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TV-FM BUILDING ® 1519 CONNECTICUT AVE. M.W. © V/ASHINGTON 6, D. C. • TELEPHONE MICHIGAN 2020
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Special Reporl March 3», I94S
MEAJJIHG OF GSBEB VH?-i: Don't be afraid to go ahead with your plans to put up
FM or TV stations, notwithstanding the stringent wording of Veteran Housing Order VHP-1, issued March 26. Both FCC, which issues radio permits, and Civilian Production Administration, which will enforce the order, agree it v/ill be possible to construct many radio stations without interference to the Veterans' housing program.
Both FCC and CPA, responding to inquiries Friday, asserted their belief that a considerable number of grantees could get on the air by limiting construction to absolute essentials. This would mean new radio construction can either come underthe $1,000 exemption or permittees can apply to local CPA field offices for authorizations .
Thus there will be no "freeze" such as existed in v/artime and, as stated in FCC release, "FCC proposes to continue processing applications with the understanding that the final decision as to whether construction will be authorized remains with the CPA. "
So if you get an FCC grant, your way is clear. If you began construction before March 26, you can continue without any kind of authorization. If you can put up your station with construction costs under $1,0D0, you need no approval.
Both those terms are in VHP-1.
But if construction amounts to more than $1,000, you must apply for authorization to the nearest CPA field office. And if there is no tight housing situation in your area, you have a good chance to get CPA approval. National Housing Administration reports that housing is not critical in such communities as Scranton, Pa. ; Albany-Troy, N.Y. ; Norfolk, Va. ; Abilene, Tex. ; Panama City, Fla., among others.
In areas where housing is tight, your chances are not so good. Some of the cities v/here this situation obtains are Washington, Atlanta, Denver, Louisville, Houston, Los Angeles. On the other hand, if in those tight communities you specify building materials not in short supply and if labor is plentiful, you have a better than even chance of getting CPA approval. For a listing of critical building materials, get a copy of CPA Priority Regulation 33.
Indications are that the housing crisis is going to change from time to time, from area to area. Norfolk, for example, not now considered a tight area (it has a 3% vacancy rate), only last year v;as one of the most critical, with a 1.4% vacancy rate. So your local picture may be desperate one month, less critical later. How long VHP-1 will remain in effect, no one in authority will venture to guess.
VHP-1 puts into effect a sort of priority system on building materials and labor. It does not forbid commercial construction in toto.
Issuance of the housing order struck the industry like a bombshell — especially equipment manufacturers who have been promising early spring or summer delivery of new transmitters, let alone FM-AM combination receivers. For a brief spell, it was felt that all radio construction, particularly FM and TV but also including AM, must come to a stop. Some well-entrenched AM broadcasters even chuckled over the prospect of seeing the parvenu TV and FM set back perhaps for years.