Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 44

Pogt 4 Ktxfau Mogorim tirminglioni Nrt-Hwld Fridoy Nav 27 Birmingham' By JOE IASSNOSS KUDZUI I TS BEEN a long time since BUI and George Chapman 1 got the idea they might like to own a television station Although there's no way to be sure it have been long after WSB-TV started broadcasting from Atlanta in 1949 Back then the brothers were in the business of selling not broadcasting And at that time the hottest items were radios not those funny little hoses with the blurry image But the brothers saw something in that box was a miracle as far as we were concerned" BUI Chapman sayd today Miracle or not when the Chapmans did make the step into broadcasting it was radio not television In 1950 the brothers established WCRT-AM Ten years later they established an FM counterpart which today is WQEZ But the brothers never did give up on television and when ON THE COVER Bill Chapman wants his tele viskmita tion channel 21 to look at the "good sideN of Birmingham the Federal Communications Commission opened bidding on a fourth station in Birmingham they applied It was 1961 No doubt the Chapmans had big ideas for their new station channel 21 What they had no idea about was the legal morass they were headed into Even now with construction of the studio under way Bill Chapman has a little trouble believing that reality is as close as next February or March when WTTO is likely to go on the air feel like I might wake up and find out this is all a No wonder For the past 18 years the brothers' dream has been more like a legal nightmare It could have been avoided When the brothers first applied for the Birmingham frequency they also applied and were awarded channel 33 in Tuscaloosa But when the FOC told them they had to divest themselves of that station in order to qualify for channel 21 they did so But that didn't solve the problem After the FCC approved their initial application several groups contested it So started a long series of hearings for the Chapmans the government and other applicants in Washington DC "They would set a hearing and we would be there anywhere from a day to two weeks You never knew And every time it seemed like we ended up saying we needed more information and we would set a new date We were there enough to The brothers' original application was given final approval in 1979 Since so many years had passed the technology they had originally planned on was outdated Earlier this year the FCC gave its OK to updated equipment for the station Bill Chapman says that the brothers' main reason for sticking with the application all these years Is because needed it Our main interest has always been to get Birmingham that fourth station We're one of the few Until then there Is work to do The plan is to start broadcasting about II hours a day Movies and syndicated programming (re-runs mostly) will constitute share of the fare Eventually Chapman wants to cover some local sports and what he calls good of the city The station's signal will reach an audience in a 50-mile radius much like its UHF neighbor WBMG (channel 42) Success seems the least of the owners' worries Chapman said advertising time is so scarce on the other commercial channels that merchants are lined Charles Rountree who is channel Si's station manager (and currently the only employee on the payroll) adds that the station is going to try to attract the business of smaller merchants that other wise might not advertise on television An audience for the station worry the owners 'either show that 10 percent of the Birmingham area does not have Chapman says surveys remaining cities in the country without an independent Back when the Chapmans first applied for the license it would not have been out of line to doubt the sincerity of that statement Surely the booming television market would make any station owner rich a good Bill Chapman says But after II veais of wrangling with the government the fact that the brothers are still in the hunt lends credibility to Chapman's assertion that we put this on the air well feel like done something for And that apparently will be enough for the brothers It's not that the Chapmans wouldn't like to continue wife tells me I ought to start enjoying my retirement" Bill Chapman says In reference to the sale of his radio stations in 1973 I cant think of a better way to enjoy it than doing this" The brothers are committed to operating the station for three years but are unlikely to go much beyond Last year they sold 49 percent of the station to Byron Lasky the majority stockholder in STAR Television the Homewood-based subscription service In three years Lasky has an option to buy the rest of the stock And although Chapman says that decision is up to Lasky he leaves little doubt the remaining stock will be sold show that these people like to watch independent stations like channel 17 (WTBS in Atlai Atlanta) That's a big audience well get right off the bat" Bill Chapman his predicted his station would be ready for the past two years Hut Christinas of it that holiday has escaped for the last From the time Retelling of Steinbeck tale winner from start to finish ByJOERASSENFOSS A KUDZUI i displays a fine sense for his charts well balancing as he does between bravado and tenderness throughout Watching hia anger with Lennie subside as he recites their dream time and time again is testament not only to their dream butt to fine performance the time the made-fortefevisioa film have created mayhem at the pair's previ- ous job After escaping the posse the two head for a new job they hope win buy the stake they've been seeking Lennie constantly aws George' to teU him about the place not the same if I tell he insists where they win he masters of their own fate and Lennie will be the keepered the rabbits Lennie you see is attracted to soft things a paradox with his size that the movie drives home time and time again For his part George doesn't understand why he takes care of Lennie but he does doesn't want his dog shot but eventually allows the younger man however reluctantly He later admits: shouldnHa let no stranger shoot my Later when George is faced with a similar problem witt lennie that sentiment is obviously a determining factor This television adaptation is loaded with beautiful vistas bat the cast that makes the difference Cassie Yates Is Mae the lonely wife of ranch overseer Curley an ill-tempered sort who rejects her at every turn Her efforts to reach out to the ranch hands Is squally IB fated owing to their fear of Ms conclusion the viewer in swept with Us Blahd as he wrestles along with ronsrlencr there any way to save CREDIT FOR the excellence of NBC's Mice and is owed as much to Robert Blake as it is to late author John Steinbeck Certainly the California-born author deserves a lion's share of the credit for this simple powerful talc of two different men with the same goal a piece of land they can call their own But Blake has assembled a tremendous cast especially Randy Quaid as the simple-minded Lennie Small and they revive this tale with a vigor that makes it must viewing' You can see for yourself from 1:10:30 pm Sunday on WVTM channel 13 The setting is California George (Blake) and Lennie are on the run from the law after Lennieh huge body and small brain anyway The tu 1 two Blake's answer echoes the earlier scene concerning the oid dog only one to get Lennie out of this" And one has trouble accepting the of that answer it's a measure of this tale that we find it difficult to disagree With inin i ho V- i i MTMUb AOS Mfc mO rin wwwvntdHwiis a -s i iti IIIHIW iHk i (l I as Lennie bringing just enough smarts to his role to make it bdieveaMe Anyone could have played the fool but to tread the fine line as well as' Quaid is an accomplishment He Is dally effective in his Blake about their dreams eventually arrive at a another ranch and another Job But mean Lennie says and trouble soon follows i A pivotal scene occurs when one ranch worker tries to convince an older hand to put his aging dog to sleep The older man i iihnoi jir 1 i.