The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 84

to-V 0 The News and Observer Raleigh Sunday August 1 3 1978 China expands tourist areas Channel 28 makes move in local TV 111 4011014 1-- -iii- 9 t)- "1 I 20e 9 6 CrtktV4114Z1 1 177'Qvir41 4' ft-lt L9k: Ams 4d $4- UM: 't '1t '1 ----t -11 114 4 xs'-- -4 -41SV' '40' 1101 --4 4 -A 41 AP 4 4t 341 1 1 1 4 711 Ittku 4-: 7- a Vi'v64: 1 4t kt -fr z- 36 :1 xr 4 111111m 44 '4' rvo Atz11 HONG KONG (UPI) China will open vast areas of once-forbidden territory to foreign tourists during the next two years according to the China Travel Service Included will be the capital of Szechwan province with its fiery food the industrial center of Hanchow in the northwest the political and economic stronghold of Hopei Kunming in the wilds of Yunan province and two exotic lands with lingering overtones of legendary feats: Urumchi capital of Sinkiang Uighur autonomous region and Huhehot capital of Inner Mongolia Also the "stone forest" southeast of Kunming a vast area populated with grotesque stalagmites and the Yunkang grottoes in Shansi province Automobiles jam streets of Rome during rush hour Touring Europe by car Centinued from page cote transmitter-tower-antenna complex near Apex a $400000 nightly news program and $500000 in new equipment for the studio on Highway 54 near Durham An extensive market survey (yet another expenditure) led to several of the changes that would improve WPTF's programming during the past year The station began to take on the flavor if not the image of WPTF-AM the Raleigh radio station that Durham Life operates along with WQDR-FM Viewers could talk back to the small screen via an open line on the evening news Popular radio personalities began to appear on camera The quest was for local identity It was for good reason that Durham Life rejoiced last Tuesday when the FCC approved its petition to change the station's call letters from WRDU-TV to WPTF-TV Our station' "It would be super if people started talking about Channel 28 as 'our television station' the way they talk about WPTF radio" McLarty said "Television is a very cold medium We don't communicate very well It's mostly commercial station break and on to the next show We'll try to change that if we can" McLarty has tried to provide "alternative viewing" whenever he could in the WPTF-TV schedule a news block (network and local) from 7 to 8 pm opposite syndicated series: a syndicated series opposite other late-night news shows at 11 pm Norman Lear's talk-show spoof "America 2Night" replaces "Hollywood and the Stars" beginning this Monday evening at "Carolina Football" a new series to be syndicated in five Tar Heel markets premieres Sept 3 at 12:30 pm The 30-minute show will feature Woody Durham news and sports director of WPTF-TV and Dick Crum football coach at the University of North Carolina transmi Apex a $50000C Highwa An eN ezpendi that wo during I The not the radio along vi back to the eve ties be The for goo last Tu petitior from "It talking station' radio" "Teti don't ci comme next sh can" Md tive vi a syndica posite pm Norn ica 2Ni Stars" "Car syndica ieres show and spc Crum North By MURRAY BROWN ups Travel Editor 1 INSTANT P4SSPORT PICTURES internationa Drivers is driven a front-wheel drive car with either automatic or manual shift take time to check it out before head ing for the open road There is a difference in handling Driving is on the right except in the United Kingdom and international road signs are used throughout Europe Car renting in Western Europe is virtually the same as in the US A basic requirement is a valid driver's license from your home state The minimum rental age is 21 although in some countries and for certain types of cars it is 25 Some countries have a maximum age too usually 70 010 clQ STUDIO IRE 834-6491 SMITH 834-6491 420 01 Wake Forest Rd 420 01 Wake Forel able at most international airports and major cities throughout Europe Independent local firms might not have as big a selection as Hertz Avis and other international agencies and you might not be able to rent it here and leave it there but rates can be lower Find out about car-rental taxes which can add significantly to costs In France and Sweden they can add more than 20 percent to the bill You could save money if you rent a car in some other country if it doesn't inconvenience you You usually will have to buy insurance and rates also differ But you will need the international motor insurance card commonly referred to as the carte verte or green card if you plan to drive across borders Gas prices Expect to pay substantially higher prices for gasoline than in the United States particularly in view of the recent decline in the dollar On the continent gasoline is usually sold by the liter but the average price works out to about 8160 per gallon There are 38 liters to a gallon However in France in July motorists paid about $275 per gallon for super fuel which is about equal to regular gas in the US Gas in Italy sells for about $225 per gallon but discount coupons are available to tourists They must be purchased from the nearest Italian National Tourist Office in the United States before departure Manual shift You can cut costs too if you rent a car with a manual rather than automatic shift Hertz notes that they are not only on the lower end of the rate scale but also use less fuel Traditionally car rental rates in Europe do not include gas Smaller cars naturally rent for less than big ones American or European Incidentally if it is a European-made subcompact odds are that it will be equipped with front-wheel drive A friend at Renault suggests that if you have never Planes trains and buses have fixed routes and schedules to keep So next to shank's mare probably the best way for American travelers to see and feel Europe is by automobile Touring by car allows you to set your own pace and itinerary With no timetables to worry about you can stop and smell the roses and swap stories with the locals wherever and whenever Rental rates in Europe vary from country to country and if itineraries are flexible travelers can shop for the best bargains before leaving home Make sure the bottom-line figure includes taxes insurance and any other extras Fly-drive packages Travel agents offer scores of fly-drive packages which usually include round-trip air transportation a car with unlimited mileage and sometimes some hotel accommodations Arrangements can be made to pick up the car at the airport on arrival if desired You can go on your own too Rental cars are avail "I think it's very healthy for the marketplace" Appleton said "Competition is really what this whole thing is about If they get better we get better The people who benefit are the people who live in our coverage area because then they will get the very best in television" Apparently neither man sees WPTF as strong enough to force them into counter-programming moves at this time And the station's position could become all the more precarious if NBC continues to run a poor third in the national ratings Channel 28 initially went on the air as WNAO in 1953 and was partly owned by The News and Observer Publishing Co It went off the air not long after Channel 5 began operating in December 1956 The FCC eventually assigned the channel to Greensboro and finally in 1966 to Durham It went on the air two years later as an independent station owned and operated by Triangle Telecasters Inc a local corporation Network programs at that time were divided between WRAL (ABC) and WTVD (CBS and NBC) Channel 28 had a "secondary relationship" with CBS and NBC It could program only those series that WTVD chose not to carry Robinson Everett a Durham attorney and president of Triangle Telecasters said "We didn't know from one day to another whether we could get a program and if we did whether we could keep it" The situation was remedied in 1969 when the FCC ruled that a UHF station in a three-station market could no longer be forced into a secondary relationship with the networks Yet Channel 28 fared no better as NBC's first full-time affiliate in the Raleigh-Durham area How could it with a signal as weak as a Carrie Nation cocktail? Signal weakness Shortly after the station went on the air the owners "detected a signal weakness in certain Raleigh areas" The picture was snowy or non-existent in key portions of the city and surrounding counties Attempts to strengthen the signal were of little consequence A translator tower was installed atop the Building in downtown Raleigh enabling some viewers to pick up the signal on Channel 70 The tower was later moved to the roof of the Capital Towers building a high rise in North Hills The station eventually switched from 70 to 22 the alternative channel that it will no longer use after the new signal begins operating Carl Venters says that it was just a coincidence that Durham Life decided to enter the television business at the same time that WRDU went on the block "Actually Durham Life then known as WPTF Radio Co had intended to get into television around 1950" Venters said "We were the ones who petitioned the FCC to assign a VHF channel to Raleigh the city had been overlooked when the FCC first allocated VHF channels in the late '40s That's how the city got Channel 5" Venters said WPTF a pioneer radio station was stymied by a three-year FCC freeze on new VHF stations When the freeze ended the local VHF license went to Capitol Broadcasting Co not WPTF "Our company was sure it would receive a favorable ruling" Venters said "We bought television cameras and veteran radio announcers like Jim Reid (later a director of Triangle Telecasters) were actually rehearsing in studios set up in the old Durham Life building on Fayetteville Street" Venters said WPIT Radio's corporate feelings were "hurt badly hurt That probably influenced Durham Life's decision to get into the television business after all these years "As for WRDU we wouldn't have invested in that station if it had been located in South Carolina or Maryland It would have been the worst investment in the world "But our thinking was that here in our home market with the WPTF name to draw from we could make it work And I think we can" k4liNi'SY17 A 0' A7 17 CUNARD COUNTESS Pre-Christmas CRUISE from '702" Per Person Based On Double Occupancy "te --At 7 CA- I i 1 I 1 I DEC 16-23 1978 PER-FLU TOURS INC Pt CoAeA I 4 SAN JUAN GRENADA ST LUCIA CARACAS BARBADOS ST THOMAS Full lineup The station has restored the full NBC lineup to its schedule including Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" program at 1 am And it will continue to build an image as the movie station" WPTF has spent $300000 building a movie library of close to 1000 titles Many of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer classics starring Greta Garbo and her peers will be aired during the coming season "This is a good movie market" McLarty said "Every time we've run movies on a regular basis or as alternative viewing we've drawn numbers (ratings) "The afternoon film with Pat Patterson (a WQDR disc jockey) had a 13 share in the May sweep compared with a 3 share for PTL Club which formerly ran in that time period" A "13 share" means the station drew 13 percent of the total viewing audience Morning movies Movies will also replace PTL in the weekday 9 am slot beginning Sept 5 PTL in turn will move to Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 am starting Sept 2 The Arbitron ratings for May according to McLarty show a 28 percent gain in prime-time viewers over the year earlier He says MIT now has a 15 share of the Triangle market compared to 39 for wrvD and 38 for WRAL The real problem lies in the station's poor showing in those counties beyond the Triangle "In order to be an equal partner or competitor you've got to reach the total audience" says Fred Barber vice president and general manager of WRAL "There's no question they'll be stronger in the Metro when they go on the air with their new picture The question mark is the ADI I just don't think their reach is going to be comparable to the VHF stations based on what I've seen of other UHF stations that have gone to 5 million watts" Both Barber and Dick Appleton general manager of WTVD said they welcomed the competition The lineup Snyder And it ''the WPT movie of the ring aired "Thi said regular we've "The la WQI May sl PTI CI period percen Mo weekci in turn at 8:30 The to Mc say Triang and 38 The poor st Triang "In petitor audien dent ar "Th( in the their ADI I to be based tions ti Boa manag compel Call 1 Williamsburg Now TollFree' Make resenntions now at Itilliamsbzug Inn Williamsburg Lodge or The AIotor Holtse for y9ur fall tvcation In continental United States call 1-800-446-8956 Sept 710 Memphis (Grace land) Nashville Grand Ole Opry Opry land Country Music Hall of Fame tour Oct 7-14 Fall Foliage including all New England states Niagra Falls and Toronto Canada Oct 27-29 Nashville Grand Ole Opry Opryland Country Music Hall of Fame and tour Nov 10-12 New York City Broadway play (Annie) nightclub and tour of city Nov 15-19 Florida Silver Springs Sea World Cypress Gardens and Disney World PER-FLO TOURS INC is completely licensed and bonded for your protection 1 CRUISE 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