Television digest and FM reports (Jan-Dec 1946)

WESTI2ISH0USS, B!\¥Ti!E9N MD TV: strike-freed Westinghouse is getting v/obbly about its 5 pending low-band TV applications (Supplement No. 18), and it won't be surprising if all or some of them are soon withdrav/n. Company's inclination has been to go along with RCA-NBC in promoting TV nov/, but its new receiver line includes no TV sets because it can't see much market in viev; of the multitudinous withdrav/als of station applicants in recent months. That it custom-built some of CBS's uhf color apparatus and has taken out patci:it license with CBS, is cited as evidence V/estinghouse is getting lukewarm toward low-band TV. You can expect some news to break soon also from Raytheon, applicant for TV stations in New York, Chicago and Waltham, Mass., though its officials are silent about rumors of withdrawals and reports of negotiations with CBS (Vol. 2, No. 18). This week's TV withdrawals were Warner Bros., applicant for Los Angeles ; J. £♦ Rodman (KFRE) , for Fresno; WDEL Inc., for Wilmington, Dela. Latter leaves the Steinmans' Lancaster, Pa. application the only one they have left on file since dropping the one for Harrisburg (Vol. 2, No. 17). Warner dropout leaves only 8 applicants in race for Los Angeles' 7 available channels, scheduled for hearing there May 20 (see listing in March 16 Special Report). There were intimations at FCC that another withdrav/al or two might cancel that hearing. 20th Century-Fox, which v/ith MGM, Disney and Consolidated previously withdrew, gave as its reason for dropping both Hollyivood and New York applications that video situation is "too confusing" at present to warrant investment of about $1,500,000 in monochrome stations. Milv/aukee Journal, in dropping its prewar CP for TV (Vol. 2, No. 18), stated its action v/as taken "with the full realization that high frequency color TV is still a long way off — possibly as much as 5 years from now." It gave as reasons for dropping; building restrictions, long wait for equipment delivery, uncertainty of network service out of Chicago ; and said this might mean 2-3 years before a low-band station could be completed, which means such station "might have only some 2 years to operate before uhf color becomes a reality." Plumping for uhf color was IT&T President Sosthenes Behn in his annual report, which told of Federal's manufacture of CBS's transmitter and concluded that high definition color was "inevitable in the not-too-distant future." But RCA' s President David Sarnoff at his annual meeting this week reiterated faith in today's monochrome TV, pointed to historic import of Louis-Conn telecast June 19, and added: "We firmly believe that color ultimately will provide an added interest in certain television programs for the homes as it does in certain motion pictures for the theater. Hov;ever, the majority of television programs will, we believe, continue to be in black-and-white, as they are in the movies, even v/hen color is available. Although color processes have been available to the movies for years, only 6% of the feature motion pictures shown in the theater today are in color." GE DSUVSP.IHG 200-w FM; GS's Russ David reports his company begins delivery this month on its backlog of 250-w FM transmitter orders, but will need 4 months more before it can fill new orders. GE schedule calls for new 1 kw transmitters by October, 3 kw by November, 10 kw by March, 1947 and 50 kv; "in about a year." Number of 250-w orders was not indicated but since units are basic, it should be possible for those stations to get on air though with less than authorized power. FCC has Stated it will authorize lower powers when requested so that some sort of FM service can be made available as soon as possible. SHARED TRA^ISMITTER AND SITE: Federal Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. (IT&T), now licensed to build CBS color equipment (Vol. 2, No. 18), has cut out an interesting FM development schedule. Noteworthy is its pulse time work. Successfully applied in the past to transmission of many telephone signals on a single channel, idea is being adapted to FM to allow as many as 8 programs broadcast simultaneously on one channel, around 3 me wide. Chief advantages are use of best ti’ansmittcr site and single transmitter by several stations.