Now or Never

Within a matter of weeks, TV owners will know whether they will be able some day to switch on their sets without fear of rendering their children slightly neurotic. The Federal Communications Commission will soon decide whether two hundred TV channels shauld be devoted to educational purposes, and if so, how to parcel them out among the many localities and organizations that have requested them.

That the FCC would now suddenly relinquish the idea of educational television is doubtful. Nor is the main difficulty one of choosing between different areas, for there is a fairly clear idea of where these channels will be located.

The greatest problem concerns control of the new stations. Until two hundred new channels suddenly appeared, networks, newspapers, and other television-minded groups have been thoroughly frustrated by an FCC freeze on TV station licenses. Despite an ever-expanding market, these organizations have not been able to acquire new channels. Naturally the possibility of new channels has released a good deal of energy, most of which is focused on the FCC.

Boston is a case in point. At least four commercial groups, notably CBS, have petitioned the FCC for use of Channel 2. Although this pressure is not of itself sufficient to sway the FCC from its original purpose of educational television, when combined with the uncertainty of local educational groups, it may achieve that result anyway. For, if the Lowell Institute Council--which includes most of the colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston--does not take advantage of Channel 2 within a year or so, the commercial stations will probably be allowed to move in.

But at present, the Lowell Institute Council lacks the money to finance such a venture. Although Council members have been "vigorously engaged in exploring the best means for taking advantage of the proposed reservation of VHF Channel 2," the chances of raising the necessary sums quickly seems remote. It is impossible to tell whether this is due to the cautiousness of the Council members or because securing donations for such a purpose is particularly difficult in Massachusetts.

But one thing is fairly sure: if the Lowell Institute Council cannot make a success out of educational TV now, the idea will die. Once it has failed, commercial broadcasters can point to its failure as an argument against repeating the experiment. It is a case, then, of now or never. Members of the Lowell Institute Council, already noted for their work in adult education, can hardly permit such an opportunity as this to pass thm by.