Variety (May 1941)

S2 RADIO Wednesday, May 7, 1941 Commercial Television Given Nod By F. C. C, Effective July 1; Standards Subject to Revision Every 6 Months Power Boosts WMCA, New York, has been au- thorized to go to 5,000 watts day and night, effective immediately. The station has been operating at 5,000 I watts days and 1,000 watts nights. WMCA has just completed a new transmitter at Kearny, N. J. ■i Washington May 6. Commercial unveiling of television, despite resistance from the two prin- cipal network pioneers and the na- tional defense demands on equip- ment makers, is set for July I. The Federal Communications Commission did the expected Friday (2), modi- lying both the present and proposed new regulations to take the ciirse off money-making. Victory for the Radio Manufac- turers Associatiork was partially tempered with a provision that the standards are subject to revision in jsix months but practically every- body in the long controversy won something. Alternative systems are encouraged as well as color, while the minimum program time was lowered. The regulators steered a clear course between the factions urging different eynchronization pulses but refused to go for the Allen B. DuMont scheme in toto. Transmitters must be geared to 625 lines and 30 frames per minute. Any pulse can be used. So DuMont, RCA and Hazeltine (Philco) all get their chance, as do the color experi- menters (Peter Goldmark and CBS In particular). The Commish said color will be considered after the 'six months of practical tests' when changes in the standards may be made. Mean- while, the Commish urged further experimentation in tinted telecasting. Complaints that 30 hours of weekly service imposes an unjustifiable bur- den-of expense'bore fruit As fore- cast, the Commish lowered the week- ly minimum to 15 hours, letting the ticket-holders decide just when they will function instead of specifying a daily program quota. AH 18 Frequencies Can Be Used The upper air also was opened for commercial transmitters. All of the 18 frequencies now can be utilized, instead of only the seven lower rib- bons, now that there is no discrimi- nation between technical research- ers and operators with a profit mo- tive. This should eliminate much controversy besides making time- sharing unnecessary in the crowded Atlantic seaboard region. While it is unlikely there will be any great rush , of new applicants, this change in the rules is important in view of the conflicts between New York, Philadelphia and Washington and the mass of requests from New York and Los Angeles. Anti-monopoly provisions of the 1940 rules are reaffirmed. No more than three outlets can be maintained by the seme individual or corpora- tion, a move to, 'preserve the public benefits of competition in the use of the limited number of channels.' The Commish was optimistic that the experimental stations now in exist- ence will 'provide the nucleus for a widespread television service' that will be an Incentive to more am- bitious operation now they can rake in some revenue to help defray ex- penses. Film Permissible Motion picture film can be used whenever desired, with no limit on the percentage of celluloid progrprns. However, there must be a 'brief de- scription tt the beginning of the program while films running more than 15 minutes must be described also at the conclusion. Transition from experimental to commercial basis will hi expedited. Existing licensees and permit-hold- ers will get immediate authorization to install all equipment required by ' the rules and standards as soon as they assure the Commish they will conform. ■ These are Columbia in in New York, NBC in New York, Zenith in Chicago, Philco in Phila- delphia, and Don Lee In Los An- geles, all of which are now on the air. In addition, the papers will be speeded for Earl Anthony in Los Angeles; Balaban & Katz, Chicago; Bamberger (WOR), New York; CBS, Chicago; Crosley (WLW), Cincin- nati; Don Lee bt San Francisco; Du- Mont in New York and Washington; Hu<rhes Tool Co. at Los Angeles and San Francisco; WTMJ, Milwaukee; metropolitan Television, New York; KBC in Washington and Philadel- phia; Television Productlon5^ Los AoKeles: and WCAU. Philadelphia. Four New Air Attys. Washington, May 6. Four more radio attorneys were admitted to practice before the Fed- eral Communications committee last week. Newest batch includes two Wash- ingtonians, James George Burke, Jr., and Solomon J. Pdkrass; Jean A. Harvey, of Jefferson City, Mo., and Daniel Marcu, of Philadelphia. RKO SETS I DX-ERSTOS.A. RKO Pictures has contracted for, two weekly spots on NBC's short- wave service to South America. One program will go on at 8:15-8:45 p.m. Tuesday and the other, 8:15-8:30 Thursday nights. Frank Ortega will produce the shows, the first dramatizing bits out of RKO releases and the other dramatizing the lives of various RKO stars. Charlotte Station Divided Three Ways; Greenville News Not Part of Setup Greenville, S. C, May. 6. Proposed third station in Char- lotte. N. C, is not an enterprise of the Greenville News Piedmont Co. The corporate setup is this: License is issued to the Inter-City Advertis- ing Co. of Charlotte. President is George W. Dowdy, a Charlotte mer- chant; vice-president is B. T. Whit- mire, radio man of Greenville; sec- retary and treasurer is Horton Doughton, a Statesville, N. C, mer- chant and cattleman. Each is one- third ownev. It is entirely a per- sonal enteip' ise and has no connec- tion with Jiiiy of employers. The company is capitalized at $100,000. Call letters sought are WAND. Authorization to use 5,000 watts both day and night with directional antenna was granted WNEW, New York, by the FCC this week. Sta- tion had been using 5,000 days and 1,000 watts at night. Starts on new power .setup immediately. WNEW's directional antenna sys- ten\ and new apparatus cost about $26,000, and was finished early this year. Youngstown, O., May 6. Federal Communications Commis- sion has authorized WKBN here to increase its power from 500 watts night and "1,000 watts day to 5,000 watts, unlimited time. Station is in- stalling necessary equipment for the changes. Cedar Rapids, la.. May 6.. WMT has increased its nighttime power' from 1,000 to 5,000 watts. Work has been completed on the station's 305-foot tower, new ground system, transmitter equipment, etc., located near Marlon, Iowa. San Antonio, May 6. Federal Communications Commis- sion has granted three power boosts the past week to Texas stations. In Houston it granted station KTRH a new frequency and power boost. Change is from 1320 kilocycles to 740 kilocycles and a power hike from 1,000 watts day and 5,000 watts night to 50,000 watts full time. Shift of KTRH paved the way for the move of KXYZ, owned and op- erated by the Harris County Broad- cast Co., to take over the old KTRH transmitter and increase its power from 1,000 watts day and night to 5,000 watts full-time on its present dial setting of 1470 kilocycles. KAND,' at Corsicana, was granted a power increase from 100 watts to 250 watts unlimited time. Station is owned and operated by the Navarro Broadcasting Co., on 1340 kilo- cycles. Case, Craven Dissent on Monopoly Report; Fear Govt. Control As Result of FCC 'Economic Invasion New Faces Around WHN Meade New KABC Mgr. San Antonio, May 6. Charles Meade succeeds Hardy Harvey as general manager of KABC here. Harvey goes to Fort Worth in the new post as general manager of the Texas State Network. Meade conies from Fort Worth, where he has been network program director. He was formerly manager of KNOW, Austin. Number of staff additions and changes were made at WHN, New York, this week. They include: Ray Winters, formerly with Para- mount News, NBC and Mutual, as staff announcer, replacing Bob Stev enson, who resigned. Herlof Provenson, formerly with NBC, as a new announcer. Bill Bird has succeeded Milton Kaye in the copyright department, Kaye having left to become prO' gram head of WPAT, Paterson, N. J. Keith Gunther, formerly of NBC, appointed assistant night manager. Louis Cucol named assistant to the day operations manager, replacing Dan Rokaw, who was shifted to Loew's, Inc. Eleanor Morgan became stenog rapher in the director's office. RCA-NBC s Color Television Preview Infers It s in the Swim With CBS Color television achieved by a three-color revolving disc superim- posed upon an electronic tube was demonstrated last Thursday (1) by RCA-NBC engineers. First to the management of the companies, and later to the daily, trade and scientific press, 'the demonstration was carried through on four receivers, two black and white and two color, set up in the board room of NBC at Radio City. The program came down by coaxial cable from the regular television studios. Live models were used. Fabrics, fruit, shoes, packages of cigarettes were shown to draw the differences between color and black and white. O. B. Hanson, NBC's chief engineer, presided. Demonstration, lasting about 20 minutes, seemed obviously pointed as the RCA-NBC answei to Columbia which created a big stir some months ago when unveiling the mechanical system worked out by its Peter Gold- mark. Only on? or two passing refer- ences to 'our friends down the street' were made. Not by anything that was said, but rather by what was not said and the behaviour of the demon- strators, RCA-NBC seemed to imply; 'Well here it is—mechanical, re volving disc color television. We think its pretty good. We think it's as good as Columbia's. But our hearts still belong to Daddy Elec tronics.' Resolution on the projection-type screen suffered from lack of light intensity. Engineer explained after wards a makeshift tube had to be substituted .for one that burned out 'at the last minute due to the per' versity of laboratory equipment when demonstrations are planned for out- siders.' On the smaller, front view set the colors were brighter and the image sharper. It was another omen of' the progress of television ttself that both the color, which was ten tatively good, and the black and white which was excellent, were tossed off as just a little something the engineers ran up on their gadgets, . Land. Washington, May 6. Balm for wounds opened by the whipcracking F.C.C. majority, and possible ammunition for the forth- coming court tests over the new chain regulations are served up to the industry in the minority report of Commissioners T. A. M. Craven and Norman S. Case. The dissenters agree on room for improvement, but warn vigorously that the course adopted by their five colleagues will not better things for the listeners, advertisers, or operators. Policies behind the radical regu- lations completely disregard practi- cal experience and conflict with nat- ural and economic laws, the minor- ity declared, observing that on the whole the existing broadcasting sys- tem 'is operating very well in the public interest.' They voiced alarm that 'some of the corrective proc- esses suggested by the majority may easily result in faults which are far more basic than the known defects which exist today.' Broadcasting is not static and can- not be frozen with rigid rules, the balking duo chided. Though they' don't approve monopoly, neither can they see any panaccea of unlimited competition, and they are appre- hensive that consequent throat-cut- ting rivalry will ruin the industry or lead to outright government con- trol of all radio. There is no pos- sible way of assuring equality—of either rewards or opportunities—for everybody engaged in the business, they declared. Lower Standards Feared The rules promulgated by the ma- jority reduce networks to the ig- nominious and unsatisfactory status of time brokers, are liable to en- courage local monopoly and lowev grade sustainings, say the dissenters. Less enterprise is seen, with the adoption of principles with un- known consequences likely to 'cre- ate anarchy or a kind of business chaos in which the service to the public would suffer.' Case and Craven feared that free speech will be endangered as initia- tive is jeopardized and outlets arc brought to the verge of the common carrier classification. Free radio re- quires a maximum degree of free- dom from governmental interfer- ence, they warned; and 'concentra- tion of power in government is just as contrary to public interest as the concentration of control of broad- cast stations among a limited num- ber of licensees.' Taking the view that their col- leagues are most concerned about competition for competition's sake, the dissenters observed tartly that the Commish cannot blame the in- dustry alone if monopoly exists. 'It should be remembered that the Commission has licensed all broad- casting stations in the United States, after finding time and time again that each of the licensees was oper- ating his station in the public inter- est. Therefore if the Commission has erred in the past, it can now correct the mistake by exercising in individual cases the licensing power delegated to it under the Communi- cations Act of 1934,' they chided. Conflicting trends in the radio business should be recognized—but were not by the majority in drafting the rules—and the existing system should not be destroyed just to ben- efit some other private enterprise, the minority report cautioned. Op- portunity in radio is limited by na- ture, while technical progress has been overlooked. The chief aim of the entire government should be to encourage nationalism, not foster a bunch of localities with narrow in- terests. The majority was charged with professing to Iselieve in private en- terprise and the profit motive with- out noticing that government itself is demanding more and more free time and the Commish is egging the industry into, constantly increasing public service programs. - Unlimited competition theory Is likely to increase the number of sta- tions in cities without helping the small communities which are entitled to additional service, the dissenters protested. They also complr.ined that somebody must decide where the new stations go, noting the Federal umpires cannot encourage maximum competition without considering the needs of the sparsely-populated sec- tors. Policy of unlimited competition therefore directly collides with the 'legal mandate to distribute facilities fairly, efficiently, and equitably.' Facilities Limited A distinction should be made be- tween unlawful, injurious monopolies and those which are beneficial, since there is no unlimited supply of facili- ties, the minority report advised. .Unreasonable^ restraints, of course, cannot be tolerated, but there is no question about existence of vigorous competition, between stations and networks, with other media, in net- work versus spot broadcasting. Con- stant shifting from chain to chain disprove contention that monopoly exists. Other Federal agencies have juris- diction and power to correct some of the defects in the set-up, Case and Craven reminded. The Justice De- partment and Federal Trade Com- mission should be left to take action if there are illegal practices, such as in the talent and transcription branches. Many of the criticisms of the ma- jority overlook the good things about the industry, the dissenters lamented. Fight for talent is constant, the re- strictions on individual station man- agements are entered voluntarily, cancellation privileges are sufficient to meet the needs of local communi- ties, or prevent undesirable programs, and stations have been industrious in providing public service such as forums. Anybody who can furnish better service can grab the facilities, so the Commish already has the whip hand, and the licensing power is all that is needed to check exces- sive concentration of control. F.C.C. Authority Questioned The minority was agreeable to limiting multiple-ownership in in- dividual communities, and said it may be desirable to prevent one.com- pany from maintaining two net- works. Morp definite yardsticks should be supplied by Congress, however, instead of reading Into the statute authority that may never have been delegated, they declared. Economic stability cannot be achieved by government fiat, the minority report warned, noting that radio is a service business and it is hard to evaluate its worth. Licenses are altogether too short, while ^ changes in the industry are exceed- ingly rapid and costly. ■ The tax laws are the way to correct any dispro- portion of revenues or unconscion- able profits, and if the statutes now on the books are inadequate to pro- tect the public interest. Congress can enact new levies. Too Much Qompetlsh? Already there are too many ex- cessively competitive situations. Case and Craven observed. Stations every- where are losing money. Many can- not get along without their web affil- iations, as for instance those in areas where talent supplies are insuffi- cient. In a number of special tables, they pointed out that the poorer the class of station the greater the chance of going in the red regardless of the market, while the earning power of a station regardless of its affiliation or independence and the kind of facilities is directly related to the importance of the market. Out of the 660 commercial plants in 1938, there was a fairly even division be- tween those belonging to webs and these without affiliation, they noted, and 92 of the network plants oper- ated at a loss. So affiliation is no guaranty of financial success. 'Economic Invasion* 'For this Commission or any agency of Government to attempt to substitute its judgment for that of the public involves an arrogant pre- sumption which should be avoided at all costs,' the minority asserted. 'That such a policy is not contemplated by anyone on the Commission seems quite clear. However, it can be argued with logic that invasion of this economic field by the licensing authority in the,absence of a clear legal mandate would constitute an inevitable prelude to the second step of assuming the role of arbiter of public tastes. 'Circumstances may require the Federal Government to exercise broad powers In many fields of our economic life; but it is imperative that broadcastjng be maintained as a free American institution.'