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

5 New type of tv booster station was injected into all the recent talk of satellites, boosters, community antennas, etc. — lately given impetus by Comr. Sterling’s speech (Vol. 7:44, 48)— in form of application from WSM-TV, Nashville. Experimental proposal is likely to command sharp Commission attention, though fruition may take years. WSM-TV asks permission to test concept of John H. (Jack) DeWitt Jr., noted engineer now president of station, who would supervise experiments. He proposes that 5-watt receiving-transmitting station be set up in Lawrcnceburg, Tenn., 67 miles from WSM-TV, to rebroadcast WSM-TV’s full program schedule on same frequency as main station — Channel 4 (66-72 me). Key to operation is fact booster’s signals would be vertically polarized, thus minimizing interference with WSM-TV’s horizontally polarized emissions. Aim of tests is to determine whether main station’s signal maintains polarity at great distances. DeWitt says he’s encouraged by measurements to date. Booster would radiate 10-20 watts ERP, directionally, and cover some 7000 people within 3 miles of site. Nearest co-channel TV stations are in Birmingham, 122 miles, and Memphis, 153 miles. Satellite equipment costs $5288; operation would be unattended. Whole pui’pose, says DeWitt, is to “provide more efficient channel utilization.” He points out that allocation studies by Bureau of Standards’ Kenneth Norton and FCC’s Harry Fine show that TV stations can give interferencefree service to maximum of only 12% of given area, under optimum power-height-separation conditions. DeWitt has discussed proposal with Commission people who are intrigued with idea. They concede that if such boosters can raise channel efficiency sienificantly, FCC must authorize them. But they point to “terrific administrative problems” such as: “Who will own and operate boosters?” Reason FCC is obligated to encourage experiment is that booster would use no new spectrum. “DeWitt is way ahead of his time,” said one Commission official. “He’s that kind of a guy.” Blasting NCAA grid tv “experiment” as unnecessary and dangerous, RTMA spoi’ts committee urged colleges to study TV’s value in promoting attendance and building goodwill. Analysis by N. W. Ayer v.p. C. L. Jordan, mailed by RTMA this week to college presidents, quotes NCAA’s own research as showing “1950 gate receipts for colleges in TV areas were 3.9% above the socalled pre-TV years of 1947-48.” Report said attendance at U of Pennsylvania games dropped 17.7%, or average of 8165 per game, from 1950 to 1951 — despite fact that Penn televised its games last year and participated in NCAA’s control plan this year. Jordan’s analysis said controlled TV destroys freedom of individual schools to televise their own schedules in their home towns, favors big schools at expense of smaller ones, courts bad public relations, “probable court action.” Eastern College Athletic Assn., biggest regional group in NCAA, voted Dec. 14 in favor of continuing controlled TV, after tabling Penn proposal to permit unrestricted live televising by member colleges. Resolution, adopted by big voice vote, prohibits any one of ECAA’s 91 member schools from entering into any TV contract pending action by NCAA at Cincinnati next month. Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conferences were expected to follow suit, but whole issue of controlled TV may be academic if Govt, wins antitrust case against National Football League (Vol. 7:41). West Coast schools released report saying attendance at games increased 13.6% over 1960 in controlled TV areas, but conceded that rise of Stanford and UCLA as grid powers in TV areas had more effect than TV restrictions. Sislion Accounts: AT&T Long Lines Dept, sponsoring Spirit of Christmas, half-hour film relating “The Nativity” and “Night Before Christmas,” with Mabel Beaton Marionettes, on 80 TV stations in 66 cities, thru Cunningham & Walsh, N. Y. . . . Universal Pictures, announcing expanded budget for “greatest promotional effort” in its history, includes “use of TV for point-of-sale showmanship” . . . Best Foods to sponsor 5-min. film series titled The Private Lives of Cliff Norton, starring comic on old Dave Garroway show; feature will continue for Procter & Gamble on WBKB, Chicago, but about 30 other markets are planned for Best Foods thru Benton & Bowles . . . Yellow Cab Co., Philadelphia, sponsoring weekly afternoon variety show titled Yellow Cab Time on WFIL-TV, thru A1 Paul Lefton Co. . . . Block Drug Co. (Ammident tooth paste) sponsoring Dick Tracy on WABD, N. Y., Fri. 7:30-8, thru Cecil & Presbrey, N. Y. . . . Knudsen Creamery Co. of California buys The Weather, daily 6:55-7 p.m. forecasts, on KTTV, Los Angeles, thru Heintz & Co., Los Angeles . . . Winston Stores (TVs-radios-appliances) sponsoring Calling All Women, audience-participation quiz, Mon.-Wed.-Fri. 2-2:30 p.m. on WPIX, New York . . . Southern Biscuit Co. (cookies & crackers) sponsoring Cartoon Party, drawings and stories by artist Pauline Comonar, Sat. 11-11:15 a.m. on WPTZ, Philadelphia, starting Jan. 5 thru Lindsey & Co., Richmond, Va. . . . Among other advertisers reported using or preparing to use TV: M. Hohner Inc. (harmonicas), thru Bobley Co. Inc., N. Y.; Chambers & Robinson (Texas Tavern canned Mexican dinners), thru Ley & Livingston, San Francisco; Lindsay Ripe Olive Co., thru MoggePrivett Inc., Los Angeles; Marlon Confections Co. (Teens & TV candies), thru Scheck Adv. Agency, Newark (WABD) ; Cone Export & Commission Co. (cotton textiles), thru Robert Winternitz Adv., N. Y.; Keebler Weil Baking Co., Div. of United Biscuit Co. of America (Town House cookies) , thru McKee & Albright Inc., Philadelphia. Network Accoimls: Heavy run of cigarette advertising on TV is pointed up in third quarterly Rorabaugh TV Report showing 20 brands using the medium — 7 sponsoring 10 shows on CBS-TV, 5 sponsoring 6 on NBC-TV, two 2 on DuMont, one 1 on ABC-TV. In all, 11 of the 20 used network, 4 exclusively; 7 used both network and spot; one used 4 network shows, 2 used 3 each, 2 used 2 each, 6 used one. Spot users: Camel, Cavalier, Chesterfield, Encore, Kool, Lord, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Old Gold, Pall Mall, Parliament, Raleigh, Sano, Spud, Viceroy . . . Camel starts Pantomime Quiz Jan. 2 on NBC-TV, Wed. 10:30-11, thru Wm. Esty Co., N. Y. . . . U. S. Steel, using TV for first time, joins list of Christmas day one-shot sponsors with Sir Ralph Richardson in A Christmas Carol on NBC-TV, Tue. 9-9 :30, thru BBDO, N. Y. . . . Pontiac reported readying sponsorship of 10:45-11 portion of Original Amateur Hour being vacated by Old Gold on NBC-TV, Tue. 10-11 . . . Arthur Murray Inc. (dancing) moves Arthur Murray Party Jan. 6 from alt. Wed. to weekly on ABC-TV, Sun. 9-9:30 . . . Gruen starts Gruen Playhouse Jan. 17 on DuMont, alt. Thu., 9-9:30 . . . M & M Ltd. (candy), Jan. 6 starts M & M Candy Carnival on CBS-TV, Sun. 12:30-1 p.m., originating from WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, thru Wm. Esty Co., N. Y. U. S. Supreme Court ruled 7-0 this week that Lorain (0.) Journal violated anti-trust laws in “forcing advertisers to boycott a competing radio station.” Only newspaper in town, it refused to accept ads from merchants who advertised on WEOL, and Dept, of Justice brought action. Govt, has similar action pending against Mansfield (0.) News-Journal, same ownership, in Cleveland Federal court. FCC has denied applications from both newspapers for radio stations.