The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 26

26 aaigintlHOmm Battle Under Way for Southland TV Airwaves BJO (L He adds with a smile, "We just sit here and wonder. Does Los Angeles really need another station where the news is read off the wire?" The hearing on Voice vs. KNBC was scheduled to begin in Los Angeles Oct. 13, but the FCC, mired in other challenges and routine business and inundated with changes from Voice and KNBC, has postponed the hearing indefinitely. The KHJ challenge began in 1965 and has yet to reach action by the seven-man commission.

KNBC, it appears, will be in litigation even longer. Golden Orange, on the other hand, is not being contested in its application to operate a new channel, and so a decision could come much sooner. The minutes of the first Golden Orange shareholders meeting contain a hint of programming plans. Burroughs "spoke of the possibility of Boy Scout Explorer group 3 being utilized on some TV programs as an inspiration to the youth of Orange County." Wants Good Subjects Brack, meanwhile, felt "good subjects for programming" would be such Orange County attractions as "major league baseball, a major league basketball team, a race horse track, and various local parades and festivals." It is impossible to determine why all these people are challenging. Is it for future financial profit? It took General Tire more than six years to turn KHJ-TV into a a i a lly profitable operation.

Is it political power? The FCC insists firmly on impartial news and public affairs coverage, although it does encourage editorials when properly labeled. In view of the secrecy surrounding the two challenges and one application, the only determination possible is that the public airwaves are momentarily clouded. Scale of Miles 10 20 30 wmi William G. Simon what we mean by public service." KNEC replied to the Voice challenge with a 200-page "petition to enlarge issues" and charged that Voice's $2.5 million budget proposal was "der monstrably absurd." The petition said, "Operating with a local programming budget of this size, Voice might be able to produce the total quantity of local programs it has proposed, but could do so only at a level of quality which would not only be substantially inferior to the quality of programs KNBC would present, but also would likely be inferior to the level of quality achieved by any of the existing non-network stations in Los Angeles." According to KNEC Vice President and General Manager Robert T. Howard.

KNBC's 1968 budget for news broadcasts alone was $3.5 million, $1 million more than the total proposed programming budget of Voice. Some Ruled Out Add itionally, Howard says, "That budget figure does not include public affairs shows like our re-cent "Slow Guillotine' which cost $30,000. Roughly, a half-hour documentary costs $8,000 to $10,000 55ry Colton MT. SAN JACINTO ST. PK.

Riverside conceive and present programs of high quality." However, the examiner found KHJ-TV, and its corporate owner General Tire and Rubber involved in some commercial practices quite opposed to the sort of business techniques which "keep laxative ads from flying atop the Washington Monument." The report dwells, for several thousand words, on the examiner's examination of KHJ-TV, saying the station is dreadful for a city that "teems with talent and has its full share of social, economic and political problems." He said the programming was primarily old motion pictures interspersed sometimes interminably with commercials. In their last -minute challenge prior to KNBC's license renewal a move greeted more with surprised smiles than serious worry in the television community Simon and his clients, Voice of Los Angeles, cited KNBC's previous problems with the FCC over three shows. These were the annual Golden Globe Awards, which the station and its network-corporate parent dropped more than a year ago, and two game shows: Hollywood Squares and PDQ. (PDQ will leave the air soon, not in a swirl of controversy but deep in a well of low ratings.) The FCC had previously examined all three shows and found there was no dishonesty involved. However, the commission chided NBC (the network) and not KNBC (the station).

It was KNBC's fate to have its renewal be the first for an owned-and-operated NBC station to come up since the challenge trend began. The Voice challenge proposed nearly 105 hours per week of local live ogramming, including 12 hours per week of live dramatic presentations, all within a total budget of $2.5 million. Comments Briefly Voice President Rickles the only shareholder willing to be interviewed commented briefly on the challenge. "We have all been requested to refer questions to Mr. Simon.

I will say, however, that we are a widely selected, widely integrated group, representative of the whole community. We are motivated completely by doing something for the community. We hope also to make money, but that is not the prime purpose for the group getting together. "We want to stimulate local talent, to call on universities to have a voice in programming. There is a wealth of material and talent in this area that hasn't even been touched.

This is part of i r. I -I I San Jacinto WjT Tour Route ange incorporation papers as "the outstanding representative of the Yorba family, considered the 'First Family' of Orange County." The other shareholders are: David Levy, 56, former vice president in charge of programming for NBC, producer of TV's The Ad-dams Family (now defunct) and general manger-to-be of Channel 56. Richard Shepherd, 42, top executive at Creative Management Associates, a talent agency with such clients as Paul Newman. Walter Burroughs, 68, publisher of the Orange Coast Pilot, Costa Mesa. Calvin C.

Brack, 43, Westminster businessman and former mayor of the Orange County city. The most familiar name among Fidelity Television shareholders is Mervyn LeRoy, 68, a director and producer at Universal Pictures and for 19 years president of the Hollywood Turf Club. Others who are joined in the assault on KHJ-TV under President Simon include: Attorney Henry Duque, 65, and advertising executive Emmett McGaughey, 58, both former presidents of the Los Angeles Police Commission. Simon's three law partners, all of whom are former assistant U.S. attorneys.

Shotgun Approach Challengers have been using a shotgun approach in their pleas to the FCC. They know the commission is concerned about four main areas: One is diversification of ownership: that licenses not be too concentrated in the hands of giant corporations. Another concern is how deeply involved station owners are not only in the affairs of the community but in the day-to-day operations of the station. The commission also is interested in whether community surveys are taken to determine programming needs. And it takes special notice of the amount and quality of a station's public service and news programming.

The Fidelity vs. KHJ-TV decision, handed down last month by Thomas H. Donahue, a hearing examiner for the FCC, was not exactly a stunning victory for Fidelity President Simon and his shareholders. "We live in an imperfect world and the examiner's job is to make a choice," the report said. "We will, without much enthusiasm, go with Fidelity Television, Inc.

"Attached to its qualifications are no experience in the field of broadcasting, no contributions to the art, no proof through the school of experience of licensee answerability for stewardship, no experience, through the same school, of ability to stand the shock of adverse financial conditions, and no demonstrated ability to PACIFIC Interstate Highway Numbers U.S. Highway Numbers 03 State Highway Numbers 12 Approximate Mileages OCEAN Continued from First Page attorney who began his government career at the age of 29 when he was appointed U.S. maritime administrator. He recently set a precedent by becoming the first FCC commissioner to go to Hollywood tp talk with the creative as opposed to business and legal heads of the television industry. He has also, in a number of magazine articles, set down his views.

In a recent story in Harper's magazine, he suggested a remedy for people who want television to change: "The remedy, in my view, is not going to come from spontaneous government action. Ordinary citizens, can, must and upon occasion do influence those administrative decisions. But effective citizen representation requires considerably more sophistication than has been generally evidenced." Interesting names pop up as shareholders in all three Southern California groups. The president of KNBC's challenger, Voice of Los Angeles, is a Beverly Hills psychiatrist who is married to actress Lynn Bari Dr. Nathan K.

Rickles, 64. Other Voice shareholders include: Actress Loretta Young Lewis, 56, the group's biggest shareholder and, ironically, the recipient of residual payments from NBC for the syndication of her old TV show. Her business manager, Robert F. Shewalter, 62, is a fellow Voice director and also receives part of Miss Young's residuals. More Shareholders Attorney Elbert T.

Hudson, 48, a member and former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, and Hudson's father, H. Claude, 83, a dentist and president of Broadway Federal Savings and Loan Assn. Joseph William (Bill) Orozco, 48, president of the board of trustees for the Los Angeles City Junior Colleges. A conservative, he was formerly Gov. Reagan's Los Angeles representative and has lost two bids to unseat Rep.

George E. Brown Jr. (D-Monterey Park). Dr. Tirso Del Junco, 44, a surgeon, native Cuban, classmate of Fidel Castro at the University of Havana, member of the Cuban invasion army at the Bay of Pigs, former staff member of the Christian Anti-Communist Crusade, a state leader with Orozco in the 1964 Gold water presidential campaign and now president of the conservative, volunteer California Republican Assembly.

Robert P. Sutton, 60, now retired at Laguna Niguel after serving for many years as vice president and general manager of KNX radio. Though his entire background is in radio, he would become Voice's general manager. The list of shareholders for Golden Orange Broadcasting applicant for UIIF Channel 56, Norwalk glitters with the names of Pat Boone, Fess Parker and Bernardo Yorba. Boone, 35, the clean-cut crooner who still records and performs, heads Golden Orange.

Parker, 45, alias the roonskin capped Davy Crockett and now Daniel Boone on TV, is director of Boone's group. Bernardo Yorba, 48, Is described in the Golden Or- to produce." in the water and their heads in the fire of heaven. And in the Coachella Valley, with ample irrigation water and the summer sun, they have both. The date crop ripens through the spring and summer and is harvested in November and December. Dates ripen, not in bunches, but one by one, so the harvest entails climbing up and down the palm trees by ladder or at the end of long mechanical booms.

Coachella is ideal also for grapefruit, which you will see growing below the date palms in what is called "two-story" agriculture. The Coachella Valley is said to receive the most sunshine of any place in the U.S.A., and the mineral resources of its soil are unique. The result is a sweet grapefruit that surprises people who have been used to sprinkling their breakfast fruit liberally with sugar. The grapefruit is harvested December to July. Take Route 111 from Palm Desert to 1 on Clan MacGregor Quarts Now $5.49 I he Coachella Valley is famous as the "Arabia of America." Residents say it grows better dates than Arabia, and extra-sweet table grapefruit, as well.

A 289-mile drive will take your family overan unusual mountain highway, past grapefruit and dates growing one above the other, to Palm Springs.You can start your trip anywhere along the route, for it's a circle tour. But if you start in Los Angeles, head out the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10) and, just beyond Colton, go south on U.S. 395 to Riverside. Take U.S. 60 east and then left on U.S.

60 when it breaks off. At the base of the Badlands Hills, bear right on the San Jacinto turnoff (Gilman Springs Road), which meets with Route 79, and continue 93m. SAN JACINTO AND HEMET. In this historic Indian country, Helen Hunt Jackson, the author, found a notation in the court records showing that many years ago a man had been cleared of killing an Indian simply because no one showed up to press the charges. This gave her the idea for her novel Ramona.

A play based on Ramona is performed each spring in a natural bowl on the mountainside above Hemet. In Hemet turn left on Route 74, which is the 96m. PINES-TO-PALMS HIGHWAY. From the valley ranch country it climbs the slope of Mt. San Jacinto to nearly 5000 feet elevation, with vast panoramas back over the valley.

Up on the mountain, take the Idyllwild turn-off five miles to the rustic community of Idyllwild nestling under the pines. Periodically, the residents hold a Bear Festival here and serve "bearburg-ere." Back to Route 74 and on around the shoulder of mt. san jacinto. "San Jack," as it Is called, is 10,805 feet high, one of the tallest peaks in Southern California. Below, off to the left, a slash in the bare rock mountains shows green.

That's the great grove of Palm Canyon. Green pines give way to desert vegetation, and sudden ly you see beyond the yellow desert, the shining blue of orphaned salton sea and then palm gardens and the colored rock mountains. You will zig-zag down the face of Seven Level Hill, and, with favorable weather, the seemingly bare rock slopes will be sprouting the brilliant crimson flowers of the Ocotillo. On the desert floor you'll reach the HtW UtAl.il COTTAGE SPANISH STYLE, FURNISHED II mllti louth at Tijuana, nd uit (( Iht (www. $11,500 ($2,300 down) All ulilititi in.

Ntar Shopping end tvtry rtcriallonal facility. Call Mr. Zapata collect, J7W WHY DO OUR CLIENTS COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD? UN'I M.NOU ri9N KAIWIfCI ff If -W4? I (Stem ft1 us This thriving city, 22 feet below sea level, Is called the "Date Capital" and also the "Grapefruit Capital." During the National Date Festival here ir February, nightly camel and ostrich races are a hilarious sight. Many homes -here ar built in thlnned-out date gardens so the giant palm trees that shade them'also supply the family's date reeds. Retrace, on Route 111 through Palm Desert and through Cathedral City to 183m.

PALM SPRINGS. This famous resort has more than 3,800 swimming pools, one for every five permanent residents. And what residents! The chamber of Commerce lists a hundred and one Hollywood celebrities having homes here, from DesF Arnaz to Darryl Zanuck. Many own stores, hotels, and other businesses, and sometimes will be seen waiting on customers. The desert museum, just off the main thoroughfare, on Indian Avenue at Tahqultz Drive, is a treasure house of Indian and desert lore.

The palm springs aerial tramway, one of the world's long est, Is open dally from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and offers spectacular ride up 5873 feet to a lofty station on Mt. San Jacinto. The change can be from sunsuit weather to snow in fifteen minutes.

(Admission is charged.) A great opportunity for taking pictures! Continue on Route 111 to Interstate 10, up through the great trough of San Gorgonio, and then on to 289m. LOS ANGELES and home. This series of tour suggestions Is published on behalf of your local service sta THt ONLY MAN'S HAIRPIECE WITH A 10 YEAR GUARANTEE ABSOLUTELY UNDETECTABLE A IR W6 WON'T LET YOU WEAR IT I STARTS FRIDAY AT A PUSSYCAT THEATRE NEAR YOU Prices Start only i FOR CUSTOM CROWN BankXmiricird Master Chirgi or Budget Terms I A. It I a It 150m. ARABIA OF AMERICA.

This begins a few miles before you reach palm desert, where former President Eisenhower had a winter home. The data palm gardens (they're called, not orchards or groves, but gardens) are descendants of date palms brought from Arabia and the Sahara about the turn of the contury.They've actually done better here than in their home lands. According to an old Arabic saying, data palms should have their feet tion dealer by the I SPtUIAL IKUM UUK ctvi tun nroT clean, Milort color complttoly STYLINQ DtPi. rtttyU yoUf prMnf REPAIR AND KEPIACE FOUNDATIONS ICUHTOMIR II IACS fRONT CONVERSIONS Mlf tSj Singtr, Kravitt Singir, Inc-Cmtom Manufacturer! 9 AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE DI5COVER AMERICA quart) BEST BY CAR I ill I I'liillWfc I eeaeeteiettiotioetefaeeeeteeeacii9tttaeaeeateeeteeceeeeee THE TALES OF R3IN HOOD (115 IIKTY MS R.WW WNCWS For completa Information or for absolutely private studio or home consultation with no obfigition Call Collect HO. 6-4545 Orange Kl.

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