American television directory (1946)

TELEVISION DOLLARS AND SENSE Television’s real progress as a public service will be¬ gin when thousands of programming and advertising people begin thinking constructively on its problems. By PHILIP MERRYMAN _ _ Director , Facilities Developments and Research, National Broadcasting Company At the beginning, I want to make it clear that I have no “prevision” on television. I have looked at the facts — learned by experience while developing sound broadcasting. I have examined most of the evidence available, good and bad, concerning the problems we expect to meet in television. From these explorations I have drawn the conclusions that follow. It is not my purpose to argue with any one regarding the technical stand¬ ards for television. I prefer to let the public decide whether six megacycle black-and-white television is satisfac¬ tory. The pent-up demand for postwar television is apparently so great that it will reach floodtide as soon as new sets appear on the market. If we are to de¬ prive the public of these sets we need very convincing reasons. King Canute could not stop the tide. It is just as foolish to believe that television can be withheld from an eager public. One fact is certain — a television pic¬ ture cannot be evaluated in the same terms as an oil painting. Television pictures were not intended to grace the walls of world’s art galleries. They were created for the specific job of bringing into homes and public meet¬ ing places, the living, vital, instan¬ taneous reproductions of the pictures and sounds associated with interesting human or natural events wherever they may occur. Any attempt to evaluate the television picture on any other basis leads to fundamental errors of interpretation. Flawless Image Is Objective Of course, the television industry will not be content until it achieves a pic¬ ture as flawless as nature itself but this ultimate goal cannot be reached through laboratory research alone. Like the automobile, its final perfection will be attained only after millions of peo¬ ple have contributed to its improve¬ ment. The names of the engineers who have devoted major efforts to the de¬ velopment of television can be counted by hundreds — perhaps by thousands — but the names of the program, adver¬ tising and business men who have de¬ voted creative thought to the develop¬ ment of a television service can be counted on the fingers of two hands. Television’s real progress as a public service will begin when thousands of such men think constructively on tele¬ vision’s problems. Yet all the constructive thinking in the world will not carry television for¬ ward unless labor offers a full measure of co-operation. This failure to evalu¬ ate the future possibilities of television in terms of its present status is par¬ ticularly evident among organizations that have the greatest stake in the ultimate place of video art in the en¬ tertainment field. Orderly progress in television is de¬ pendent on far more than the initiative of broadcasters. They cannot do the job alone. They must have the sympathetic support of all factions concerned. With little financial return from their pio¬ neering activities at this time, any ad¬ ditional burdens the television compa¬ nies are forced to bear because of the extreme demands of labor groups might easily retard the extension of the serv¬ ice to the public. A little common sense will show that it is not a “something for nothing” at¬ titude on the part of broadcasters. Tele¬ vision is willing to pay a fair price for contributed services during the present developing stage but if supporting costs are lifted so high that resources are threatened, the industry will face a critical situation that could easily be its Waterloo. Television producing companies take the stand that labor should be content to grow with the industry in the same way that broadcasters expect to develop it and the advertisers to use it. There must be fair play and generous treat¬ ment by all concerned if television is to become a national medium of enter¬ tainment with consequent opportunities for mass employment. 400 Cities with Television In testimony before the Federal Communications Commission I stated that I believed television stations could be supported in towns having popula¬ tions as low as 25,000. I submitted cost and operations statements to support my contention. I can now expand that statement. It is my belief that within ten years more than 400 cities in the United States will have television sta¬ tions, all operating at a profit. Unfortunately, sound broadcasters have been led to believe that the in TWO-MAN STUDIOS such as th is basic type need but engineer and announeer tor operation. Heavy line shows area covered by far camera; dotted line is the portion of the stage picked up by camera in foreground. Once adjusted, the cameras require no attention. 49