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(C1osodSend us a postcardFCC meets this Thursday (Aug. 4), but notagain until Sept. 29, creating unusuallylong two-month hiatus. Commissioners'plans: Chairman Dennis Patrick will be outfor two weeks starting next Monday. Inaddition, during first week of September hewill be out for several days to attend WorldAdministrative Radio Conference onsatellites in Geneva. Commissioner PatriciaDiaz Dennis will be in her office throughoutAugust, but plans to take week inSeptember for snorkling vacation withfamily in Bermuda. Commissioner JamesQuello will be taking week of Sept. 8 to visitwith friends and family in Detroit. He willalso be out Aug. 24 -27 for MichiganBroadcasters Association convention inBellaire, Mich.Book reportKen Auletta, New York Daily Newscolumnist and author whose last book,"Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall ofthe House of Lehman," was nominated forPulitzer, is at work on new one on whatsome might refer to as greed and glory inbusiness of network takeovers. He is saidto have been granted access to mostpowerful of those involved in Capital Cities'acquisition of ABC, Laurence Tischemergence as dominant force at CBS Inc.and General Electric's takeover of NBC.And those individuals, said oneknowledgeable source, "are telling himeverything." Random House publicationdate is 1990.Life of partyAdd Phil Spector, of Goldberg & Spector, tolist of Democratic communicationsattorneys doing their bit for party this year.Along with Robert Healy, ARCO lobbyist,Spector helped keep Democraticconvention (reasonably) on time. Since1980, when Democrats met in New York,Spector and Healy have coordinatedminute -by- minute running schedule ofnational party's quadrennial gatherings.They also scripted language for thosewielding gavel. There were, Spectoracknowledges, number of glitches, butnone glaring. Overall, Democrats gothighest praise for efficiency: It looked likeRepublican convention.Meanwhile, former FCC ChairmanCharles Ferris and Neal Goldberg, whowas legal adviser to then-CommissionerTyrone Brown, between conventionsessions in Atlanta worked outarrangements for developingcommunications issues for Dukakiscampaign (BROADCASTING, July 11). Issuesircgroup Ferris heads will develop initialpositions with input from Goldberg, inBoston as counsel to Dukakis campaign onpolitical broadcast matters. Then Goldbergwill work with national staff in integratingFerris contributions into Dukakis issuespapers.Triple threatCapitalCities/ABC's selection of HouseCommerce Committee's Mark MacCarthyas its new Washington lobbyist (see "InBrief ") was being read by insiders lastweek as indication of network's desire tosolidify relations with Capitol Hill.MacCarthy, who will be number two in officeunder Gene Cowen, is CommerceChairman John Dingell's (D- Mich.) key aideon communications policy Move dovetailswith CBS's choice of Hill veteran MartinFranks (BROADCASTING, June 27) to run itsWashington operation, following departureof Bob McConnell. And unlike past, whennetworks encountered cold shoulder fromCongress, it is believed MacCarthy, Franks(both with strong Democratic ties) andNBC's government relations chief, BobHynes, will prove formidable team givingindustry competitors such as Hollywoodproductionrun for money.Top spotRichard E. Green, senior vice president,broadcast operations and engineering,Public Broadcasting System, Alexandria,Va., will take over in mid -fall as head ofCable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs). Official announcement of Green'sselection is to be made today at (Aug. 1) atCable Television Administration andMarketing Society conference in Boston.Formation of Cable Labs as R &D facility tostudy high-definition television and otheradvanced technologies for cable wasannounced soon after National CableTelevision Association convention lastspring (BROADCASTING, May 9). Site forfacility and start -up date are to be decidedlater.PBS under Green has been pioneer inhigh -definition production. News of Green'sselection followed announcement thatPeter Fannon will take similar job forAdvanced Television Test Center (see "InBrief").Get -togetherforge closer ties with NationalAssociation of Broadcasters, heads ofthree network affiliate groups will meet withNAB officials in Washington this Thursday,.ToCampaign trailerLarry Rasky press secretary for HouseTelecommunications SubcommitteeChairman Ed Markey (D- Mass.), is takingleave of absence starting Aug. 8 to work onDukakis presidential campaign. He'll bebased in New York to coordinate press andadvertising activities for campaign in mid Atlantic region (New York, New Jersey,Connecticut and Pennsylvania).Other shoe?Tele- Communications Inc.'s sale of itsportion of Memphis cable system to coowner American Television &Communications (see page 62) could bemirrored in Kansas City, Mo., where it is alsoco -owner of system with ATC. Source saidcompany felt single owner of cable systemmade most sense, and indicated similarpattern could be followed in Kansas CityThat system has been at center ofcontroversy over Ku Klux Klan attempts toplace programing on access channels.System serves 140,000 subscribers, whichcould bring price in neighborhood of 140million for TCI, giving company over 280million from two sales. What wouldcompany do with proceeds? One sourcesaid company may feel best buy is courseit has followed as of late: buying backcompany's own stock.Broadcasting Aug1011988Looking at sunsetCommissioner Patricia Diaz Dennis isdissenting in part to order adopted twomonths ago reimposing rules requiringcable systems to accord exclusivity tobroadcast programing. In explanatorystatement to be released this week, Dennissays that syndicated exclusivity rulesshould have sunset coinciding withcongressional repeal of cable'scompulsory license if that comes about.Bright outlookForecast is sunny for prospects of full -scalelaunch for Prime Time Tonight, local cross promotion service utilizing portion ofWeather Channel feed. Cable advisoryboard will meet this week at CableTelevision Administration and MarketingSociety convention to go over seven oreight different operating scenarios,including budgets, proposed fees, staffand job descriptions. Next step would beto pitch service to general operatorcommunity, asking for letters of intent tocarry service.PTT promotions are slotted for final threeminutes of each half -hour segment ofWeather Channel, time operators wouldotherwise program with local weatherinserts.

ere' 1',ßl aqs StG:Solid box indicates item has changed sincelast issue.AM -FM AllocationsFCC asked for comment July 20 on two technical proposals to improve AM radio coveragethrough reduction of interference. Proposalswere developed by National Radio SystemsCommittee (NRSC). joint National Associationof Broadcasters -Electronic Industries Association effort. FCC is also seeking comment onproposals to allow class A stations to increasemaximum power from 3 kw to 6 kw, proposedfor 60% of class As by NAB, and on counterproposals by New Jersey class A FM Broadcasters to allow almost all class As to doublepower. NAB opposes New Jersey plan because of possible interference to class B andC FM's. Commission has also proposed creating intermediate class C3 FM station class (25kw maximum ERP, antenna height 100 meters)for most of U.S.In April, FCC changed its rules to allowclass A FM stations moving to elevated antenna sites to reduce power below 100 -watt minimum to preserve coverage areas.FCC has released rulemaking authorizingFM's to use directional antennas, permittingallocation of stations in short -spaced positions. NAB opposed rulemaking, saying itwould lead to AM- ization of FM band. Commission said it had no plans to change table ofFM allotments.FCC launched inquiry March 24 into FMtranslator service, and in meantime froze applications for new translators. NAB, allegingwidespread abuses in translator market, petitioned FCC for changes in rules; otherspressed for expansion of service to allow forlocal origination.Western Hemisphere countries on June 2concluded second and final session of conference to plan use of 100 khz of spectrumadded to top of AM band that had ended at1605 khz. FCC is in midst of inquiry designedto help it determine how to use 10 new channels. Commission has indicated at least someof those channels will be reserved for nationallicensees. Target for implementation of planfor using spectrum is July 1, 1990.AM StereoOn Jan. 14, FCC rejected recommendation oNational Telecommunications and InformationAdministration that Motorola's C -Quam AMstereo system's pilot tone be protected frompossible interference. Petitions to adopt singleAM stereo system and to mandate multisystem radios were also rejected.Rationale is that C -Quam is already close tobeing de facto standard because 100% ofreeivers can receive it and majority of AMstereo stations transmit it.Multisystem radios receive signals generated by two incompatible systems battling to beAM-FM AllocationsAM StereoBy the NumbersAntitraffickingCable RegulationChildren's TelevisionComparative RenewalCompulsory LicenseCrossownershipDirect Broadcast SatellitesEqual Employment OpportunityFederal Trade CommissionHigh Definition TelevisionIndecencyLow -Power TVPublic BroadcastingScramblingSyndexTV StereoWireless Cableuu14uuu1414141818181919191920202020de facto standard -C -Quam and Kahn Communications' single sideband. NTIA reportsaid that although there is no inherent degradation of sound quality in multisystem, implementation of multisystem technology is notfeasible because of lack of support amongradio manufacturers and dominance of CQuam system in international marketplace. Infiling with FCC in December 1987, Kahn Communications charged that in 1985 Motorolaimproperly blocked Sony from selling multi system radios by asserting two AM stereopatents, and that patents in question wereimproperly obtained. Motorola dismissedKahn's charges.AntitraffickingOffice of Communication of United Church oChrist and Action for Children's Television inAugust 1986 petitioned FCC to institute rule making aimed at restoring version of antitrafficking rule commission had repealed in 1982.Commission staff denied petition, and petitioners appealed to commission. With commission having failed to act on their appeal, petitioners two weeks ago asked U.S. Court ofAppeals in Washington for writ of mandamus,which would compel commission action.Broadcasters last year turned back congressional efforts to crack down on perceivedtrafficking. Industry gained enough support tosink proposal of Senator Ernest Hollings (DS.C.) to impose 4% transfer fee on broadcastlicenses transferred within three years of lastsale. But Hollings has revived transfer feeidea, which was subject of Senate CommerceCommittee hearing in April.Cable RegulationNational Cable Television

Aug 01, 1988 · The Fifth Estate 0 2 AUG 1983 Broadcasting R A D I O T E L E V I S O N C A B L E ii S A Aug T E L L I T E 1 90 80 70 (i(1 50 40 30 20 I0 1984 1987 1988 They said it would be all uphill, They were right.Now 76 stations arc getting news whenever and wherever it breaks through Conus. Loca