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mmmmmmmwmmmwmmMill.•.w.v.v■v.v.v.v.v « • * •• • *illBroadcast CenterRentalDivision Of Work WearBluefield, Va. Ph. 326-1 118.VAApparatus(Continued From Page 2)ed. as Long worth opened theheavy soundproof door to leave he dropped dead in O.C.’s arms, thus becoming WHIS’s secondon-the-spot fatality.In 1948, in order that mon people in the area could receive the great network entertainment programs, WHIS increased its power to 5,000 watts and erectec four towers to beam the powerful signal directionally after sunset—a great theory that proved costly and technically impracti cal.After the failure of the direc tional towers (known locally as Shott’s Folly”), WHIS management continued to search for some means of reaching ALL the people of the area. The answer appeared to be a newdevelopment called frequency modulation. And so it was that in 1948, WHIS-FM was born.transmitter and all equipment was completely destroyed! Onlyone partial cinderblock wall remained !4tA hurried trip was made to WBRW, Welch, where they borrowed back the 250-watt transmitter that station had just bought from WHIS, and this was set up on the ashes by the piece of wall. Meanwhile, everyone sifted though the still smoldering ashes searching for the tiny quartz crystal required to set the frequency — and found it!mal Peak; and from there to the top of East River Mountain.Looked GoodMost Powerful FMWith an effective radiated power of 186,000 watts from a transmitter and tower 3,850 feet above sea level, the voice of WHIS-FM could be heard within a radius of 150 miles!WHIS - FM was the world’s most powerful commercial FM station!More powerful than commercial. There was one hitch: there were very, very few homes equipped with the special radios required to receive FM broadcasts. After waging a lengthy and costly battle, it became apparent that WHIS-FM had been born 15 years too soon.Win a few . . . lose a few! With hardly more than a shrug, Jim and Hugh, Jr. gave up on FM and turned to the new range sweeping post-war America — television.Disproving the old adage, lightning DID strike not twice, but three times in the same places: license, terrain, space. Same song but vastly differentverses!First, there was the matter of obtaining a federal allocation for a VHF station. When allocations of TV stations were made in 1952, Bluefield was left out of the picture. Only a UHF station to operate on Channel 43 was available for Bluefield.The management of the Daily Telegraph Printing Company felt that an ultra high frequency station was not suitable for theTAPE MAKER — The Audio Production Control Room converts written copy to recording tape cartridges. Here Announcer John Harman prepares a tape, simultaneously recordingvoice, musical background and/or sound effects. The finished cartridge may be used on radio or as the audio portion of a television spot.mountainous terrain. It took the position that if Charleston, Huntington, Wheeling and other West Virginia cities could have VHF allocations, Bluefield should have one also.New ProposalAccordingly, the management of the new station made a thorough study of the situation and the allocations, and made a proposal to the FCC which ultimately resulted in the allocation of VHF Channel 6 here.But it took a considerable amount of time and effort to get the change made. First it was necessary to get the zone line oetween Television Zones 1 and 2 changed to permit the allocation of Channel fiThe various VHF channels — there are only 12 for the entire country — are allocated in such a way that they will not interfere with ea'ch other. But the requirements in differentparts of the country vary according to the zones, of which there are three. They zig-zag the country roughly dividing it into northern, middle and southern sections. In the middle Zone2 (in which Bluefield was originally placed) stations utilizing the same channel cannot be closer than 190 air miles. This separation is reduced to 170 miles in Zone 1.The first line of separation between Zones 1 and 2 ran froma point near Kenova directly across Southern West Virginia tothe Virginian - North Carolina border. Being south of that border, Bluefield was in Zone 2. WHIS petitioned the FCC tochange this line to conform with the southern West Virginia boundary, and that petition wasfinally granted after many trips to Washington and a numberof hearings were held.Channel FightThe FCC was then petitioned{to move Channel 6 from Beck-ley to Bluefield, and to giveBeckley in its place Channel 4, both of which changes would fit the FCC’s allocation pattern. That also was granted, but onlyafter a fight that involved Oak Hill, Beckley, High Point, N.C.and other towns seeking VHFservice. To this day, this is the only change to its original pattern that the FCC has ever permitted.In the fight which finally brought Channel 6 to Bluefield, former Congresswoman Eliza1-beth Kee played a leading role. She took the position that no VHF service existed in her entire congressional district andurged correction of the situation. With Mrs. Kee’s help, bothpetitions were eventually granted.But still another hurdle hadto be cleared before WHIS-TVcould be started. A construction permit had to be applied for, and when that time came thereWithin 44 hours of the first fire alarm, the station was back on the air. It stayed on the air by having a technician park his car as close as possible to the now exposed transmitter, and reaching through the car window to operate it!under*With radio once more control, Pat wrestled with a bewildering assortment of problems and mysteries around the clock. Finally, WHIS-TV was ready for its air debut by July 31. 1955, when “test” programs began on a very limited basis.Elvin C. Feltner, an RCA TV Institute instructor and photographer, was imported as TV Production and Program Manager. Ray Brooks, then serving as engineer - announcer for radio,became head cameraman-artist-musician-actor for the new station. John Shott, son of Jim, the commercial manager for radio, took on the added function of TV Sales Manager. The first local merchant he “sold” on television advertising was Alfred Land, jeweler, who sponsored ‘‘Camera 4.” a Hollywood film presentation. O. C. Young made his television debut as announcer for•was opposition to the granting of the permit by a group of Beckley and Bluefield citizens who formed a company of their own to seek a permit for the station.The contest for the construc-the ‘‘Mr. District Attorney ■ program. Don Reed, of Ashland, Ky., was doing newscasts, and Bill Elliott, a Sunset News reporter, handled the sports news. Mel Barnett had been namedIt looked good on the map. Getting men and equipment up the rattlesnake - infested, un-biazed rocky mountain sides was something else. Equipped with compass, binoculars, searchlights, mirrors and snake - bite kits, Pat and his boys set out.First, thqy leased space at station WDBJ- Roanoke, for equipment to pick up and transmit the network signals from ATT. Then the direct line-of- j ! sight path lt;the only way mic-I rowave can travel) from Roanoke to Poor Mountain was established by a man standing on top of the Mountain State and Trust Building in Roanoke reflecting sunlight with a mirror so that another man on the 13-mile distant Poor Mountain could pinpoint the originating location. This process was then repeated from that site to Dismal Peak and again to East River Mountain.Microwaves travel much as a beam of light travels. The transmitting antenna ‘‘dish” projects them as an automobile headlight reflector projects its beam of light, The pattern is slightly conical, like the beam from a powerful searchlight, for feet in diameter at the originating point. It loses power as it travels, and when picked up at the next relay point the signal is brought up to full power and re-transmitted to the next point. All this by air. There are no physical wire connections. The same microwave relay system could carry not only television, but telephone, telegraph, radio — and very likely will one day replace the maze of wires and poles now dotting the horizon.TEEN TIMERS — Jack Brewster (standing), Fred Hines, and Doug Van Devender (not shown) alternate on WHIS-Radio’s nightly “Teen Time.” The popular deejays select the records they spin from a vast library encompassing all types of music.microwave system was nearing.} On September 26, 1955, the Herculean task was done. At j 4 p.m. the “Pinky Lee Show” became Channel 6’s first network program.manager of WHIS-Radio.Live TalentThetion permit went all the way to formal hearings before theFCC. Only then did the group attempting to block WHIS dropout. WHIS reimbursed them for their legal expenses. The permit was granted in October 1954, and the big task of getting the station on the air was begun.New ProblemsPermission to televise is one thing erecting a station toactually transmit a telecast is quite another! This was before postwar Japan introduced the age of miniaturization, so first consideration had to be whereto house the tons of massive equipment. Certainly, the Commerce Street radio studios werefirst live entertainment group on WHIS-TV was the “Swingsters,” led by Fred Pendleton, and included Don Jackson, Ray Morgan. Charlie Blankenship, Cecil Lively, Truman Pennington. Jane Meadows was featured pianist and vocalist. Another popular swing group was the “Quin-tones” — Bud Kurtz. Duffy Hornbeck, Bob Brannon, Ber-nie Dillon, Garland Bruce, with Diane Dodd as vocalist. Charlie Cassell, now music director for a large church in North Caro-! lina, manned the new Baldwin Orgasonic organ for Saturday night recitals.Sound and picture travel together, although they are actually two separate signals. The sound, or audio signal, is an FM (frequency modulation) radio wave. That is why you can pick up Channel 6 television sound on your FM radio. TheOperating on 50,000 watts from 3:30 to 10:30, the network schedule included John Cameron Swayze’s “News Caravan,” the popular Sid Caesar Show and wrestling on Mondays; Milton Berle, Martha Raye and Bob Hope alternating on Tuesdays; Wednesday offered “The Cisco Kid,” “Mr. District Attorney”picture, or video signal, is an anc* Hunter, locallysponsored films. Thursday wasthe big night, with Bishop Ful-AM (amplitude modulation) radio wave. The two are combined into a composite beam by an apparatus called a diplex-er at the transmitter in Roanoke. and unscrambled when the beam reaches the transmitter on East River Mountain.If all this sounds complicated, it is! To get the first equipment up the mountain and operating, point to point, voice circuits were established throughI telephone switchboards at townsHollywood was battling the along the way, so Pat and hisnew medium for its life, andfilmed shows suitable for telecasting were hard to come by.j boys could talk back and forth while attempting to establishinadequate.Pat Flanagan, then Engineering and Administrative Director, and Chief Engineer John Byersscouted about town and negotiated with the city fathers for thethird floor “loft” of the Municipal Building. Remodeling beganat once to convert the barren space into suitable studios, control rooms, film room, production booths, as well as spacefor a greatly expanded office staff for both radio and television activities.OnART DEPARTMENT - “Get me something for the screen!” is the battle cry that sets the Art Department in motion. Here Art Direcor John Gobble (seated) discusses layout for a TV slide with assistant Robert (Bud) Music. The Art Department is responsible for all visual aids used in local TV production, and has its own photographic and dark room facilities. In addition to his commercial art, Gobble is well known in the area for his excellent portrait work and paintings.Mother’s Day of that year — 1955 — Flanagan took a“breather” and went off to Clay tor Lake for the weekend. Ray Brooks was peacefully spinning records on the radio whenhe received a call from Billy Lackey on duty at the Harry Heights transmitter. Seems Bill’s car was on fire in the garage adiacent to the transmitter andFlanagan’s apartment. Ray called the Fire Department, but being out of the city limits, it took some persuading to get them out. Meanwhile, Ray continued to play records, unaware thatthe fire had burned through the wires disrupting the broadcast. |Wall RemainedUnable to reach Bill byphone, Ray went to investigate. When he arrived, passing motorists and neighbors had carefully removed everything fromFlanagan’s apartment — including the closet doors — but theGood as local talent was, varied television hours were increasingly hard to fill.How was the new station to supply sufficient programming to justify its existence?Network was the obvious answer, but, as usual there was a hitch. There were no network common carrier facilities, and when approached on the subject, the American Telephone Telegraph Co. indicated it had no plans afoot to put in common carrier connections between Bluefield and Roanoke, the closest city receiving network television signals.Jim and Hugh Shott, now president and general manager respectively, decided to install their own microwave relay system to bring NBC programs from Roanoke, a distance of some 70 air miles. RCA, pioneer in broadcast electronics, agreed that such a theory was sound, but had never been attempted over such terrain nor for such distances. The accepted the challenge of creating necessary equipment, but Pat Flanagan was handed the awesome assignment of planning, installing and operating the system. . .an entirely new and unusual job!Pat pured over U. S. Geodetic maps tediously selecting and rejecting routes and sites for relay transmitters and receivers. Eventually he settled on the first relay receiver and transmitter 13 miles west of Roanoke on top of Poor Mountain; the second, 38Vi miles west of there to a spot appropriately named Dis-their line-of-sight paths.Still In UseIThe towers at each relay! point, designed by Flanagan and still in use, are four 50-feet creo-soted telephone poles, with a large platform on top to support antennas and external equipment and also allow room for men to service them. Ground equipment at the relay points is housed in pre-fab steel houses, and is remotely controlled. When the network comes on in Roanoke, it automatically starts the transmitter, which by a beamed signal starts the next transmitter in turn.The adjustments to all t h e I equipment are, of course, extremely critical. Paul Osburn, | WHIS engineer, and a helper travel to each site seveal times every month to assure proper operation.The WHIS-TV microwave relay is one of the very few privately owned systems In the country. Even today, RCA (who built the equipment for a mere $70,000» brings its research anddevelopment engineer traineesto WHIS to study the system.ton J. Sheen’s “Life Is Worth Living,” “Highway Patrol” “The Ford Theatre,” and ‘Dragnet” at 9:30. On Friday, William Ben-dix’s ‘Life of Riley” was the top situation comedy, followed by “The Cavalcade of Sports,”which was limited entirely to boxing. The highlight of Saturday was “The George Gobel Show.”Now that setwork television and Channel 6 had become a reality, there was no rest for the weary engineers. Next chore: combine WHIS - Radio, still located on Commerce Street, and W'HIS-TV into one facility. This move was com-pleted in November, 1955.In the early fifties, possession of a home television set was still a definite status symbol. As mass production put 10, 12,even the fabulous 21 - inch round tube sets within H»e financial reach of almost everyone. Channel 6’s telecast schedule gradually expanded to fulltime. By February, 1956, providing continuous 16-hour day viewing.Educating” the public on how to use their new TV sets, and what to expect from them, provided WHIS personnel with many a chuckle. Like the lady who called the station to inquire if anyone in the studio were smoking, as the smoke was filling her living room. How could she turn it down? Ray Brooks advised, “Ma’am, that’s easy.Unplug your set, then call thefire department — FAST!”4iOld Movies ThenDuring those early years of TV, network service was limited to two or three live programs an evening, making it necessary tofill with filmed shows and local programming. Even then, o 1 d movies provided the bulk of TV fare.Ask the Pastors,” already an established radio show, was telecast on Sunday afternoon, and had the distinction of being Channel 6’s first simulcast — heard and seen on radio and television simultaneously. While “The Swingsters” and “The Q u i n-tones” continued to fill many an interlude with pleasant, dance-(Turn To Page 4)Excitment MountsMeanwhile, back at the Munic ipal Building excitment mounting as Pat assured staff that completion ofwas h i s the
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Sun, Apr 09, 1967
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 10 May 2021
Other Publications Near Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield Evening Leader
Bluefield Daily Leader
Bluefield Sunset News
Bluefield Sunday Telegraph
The New Daily Telegraph
