Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1956)

THE AUTHORITATIVE NEWS SERVICE FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE VISUAL BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS ARTS AND INDUSTRIES MARTIN CODEL, Editor and Publisher ALBERT WARREN, Senior Editor ROBERT CADEL, Business Manager OAVID lACHENBRUCH, Associate Editor CERSHON FISHBEIN, Trade Reports Editor Bditoriat Associates: Pavl Stane, William J. McMahan, Jr. mm PUILISHED WEEKLY BY RADIO NEWS BUREAU • WYATT BLDG. • WASHINGTON 5. D.C. • TELEPHONE STERLING 3-1755 • VOL. 12: No. 15 SUMMARY-INDEX OF THE WEEK'S NEWS— -April 14, 1956 NO NEW VHP CHANNELS from military, says ODM, as Penna. & N. C. Congressional delegations urge FCC settle "future of all-channel TV" by June 1 (pp. 1 & 6). ALL AFFILIATED STATIONS quizzed in mail questionnaire by Senate Commerce Committee, delving into stationnetwork relations, payments, contracts, etc. (p. 3). VIDEO TAPE RECORDER for black-&-white perfected by Ampex; CBS buys first 3 units, will put them in regular use next fall for West Coast rebroadcasts (p. 4). $103,872,000 SPENT ON SPOT by 3017 advertisers in 4th quarter of 1955, excluding talent & production, reports TvB (p. 4 and Special Report). CHICAGO IS COLOR "TEST TUBE" as WNBQ starts colorcasting all local live originations, while industry looks for significant growth in last half of year (p. 5). THREE NEW STATIONS due on air within week— in Richmond, Spartanburg & Chattanooga— with Milwaukee & Tucson outlets also shooting for this month (p. 6). ADMIRAL'S 10-in. PORTABLE shown, weighing Ib’/z lb. and priced starting at $89.95. Demand for higher-end sets remains strong. Export data cutback protested (p. 1 1). RETMA URGES REPEAL of Federal Trade Commission's controversial Rule 9 requiring revisions in ad practices on designating TV screen sizes (p. 13). ADMIRAL PROFIT INCREASED in first quarter over first 3 months of 1955, but sales declined by 3%. Siragusa foresees $500,000,000 volume by 1961 (p. 14). SUBSCRIPTION TV TESTS in Cuba depend on outcome of Skiatron negotiations with business group. Magnuson announces witnesses for 5-day fee-TV hearings (p. 10). BRISTOL'S CH. 5 goes to WCYB, as Commission still holds up action on vhf cases in markets concerned with deintermixture. Allocation shifts sought (p. 10). NETWORK TV BILLINGS in February up 19% over year ago-ABC-TV increasing 80%, CBS-TV 15%, NBC-TV 1 1 %— for total of $37,191,571 (p. 16). NARTB-ITS VITAL WASHINGTON FUNCTION: NARTB's reason for being and justification for locating its headquarters in Washington were seldom more obvious than they are today, on eve of its annual convention in Chicago's Conrad Hilton Hotel April 15-19. Govt, has thrust its probe into workings of IV-radio industry more deeply than it has for years. No small part of its search is dictated by a hunt for headlines and free time in an election year. Nonetheless, Congress and FCC have their fingers on some serious matters — and several are at a critical point. Two of these are TV allocations and network-station relationships. For reports on current developments in these fields, see below and p. 3. Paradoxically, and despite Washington's concern over industry's health, evidence of TV's basic strength is apparent on many fronts. Good examples of these are TvB's report on spot expenditures (p. 4), the great efforts to bring color to the public (p. 5) and the excellent technical progress in TV magnetic tape (p. 4). NO VHF FROM ODM; DEINTERNIXTURE ENHANCED? With unanimous and official word from the Govt., through Office of Defense Mobilization, that no vhf spectrum can be transferred to TV, FCC is forced to turn to other proposals for expansion of TV — notably deintermixture, vhf "squeeze-ins" or the status quo. (For reasons given by ODM for the vhf turndown, see story on p. 6.) Commission knew of ODM's decision earlier, hence the action last week directing FCC staff to give deintermixture additional study (Vol. 12;14). This still doesn't mean deintermixture is a certainty, or even a probability — but it does mean its chances of adoption have improved from previous extremely low odds. Vhf "squeeze-ins" through mileage-power cuts, etc, will get renewed attention, too — as will the simple retention of the status quo. If pressures of all kinds mean anything, and they do, it seems that deintermixture has slight edge at the moment. Uhf operators are conducting vigorous and highly organized campaign directed at Congress — and they're seeing some results (see below). Well-situated vhf operators generally consider deintermixture least COPYRIGHT 1986 BY RADIO NEWS BUREAU