Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

VOL. 16; No. 34 9 The FCC BOSTON & MIAMI REVOLTS GROW: Protests by the wounded & bruised parties involved in FCC’s sock-itto-them decisions in the Boston Ch. 5 & Miami Ch. 10 “influence” cases (Vol. 16:29 pi et seq.) reached a shrill pitch last week. No end of filings, counter-filings and litigation was in sight. Following up petitions to the Commission & U.S. Court of Appeals by National Airlines’ WPST-TV Miami to halt the loss of its Ch. 10 grant (Vol. 16:33 p5), the Boston Herald-Traveler’s WHDH-TV moved in to protect its threatened Ch. 5 grant. Lawryers for WHDH-TV challenged FCC’s July 14 order which vacated the 1957 award. They said the order should be withdrawn, that FCC should reconsider it on the basis of earlier recommendations by special examiner Horace Stem. He had chided WHDH-TV principals for using back-door approaches to the Commission, but said the grant shouldn’t be disturbed. WHDH-TV also protested FCC’s plan for a new competitive hearing for Boston Ch. 5 at which the HeraldTraveler could start all over again — along with its old competitors, Mass. Bay Telecasters, Greater Boston TV and Allen B. DuMont Labs. This new-hearing proposal violated instructions by the Court of Appeals in its remand of the case to the Commission, WHDH-TV said, arguing that FCC is court-bound “to maintain the status quo until further order [by the] court.” Lawyers for Mass. Bay Telecasters indicated they are getting back into the Boston Ch. 5 fray, too. They planned an FCC filing to oppose the WHDH-TV maneuvering. There was no immediate word from Greater Boston or DuMont Labs. A 5th interested party — the Boston Globe — was reported undecided about doing anything. There were these developments on the Miami Ch. 10 front meanwhile : (1) L. B Wilson Inc., the happy winner (by default) of Ch. 10 under FCC’s decision that National Airlines’ Public Service TV & 3 other original contestants were unfit, filed specifications with FCC for immediate operation under special temporary authorization (STA) . (2) Public Service TV promptly sent a letter to FCC admonishing it to pay no heed to the L. B. Wilson STA application. Wilson’s request must be held up pending disposal of WPST-TV’s Commission-&-Court protests. Public Service said. (3) Elzey Roberts, former operator of radio KXOX St. Louis, who tried to get the Miami grant in 1958, was heard from again. Demanding that FCC reconsider its Ch. 10 ukase favoring L. B. Wilson, Roberts said he wanted to go after the grant once more. His petition asked that Ch. 10 be declared vacant & available to all comers, but that WPST-TV be permitted to carry on meanwhile. (4) The Assn, of Maximum Service Telecasters filed opposition to L. B. Wilson’s STA application, contending the proposed Ch. 10 antenna fails to meet minimum mileage separation requirements. FCC political-quiz help is offered all stations by NAB in a worksheet designed for use with Commission’s new questionnaire on broadcasters’ election campaign behavior this year (Vol. 16:33 p5). Copies of the worksheet and an accompanying memorandum have been sent to TV & radio outlets — NAB members & non-members alike — by NAB, City of Fresno’s petition for FCC reconsideration of the Ph-esno deintermixture case (Vol. 16:33 p5) has been opposed by Triangle’s KFRE-TV. It said the petition presents no new arguments and is at best “a mere restatement [which is] couched in descriptive terms designed to substantiate petitioners’ contention” and should be thrown out. KFRE-TV also called attention to the fact that it has committed itself to pay out $375,000 to switch from Ch. 12 to Ch. 30 — for which the FCC approved specifications Aug. 12 — and has already expended a substantial amount in order to meet the requirements of FCC’s order. Also filing opposition was the Assn, of Maximum Service Telecasters, which protested the request for shorter mileage separations in the Fresno area. KJEO (Ch. 47) Fresno urged FCC to take “speedy and unequivocal action” on the petition and have done with the whole affair. Never-say-die WVET-TV Rochester (Veterans Bcstg. Co.) has filed a 25-page petition (with a 44-page appendix) with FCC asking reconsideration of its grant of Albany Ch. 10 to WTEN (Capital Cities). Seeking reopening of the much-contested case, which has been marked by charges that the award involved FCC favoritism to WTEN’s Congressional stockholders (Vol. 16:30 p8). Veterans contended that Commission: (1) Denied many valid exceptions noted in the proceedings by WVET-TV. (2) Failed to give careful evaluation to proposals. (3) Avoided its responsibility to make a decision on comparative merits. (4) Obscured its decision for WTEN in technicalities. Augmented Conelrad plan for insuring continuity of emergency broadcast service in the event of an enemy attack on the U.S. has been adopted by FCC. As worked out by Commission’s National Industry Advisory Committee, the plan sets up a priority system for network & local transmission of war bulletins: (1) Presidential messages. (2) Local programming. (3) State & regional programming. (4) National programming & news originating from Cabinet officers, OCDM, an emergency all-media news pool, etc. Authentication procedures for the broadcasts will be provided by NIAC. Copies of the plan are being mailed by FCC to all stations & networks. Tail-tower application of WHAS-TV Louisville should be turned down, FCC examiner Charles J. Frederick said in an initial decision agreeing with the Broadcast Bureau (Vol. 16:19 p7). He concluded that the proposed 1,856-ft. structure with its increased coverage would damage Lexington’s 2 uhf outlets. Frederick also found that erection of the tower “would create a serious menace to air navigation,” bringing a “very real possibility of the loss of human life.” The WHAS-TV application was similarly disapproved in 1958 by the Washington Air Space Panel (Vol. 14:7 p8). Ex-FCC Comr. Richard A. Mack, whose Miami Ch. 10 conspiracy retrial was postponed last winter while he underwent psychiatric observation (Vol. 16:18 pl4), has been sued for a $556.30 hospital bill. The mental institute at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital claimed he owed the money for treatment from Jan. 28 to Feb. 23. The 2nd trial of Mack & Thurman A. Whiteside on charges that they plotted to rig the Miami grant for WPST-TV is set now for Oct. 4 in U.S. District Court, Washington. Revised schedule of FCC staff field meetings with booster operators (Vol. 16:33 p8) contains the following changes: Aug. 24, Denver in lieu of Pueblo. Sept. 1, Salt Lake City at 9 a.m. and Redmond, Ore., 1 p.m. Sept. 2, Pocatello, Ida., 11 a.m., and Grand Junction, Colo., 1 p.m. No meeting will be held Sept. 3.