Start Over
Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1953)
Reading and Downloading:
Record Details:
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!
Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.
Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.
View OCR Text
We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
TWO UHF transmitters were shipped this week by RCA to CP-holders — WICA-TV, Ashtabula, 0. (Ch. 15) and WETV, Macon, Ga. (Ch. 47). RCA’s revised delivery schedule calls for uhf shipments next week to WISE-TV, Asheville, N. C. (Ch. 62) and WKOW-TV, Madison, Wis. (Ch. 27). WDAK-TV, Columbus, Ga., gets Ch. 28 transmitter following week. Vhf units are slated to go to KRDO-TV, Colorado Springs (Ch. 13) and KTVH, Hutchinson, Kan. (Ch. 12) about May 15.
* * * *
From uhf grantees come these reports of plans and
progress:
WSUN-TV, St. Petersburg, Fla. (Ch. 38) has rescheduled test pattern to May 15 from previously announced May 1 (Vol. 9:1) due to delay in delivery of RCA antenna. Mgr. George D. Robinson reports RCA transmitter is installed, control equipment about 75% complete and construction of studio will be completed this week. TV staff now includes : Louis J. Link, assistant mgr. and chief engineer; Mrs. Vera New, commercial mgr.; Charles W. Vaughan Jr. (ex-WLWD, Dayton), program director; Andrew Kudrick (ex-WJBK-TV, Detroit), engineering supervisor. Weed will be rep.
KIMA-TV, Yakima, Wash. (Ch. 29) has moved target date to mid-July from previously reported June (Vol. 9:12). Ground was broken last week for new $100,000 two-story TV-radio center to be completed by July 15. “Building will provide most modern TV plant of any secondary market in the nation,” says v.p. Tom Bostic, with more than 10,000-sq. ft. of working floor area including 2 large studios for live shows and one for film production. Over half of GE equipment is already installed. Weed will be rep. Rival KIT-TV (Ch. 23) in Yakima last reported planning start in “mid-summer or early fall” (Vol. 8:51).
KCTY, Kansas City (Ch. 25), awaiting RCA transmitter, hopes to begin test pattern “about early June,” reports Herbert Mayer, president of Empire Coil Co., owner of Cleveland’s WXEL, grantee in Indianapolis & Denver, founder of pioneer uhf station KPTV, Portland, Ore. “I am not going to ‘rush’ KCTY the way I did KPTV,” he writes, but on-air date is earlier than previous July target (Vol. 9:13). Transmitter building is ready; 750-ft. Truscon tower should be completed in about four weeks. Rep has not yet been chosen.
WMTV, Madison, Wis. (Ch. 33) now reports July start instead of original June 1 target (Vol. 9:5). Grantee Bartell Television Corp. has moved from Milwaukee to the Washington Bldg., 119 E. Washington Ave., Madison. RCA equipment will be housed in transmitter building on Belt Line Rd. President Gerald A. Bartell is gen. mgr., v.p.
Earl W. Fessler is chief engineer, Morton J. Wagner sales mgr., Alan Beaumont station director.
WSIL-TV, Harrisburg, 111. (Ch. 22) anticipates delivery of RCA equipment before September 1, plans to begin testing in October. Rep has not yet been chosen.
* * * *
Reports from vhf grantees this week included :
WCIA, Champaign, 111. (Ch. 3) has ordered RCA equipment and expects to begin programming Sept. 1, reports Merrill Lindsay, board member of grantee Midwest Television Inc. WCIA plans to ask modification of CP to raise antenna to 1000 ft. above average terrain; has contract with Ideco for tower, radiator and coaxial cable to be completed by Aug. 1. “Our grade B contour encompasses Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Danville, Bloomington, Springfield, Peoria, with Terre Haute tossed in free,” writes Mr. Lindsay. WCIA will be basic CBS affiliate with $350 base rate; rep not chosen as yet.
KFOR-TV, Lincoln, Neb. (Ch. 10), previously reported for April 15 (Vol. 9:10), has RCA transmitter on hand and now plans May 31 commercial debut with test pattern “probable” on May 24, says v.p.-gen. mgr. George X. Smith. Rep will be Raymer. KOLN-TV (Ch. 12), city’s other grantee, made debut Feb. 10.
WDAY-TV, Fargo, N. D. (Ch. 6) did not make May 1 target with interim 2-kw RCA transmitter (Vol. 9:4,10), now aims at May 15 test pattern with May 22 commercial debut, reports president E. C. Reineke. Rep will be Free & Peters.
KHSL-TV, Chico, Cal. (Ch. 12) reports transmitter building completed, studio renovations about 50% done, RCA equipment ordered. Mgr. W. S. Woodling says tests should begin about Aug. 1. W. S. Grant Co. will be rep.
Niagara Television Ltd., Hamilton, Ont. (Ch. 13), one of first 7 private grantees in Canada (Vol. 9:14), hasn’t ordered equipment or set construction plans 3-et but has Christmas as target date. Ken Soble, owner of CHML, will manage station, which will be joint operation of CHML, CKOC and CJSH-FM.
Power increases and channel shifts: Boston’s WNACTV, with new RCA amplifier and antenna, went to 220 from 26.6-kw April 26. WLWD, Dayton, shifted April 28 to Ch. 2 from 5 ; other Crosley stations, Cincinnati’s WLWT and Columbus’ WLWC, received their RCA 25-kw amplifiers this week, will get new antennas later, then go to 100 kw on new channels about June 1 and July 1, respectively. WBEN-TV, Buffalo, got RCA 10-kw unit, will boost ERP from 50 to 100 kw; RCA also shipped 25-kw amplifier to WAGA-TV, Atlanta, which will increase its 26.5-kw power to 100 kw. Post-freeze KTBC-TV, Austin, plans to go to full power of 102.9-kw May 15.
EDUCATIONAL TV’s first station, KUHT, Houston (Ch. 8), is scheduled to begin testing next week following arrival April 29 of long-awaited Federal transmitter. Formal dedication, originally scheduled for May 4, has been postponed until all technical “bugs” have been erased and station is prepared to make good showing, reports mgr. John Schwarzwalder.
W. W. Kemmerer, who resigned last week as U of Houston president after spark-plugging drive for station, is expected to give full report on problems of a would-be educational station operator to national stock-taking conference at Washington’s Wardman Park Hotel May 4, sponsored by Dr. Milton Eisenhower’s National Citizens Committee for Educational TV.
Meeting is expected to attract Congressmen, FCC Commissioners, Ford Foundation officials as well as scores of educational and community leaders from all over nation for exchange of ideas, including all-important suggestions on fund-raising.
Other educational TV developments this week: (1) GE’s WRGB, Schenectady, offered area schools 5 hours of free time each week, plus $2500 a year toward salary of anyone who would produce acceptable educational programs for use on station. (2) U of Michigan board of regents appropriated $180,000 to defray construction costs of educational station at Ann Arbor. (3) Oklahoma House of Representatives passed bill setting up state-wide educational network, but didn’t appropriate any money for it. (4) Illinois House majority leader Franklin U. Stransky introduced bill to prevent any educational institution from using state funds for educational TV station, imperiling TV plans of U of Illinois. (5) Indiana U formed TVradio dept., with courses leading to A.B. & B.S. degrees, under Dr. Elmer G. Sulzer, ex-Kentucky U radio director. (6) ABC-TV will originate program May 6 on adult education in American life from York (Pa.) Junior College 9-9:30 p.m., sponsored by Ford Foundation, first network origination from York’s WSBA-TV (Ch. 43).