Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

14 Tallest tower authorized to date — 1572-ft. structo be used jointly by KWTV (Ch. 9) and educational KETA (Ch. 13), Oklahoma City (Vol. 9:32, 10:14) — was officially underway this week after ground-breaking ceremonies April 5. Wielding shovel and pickaxe were chairman John Griffin and pres. Roy Turner (ex-gov. of Okla. and announced candidate for U. S. Senate). Goal is completion by “late summer or early fall.” Statistics are startling: tower weight, 1,050,000 lbs.; guy wires, 27,000 ft. weighing 267,000 lbs. ; base insulators, 21 porcelain tubes 4-in. in diameter; paint, 650 gals, for one coat; triangular cross-section, 12-ft. on a side; base legs, 10% -in. solid round steel; 4 transmission lines measuring 6500 ft., plus 2000 ft. of lines from transmitters to tower; 1200 cubic yards of concrete reinforced with 30,000 lbs. of steel. Tower alone, erected, with one coat of paint, costs $550,000. Most of steel has been fabricated and delivered to Ideco yards in Columbus, 0. Next tallest tower granted is the striking 1521-ft. “candelabra” structure planned jointly by WFAA-TV & KRLD-TV, Dallas (Vol. 10:14). Reappointment of Rosel Hyde as FCC chairman seems more certain than ever as end of his one-year tenure, April 18, approaches. Boom for Comr. Doerfer as chairman has subsided in face of unprecedented support for Hyde from all quarters — industry, education, fellow commissioners, Republicans, even Democrats. Presidential action is expected next week; if by any chance it doesn’t come through by April 18, Communications Act provides that commissioners themselves name chairman temporarily. There has been talk that a dark horse is being pushed for chairmanship, to be named to succeed Doerfer who would be shifted to another govt, agency when his term expires this June 30. Little weight is given to that possibility now. TV program awards of Ohio State U’s Institute for Education by Radio-TV : special interest, Frontiers of Faith (NBC-TV) and Farmtown, U.S.A. (WBBM-TV, Chicago) ; cultural. Hallmark Hall of Fame (NBC-TV) & The Long Voyage (WOI-TV, Ames, la.) ; basic freedoms, American Forum of the Air (NBC-TV) & The Independent Mr. Jefferson (WNBQ, Chicago) ; public affairs. United Nations Open House (CBS-TV) & They Come Home (KPIX, San Francisco) ; children’s. Watch Mr. Wizard (NBC-TV) and Wunda, Wunda (KING-TV, Seattle) ; instruction, Shakespeare on TV (KNXT, Los Angeles) ; classroom. District of Columbia Public School Series (WNBW, Washington). Edward Lamb challenged FCC’s right to examine allegations he was a Communist (Vol. 10:13) at time of renewal of his WICU, Erie, Pa. In brief filed with Commission, he said FCC should have tried to revoke his license instead, putting burden of proof on itself rather than on him. Foimer Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, now a Lamb v.p., is handling case alone— firm of Fly, Shuebruk, Blume & Gaguine having dropped out after disagreement on how to handle case. Lamb’s brief included letters of praise from J. Edgar Hoover and others. FCC has advised principals in proposed $350,000 purchase of Carl Raymond’s KMO-TV, Tacoma (Ch. 13), with KMO (5-kw on 1360 kc), that hearing will be necessary because purchasers own an overlapping AM in nearby Seattle. It’s KAYO (5-kw day, 1-kw night on 1150 kc), buying group being headed by Jessica Longston (Vol. 10:5). Millionaire oilman H. L. Hunt was authorized by FCC this week to assign CP for projected KTLG, Corpus Christi, Tex. (Ch. 43), to Trinity Broadcasting Co., owned by Gordon McLendon family, for consideration of $6608 expended to date. Transfer papers in purchase deal whereby Time Inc. proposes to acquire KLZ-TV (Ch. 7) along with KLZ (Vol. 10:12), filed with FCC this week, disclosed that proposed purchaser, LTF Broadcasting Corp., will pay $3,533,760 for 100% of stock, which is owned by theatremen Han-y E. Huffman & Frank Ricketson, gen. mgr. Hugh L. Terry (now convalescing in LaJolla, Cal. from serious illness but expected to continue in post) , Theodore R. Gamble and J. Eh'oy McCaw'. Replacement value of equipment was put at $1,273,200, depreciated to $923,952 since station went on air last Oct. 29. Balance sheets show KLZ (AM & FM) earned profit of $97,940 before taxes, $39,060 after taxes during 6 months ending Jan. 31, 1954, which compax’es with $135,073 & $51,598 in same period last year. KLZ-TV operating profit from its start last Oct. until Jan. 31 was $24,705, profit after taxes $9985. That the stations are doing increasingly better, especially the TV, is revealed in Jan. figures showing that TV profit before taxes w^as $32,839, after taxes $18,119, while AMFM profit before taxes was $8183, after taxes $3273. Filed with FCC this week also were transfer papers for proposed sale of KOY-TV, sharing Ch. 10 in Phoenix with Gene Autry’s KOOL-TV which proposes to consolidate it (Vol. 10:12). Purchase price is disclosed as $200,000, not $400,000 as previously reported. KOY-AM will remain in present hands. St. Louis Ch. 4 merger (p. 3) has following conditions: KXOK (Elzey Roberts) is to buy 14,145 shai’es of KWK Inc. (Robert Convey) at $14.64 a share (total: $207,082) and is to dispose of KXOK. KSTP Inc., St. Paul (Stanley Hubbard), owning 50% of Missouri Valley TV Co., is to buy same amount, and other 39 stockholders of Mis.>Jouri Valley TV Co. are to buy 1845 shares. Ownership of proposed TV grantee, KWK Inc., is to end up with these percentages: Convey family, now majority stockholders of KWK, 27%; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, now minority of KWK, 22%; Elzey Roberts’ KXOK, 23%; Stanley Hubbard’s KSTP Inc., 23%; the 39 Missouri Valley stockholders, 3%. Single TV application this week was for Boston’s Ch. 5 — sixth applicant for that channel — by Boston Post, owned by financier John Fox, who recently purchased radio WCOP, subject to FCC approval (Vol. 10:13). Three applications were dismissed this week, and number pending is now 264 (43 uhf). [For further details, see TV Addenda 18-N herewith; for complete listing;s of all grants, new applications, dismissals, hearings, etc., see TV Factbook No. 18 with Addenda to date.] Westinghouse purchase of KPIX, San Francisco (Vol. 10:11), was formally announced by pres. GwiljTn Price at stockholders meeting April 7. He said final approval not only depends on FCC but “upon the outcome of tax legislation now in Congress affecting this type of transaction.” It’s understood tax-free deal contemplates exchange of Westinghouse stock valued at about $6,000,000. Controlling stockholder Wesley I. Dumm retains radio KSFO. Gen. mgr. Philip G. Lasky and staff remain with KPIX. City Council of St. Petersburg, Fla. voted this week to advertise for sealed bids to dispose of municipally-owned WSUN-TV (Ch. 38) and radio WSUN (5-kw on 620 kc, ABC). Bids are i-eturnable at 11 a.m., April 28. First and only TV station in Tampa-St. Petersburg area, on air since last May 15, WSUN-TV is reputedly profitable, and last year was about to be sold to Ted Mack, Lou Goldberg and others associated with Original Amateur Hour (Vol. 9:41) for unnamed sum. Interconnected to network circuits this week were time-sharing KOOL-TV & KOY-TV, Phoenix. Next on AT&T’s hookup schedule, probably next week, are KV.\LTV, Eugene, Ore.; K.\RK-TV, Little Rock, Ark.; WNET, Providence; KWWL-TV, Waterloo, la.