Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

8 CRYING NEED for quality TV film programming, and the sharp cutbacks in movie production, are enticing more and more Hollywood producers to swing wholeheartedly into TV. Biggest to make the jump to date is Republic, whose pres. Herbert Yates last week announced fullscale entry into TV film production and distribution (Vol. 9:36). “If it weren’t for TV,” he said, “Republic would have to shut down”. In addition to its production and distribution facilities, Republic has one of biggest film processing laboratories in country — and last year it processed more TV than theatrical film. He indicated studio’s backlog would be released to TV, but didn’t say when. Yates’ statement aroused far less comment and controversy in Hollywood than would have been the case even a year ago. For virtually every studio now is reported blueprinting plans to “go TV” in big way, when the proper time comes. Independent Hollywood producers have been moving toward TV for some time. Trend is strongly delineated in these recent developments: The Filmakers Inc., independent theatrical film producers owned by Ida Lupino and Collier Young, is producing series of 39 half-hour travel adventure films for TV, titled Ports of Call, to be distributed by Comet TV Films (Oliver Unger, pres.). New TV film distributor, Television Programs of America, has been organized to represent independent TV film producers in same manner that United Artists distributes product of independent movie makers. Prime mover is board chairman Edward Small, veteran Hollywood producer. Financial expert Milton Gordon, who piloted United Artists’ reorganization, is pres. Exec. v.p. and gen. sales mgr. is Michael Sillerman, ex Ziv-TV and founder of Keystone Broadcasting System, radio transcription syndicate. TPA has bought out Arrow Productions, distributor of Ramar of the Jungle, and Peerless Productions, which has been distributing films produced by Small, and is now negotiating to take over other top TV films. Perhaps most ambitious TV film project announced in recent weeks is deal by Vitapix Corp., distributor headed by ex-NBC exec. v.p. Frank E. Mullen and owned cooperatively by 20 independent TV stations (Vol. 9:19), with Princess Pictures Inc. (headed by Burt Balaban, ex-Paramount Pictures and son of Paramount pres. Barney Balaban) to produce and market 26 top-budget feature films for TV. According to announcement, pictures will feature such name stars as John Ireland, Alexis Smith, Joan Drew, John Hodiak, and may be made available to theatres after their TV runs. Some will be in color. Pictures are slated to be available in both full-length and 54-minute versions, most of them made abroad. Five of the films will be delivered by Jan. 1, remainder by Oct. 1954. Add subscription-TV proponents: Matta Enterprises, grantee of WOCN, Atlantic City (Ch. 52), joins 5 other uhf grantees asking FCC to authorize fee-TV service (Vol. 9:32,35-36). Grantee said it has bleak economic outlook, blamed networks’ affiliation practices, noted that WFPGTV, Atlantic City (Ch. 46) has “preempted” all 4 networks, said FCC’s 1941 network regulations are “wholly inadequate” to deal with current situation. Meanwhile, meeting of grantees favoring subscription TV, in Philadelphia Sept. 17, has added another speaker — Abe J. Greene, National Boxing Assn, commissioner. Sen. McCarthy (R-Wis.) says he may have own weekly 15-min. TV show beginning in Jan., bankrolled by private (and unnamed) sponsor. Networks deny any knowledge of plans for programs. YVKS, Caracas, Venezuela (Ch. 7) began operating Sept. 3, reports supplier RCA. It’s known as Television Caracas, uses 10-kw, is third station in country (note on p. 127, TV Factbook No. 17). HIGH MOUNTAINS, now considered serious obstacles to TV reception, may some day be harnessed to provide “tremendous power gains” for vhf stations. Ten years’ research and experimentation on effects of high mountain ridges on vhf propagation lead to that conclusion — but scientists stress that it will be long time before enough is known about propagation for broadcasters to harness this phenomenon to increase service contours. Meanwhile, 2 newly released reports on subject, first published data on actual experiments, help to explain such TV “freaks” as clear, long-distance reception in mountains. U. S. Bureau of Standards this week released summary of experimentations in “obstacle-gain” vhf transmission conducted jointly with Signal Corps and RCA Laboratories (Technical Report 1805), proving theory first published in 1933, that “high mountain ridges can actually become powerful aids for reducing both transmission loss and tropospheric fading”. Recently declassified was another report on similar experiments conducted in 1944 by consulting engineers Jansky & Bailey for Office of Scientific Research & Development, titled Effects of Hills & Trees on Radio Wave Propagation. As practical application, Bureau of Standards suggests: “In a region of the country like Colorado, it may prove more advantageous to locate FM & TV stations at lower elevations a short distance out on the plains away from the mountains rather than on the foothills right up against the very high mountains of the continental divide.” Basically, research in “obstacle-gain” transmission indicates that considerable increase in received signal strength should result when a large knife-edge obstacle is located midway between transmitter and receiver. Bureau of Standards report summarizes experiments made in Alaska and Japan, which tend to prove “obstaclegain” theory. Alaskan experiments were made on 38-mc 160-mi. CAA communications circuit. Transmitting and receiving antennas were both about 200-ft. above sea level, with 9000-ft. mountain range in between the two. Engineers calculated that if earth’s surface had been smooth, circuit’s transmission loss would have been 207db. Actually it was about 134db — gain of 73db over field strength normally expected over smooth path. Over 30-day period, transmission loss varied by less than 2db, indicating virtual elimination of atmospheric fading usually associated with vhf transmissions beyond horizon. Propagation engineers caution that principal beneficiaries of this phenomenon will probably be point-to-point vhf communication services, where signal is “beamed” from transmitter to receiver, and that — as one put it — “TV stations shouldn’t start revising their service contours”. It does offer practical explanation of unusual long-distance TV reception in some areas, and gives hope to vhf telecasters that areas shaded from transmitter by high mountains won’t necessarily be blacked out. Knowledge of phenomenon is potentially very useful to community antenna operators. It means that under certain circumstances community receiving antennas need not be placed atop inaccessible mountain crags, that better locations may sometimes be located on lower mountains, or even in valleys. Community antenna system in Astoria, Ore., may be good example. Oldest in country, it started by picking up Seattle’s KING-TV, 120-mi. over mountains. Power increases: WBKB, Chicago (Ch. 7) Sept. 18 boosts power from 28 to 114-kw ERP, with maximum 316kw output slated to be achieved by fall of 1954. Having received aviation clearance for 1113-ft. Truscon tower in Meadowbrook, WBAP-TV, Fort Worth (Ch. 5) this week announced plans to install new RCA transmitter, boost power to full 100 kw this winter. GE plans to ship 35-kw unit Sept. 24 to WHBF-TV, Rock Island, 111. (Ch. 4).