Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-01-12
THE PRO AND THE CON THE SUNDAY STAR MMs&4ggssa An
Pay Tv-WouId It Be a Boon or Betrayal?
1t Would Break q Promise

ways Of easing our critical educa.
tional problem.
There are, without doubt. many
things about modern television one
might wish to improve. One could
step UP the quality of some Of the
productions. Or do something
about excessive commercialisn1.
But any system that utilities
for profit the allocated channels
necessary TO full. competitive. free
service-even to a fractional ex-
tents. in my opinion, contrary
TO the public interest. If I thought
for one moment that the people
Of the United States were being
denied a service that could be
supplied by pay-TV on broadcast
frequencies. / would willingly
withdraw my objections.
The fact Is that the various
pay-television schemes run abso-
lutely counter to the basic theory
Of the legislation which estab-
lished Americas broadcasting
system. They propose. in effect.
TO usurp some of the limited free
time now available and supplant
1t by a sort Of domestic slot ma.
chine operation which would re-
quire the people to pay for some-
thing they are now receiving
without charge.
A Tremendous Investment
1t is estimated that the total
contribution Of American citizens
to our free system Of television,
through purchase and mainte-
nance of sets. runs to SIT billion.
Nearly 5000 million has been in
vested by business and much more
by individuals. through their
talents and skills. in building q
system which today stands alone
as the greatest system Of free
hroadcasting in the world.
Any disturbance of that pattern.
which is based on our traditional
free concept toward all public
media, jeopardizes the entire
structure. This holds true even
II 1t we're limited to use Of existing
channels part Of the time" on q
charge-per-cuStomer basis.
On the one hand, therefore, We
have system of television which,
like all thriving. dynamic entities.
is open to certain criticisms-in
this case. advertising excuses or
program formats. On the other
hand. the system has been
Endorsed overwhelmingly by the
American public at large. Forty
million households enjoy free
television in the United States and
the number is growing constantly.
Should there be a system Of
pay-TV. the promoters-by charg-
ing. let us say. one dollar per set
for a feature that normally would
reach Is million sets, could obtain
more revenue than such feature
normally would cost to produce on
q network.
In other words. pay-television
could survive on approximately
per cent Of that total audience
which. in effect. means that 95 per
cent Of the present audience
would be "outbid."
1t is conceivable. therefore, that
some Of our finest programs could
be siphoned of free television,
thus denying existing service to
present free-set owners rather
than supplementing that service.
What would become of the thou
sands Of national and local adver-
tisers who employ television to
move goods and services, and what
economic repercussions would en-
sue. can only be imagined at this
point.
A Vitol Process
But there is another and more
vital consideration. The fact that
we have enjoyed such a phenom-
email growth Of television in the
United States is directly related
to the willingness of business to
invest funds in what at one time
appeared to be an insure future.
That investment enabled networks
and local stations to extend in
depth and scope their coverage Of
news events. The American
people are among the best-in-
formed in the world because Of
our free communications media,
and television is not the least
among them.
/. for one. don't want anything
to interfere with that process.
Pay televiSion very well might, for
1t would usurp free time to feed
specialized programs, as yet I'M
defined, to those who can afford
to drop a coin in the slot.
The Federal Communications
Commission has authorized tests
Of the pay-television system.
There is grave doubt as to the
commissions authority. under law,
even to authorize tests, since one
must assume they would be con-
Quoted on existing facilities Ii.
cenSed to broadcast under the free
system.
Whether the FEC is acting with
authority or not. however. be-
lieve that the CongreSs-the
elected lawmakers directly re-
sponSive to the peoples wishes and
interests-Should examine this en-
tire question thoroughly.