Television digest and FM reports (Jan-Dec 1946)

tinker. The news of his appointment reached him Thursday while he v/as "riding circuit" on radio cases in Georgia. Porter actually didn't want the Bowles job, with all its headaches, for his heart was in radio, especially in the intriguing subjects of FM and TV which he has taken a prime part in advancing. In talking with him, one suspects he harbors a hope the FCC post may be kept open for him; but it is hard to believe politics will permit such a §10,000 job to remain vacant very long. If Denny retains the chairmanship, as against a new political appointee. Porter will at least have the satisfaction of seeing his policies carried forward by a colleague with whom he has always worked in close harmony. Already a movement is on foot to persuade President Truman to place Denny's old chief. Col. Telford Taylor, former FCC general counsel, now a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials, on the Commission. There is talk, too, that the President may rev/ard Leonard Reinsch, his radio mentor, whom he likes, with an FCC berth. Reinsch served as Porter's radio aide when the latter handled publicity for the 1944 Roosevelt campaign, is now back with the Cox radio-newspaper interests but is seeking an AM station of his own in Cincinnati, up for hearing in Washington this Monday. TV SCCB2S FHOM WASHIJIGTOH: if television could offer nothing more than news events as they occur, it justifies its immediate emergence — and you don't need color in newsreels. That was the reaction of many who saw the inaugural V/ashington-Nev/ York coaxial telecast of Lincoln Day ceremonies last Tuesday. Consensus of TV enthusiasts was that this was tiptop stuff, that if TV continues to put on programs like this there's no stopping the art. V/hen press photographers surrounded Gen. Eisenhower at Lincoln Memorial and asked him to repeat his v/reath-laying, and when an accompanying brass hat noticeably adjusted his pace to get in step with his chief, viewers had a hearty chuckle. In back of their minds was this thought; We couldn't have seen that in a newsreel. Such "uncut" versions of a news event emphasize anew the potency and immediacy of TV. Ceremony taking place in Washington was watched not only on the few receivers there but, thanks to AT&T's new coaxial cable, by spectators in New York, 225 miles away. New York reception was just about as good as a local broadcast, though handkerchief-size screens did not do justice to crowds. Projection models offered better images, though they suffered some from loss of illumination. Especially noteworthy v/as efficacy of RCA's Image Orthicon for low light levels during shooting of interior scenes at the Memorial. NBC's camera work was good; long shots of Marine Band, of spectators clutching hats against blustery wind, of massed flags snapping in gusty weather, of closeups of Gen. "Ike" and the Lincoln statue. Occasional distortion was marked in film from DuMont's Washington studio, and overcast was apparent in CBS pickup of Congressional leaders and FCC Chairman Porter. Overheard also during exercises were instructions to cameramen and comments from spectators. One couldn't help but reflect that the show v/ould have been more vivid in color, yet v/ho has ever seen Technicolor in newsreels? And this compared very well with any theater newsreel, was better in fact because it was full-length and unedited. CBS, incidentally, v/as the only one of New York's 3 telecasters that did not transmit program there, interpreting Mayor O' Dwyer's shutdown of non-essential services due to fuel shortage as reason for keeping WCBW off the air. WGRB, Schenectady, carried the affair via shortwave relay. Event signaled joint utilization of coaxial on an experimental basis without cost to telecasters. Schedule calls for NBC to use it for Washington pickups Mondays and Saturdays, CBS Tuesdays and Fridays, DuMont Wednesdays and Thursdays.