The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 38

12C The Minneapolis Star Monday, April 13, 1981 Marketplace eS7 I FINISH MY SARATOGA 2 UHF stations can't get signal off the ground a Aft mm WZt (UHF, from Page 1C) Because of the village's resistance to higher towers, Channel 5 has put its plans on hold, though Hubbard said "we still want to do it." Channel 11 hasn't raised its tower, either, since the same company owns both towers. Part of the reason is money. Hubbard predicted the recent census would show the Twin Cities was now the nation's 15th largest television market. It has been listed as 13th. The higher antennas would add 100,000 viewers to the stations' total coverage area and keep the stations attractive to national advertisers, Hubbard said.

Meanwhile, the already-impatient UHF applicants are growing Buford President Charles Bowker said it was "interesting to note" that a recently published estimate put Channel 9's worth at $40 million. He implied the station was protecting its investment through delays. By night, Buford station would broadcast a scrambled signal to subscribers equipped with decod ers. Buford offers a California- based subscription service called ON TV over Cincinnati's Channel 65 (WBTI-TV). ON TV, which is owned by Oak Communications, sells a nightly slate of movies and Enjoy mnkm sports to subscribers for $21 a month.

IT Losing numbers? By day, KTMA's schedule would be an independent's standard slate of reruns and movies. It would compete for audience and for ad vertisine with Channel 9, an got Channel 23 on the air, apparently for financial reasons. Channel 29, meanwhile, had not been awarded; it was the object of competing applications from Faith and Buford Television Inc. of Tyler, Texas. Last year, Viking agreed to merge with Buford, and the new company, Buford-Viking Television, applied to the FCC for a transfer of license.

Faith was left as the sole applicant for Channel 29. It looked as though the area's last two available full-power television frequencies had found broadcasters. (Full-power UHF is not to be confused with the undetermined number of low-power UHF frequencies put up for grabs by the FCC last fall.) But the UHF picture has never had a chance to clear up, because years ago a VHF station tampered with the vertical control. Channel 5 obtained permission in 1973 from the Federal Aviation Administration the agency in charge of keeping radio towers out of the bellies of aircraft to add 274 feet to the Shoreview tower that holds transmitters for it and Channel 4. Channel 11 could raise the tower holding its transmitter, too.

But Channel 9 could not. The KMSP tower is not built to withstand both 274 extra feet and two additional transmitters which come with heavy copper wire 6 or 9 inches thick leading to them. So Channel 9, not wanting the other stations' towers to be taller than its own, announced it was rescinding its agreement to accommodate the new UHFs, and returned to its fellow commercial VHFs the $30,000 each had pitched in to defer accommodation costs. The other stations responded by suing Channel 9. The suit has been pending for several years in Ramsey County district court, and there is no indication when it will be heard.

And until the suit is resolved, channels 23 and 29 can't get their transmitters on one of the towers. Meanwhile, the FCC got wind of the dispute and, to back up its original demand that the VHFs make room for the UHFs, refused to renew the broadcast licenses of the four stations when they expired April 1, 1977. The licenses still have not been renewed. Adding a more human complication to the mess is the Village of Shoreview, which has a fear of falling TV towers. Seven workers were killed when a tower under construction toppled 10 years ago this September.

Falling ice But the village (and KMSP-TV general manager Don Swartz) isn't just frightened of an unsafe Channel 9 tower. Shoreview doesn't want Channel 5's tower 274 feet taller, either. People with homes near the towers already dread the hunks of ice that fall from the antennas each winter and spring, and they don't want the ice's angle "improved." When sheets of ice slide off the IDS Center, skyways are closed. "And the IDS building is half the height of these towers," said Shoreview Mayor Dick Wedell. Homeowners living within about 1 ,000 feet of the base of the tower have had holes punched in their roofs, Wedell said.

"These people have brought in some pretty good-size chunks of ice. Some of them 2, 3 feet." Wedell also said that Shoreview wanted the towers equipped with strobe lights to warn aircraft. Stanley S. Hubbard, president of trawe I W4f' li I Li vflwwtd 7 A other independent. Sewall was gentlemanly but agreed.

"I think that's what it comes down to: They're afraid of losing some numbers," he said, referring to all four stations. Perhaps enhancing that speculation is the knowledge that United Television, which owns Channel 9, has applied to the FCC to operate a low-power UHF station on Channel 46. "We don't know what type of program we would put on," said Swartz, who is president of United, a subsidiary of 20th Century-Fox. Swartz said United's low-power UHF antenna would be located in downtown Minneapolis to make the most of a low-power's limited coverage range. Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns Channel 5, also has applied for a low-power UHF station to serve the Twin Cities.

No programming plans have been announced. Current FCC policy would prohibit both United and Hubbard from owning a low-power station which would have a 15-mile range, compared with a 60-mile range for the full-power UHF stations. But both are free to apply, and both hope for a policy change. Channel 4 is applying for the legal limit of 15 stations, although general manager James Rupp indicated that none of the applications were for the Twin Cities. WCCO faces the same ownership prohibition.

Channel 11 plans no applications. And Twin Cities Public Television, which operates Channel 2, is applying for low-power Channel 51. The public station promises to air only locally originated programs. Still, each station executive said he welcomed the addition of the full-power UHF stations. Hubbard said each additional over-the-air station "makes wire television, cable television, that much less at tractive." W.T.

Doar, president of Midwest Radio-TV owner of WCCO, said, "We'd like to see them on the Channel 5, called the ice problem "a very overblown thing, no pun intended. I think it's an emotional thing and not really a problem." air." v'VI Low tar Briefing (from Page 2c) to the director of operations at WCCO-TV. ITT INDUSTRIAL Credit Co. promoted Thomas Mali to national marketing manager of the industrial finance and lease division, from manager of lease finance. VINYL SASH Manufacturing Inc.

of Waconia, promoted Ralph Hardgrove to vice president, from plant manager, and Carol Gorr to treasurer, from office manager. EDINA REALTY named Bob Whitney commercial division sajes manager in the Minneapolis area. He had worked in commercial sales for Coldwell Banker. 1 Insurance tied to investing Philip Morris Inc. 1981 (Insurance, from Page tc) Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.

maturity can vary. However, Neuger said that the policies will have a guaranteed minimum value. "Nationwide, there has been a huge market for this," Neuger said. "It's been around for about five years. But, until now, Minnesota was one of only four jurisdictions that hadn't approved it." Neuger said Equitable's average return for the past five years on variable rate policies was 17 percent.

"That doesn't mean that it" will always do that," ie said. "You should remember that the last few years have seen pretty good interest rates." A state insurance spokesman said that premiums for variable benefit policies are higher than far fixed benefit policies. However, Neuger disputed that, saying that Equitable's variable benefit premiums are slightly lower, on the average. GUE.YTHEB If Marketplace Editor of Tbc Miaaempolif Star. 1 5 mg "tar" 1.1 mg nicotine av.

per cigarette by FTC Method..