Boxoffice-January.08.1955

IBITORS ATTACK TOLL TV
FILING PROTEST TO FCC
ea of Zenith for
( Approval of
u-See Plan
N—The exhibitors joint
oil TV on Thursday t6)
to deny the joint petition
and Teco, Inc. for approval
television either without
th written or expedited
itted by the law f u'm of Cohn
int committee attempted to
nith arguments on behalf
11 light for pay-as-you-see.
Id that the joint committee
ibitor organizations reprelately
75 per cent of the
)n picture theatres.
lENTS ASSAILED
rguments which the joint
;d held that U) television
ee," since the public must
oducts to keep programs on
FCC has legal authority to
-you-see; (3) pay-as-youe
more effective use of TV
t4) it would be in the public
irize pay-as-you-see imme-
3Ut hearings.
brief contended that pres-
;e, in that the public is not
dvertised products. Approxfamilies
have bought apillion
worth of TV receivers
that they will not have to
according to the joint comt
of the pm-chasing by low
ssion should now announce
hat this third largest capihich
they have made . . .
5 represented to be and that
; original capital investment
jy in order to see programs,
arise in this country which
1
omplaints of the 160 UHF
the Senate interstate and
e committee sound like a
rXEE CHARGES
littee said there is consider-
;he FCC has legal authority
iription television, citing the
1 statements doubting that
> "broadcasting."
uled the Zenith assertion to
subscription TV would aid
t of new UHF stations, or
ibstantial growth of TV sernow
reached. Unapplied-for
ireas which will not support
was argued, and the joint
sd out that Zenith, itself,
. . .
lish subscription television in
politan areas." Zenith, the
ingling "a bait before the
once the Commission decides
len blithely do exactly what
oadcasters have done
Subscription TV Receives
Fast
Brushoff by FCC
Washington — Subscription television
received a fast bruslioff in tlie Federal
Communications Commission's annual report,
released Saturday (1).
The Commission noted pay-as-you-see
only briefly, and repeated almost identical
comments in previous annual reports
to the effect that this sort of television
presents unusual problems for the FCC.
The report said that it is by no means
clear whether subscription TV should be
classed as a broadcast service or a common
carrier, and where frequencies might
be found for it.
There was no mention of possible hearings
to resolve these questions. Several
petitions have asked for such hearings,
and Zenith recently asked for immediate
approval without hearings. Cohn & Marks,
counsel for the Exhibitors Joint Committee
on Toll TV asked the FCC to hold
off on any such action until the Joint
Committee can draft a response (o the
Zenith petition.
Prospects for any quick action by the
FCC appear dim, in view of the annual
report's treatment of pay-as-you-see.
estabhsh sei-vice in those markets where the
economics can support the continuation of
the service."
Zenith's plans not only relate to such cities
as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia,
but experiments were conducted in
Chicago "as a typical community where subscription
television had a reasonable chance
of success." If Zenith were sincere, it was
argued, it would propose limited subscription
TV to those markets now without television
service, or at least they would not oppose
proposals of UHF stations to limit pay-asyou-see
to UHF channels.
Zenith, when it asked for experimental authority,
pleaded that it would be unable to
provide the necessary information at a public
hearing unless allowed to experiment and
this, according to the joint committee, casts
doubt on the good faith of the latest Zenith
petition. Also, it was charged that Zenith had
been chided by the Commission for
violation
of specific limitations placed upon the experimental
authorization, and this was given as
further reason why hearings must be held
now before any authorization is issued.
"Every segment of the interested public
should not only have the right to appear and
testify at such a hearing, but those who have
stakes in the question of the establishment
of subscription television should al.so have the
opportunity to cross-examine the proponents,"
the brief argued. Even in the simplest
radio and TV cases. Congress has required
the FCC to afford an opportunity for crossexamination,
and "no less stringent" procedures
are required in a proposal which
would have a "tremendous impact ... on the
entii'e broadcasting industry."
The Zenith contention that hearings might
take considerable time was recognized by the
joint committee as true, "but when weighed
against the tremendous social and economic
upheaval which may follow the establishment
of subscription television, the time element
becomes relatively msignificant."
The FCC within the next few weeks will
announce hearings on subscription television,
according to Commission sources on Thursday
(6). It was also revealed that there is
some sentiment within the Commission hi
favor of dumping the entire problem into the
lap of Congress.
The FCC hearings predicted probably
would take a long time to bring to a conclusion,
since they would not center on the
recent Zenith Radio petition for immediate
approval, but would be a broad-scale investigation
of the entire complex subject. Probable
topics to be covered would include
whether pay-as-you-see is broadcasting at
all. whether the Commission actually has
legal power to approve, whether pay-as-yousee
would encourage or discourage free television,
and whether one specific system
should be chosen if approval is to be given
at
all.
Broadcasters for Hearings
On Subscription TV
WASHINGTON—Opposition to FCC approval
of subscription TV without hearings
was expressed by the National Ass'n of Radio
and Television Broadcasters in a letter to the
Commission on Tuesday (4). NARTB president
Harold Fellows addressed his letter to
FCC chau-man George C. McConnaughey,
and termed "the basic issue," the question of
whether assignment of broadcast channels
to pay-as-you-see would "serve the public
interest."
Fellows stressed the fact that the letter did
not represent an NARTB position for or
against pay-as-you-see, but merely represented
that association's belief that the sub-
. . . should
ject requires "the utmost in regulatory consideration,
in which opportunity
be afforded interested parties to ah" the subject
completely."
Fellows said, "the various pending petitions
denote the great variety of problems
and details posed by this subject—including
proposals which often differ as among themselves."
Skiatron Starting Toll TV
Test on WGTH-TV, Hartford
NEW YORK—Skiatron Electronics and Television
Corp., headed by Arthur Levey, has
started ultra high frequency tests of its toll
television system over WGTH-TV at Hartford.
There are a large number of UHF converters
in that area. Tests over WOR-TV have been
in progress in the New York area for some
time.
The Skiatron system has a new IBM-type
card for decoding signals. It measures eight
by six inches. Reduction of the size of this
is contemplated through the use of transistors.
fanuary 8, 1955