Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

NAB LIBRARY '•••““Television Digest with Consumez* Electronics . . . The authoritative service for executives in all bvinclies of the television arts & industries ‘ OCTOBER 28, 1963 NEW SERIES VOL. 3, No. 43 SUMMARY-INDEX OF WEEK^S NEWS Broadcast OMAHA REPORT-MORE 'DIALOGUE* WANTEDbyFCC Chmn. Henry. He seeks more access of public to station program plans, financial condition, etc. No more locallive hearings needed at the moment, he says, suggesting examination of criteria used in picking network & syndicated programs, plus study of AM-FM (p. 1). PRO FOOTBALL CROWDS RUNNETH OVER, and teams seek to pick up fans through theater TV. Comr. Rozelle hastens to say system would only 'supplement' free TV (P. 2). THE UHF ETV EXPANSION PROGRAM, as proposed in FCC rule-making, provides total of 604 uhf ETV reservations, added to existing 99 vhf. Airborne uhf request also subject to rulemaking which asks about feasibility of 2500-mc band (p. 3). NO CATV COMPROMISE, FCC STAFF URGES, recommending Commission start rule -making to assume regulatory jurisdiction, without new legislation. Staff believes CATV legislative proposal too restrictive for long run, says industry has gone as far as it can without more microwave 3). Consumer Electronics ' FORM FREEDOM' is year' s most important trend in stereo; new shapes & concepts expanding market, as mass-market phono producers set sights on 'component packages;' Kalb cites 'quality revolution,' predicts price stability, component boom (p. 7). IMPORTED TV PRICES may drop as re suit of U.S.made tinyvision, some manufacturers believe, fearing dump next year; importers say American smill-screen promotion is helping their sales— not hurting; more Japanese sets seen with U. S. brand label (p. 8). HERTZ READIES NEW TV RENTAL PROGRAM: Car rental giant plans bigger bite of TV rental business, is testing program in Tampa, plans to introduce new technique in N. Y. in 3-6 months (p. 8). MORE 9-MONTH REPORTS: Magnavox has 5% profit gain despite 13% sales decline (p. 10); Westinghouse earnings slip to $39.6 million from $40.1 million despite sales rise to $1. 556 billion (p. 11); Muntz TV posts record $11. 8 million sales in fiscal year (p. 11); Motorola continues rebound from first-quarter profit drop with record July-Sept. sales & earnings (p. 11). OMAHA REPORT-MORE 'DIALOGUE* WANTED; FCC Chmn. Henry's report on Omaha "local live" hearing, released last week, shouldn't surprise anyone— because it embodies many of the things he's been talking about & voting for ever since he joined Commission. Henry believes Omaha stations "make a genuine, good faith effort to determine & meet their commimity's needs & interests in the local sphere." Trouble is, he says, that public doesn't participate enough in showing stations what is needed. So he comes up with number of recommendations— some not new: (1) Station program plans, as submitted to FCC in renewal applications, etc., should be available at station for public inspection. This is proposed in pending rule-making (Doc. 14864). (2) Financial status of stations should be known to public, and such data, as filed with Commission, should be open to public at station (as proposed in Doc. 14864). In addition, FCC's annual financial statistics on TV, including combined performance of stations in market, should be available (not yet proposed by FCC, but should be, says Henry). (3) Program forms should have "regularized framework" for reporting on irregularly scheduled local "specials"— because stations rely heavily on these to meet local needs. (4) "Glaring deficiency" in program form is inadequate provision for showing when programs are carried. And Henry indicates he believes there isn't enough locally-produced material in prime time.