Television digest and FM reports (Jan-Dec 1946)

m ST!!^S3NGS: First conditional FM grant to a network came this week with approval of ABC's application for San Francisco. There were only 7 more conditionals in Friday's release (Supplement No. SOB), bringing to 352 the total to date. Only significant item was Commissioner Durr's vote to hold hearing on John Perry (Metropolis) grant in Jacksonville, but he was overridden. Other FM stirrings: Publisher Jack Knight's purchase of 42% interest in WIND, Chicago, which presumably means he will drop his separate Chicago Daily News application for Chicago; NBC's withdrawal of its application for Los Angeles, which still leaves 5 on file — for Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco — in addition to its already-operating WEAF-FM, New York; report that the brothers Cortada and George Mayoral will drop their application for New York City (under name of Supreme Broadcasting System Inc.), concentrate on their New Orleans application and others to be filed for Memphis, Houston and other cities. CBS tmmm effective: it's idle, indeed sheer smugness, to sit back and think CBS's campaign for color as against black-and-white TV isn't having an effect on the thinking and planning of prospective TV broadcasters, let alone creating doubts in the minds of prospective buyers of televiewing sets. How deep the impression its color demonstrations is making on broadcasters, is indicated not only by the enthusiasm of those v/ho have seen them but by its affiliates' board resolution (Vol. 2, No. 9). One signer of the resolution, E. E. Hill of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette's WTAG, applicant for black-andwhite, now says his company probably will drop its low frequency application. This v/eek, also, the Richards-Fitzpatrick stations WJR, Detroit, and WGAR, Cleveland, as well as KUTA, Salt Lake City, also applicants for low frequency TV (Supplement No. 18) , petitioned the FCC to withdraw, giving as their reason they will wait for uhf color. Expected also to withdraw shortly is the Atlass-Wrigley application (WIND) for Chicago. On the other hand, new applications for low frequency TV are about to be filed by Baltimore Sun and New Orleans Times-Picayune . Meanv/hile, CBS entrenched itself more firmly as inventor as well as advocate of color TV by announcing that Westinghouse , though an applicant for 5 black-andwhite stations, has taken out a license on the Goldmark inventions and giving out royalty terms available to "any reputable manufacturer." These range from 25 cents to §1 on receiving sets, depending on retail price, and call for 1% of the net selling price of complete color transmitter and studio apparatus. Westinghouse, of course, manufactures both receiving and transmitting equipment and is producing some of CBS's custom-built TV apparatus. On top of that, CBS replies to those who say there are no standards as yet for color TV by stating officially that "within the next few months, we propose to recommend to the FCC technical standards for commercial operation of color television" on the uhf. Preparing for this, CBS is still waiting for delivery of its live pickup camera and conducting field intensity tests on its experimental W2XCS. That CBS will get an FCC hearing on its proposed standards, is a certainty. Whether it can produce sufficient convincing technical data on the basis of experience with its relatively new uhf color station, is questionable. Evidence of other experts on uhf characteristics will certainly be demanded by the FCC. Proponents of uhf undoubtedly will draw heavily on the Government's own wartime findings on uhf, now no longer military secrets. Consensus seems to be that ultimately TV must find its place on the uhf, which alone afford the channels necessary for color, but there is no agreement as to timing. The black-and-white go-ahead school admits uhf is the ultimate but says neither knowledge of the frequencies nor availability of equipment is adequate to warrant waiting for color; these advocates don't object to CBS's claim of superiority of color nearly so much as they bitterly resent its attacks on the quality of black-and-white. One big manufacturer. President Ben Abrams of Emerson, s£iys color will delay TV. In a New York Times interview Friday, he was quoted as saying