The Tennessean du lieu suivant : Nashville, Tennessee • Page 137

-SW nil 'mi 1 1 WKDA-FM a new stereo FM station to go on the air the first of December will have this computer center as its broadcasting nucleus. Demonstrating the workings of the $50,000 worth of automation equipment is Everett Larson, chief engineer for WKDA-AM and the new FM sta- Staff plio'o by Bill Preston tion. With him are the two executives who are announcing the previously unpublicized creation of WKDA-FM, Smokey Walker, center, manager, and Dick Buckley, right, program director. Soon: 3 Full-Time Stereo FM Stations Here By JUDY THURMAN VS T1IE perceptive listener scanned his FM dial this year, he recognized stereophonic dimensions in the music aired by way of WLAC-FM or WS1X-FM transmitters. But if he tried to tune in on the third sta tion offering stereo selections, WNFO-FM, the response was silence.

The enigma of the vanishing Yv'XFO has a plausible, and fairly spectacular, explanation. The station was purchased last year by the owners of the successful WKDA-AM. After months of unpublicized pro gram planning and equipment purchasing, the re-vamped station, sporting the call letters WKDA-FM, will be back on the air late this year. It will, in reality, be a brand new full-stereo operation and will broadcast 24 hours a clay. 1st of December The announcement of the opening of WKDA-FM, "hope- imii' Manumit1 fcn THE FISHERl COMPLETE laanHunmnir- STEREO FM PHONOGRAPH SYSTEM CD ft.

rJ Complete System Ready to Enjoy 'Nothing Else to Buy) I ,,1 1 All will be transmitted in stereo. Tape Breaks? What, happens, one might ask, if a tape breaks? Does the station go off the air temporarily? "No." replies Everett Larson, chief engineer for both the AM and FM operations. "Within three seconds, another tape will begin. That Is a shorter pause than Is caused by most human errors." The "human angle" is a major argument given by proponents of lire broadcasting. As 'Mark Pritchard, program director of LAC-AM and FM, puts it: "Our policy is that a live announcer is a companion to the listener.

Unlike a machine, a person can play records to suit the mood of a particular day or hour. If it begins to rain, he might play 'Singing in the for example. "There is a rapport between an air personality and his audience. A good announcer can put together four or five records, and without saying a word, he can tell a whole story." But, say the proponents of automated broadcasting, so can the machine because "we program it ourselves." Said Buckley, when asked to respond on the question: "I really don't feel that I need to defend it. When we go on the air.

it will defend itself well." All agree, however, that the innovation of stereo broadcasting is the greatest thing yet for the FM stations. In addition to sending out sounds at a high frequency, the FM stations with stereo equipment can "separate the sounds," just as on a stereo record player. Can't Hear It The result, on an FM radio receiver equipped with stereo, is separation of sound and increased realism. If you have an ordinary FM radio, you have FM stereo, in a sense, but you can't hear it. To hear it, you must buy a stereo adapter attachment for your present set, or buy a new stereo set.

In fact, says John Rogers, WLAC-FM announcer, "IJ you have a good stereo receiver, you can get better sound from stereo FM radio than on your ou stereo record player." Rogers gives a clear explanation for the layman of the effects of stereo to the listener. "Imagine that you are standing in the lobby while a sym- fully to be the first of December." is being made today by Smokey Walker, general manager of the station, and Dick Buckley, program director. 7i lUjUt of recent Wulkcr said this week us h( fldiiccd outside at a snoii-coracd Kasliville, "we rriust mill, 'weather The studio and equip-vu tit are ready, but the tower, to be atop the WKDA suite on the 12lli floor of the Stahlman Building, is still under construction. With the advent of the new station and expansion plans of another, Xashville, by 1967, will be able to boast three fully stereophonic FM stations. W'LAC-FM is already full stereo, and WSIX-FM, which transmits in stereo 70 hours a week at present, plans to be completely converted to stereo by the first of the year, according to Jim Kent, WSIX-FM manager.

U'(i the importance of stereo to FM broadcasters? Simply put, it is as Kent says: "Stereo is to FM as color is to telrrisian." While WKDA-FM policy toward the attributes of stereo broadcasting parallel those of the two other stations, there is an important difference in another area whether to push "live" or automated program-miner. Roth WI.AC-FM and WSIX-FM are proponents of the former. WI.AC broadcasting live 24 hours a day, and WSIX planning to be completely live by the first of the year. Right now, all WSIX stereo programming. 13 hours per day and five hours on the weekend, is live.

Cost $50,000 Rut the owners of the new WKDA FM have purchased $50,000 worth of automation equipment to produce what they promise will be "precise programming perfect variety." The new equipment, all of its cops producing -a syncronized timetable of entertainment, will he previewed for the news, broadcasting and public relations media at an open house Xm-. 7G. The computerized equipment includes seven tape machines for music iwith announcers' introductions), two machines for the time, and two machines for commercials and public service I THE FISHER MODEL 400 65 WATT FM STEREO RECEIVER 1 1 Regular Price $440.00 Now Only $13.13 Monthly 2 FISHER XP5 A-SPEAKER SYSTEMS Oil Walnut GARRARD Model 40 Record Changer Shure M3D Cartridge UJ on 10 2T 255-0336 rfflCil C7 115 19th Between West End and Broad (Closed Mondays).