Posted by al germond on September 17, 2001 at 20:23:07:
FCC ALLOWS TV TRANSMITTERS ON TRADE CENTER -- New York "Times" April 25, 1974 --
"WASHINGTON, April 24 (AP) -- The Federal Communications Commission told seven New York City television stations today they may move their transmitters to the north tower of the city's World Trade Center Building.
Six of the stations are now transmitting from the Empire State Building. They are WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV, WNET-TV, WNYC-TV, WNEW-TV and WOR-TV. The seventh station. WXTV broadcasts from lower Manhattan [70 Pine St., it's assumed WABC-TV and WPIX-TV received their CPs to move in another FCC action.]
The UHF stations -- WNYC-TV and WXTV -- were given unconditional permission. The VHF stations' applications were granted subject to specifications to be issued and on the condition that existing facilities on the Empire State Building be maintained. Also, the VHF stations must compare the quality of reception from both sites.
The commission rejected objections raised by two Philadelphia TV stations and the Port of New York Authority, the New York Telephone Company and others.
WPHL-TV and WTAF-TV, both in Philadelphia, had opposed the relocation, contending that it would fragment their audiences [they were UHF stations operating on channels 17 and 29 respectively]. They said the change would violate FCC rules in that WCBS-TV and WNET-TV would be 169.1 miles from their co-channel stations in Baltimore [WMAR-TV and WJZ-TV respectively] instead of the required 170 miles. [a "deminimis" case; the FCC routinely grants waivers of its spacing rules, often requiring reduced power and/or directional antennas]
The Port Authority had contended that relocation to the World Trade Center could result in more serious relocation problems. The commission said the relocation should bring an over-all improvement.
The telephone company raised fears that the radiation of high signal intensities from all the antennas atop the Trade Center would cause interference to its electronic-switching equipment in a nearby building.
The commission said it did not believe such interference would occur, but it conditioned all grants to require that the stations and the telephone company take joint measures to assure that interference would not occur. If remedial measures are needed, the costs would be borne by the broadcasters, the FCC said.
Otis Freeman [WPIX FM-TV chief engineer] president of the TV Broadcasters All-Industry Committee, which has sought to relocate local transmitters to the World Trade Center, indicated last night that the FCC ruling was conditional.
The ruling orders the World Trade Center to erect a television transmission tower atop [one] of its buildings and then to make some kind of test to see if reception is improved there.
Mr. Freeman said the nature of the test has not been made clear.
A Port Authority spokesman said last night that it had been calling for such a test to be made before it built facilities atop the World Trade Center. He declined to comment further on the FCC action because he had not yet seen the ruling.
Mr. Freeman said last night that the ruling required the Port Authority to build a tower for transmission."
The most significant line in this story is the FCC requirement that facilities be maintained at the Empire State Building. When was that bargained away.