Development of Television in Montana
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1966 Development of television in Montana Raymond George Dilley The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Dilley, Raymond George, "Development of television in Montana" (1966). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 7959. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/7959 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1^1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION IN MONTANA By RAYMOND G. DILLEY B.A. University of Vermont, 1961 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1966 Approved by: _____ Chairman,/Board of Examiners iL Dean&xGraduate School MAY 2 0 1966 Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP38760 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT OisMdation PuWiahing UMI EP38760 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 -1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODOCTION ........... ....................... ... i TELEVISION COMES TO MONTANA ........................... 7 BILLINGS ...... ........................................... 2k GREAT FALLS .............................................30 MISSOULA ............... Ii9 THE KALISPELL SITUATION......................................... 60 GLENDIVE ........... ................... 70 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CABLE TELEVISION IN MONTANA....................71; THE PROBLEM ......................................... 87 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS........................................ 112 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....... ..................................... 120 APPENDIX ..... ............................................ 128 I. Chronological Listing of Montana Television Stations . 129 II. Geographical Listing of Montana Television Stations, Including Network Affiliation, Ownership and Circulation. I30 III. Geographical Listing of Montana Cable Companies, Including Stations Carried, Ownership and Number of Subscribers . 132 IV. Geographical Listing of Montana Translator Installations, Including Stations Transmitted, Channel on Which Trans mitted and Number of Homes Served ..... .............. I36 V, Comparative Coverage Figures for Montana Television Facilities......... li;3 VI, Coverage Maps of Montana Television Facilities......... 11*2; VII. Unused FCC Commercial Television Station Frequency Allocations for Montana.................................. H;9 VIII. CATV Questionnaire...................................... 150 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION Television is older than the automobile, the airplane, motion pictures, photographic paper, radio and the X ray,^ Before all of these important inventions, Paul Nipkow, a German scientist, had successfully transmitted a picture using a whirling disk punched with holes» As light coming through the holes struck a selenium cell, it produced an electrical signal which was carried through wires to a receiving set with a whirling disk and a light source to project the image. This machine, demonstrated in l881i, paved the way for 2 experimentation in what was to be called television» Little was done with the invention until the 1920Hs» With the success of radio, the possibility of transmitting a picture as well as sound was suggested. Following further experimentation with the whirling disk, a still picture of President Harding was transmitted through the air in 1923. In 1926, an English experimenter transmitted a moving television image. By 1931, five television stations were operating experimentally. But viewers soon lost interest in this novelty because the-quality of the whirling disk method was quite poor. A flickering and lack of definition in the picture were inherent in the machinery and could not 3 be eliminated. The only solution was to begin again,^ ^The World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1965, Great Inventions. United States and Foreign (New York, 1965), pp, 603*60117 ^Edgar E. Willis, Foundations in Broadcasting (New York, 1951), p. 1 3 . 3Ibid.. pp. I3-IÜ. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 During experimentation with the disk method, a Westinghouse Electric employee, Vladimir Zworykin, had been working on an all*» electronic television tnbe, called the Iconoscope^ He patented his device in 1923, beginning the television system known today»^ It was 16 years, however, before the iconoscope came out of the laboratory and was demonstrated to the publico The new, electronic form of television was first shown to the American public at the World's Fair in New York and San Francisco in 1939 and started a renewed interest in the video age.^ That same year experimental television stations broadcast a number of programs from the new NBC television network. The network offered a baseball game, a football game, a number of dramas and a few special programs including the New York film premiere of "Gone With the Wind." Two years later, experimental television stations became a matter of history. On July 1, 19^1, WCBW, a CBS affiliate, and WNBT, affiliated with NBC, became the first commercial television stations.^ But the expansion of television was delayed by World War II, New receivers could not be built, and further technical improvements had to wait. All production was channeled toward the war effort. At the end of the war, however, television experienced a growth far surpassing that of radio in the 1920“s. ^Sydney W. Head, Broadcasting in America (Boston, 1956), p. l5it< %illis, OE., cit.. p. lii. ^Daniel Blum, Pictorial History of Television (Philadelphia, 1959), p. 9. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 The public was ready and eager for television. Additionally, electronic developments during the war, especially in radar, were applied to the development of television.^ The year of the great television boom is generally marked as 19U8« The number of stations on the air imcreased from 17 to itl and television receiver production increased more than $00 per cent over 19U7.® In the fall of 191*8 the Federal Communications Commission became wary of the uncontrolled growth of television because its station allocation plan was causing interference among stations and because the 12 channels allocated for television were soon going to be inade quate to supply the demand for stations. As a result, the FCC suspended all pending applications for stations. That was the start of the television "freeze." For four years the construction of new television stations was stopped. On April 11*, 1952, the FCC published new rules which provided for 82 channels and 2,053 station assignments to 1,291 communities. 9 The boom was renewed,^ Montana's first television station went on the air in 1953 in Butte. Until then television had not been seen by Montanans except for the few who had been exposed to it in other areas. There were a few receivers, but they were owned by the experimenters who searched for ^Willis, 22. cit.. p. 15, ®Head, o^. cit.. p. 158. ^Ibid.. pp. 158-161. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "8klp."l° When television finally came, dealers were hard-pressed to keep up with the demand for receivers. Many persons were so eager to enjoy the new medium they would often hang bed springs and coathangers out of windows rather than take time to Install antennas. Television had a great Impact In Montana. Radio found a competi tor for Its advertisers and audience. Newspapers also found an active competitor for the advertising dollar and an aggressive force which could transmit not only the words but the pictures of a news event faster than they. Television broadcasters In Montana faced the same cold reception from competition as in other areas of the United States. They also found problems unique to the state and unlike those anywhere else. Montana television broadcasters have struggled with rough terrain In an attempt to locate sites for transmitting towers and microwave relays to bring In network programming. In some Instances mountain-top equipment Is accessible only by helicopter several months of the year. Montana broadcasters have also faced the problem of relatively small audiences and a lack of live network programming. It Is evident