Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

4 list. The 25 asterisked cities on list represent 72 applications which had been processed under old priorities, but which had no hearing dates set when list came out Monday. However, Commission this week slated hearings beginning Sept. 25 on 15 applications for 4 cities already processed under the old priorities: Roanoke, Va. (Ch. 7) ; Detroit (Ch. 50 & 62) ; Philadelphia (Ch. 17 & 23) ; Baltimore (Ch. 18). This week FCC staff began processing applications from cities without asterisks on new list, in priority order. They're being processed alternately from Group A & B. Because applications from first 11 cities in Group A (cities without TV stations) had already been processed under old priorities, the 12th city in Group A — Durham , N . C . — is first to be processed under new rules. Then comes first city in Group B, St . Louis ; then A-13, Stockton, Cal. ; followed by B-2, Milwaukee , and so on. In compiling first bi-monthly priority list based on number of operating stations in each community, FCC applied these considerations: (1) In "hyphenated" cities (such as Norf olk-Portsmouth-Newport News), an operating station in one city is considered an operating station in all of them. (2) Where station is operating in unlisted community within 15 mi. of city listed in allocation table, station is not considered as operating in listed city. For instance, if KFUO-TV, in suburban Clayton, Mo., were now on air, it wouldn't make St. Louis a "2-station city", even though channel is actually allocated to St. Louis. UHF PROBLEMS-NETWORKS & CONVERSION: FCC study of network-uhf relations continues (Vol. 9 :31, 33-34) , but best bet now is that no action will be taken for a long time, if at all. Hope is that industry will straighten out situation of its own accord — and there's every reason to believe it will. Most urgent complaints by uhf grantees come from areas where one vhf station has several network affiliations while uhf stations can get no network programs at all — not even on secondary basis. Policies of the 2 most powerful networks, as reported in Vol. 9:31, appear to differ widely ■ — but there are strong indications that they'll both be signing up increasing numbers of uhf stations in coming weeks. First big-city "vhf market" in which uhf station has signed primary affiliation contract with major network is Norf olk-Portsmouth area, where NBC chose WVECTV (Ch. 15) after lone vhf WTAR-TV bolted to CBS (Vol. 9:21,25) . WVEC-TV is now transmitting test pattern, plans to begin programming Sept. 19 with full NBC schedule and accompanied by huge NBC-directed promotional campaign for uhf conversion. Almost exactly the same thing - but in reverse — happened this week in Milwaukee where Journal's WTMJ-TV is sole vhf. CBS signed primary affiliation contract with upcoming WCAN-TV (Ch, 25) , which is slated to begin test pattern on Labor Day. As of Sept. 27, all CBS programs leave WTMJ-TV, whose gen. mgr. Walter Damm — once one of NBC's severest critics - was leader of affiliates pledging loyalty to NBC in last May's crisis when it appeared many NBC stations would bolt (Vol. 9:22). So CBS in Milwaukee now faces same task as NBC in Norfolk — to build up uhf audience from scratch, and fast. With the 2 major networks plugging uhf stations in major cities, uhf gets its biggest boost to date. Milwaukee and Norfolk certainly herald the day when TV, like radio, is conducted on one-network-per-station basis. * * Bleakest economic prospects are faced by new stations — most of them uhf — which have competition from 4 network stations, and therefore have no hope of getting any affiliation. They must live on local and film programming — or will they turn to subscription TV as the answer? Don't write off as a "stunt" the subscription-TV proposal filed with FCC by 4 eastern uhf CP-holders, all under the gun of big-network competition (Vol. 9:32). Proposal is being taken seriously by plenty cf harassed uhf operators and grantees. TV adviser Will Baltin for New Brunswick (N.J.) Home News (WDHN-TV, Ch. 14), prime mover in campaign, has invited 55 uhf grantees to meeting on subscription TV next month in Philadelphia, at Benedict Gimbel's WIP, one of the fee-TV petitioners. Of 22 replies received to date, 20 indicated they'd attend. Replies came from 9 states, from Kentucky to New Hampshire, and included 5 uhf stations already on air. Subscription-TV backers Zenith, Telemeter and Skiatron have been invited.