—The Daily Collegian Friday, April 30,1976
Commercial TV for State College
By JOANNE McLAUGHLIN
Collegian Staff Writer
State College is a town without
television. There are television sets here
and a cable that brings in television
shows from New York and Altoona.
WPSX, the University’s educational TV
station, has its studios in this area. But,
in terms of commercial programming
that originates locally and is locally
oriented, State College i$ and always has
been a town without television.
But that’s not because no one has
wanted to operate a TV station here. It’s
because every attempt to start a station
here so far has failed. Currently, Nittany
Communications, Inc. (NCI) is con
tinuing the challenge to bring a com
mercial station to State College and is
making its case before the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
NCl’s public inspection files, kept to
fulfill an FCC requiremennt, show that
on March 20, 1975, NCI filed with the
FCC for a construction permit to build a
commercial UHF television station for
Channel 29 in State College.
The application is extensive, including
studies, surveys, graphs and maps
required to provide the FCC with
technical information. It covers, for
example, the proposed antenna height,
the range of its signal and evidence that
NCI has studied the possible hazards to
aviation that its antenna tower may
cause and is prepared to provide
whatever safety precautions are
necessary.
Although it is impossible to go into all
the particulars of NCl’s application, it is
possible to outline some of the FCC’s
requirements of all broadcast ap :
plicants.
The FCC requires broadcast ap
plicants for a construction permit to
demonstrate that they are legally,
technically and financially qualified to
operate a station, according to an at
torney in the FCC’s Broadcast Bureau
whose name is being withheld at his
request.
The attorney describes the following
typical requirements of a broadcast
applicant: '
—A survey, personally conducted by
the applicants, community leaders and
members of the general public from the
areas that the new station will serve.
From the results of this survey, the
applicant should determine what the
areas’ needs and problems are and
should propose programming to the FCC
that is in accordance with serving these
needs.
did not detail what caused the after the Soviet Union made it the Soviet delegation lies on
blast, but said the explosion known to Peking that it was the table of the Soviet-Chinese
took place “at the gates of the ready to resume talks which negotiations on a ' frontier
USSR Embassy” in the have been deadlocked for settlement."
Chinese capital. years on disputed border The border talks have been
Tass said Soviet diplomats areas. Since the deadlock at a standstill since October,
lodged an immediate protest developed, each side has kept 1969. The dispute started in
with. Peking authorities, up a barrage of propaganda. March that year when troops
MOSCOW (UPI) An - ' ficial news agency /Tass adding, “It was only by In a Pravda article, which of the two countries clashed
explosion shattered the en-' reported. The Kremlin im- chance that there were no Western observers described at Damansky Island on
trance to the Soviet Embassy mediately lodged a protest casualties among embassy as “very authoritative,” the Ussuri River. There since
in Peking yesterday, killing with Peking. staff." • Soviets said, “A package of have been reports of other
two Chinese guards, the of- The two-paragraph item The incident came a day constructive proposals from border clashes.
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Explosion rocks
Soviet embassy
*
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a financial statement, listing the
applicant’s assets, liabilities and
available lines of credit. Each applicant
is expected to show sufficient funds to
construct and operate the station for at
least one year.
a statement disclosing all prin
cipals and directors of the corporation
applying, including all stockholders with
an interest of three per cent or more.
This statement also must disclose any
principals having other media holdings
in the same community to. guard against
violations of FCC regulations which
prohibit multiple ownership of media
properties.
NCI provided the FCC with in
formation to meet these requirements in
its March,' 1975 application. On May 15,
1975, S(ate College Communications
Corporation' (SCCC), holder of the
broadcast licenses for WRSC and
WQWK (FM), two State College radio
stations, filed with the FCC a petition to
deny the application made by NCI.
SCCC raises several questions about
the merits of the NCI application in its
57-page petition. Among them: •
SCCC charges that the survey NCI
submitted to the FCC was improperly
conducted and was not in accordance
with FCC regulations.
SCCC says that Reed Allison, a
principal of NCI, did not personally
conduct the required community leader
surveys, but instructed his secretary to
conduct the surveys for him, in violation
of FCC regulations.
SCCC also finds fault with NCl’s
disclosure of its principals. It charges
that Charles T. Aikens, 11, publisher and
majority stockholder of the Centre Daily
Times, State College’s largest
newspaper, is an undisclosed principal
of NCI.
—SCCC alleges that the financial
interest of Henry Forker, Aikens’ son-in
law, in NCI is actually controlled by
Aikens and is influenced by him.
In addition, SCCC makes a number
of charges regarding the financial
qualifications of NCI.
In order to “correct, clarify or up
date information contained in the
original application,” NCI has amended
its application three times since SCCC’s'
petition to deny, according to NCl’s
public inspection files.
Fred Nicholas, president of NCI,
says Allison simply failed to follow FCC
instructions when conducting his
community leader surveys.
, “It was wholly a matter of ignorance
when Allison had his secretary do the
ENTHUSIASM AWARD
Alpha Xi Delta
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surveys for him,” Nicholas says. “He
(Allison) obviously didn’t read the
instructions in the FCC primer that
said he had to do the surveys himself.”
NCI denies SCCC’s charges that
Aikens, a former stockholder in NCI,
has any control over Forker’s NCI
holdings. It says Forker paid for his
holdings with cash from a personal trust
fund and is not influenced by Aikens in
any way with regard to his dealings with
NCI.
‘ Nicholas says Aikens’ association with
NCI ended when the corporation’s at
torneys informed it that the FCC had a
rule barring persons with media
holdings from being involved with new ‘
media ventures in the same community.
“Aikens did not want to impede the
FCC’s processing of our application
and it was mutually agreed that Aikens
would terminate his relationship with
' NCI,” Nicholas says.
In answer to the charge that NCI is not
financially qualified to operate a
television station, Nicholas says that
NCI has provided supporting evidence
for its projected first-year operating
budget in the amendments to its ap
plication. These are financial
justifications included in NCl’s files and
are available for public inspection.
NCI soon realized that the FCC would
delay action on its application until it
Due to circumstances
beyond our control ....
• •
studied both SCCC’s charges and NCl’s
amendments. NCI then seems to have
decided to show SCCC how it feels to
wait.
NCI began to make some charges of its
own. On June 26, 1975, it filed a petition
with the FCC .to deny SCCC’s license
renewals for WRSC and WQWK (FM).
NCI contends in the petition to deny that
the SCCC effort to halt the television
station's construction permit was ,not
filed in the public interest, but with the
intent of delaying or obstructing the
processing of NCl’s application. In ef
fect, NCI charged that the SCCC petition
to deny was a ‘ ‘strike’ ’ petition.
Roderick Porter, FCC>Counsel for the
Chief ofthe Broadcast Bureau, says the
term “strike” petition means that one
party may not. have filed charges
against another party in good faith, but
with the sole intent of blocking the other
party’s application.
Porter points oilt that the FCC not only
could rule that the SCCC petition is a.
“strike” petition; but it could also find
some merit in SCCC’s charges against
NCI. ,
Nicholas contends that there’s no
question that SCCC filed a “strike”
petition against NCI. He says SCCC went
through the NCI application “with a fine
tooth comb to find anything that might
seem irregular” so. that it could find
/
/
/
Observers said the Pravda,
article seemed to suggest that
the Soviets were ready for
another try at the thorny
issue now that the question of
a successor to the late
Premier Chou En-Lai ap
parently had been resolved.
Despite acrimonious
relations 'between the two
countries, the Soviets are
reported to have a staff of
several hundreds.
sought,
something on which to base its petition to
deny against NCI.
Nicholas says SCCC is afraid of losing
advertising revenue and filed the
petition against NCI in hopes of
preventing a television competitor from
entering the advertising market in State
College.
“They have succeeded in delaying the
processing of our application,” Nicholas
says. “We probably would have had the
construction permit by now if not for
SCCC’s petition to deny.”
, Robert K. Zimmerman, vice president
and general manager of WRSC and
WQWK (FM), , flatly denies NCl’s
“strike” petition charges.
“We are n6t trying to restrain com
petition from NCI in order to monopolize
advertising' in State College. That is not
the. purpose of our petition to deny,”
Zimmerman says. “How can anybody
hope to eliminate competition just by
■stopping the TV station from. going
through when there are already so many
competitors in the ad market in State
College three daily newspapers,
seven radio stations and “Town and
Gqwn”?”
In the wake of NCl’s petition to deny
the license renewals of WRSC and
WQWK (FM), the FCC has been
prompted to action. The Commission has'
scheduled a June 1 hearing in State
College to determine whether the SCCC
petition to deny is indeed a “strike"
petition against NCl’s application.
Nicholas says NCI plans to present at
the hearing testimony from four in
dividuals, two of whom are NCI prin
cipals, who have filed affidavits with the
FCC charging that Zimmerman made
statements to them iridicating'he would
do all he could to delay NCl’s ap
plication.
“Zimmerman made statements to
these four people that he would see to'it
that we never get on the air,” Nicholas
says, “The FCC wouldn’t have gone to
the trouble of scheduling this hearing if
thq charges we made against SCCC
weren’t valid.” ‘
Zimmerman would not comment on
the June 1 hearing except to say he feels
the FCC will “do the fair thing for all'
parties involved.”
Irwin Friedland, FCC Chief for the
Law Review Board, says the Com
mission will take some action against
SCCC if the hearing yields evidence that
the SCCC petition to deny is a “strike”
petition.
. “The FCC could fine the stations and
permit their licenses to be renewed, thus
Carl Fairbanks, State College
Municipal 1 Manager, says individual
, council members may have voiced their
approval of NCl’s plans, but, as a whole.,
the Municipal Council has neither taken
a position on the NCI application nor has
it been requested to'do so.
. David Stetson, executive director of
the State. College Area Chamber of
- Commerce, says his group has made no
policy statements bn the issue of a TV
station for State College. He adds that no
area businessmen have even ap
proached him with their comments
about the proposed television station.
England bank
officials
LONDON (UPI) Bank of
England senior officials,
world-wide symbols of
financial probity, are being
investigated for suspected
currency smuggling and
fraud involving- up to $lOO
million, financial sources said
yesterday.
The bank said “en
forcement officers” of - the
Treasury department were
aiding its own security per
sonnel in trying to learn
“whether any official of the
bank has knowingly been
involved in any breaches of
the Exchange Control Act.”
The 1947 law regulates the
movement of sterling and
foreign currency in and out of
Britain and the government
run bank has primary
responsibility for its en
forcement.
The bank said criminal
prosecution would, follow if
there was evidence of illicit
jTthe silver
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delayed
allowing them to 1 continue broadcast
operations,” Friedland says. “Or the
Commission could decide to -try to
revoke SCCC’s broadcast licenses. This
would mean another hearing, like a trial,
before an administrative law judge, to
determine whether revoking the licenses
of WRSC and WQWK (FM) would be in
the public interest. ”
. Porter says SCCC could appeal any
FCC decisions that go against it to the
''Commission and. later to-the U.S. Court
of Appeals and the U.S.Supreme Court.
While the FCC has taken initial steps
on the SCCC license renewal case, it still
is determining what impact, if any,
SCCC’s petition to deny will have on the'
NCI application, Porter says* .
/ Nicholas, however,, seems quite
confident that NCI will get its con
struction permit and that State College
will ..welcome a television station with
open'arms.
“All the contact we’ve had with the
University and. local government of
ficials and businessmen so far has been
favorable,” Nicholas says.- - •
But if representative cofrunuhity
groups, such, as the University, the
Municipal Council and the State College
Area Chamber of Commerce are as in
favor, of a TV station asi Nicholas says
they are, they aren’t making any public
statements to that effect.
Stanley Ikenberry, the University’s
Vice'President for Public Information,
says he knows of no- official position
taken by the University either hi favor of
or in opposition'to NCl’s plans to build a
television station in State College. -
Nicholas, however, seems sure of the
support of these groups. And when asked
if he expects to get a construction per
mit, he doesn’t hesitate to answer.
“We’ll get it eventually,” he replies.
suspect
dealings but gave no details of
the area of the investigation.
However, sources' in the.
City of London, the financial
district where the bank is
located, said yesterday the
probe followed discovery of
an apparent . currency'
smuggling and fraud racket
involving up to $lOO million.
The sources said the illicit
millions were gleaned
through manipulation of an
investment currency
premium of up to 50 per cent
charged by the Treasury on
sterling converted to foreign
currency for investment.
. abroad. "
The premium, minus 25 per
cent 1 retained by. the
Treasury, is repaid to the
British investor when he sells
his overseas holding and
converts the proceeds back
into pounds'.
In recent trials of currency
smugglers, the Treasury
changed that large amounts
of sterling were being taken,
out of the country often by
pretty girls carrying the bills
in suitcases without the
premium being paid.