Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan-Dec 1951)

5 popular reactions closely, may yet be heard from in collaboration with telecasters. Bidding for fight TV rights may someday become 5-way affair. Arena Managers Assn, is dickering with IBC for eventual exclusive rights to pro.1ect bouts on bigscreen equipment in nation's 250 arenas. Plan is to have live local preliminary matches at arenas, with main event on giant four-sided TV screens. Theatre telecasts of fights will kill smaller arenas where nation's boxers get their start, and thus can ruin fight game in 5 years, says spokesman Jim Hendy, manager of Cleveland Arena. "Theatres are not the logical place to show fights," says he. "How would they like it if we took in full-length film features?" Sponsorship of NCAA football schedule, together with promotion of the telecasts, will cost Westinghouse close to $2,000,000 this fall. Under complicated schedule of “experimental” live telecasts, Westinghouse will sponsor 19 games in 9-week period, with 7 on each of the NBC-affiliated stations carrying schedule in East and Midwest. Schedule includes 3 games to be telecast on full 52-station coast-to-coast network — with West Coast stations carrying total of 4. In addition, all except West Coast stations will carry “regional” games (Eastern games directed to Eastern audiences, Midwestern games sent to Midwest); plus “inter-regional” games (Eastern games sent West, Western games sent East); plus local games transmitted only in localities where they are played. Each locality will be “blacked out” 2 Saturdays during Sept. 29Nov. 24 period. NCAA, with Westinghouse’s aid, will study effects of telecasts on game attendance. Games themselves are costing Westinghouse $1,250,000, of which something less than $700,000 will go to the colleges, each school getting 2% times the NBC time charge for one hour of each station carrying the telecast. In addition to cost of programs themselves, Westinghouse foots $500,000-$700,000 bill for newspaper ads plugging telecasts. The full schedule: Sept. 22. — No games televised because of “technical difficulties.” Sept. 29 — ^Duke at Pittsburgh (West to East) and Columbia at Princeton (East to West). Oct. 6 — Wisconsin at Illinois (full network). Oct. 13 — SMU at Notre Dame (full network). Oct. 20 — Cornell at Yale (East to East), Indiana at Ohio State (West to West), Missouri at Iowa State (WOI-TV, Ames, only), Nebraska at Minnesota (KSTP-TV, St. Paul, only). Oct. 27 — Dartmouth at Harvard (East to East), Northwestern vs. Wisconsin at Chicago (West to West). Nov. 3 — ^Michigan at Illinois (West to East), Army vs. use at New York (East to West). Nov. 10 — Notre Dame at Michigan state (West to East), Navy vs. Maryland at Baltimore (East to West), Washington & Jefferson vs. Franklin & Marshall at Lancaster, Pa. ' (WGAL-TV, Lancaster, only). Nov. 17 — Columbia vs. Navy at New York (East to East), Colorado at Nebraska (West to West), North Carolina State at Maryland (Southeast only). Nov. 24 — Ohio State at Michigan (full network). Telecasting Notes: Only 11 cities with 13 stations re main outside orbit of transcontinental network TV when it gets under way on permanent basis Sept. 28 (see story, p. 3) — but the 53 interconnected cities and their 94 stations (out of 107 total) cover 95 out of every 100 TV homes in U. S. . . . NBC research chief Hugh Beville Jr. estimates that, based on preliminary estimates for Sept. 1, there were 11,360,000 TV sets in present 48-city interconnected area; that Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Salt Lake add 1,380,000 — thus leaving only 710,000 sets not served by direct network facilities . . . Bell System, reporting new southbound TV channel from Detroit to Toledo as of Sept. 5 to supplement present 3 northbound channels, stated its intercity TV links now total 23,500 channel miles, of which 14,500 are radio relay (microwave) and 9000 are coaxial . . . Inside dope from the higher Hollywood sources: TV’s impact will “continue to fade as the novelty wears off”; moreover, it’s “no menace” to films, which are “picking up tremendously in America,” and to radio which is “staging a comeback.” Thus movie producer Darryl Zanuck in Paris inteiwiew Sept. 4 . . . Falcon Proposal to obtain theatre-TV frequencies without necessity of going through allocations procedures was advanced by 20th Century-Fox in petition to FCC Sept. 6, as motion picture producers and exhibitors prepared for Sept. 11 meeting in New York to map unified strategy for hearings. Big film company asked Commission to enlarge issues in FCC’s theatre-TV hearings (now scheduled for Nov. 26) to include question whether, with slight modification of FCC rules, present frequency allocations to industrial radio services can’t be used for transmission of TV programs to theatres. In petition, 20th Century points out that FCC in 1945 allocated industrial frequencies to motion picture industry, to be used while making films on location, etc., on shared basis with other industries. Movie firm says it has experimented with theatre TV on these frequencies since 1949, suggests 6425-6875-mc band, now allocated to movie industry on shared basis with others, could be used to provide nation-wide competitive theatre-TV services. These frequencies, petition says, could still be shared with other industrial users without interference, because very nature of theatre TV requires highly directional transmission. Idea isn’t new one — it’s been discussed for years by theatre-TV proponents — but move by 20th Century is first attempt to bring it before Commission. All exhibitor and producer groups, as well as 20th Century, say they’d rather have frequencies allocated exclusively to theatre TV than share their channels with other users — ^implicit in any move defining theatre TV as industrial radio service. Twentieth Century’s petition will come up for discussion at Sept. 11 meeting, which will be attended by representatives of MPAA, Theatre Owners of America, Allied States Assn, of Motion Picture Exhibitors and National Exhibitors Theatre TV Committee. Meeting was called to seek agreement on “8 basic points” so picture industry can present united front before FCC at hearing. Films, headed by John C. Mullins, Tulsa & Phoenix businessman, is name of new $1,000,000 corporation organized to produce western films in Arizona . . . Some smaller movie studios are trimming all new “B” pictures to 54 minutes running time so they can easily be adapted to TV when theatre runs are exhausted, says Daily Variety, Hollywood . . . Catholic Men, magazine published by National Council of Catholic Men, Washington, reports plans being studied to set up system of classifying TV programs similar to Legion of Decency’s motion picture ratings . . . WFMY-TV, Greensboro, replacing .5-kw transmitter with 5-kw unit under recent FCC grant, plans to achieve tenfold power increase — 1.67 kw to 16.27 kw ERP — on Sept. 22, its second anniversary . . . KHJ-TV now call letters (as of Sept. 6) of old KFI-TV, recently purchased by Don Lee Enterprises from Earle C. Anthony (Vol. 7.23, 32) . . . WBNS-TV, Columbus, Sept. 1 raised base hour rate from $450 to $700, one-min. from $100 to $125, changed Class A time to 6:30-11 daily except Sun. (1-11 p.m.) . . . WTTG, Washington, Sept. 10 raises base hour rate from $450 to $600, one-min. from $90 to $100.