Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

3 FCC'S NEW PRIORITY LIST FOR TV HEARINGS: New processing procedures for competitive IV applications go into effect Aug. 24 — with a completely new priority list. The list, as printed herewith, remains in effect for 2 months, then will be superseded by new one — the order of cities being changed to reflect new stations going on air and new cities for which competitive applications are on file. We printed full text of new rules as Special Report on July 18, along with unofficial "sample" list as of July 1 (Vol. 9:29). Today's list is also unofficial — but it should be identical with official list issued Aug. 24 unless any stations begin operation over the week end, which would cause minor changes in order of the cities. After Aug. 24, there'll be no changes in list for 2 months. In using list, these points should be borne in mind: (1) It affects only competitive applications, since Commission grants noncompetitive applications virtually in order in which they're filed. Thus, new list actually determines only when hearings will be scheduled. (2) Hearings will continue to be scheduled and held under old priorities for some time. All applicants who have received "McFarland letters" notifying them that they are to be scheduled for hearing — as well as those whose hearings are already scheduled — are at head of line. Under old priorities, McFarland letters have been sent to applicants in 25 cities on new list, as indicated by asterisks. Beginning next week, letters will be sent according to new order, but the letters which have already been sent carry top priority. (3) Groups A & B will be processed alternately; first city in Group A will come first, then first city in Group B, and so on. One unanswered question: Since applicants in first 11 Group A cities have already been processed (sent McFarland letters) under old procedure, will Commission process first 11 in Group B before taking 12th city in Group A — which is really first "unprocessed" city in group? (4) An "operating station" for purpose of list is one which is actually programming — not merely transmitting test patterns or holding STA. When FCC issues an STA, it instructs station to notify it at start of "regular operation". List is made up on basis of these responses. (5) Commission has an escape hatch — which permits it to ignore priorities entirely "to prevent manifest injustices", as yet undefined. Reason list is so short compared to old priority listing is that only cities included are those with competitive applications. Our unofficial list as of July 1 had 132 cities; mergers, dropouts and hearings have already cut number to 117. * * * * Here is new priority list (asterisks indicating cities in which applications have been processed GROUP A No Operating Station No. City Pop. 1. »Des Moines, la. 177,965 2. ’Hartford, Conn 177,397 3. ’San Jose, Cal. 95,280 4. ’Waco, Tex. 84,706 5. ’Manchester, N. H. .. 82,732 6. ’Springfield, 111. 81,628 7. ’Columbus, Ga. 79,611 8. ’Topeka, Kan. 78,791 9. ’Portland, Me. — 77,634 10. ’Charleston, W. Va.. 73,501 11. ’Augusta, Ga. 71,508 12. Durham, N. C. 71,311 13. Stockton, Cal — 70,853 14. Waterloo, la. 65,198 15. Terre Haute, Ind. — 64,214 16. Ogden, Utah 57,112 17. Lexington, Ky. 55,534 18. Pittsfield, Mass 53,348 19. Bay City, Mich 52,523 20. Orlando, Fla. 52,367 21. La Crosse. Wls. 47,535 22. Mansfield, O. 43.564 23. W. Palm Beach. Fla. 43,162 24. Salem, Ore — 43,140 25. Lake Charles, La 41,272 26. Tyler, Tex. 38,968 27. Joplin, Mo. _ 38,711 28. Cumberland, Md. _.. 37,679 29. Biloxi, Miss. 37,425 30. Muskogee, Okla 37,289 31. Spartanburg, S. C 36,795 32. Hagerstown, Md. 36,260 33. ’Enid, Okla. 36,017 34. Petersburg, Va. 35,054 r old priorities) : GROUP A— (Continued) No Operating Station No. City Pop. 35. Alexandria, La. 34,913 36. Fayetteville, N. C. — 34,715 37. Ottumwa, la. 33,631 38. Lafayette, La. 33,541 39. Paducah, Ky. 32,828 40. Bristol, Tenn.-Va. 32,725 41. Reno, Nev. 32,497 42. Clarksburg, W. Va. — 32,014 43. Albany, Ga. 31,155 44. Wausau, Wls. 30,414 45. Jackson, Tenn. .. 30,207 46. Daytona Beach, Fla. 30,187 47. Odessa, Tex. 29,495 48. Provo, Utah 28,937 49. Mason City, la. 27,980 50. Sharon, Pa. . . . 26,454 51. Rapid City, S. D. 25,310 52. Jefferson City, Mo. 25,099 53. Las Vegas. Nev. 24,624 54. El Dorado. Ark. 23,076 55. Florence, S. C. 22,513 56. Cape Girardeau, Mo. 21,578 57. Goldsboro, N. C. 21,454 58. Hastings, Neb. 20.211 59. Anderson, S. C. 19,770 60. Beckley, W. Va. 19.397 61. Bogalusa, La. 17,798 62. Plattsburg, N. Y. 17,738 63. Modesto, Cal 17,389 64. Big Spring, Tex. 17,286 65. Klamath Falls, Ore. 15,875 66. Clearwater, Fla. 15,581 67. Sunbury, Pa. 15,570 68. Merced, Cal. 15,278 GROUP A— (Continued) No Operating Station No. City Pop. 69. Marinette, Wis. 14,178 70. Wenatchee, Wash. .. 13,072 71. El Centro, Cal. 12,590 72. Irwin, Pa. 4,228 73. Henderson, Nev. 3,643 GROUP B One Operating Station 1. St. Louis, Mo. 856,796 2. Milwaukee, Wis. 637,392 3. Houston, Tex. 596,163 4. New Orleans, La. 570,445 5. Seattle. Wash. 467,591 6. Indianapolis, Ind. . 427,173 7. Memphis, Tenn. _ 396,000 8. Norfolk-Portsmouth Newport News, Va. 335,910 9. Toledo, O. 303,616 10. Fort Worth, Tex. .... 278.778 11. Miami, Fla. 249,276 12. Providence. R. I. 248.674 13. Richmond, Va 230,310 14. Jacksonville, Fla. 204.517 15. Tulsa, Okla 182,740 16. Charlotte, N. C. 134,042 17. Phoenix, Arlz. 106,818 18. ’Roanoke, Va. 91,921 19. Huntington, W. Va. 86.353 20. ’Sioux City, la. 83,991 21. ’Binghamton. N. Y. . 80,674 22. Charleston, S. C. 70,174 23. Raleigh, N. C. 65,679 24. Asheville, N. C. 53,000 GROUP B — (Continued) One Operating Station No. City pop. 25. Green Bay, Wis. 52,735 26. Fort Smith, Ark. 47,942 27. Fargo, N. D. 38^256 2 Operating Stations 28. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn 833,067 29. Boston, Mass. 801,444 30. Pittsburgh, Pa. 676,806 31. Buffalo, N. Y. 671,004 32. San Antonio, Tex. _ 408,442 33. Omaha, Neb. 251,117 34. ’Amarillo, Tex. 74,246 3 Operating Stations 35. ’Philadelphia, Pa. 2,071,605 36. ’Detroit, Mich 1,849,568 37. San Francisco Oak land, Cal. 1,159,932 38. ’Baltimore, Md. 949,708 39. ’Cleveland, O. __ 914,808 40. ’Cincinnati, O. 503,998 41. ’Atlanta, Ga. 331,314 4 Operating Stations 42. ’Washington, D. C. .. 802,178 6 Operating Stations 43. ’New York, N. Y. 7,891,557 7 Operating Stations 44. ’Los Angeles, Cal. 1,970,358