Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

VOL. 15: No. 24 9 Stations more about TV STATION AUTOMATION: Equipment makers haven’t made much money selling automation to TV stations yet, but they’re all looking forward to a growing market. Here’s what some leading manufacturers are doing in the field— and what they think of future prospects ; General Electric : “Interest in automation is picking up considerably,” says John Wall, mgr. of broadcast equipment sales. GE’s Automatic Programmer, designed for TV or radio stations, operates from paper tape — controlling up to 7 pieces of equipment for a full 18-hour period. “We still have problems to solve,” Wall tells us. “One of the biggest is finding a standard philosophy of operation at stations, so that we can build a unit to fit this norm.” Another problem, he says, is the existence at stations of non-automatic film & slide projectors, turntables, etc., which can’t be adapted to automation. Many stations still have devices which must be loaded & controlled by hand. He says about 15 GE automation systems have sold to date. GE’s tape editor (which sets up the automatic program schedule) sells for $1750, the reader control unit (which controls switching & timing) is $3500. RCA: RCA developed its automation equipment first for NEC’s 0-&-0 stations. WRC-TV Washington claims to be the most fully automated station on the air. The first non-NBC-owned station to purchase a complete RCA automation system is WBRE-TV Wilkes-Barre, which hopes to have the new equipment operating in a couple of weeks. Its system controls network video & audio line, 4 film projectors, 2 slide projectors, audio tape, live studio cameras, and has spare capacity to control TV tape, when added. Broadcast & TV equipment mgr. E. C. Tracy finds interest of TV stations in automation gear “sporadic” — some big ones highly interested, others not at all. “I can’t give you a list of stations with RCA automation equipment,” he says. “It’s too early for that. I could answer that question in a year. We’re negotiating with a number of them.” Attacking the problem of lack of automatic “source” equipment, RCA is offering fully automatic slide & film projectors, turntables, automatic gain control & light control specifically designed to be applicable to automation. Mechron: This is the name given by San Francisco Chronicle’s, KRON-TV to the station automation equipment developed by chief engineer James E. Berryhill (Vol. 13:15). The first units were installed at Chronicle’s KBAKTV Bakersfield and at KRON-TV. Last year 6 more were sold — to WTOP-TV Washington, WNBF-TV Binghamton, WNHC-TV New Haven, WFIL-TV Philadelphia, WFLATV Tampa & KDUB-TV Lubbock, Tex. The apparatus is designed principally for the “panic period” between shows, maintains a span of 3 minutes of pre-set switching. Berryhill tells us that station operators are showing “an awful lot of interest — along with considerable caution.” He thinks that the idea of automation still may seem a little too drastic for some operators — but “it’s inevitable that we’ll see moi’e of it.” Visual Electronics: This company provides a pushbutton-operated control for “building-block” automation systems, permitting a station to proceed from partial to complete automation at its own pace — ending with punchcard or tape-controlled programming on a full-day basis. Pres. James B. Tharpe says he expects to have 4-5 systems installed by the end of summer and 12 by year’s end. Prices for the control units start at $5000. Tharpe sees bright prospects for station automation, although he believes most opei'ators will want to sit it out for at least 6 months, carefully studying the operations of stations which are using the various automation systems. TelePrompTer: The Telemation system is different from other versions of station automation in that it uses aluminum foil contacts, attached to the regular TelePrompTer script roll, to key slides, films, camera changes, dimming of lights, etc. No units have been installed yet at TV stations, although the system is widely used in instruction & business meetings. Ken Atwood, TelePrompTer’s eastern sales mgr. for TV, says he is close to concluding arrangements with several stations. Telechrome: A developmental system, not yet on the market, would let stations use network-transmitted pulses to key IDs, switching, etc., between network shows. The technique makes use of the vertical interval blanking period (between frames). The networks could send a variety of pulses which would cue station equipment, making a smooth transition from network shows to local spots & announcements and back to network shows again. This system would require FCC approval. Value of Conelrad is sometimes questioned, FCC Defense Comr. Robert E. Lee tells us, by broadcasters and others who wonder whether the development of ICBMs has obsoleted the system — originally designed to deny a navigation aid to enemy planes. Lee has a ready answer: The Defense Dept, insists that it needs Conelrad. In his meetings with broadcasters az’ound the country, Lee quotes from a recent letter to him from Air Force Secy. James H. Douglas, who stated that Conelrad will be needed for 10 years. If Conelrad were discontinued, Douglas added, the U.S. would be giving an enemy valuable navigation aids for bombers. In addition, Douglas asserted: (1) Simple direction finders in enemy missiles would give them greater accuracy in hitting our major cities. (2) Enemy’s navigation problems would be simplified. (3) Uncontrolled radiation by all kinds of devices would interfere with our missile tracking and control, early warning and defense communications. Lee concludes: “The Defense Dept, has the responsibility for defense. We’re a technical body. They say they need it. That’s good enough for me.” Of interest to all news media is the recent ruling by a Georgia Superior Court against 2 Atlanta newspapers for printing the criminal record of a defendant on trial for robbery. The publishers of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution have been convicted of contempt of court and ordered to pay a fine of $20,000. Notice of appeal was filed immediately. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Durwood Pye said that “to circulate material calculated to come to the attention of jurors is unlawful.” Avoiding strike, KSD-TV & KSD St. Louis moved studio equipment from the building they share with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, before the midnight deadline June 9 for a strike by newspaper stereotypers. Set up at their transmitter sites, both began programming June 10 on schedule. The stations & the newspaper are owned & operated by Pulitzer Publishing Company. “Don’t watch TV, go out & play,” is the unusual theme of a summer series that was scheduled to be launched in the past weekend by KMTV Omaha, and aimed at juvenile viewers. Titled Playground Champions, the 30-min. series is produced by KMTV in association with the Omaha Recreation Commission, and features scenes of the variety of games & sports played by local youngsters in city parks.