Evening star., 1936-09-06

"HEN television finally musterS
enough fortitude and capital to
venture around that corner where 1t
reputedly has been lurking for nearly
a decade, it will find Uncle Sam on
hand with a brand-new set of rules
to govern its emergence into the work.
aday world.
Mindful of the development of the
visual radio art that is destined to
give to the people movies of the air,
the Federal Communications Commits
sion has just drafted set of air traf-
fiC regulations which it believes will
foster television's development, and
at the same time keep it within proper
commercial bounds. 1t does not want
to see visual radio exploited beyond
its capabilities. 1t desires to see it
develop gradually and upon sound
technical and economic ground.
That is the reason the F. c. c., un-
beknown to the general public, within
the last fortnight made public entirely
new rules to govern televisiCn. Not
only does it set aside specific channels
in the ultra-high range fer visual
broadcasting. but it also prescribes
how the broadcasts shall be offered
in conjunction with regular sound
broadcasts: how the call letter an
nouncements shall be made: how COM
mercial announcements shall be ''tele-
V.sed" and what television broadcast
ers may and may not do.
THESE regulations, of course, grow
out of the imminent introduction
of television. Experiments now are
going forward in New York by Radio
Corp. of America. marking the first
practical field tests after more than
10 years of intensive laboratory study
and development. Philco and Farms
worth also are among the leaders in
experimentation, and are launching
field tests of their systems.
With all this activity, and with
virtual agreement reached by Govern
ment and industry as to the particular
portion of the ether spectrum that
will be staked off for visual radio, the
Federal authorities concluded it was
time to promulgate some traffic regu-
lations for this new offshoot OF radio,
even if some people judge them pre-
mature. Regulations. they feel, can
always be altered to fit practical con-
ditions, whereas to allow experimental
operations to go forward unrestrained
and without certain limitations might
prove disastrous.
OF course, there can be no television
reception until the visual broadcasters
establish stations and until radio man
ufacturerS make available receiving
equipment The battle behind the
scenes has been largely one of STAN
dardization to the end that when tel
evision does break its experimental
shell, the same type of transmitters
and receivers will be in use generally.
All this coordination has been under
taken with Uncle Sam as the medi-
ator, and it looks now as if there will
be definite agreements on this before
regularly scheduled television broad
casting.
CERTAINLY another year will
elapse before the leading expert
menters venture into space with tele-
vision and the manufacturers offer
receivers to the public. 1t may even
be two or three years. But whenever
the time, these same people will dig
out of the archives the rules which
the F. C. c. has just issued and hew
to their limitations.
First, the F. C.. c. says a Icensee of
a televiSion broadcaSting station (of
which there are dozen now operating
on a private experimental basis) shall
not make any charge, directly or in
directly, for transmission of either
visual or aural signals. The idea is
that both the pictures and the ac-
companying talk or music shall be
broadcast simultaneously for syn
chronous reception by the listener.
But, says the F. c. c., where an
experimental television station is op-
Grated in conjunction with a regular
broadcast station, all commercial an
nouncements not part of the enter
tainment continuity must be elm
mated from the television broadcast
except the mere statement of the
name of the sponsor or the television
of the trademark, symbol, slogan or
product of the sponsors" That
means, in essence, that if the regular
program sponsor in the Skinless
Sausage Co., then picture of the
product can be flashed over the tele-
vision apparatus, along with its slogan,
which might be "You Can't Skin
Skinless," running diagonally across
the sign of the sausage. But the pic
torial material could not say, for ex-
ample, Eat Skinless Sausage to Keep
Skinny" because that would be COM
mercial.