Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

MARTIN COREL’S AUTHORITATIVE NEWS SERVICE FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE VISUAL BROADCASTING AND ALLIED ELECTRONICS ARTS AND INDUSTRY PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY RADIO NEWS BUREAU AH WYATT BLDG. • WASHINGTON 5, D.t • TELEPHONE STERLING 3-1755 • VOL. 9: No. 17 B a i ;i 1. 'ti 'i L.'a § -•? Orv/A <*rut'u .:J B rj 1 . L j ,i k\ [ 1 1 I APR 2 1953 April 25, 1953 In thi s Issue: Log of All Stations Now Operating, pp. 1 & 15-16 Facing the Facts About UHF Television, page 1 4 More Begin Testing, 59 Since Freeze, page 3 4 CPs Granted, Hearings in Full Swing, page 4 Everyone Likes Hyde as FCC Chairman, page 4 Network TV-Radio Billings — Jan. -March 1953, page 6 Educational TV Proponents Reassured on Extension, page 7 Extensions of CPs; Notes on Upcoming New Stations, pp. 8-9 Color's Impact on Trade — Now and Later, page 70 "Devastating" Impact of TV on Movie Attendance, page 14 For Report on Industry Leaders' Thinking and Planning for Color TV Receivers , see pages 10-12 HANDY LOG OF ALL STATIONS NOW OPERATING: We count exactly 167 TV stations on air in this country as of this writing, with more due momentarily — and possibly as many as 100 additional stations to be added before end of this year. As a handy reference, in response to insistent demands from subscribers, we have listed all the now-operating stations, added those on the Mexican border and in Canada , and appended a list of those known to have equipment on hand who have stated they intend to begin testing during the next few weeks. The complete listings are on pp. 15-16 — first such consolidated log to be made available since our TV Factbook No. 16 of last Jan. 15. Bear in mind that this log is subject to almost daily additions. It's part of our service to report new stations to you as fast as they're officially announced. (For this week's new starters, see story on p. 3.) And for more detailed data on all stations, you can refer to our Jan. 15 TVFactbook's fuller listings of stations then on air and to its blue-section listing of all the then-pending applications. Some significant facts adduced in compiling this log: 28 of the 167 stations in operation as of April 25 are uhf ; 59 stations have gone on air since the first end-of-f reeze grants of July 11, 1952 when there were 108 pre-freeze stations operating; 24 have no local radio affiliations (either AM or FM) ; 62 are owned in whole or part by newspaper interests, 4 by magazine publishers — and 2 more transfers of ownership to newspaper and magazine publishers pend FCC approval. FACING THE FACTS ABOUT UHF TELEVISION: There are few now who dispute fact that uhf is technically and economically capable of providing good TV service. But it's also generally agreed that uhf telecasters today have tougher row to hoe than vhf. A realistic appraisal of uhf as it is today — letting the chips fall where they may — emphasizes undeniable fact that it's still very much the junior partner of vhf. But there's scant doubt that the day will come when the value of any TV franchise will be determined solely by its audience, not its wavelength. Already there are 28 uhf stations on the air, being viewed in more than a half million homes — just 7 months after first commercial uhf telecast by Portland's KPTV. New uhf stations are going on air in about the same numbers as vhf. Uhf's future is secure, for it's the key to competitive nationwide service — there's no other place for TV to expand. Such problems as receiver conversion and sensitivity, restricted coverage and power, are purely temporal. Already the electronics industry, which is solidly behind uhf and entirely confident of its future, has made astounding advances in development and production of uhf receiving and transmitting equipment. And it's only the beginning. Early this year we began a series of personal surveys of the uhf markets. In visits to these cities and their surrounding areas we talked with telecasters, COPYRIGHT 1»tS BY RADIO NIW* BUREAU