Television digest and FM reports (Jan-Dec 1948)

K te: li j ff MARTIN GOOEL's authoritative news service OF THE VISUAL BROADCASTING AND fREQUENCY MODULATION arts and industry rDBLHHED WEEKLY BY RADIO NEWS BUHEAU, 1519 CONNECTICUT AYL N.W., WASHIKfiTON 6. D.C. TELEPHONE MICKISAH 2020 VOL 4, NO. 26 June 26, 1948 INTEREST HIGH IH TV ALLOCATIONS: importance FCC attaches to June 29 hearings on TV channel reallocations (Vol. 4, No. 19-24), and big attendance expected, are indicated in choice of huge Dept, of Commerce auditorium (seating capacity: 800) for en banc proceeding. Hard-pressed Commission engineers this week worked overtime collating more than 100 engineering exhibits which poured in at June 18 deadline. Some 50 appearances, in addition to the 81 listed in our Special Supplement of June 5, were filed up to this weekend. They have been reported in TV Addenda 3-K, 3-L and this week's 3-M. All interested parties may arise to make points, so hearing may run full week — certainly will if, as expected, contests like Boston, Chicago, Washington, Cleveland wax hot and heavy. Major interest will be directed toward directional antenna suggestions by CBS's engineering v.p. Bill Lodge; wide-coverage "Stratovision" proposals by Westinghouse ' s C. E. (Chili) Nobles; overall allocation "squeezes" for additional frequencies by DuMont's Dr. T. T. Goldsmith. In a last-minute move, FCC knocked out 9 late filers Thursday on grounds their appearances constituted new proposals after May 28 deadline (see TV Addenda 3-M). SWAPPING SHOV/S AND SAVING MONEY: Here's an instance of a couple of telecasters using ingenuity to do an excellent job of sister-city networking and at the same time saving money. Without recourse to coaxial, Baltimore Sun's WMAR-TV and Washington Star's WMAL-TV, 37 mi. apart, have been swapping several hours of programs weekly by simply picking one another's signals out of the air and rebroadcasting them — same as in FM rebroadcast networking. Says ex-FCC commissioner Jack Jett, W^LAR-TV's chief: "Our out-of-the-air pickup is much better than coaxial, even in lightning storms. This also proves feasibility of small-town satellite operation." WJiAR-TV uses simple dipole and RCA 630TS receiver atop dov/ntown O'Sullivan Bldg. ; WML-TV has antenna on its American U Campus tower, uses Philco 1000. Link isn't used for network sho^ys coming from north, except when Baltimore-toWashington section of coaxial is not functioning satisfactorily. There seems to be little to hinder expansion of this type of networking; FCC has no objection as long as stations give permission. Naturally, stations must be close enough together. Too, as more stations go on air, they're liable to cramp system somewhat. FOX'S BIG-SCREEN TV SCORES HIT: For whatever it portends for the future relationship of TV and the theater, Friday night's big-screen showing of telecast of the LouisWalcott fight at Philadelphia's Fox Theater was an enormous success. That is, the regular audience (who paid to see a movie, got this windfall) and the several hundred VIPs, movie and radio trade folk present so proclaimed it. Pictures, to be sure, weren't as clear as modern movies, long shots were fuzzy, magnification of TV's inherent lack of depth of focus particularly apparent. But the closeup shots were extraordinarily good — so good you could see the wrinkles in battlers' trunks. The medium shots were called "good" and the whole performance's success was reflected in the enthusiasm of the audience, the exclamations of wonderment, the good-natured laughter during Gillette commercials. Projection system was RCA's, sister to one used by Warner Brothers in Hollywood during last month's SMPE meeting (Vol. 4, No. 22). RCA put link atop Fox Theater building for direct pickup of microwave from Philco 's Wyndmoor relay. Cop>.-l;ht 10 P hv n.ifllo N': \ i Rjr.