. D. Rivers Jr., WEAS, Decatur, Ga., both applicants for TV in Atlanta (Vol. 7:25, 28). Unless there’s an appeal, WCON-TV will switch its Channel 2 assignment with WSB-TV’s Channel 8, under terms of deal, will go commercial as country’s 108th outlet on or about Oct. 1. Its general manager will be William T. Lane, ex-mgr., WAGE, Syracuse; sales manager. Arch Ragan, ex-WAGATV; chief engineer, Harvey J. Adelhold, who built WCONTV and returns to old job from present post with WIBC, Indianapolis. Sale was forced by fact that Atlanta Journal and Constitution were merged, former owning WSB-TV and latter having built but not yet started operating WCON-TV. Production of Ford Foundation Workshop’s first TV films, to run 15 & 30 minutes, starts in September, reports James Webb Young, consultant in charge of new $1,200,000 project “to produce cultural and public service programs for commercial broadcasters.” Head man of Workshop will be announced next week — information on types of shows, producers, stars to follow. TV sendoff, now set for January, follows CBS November radio premiere. Already in production, radio series titled The People Act shows how citizens band together to solve community problems. TV output will be offered networks and stations and sponsorship will be permitted. Whether 1952 political conventions shall be commercially sponsored will be discussed by TV-radio network topkicks at parley Aug. 15 in Washington’s Mayflower Hotel with GOP publicity chief William Mylander and radio chief Ed Ingle and their Democratic opposite numbers Charles Vandeventer and Kenneth Fry. They’ll simply discuss principles involved, final decisions being up to respective national committee chairmen and their convention arrangements committees. Congressional baseball investigation will be broadened this fall to cover TV-radio angles. House Monopoly subcommittee announced Aug. 10. Group is considering 3 bills to exempt organized professional sports from antitrust laws. Rep McCulloch (R-Ohio) protested that bills as now written could kill some small radio stations and “involve the right of 50,000,000 people to see the World Series.” Chairman Celler (D-N. Y.) said he will call witnesses from TV, radio, newsreels, FCC. Printers’ Ink predicts total advertising expenditures this year will exceed $6 billion, reporting $5,691,300,000 for 1950, which was up 9.4% from 1919’s $5,202,200,000. FCC’s many worries about movie interests and its fears they may dominate or throttle TV will finally be thrashed out, now that Commission this week finally set for hearing (Public Notice 51-814), at unnamed date, all questions involved in old Paramount company’s anti-trust violation histoi-y, plus plans, policies and management of the companies into which it was split by consent decree (Vol. 4:29,5:5, et seq). Action automatically delays approval of projected ABC-United Paramount Theatres merger (Vol. 7:21-24,27) since latter is half of Paramount split. Commission doesn’t say how it intends to handle merger hearing. TV stations kept in “limbo,” on temporary licenses, pending final decision: Paramount Pic tures’ KTLA, Los Angeles; DuMont’s WABD, New York, WTTG, Washington, WDTV, Pittsburgh; United Paramount’s WBKB, Chicago. In issues to be heard, FCC again indicates it’s particularly concerned with movies’ intentions regarding release of their films and talent to TV (Vol. 7:13-14). Commission intends to go into nature of old Paramount’s anti-trust violations, qualifications and policies of all companies’ management, all companies’ intentions towards theatre TV, ownership of DuMont, etc. Value of old films to TV is fast fading, through simple deterioration of negatives and prints. Aug. 8 Variety carries warning from Richard Griffith, of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, that maximum life of celluloid is about 30 yeai-s, that poorly processed films of ’30s are already crumbling, that cost of duplicating only top films would run into millions, that even major studios are doing little to preserve old epics. Griffith points out, for example, that Museum has only known remaining prints of such movies as Morocco (1930), starring Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper; Night Must Fall (1937), with Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell. What’s worse, he knows of no existing negatives, so more prints can’t be made. Paper prints are partial solution, he says. Library of Congress has made films from paper prints of Great Train Robbery (circa 1903). Worth further note in discureive, rambling article titled “TV’s Time of Trouble” in August Fortune (Vol. 7:31), pointless rehash mainly of a lot of warmed-over statistics: That neither MGM, Warmer nor RKO has as yet set up TV subsidiaries (though Paramount, 20th Century, Columbia, Universal all have); also, that “Wall Street syndicates . . . have been eager to pick up control of some timorous producer, liquidate the company, and realize [via TV] on the sale of the film backlog.” Article says that in 1934-45 period alone, Hollywood produced and has stashed away in its vaults 5380 features, 7636 short subjects — “enough to provide [on TV] 9342 hours of entertainment” — and that more film is being made for TV annually than for theatre projection (1000 hours vs. 775 hours). Author coins new symbol for theatre TV: TTV. i : Two applications for new VHF stations in Maine, one , for UHF in Indiana, were this week’s FCC batch, bringing ' t total pending to 428. Community Broadcasting Service, . t: operating WABI, Bangor, seeks Channel 5 there, Channel 6 in Portland; partners are ex-Gov. Horace H. Hildreth and station mgr. Murray Carpenter. UHF Channel No. 59 is sought by WFAM, Lafayette, Ind. [For further t; details, see Addenda 13-D herewith; for list of applications pending, see TV Factbook 13 with Addenda to date.] ^ TV’s role in Congressional hearings came step closer to being decided by court Aug. 10 when Senate, by 38-12 ^ vote, rejected move by Sen. Cain (R-Wash.) to quash con '' tempt citations against Morris Kleinman and Louis Roth _ * kopf, alleged Cleveland gamblers who refused to testify before Kefauver Committee because hearings were being f ‘ televised (Vol. 7:8-9,11-13). Sen. Cain called televised ^ hearings “a vaudeville show” and “an extravaganza.”