Year book of motion pictures (1951)

film has been booked could if they wish purchase, in advance, a plastic "TV ticket" iur a specific performance, and, on the date and hour stamped on the ticket could, by plating the ticket in;ide a slot in the home r\' set, tune the channel of the exchange releasing the film and pickup, simultaneously, the complete feature as it is being currently exhibited at the local theater. The advantage to the producer-distributor is that his audience for a single showing conceivably might be 1,000 times greater than if TV set owners were to be induced to visit the theater— and many TV set owners are growing less and less inclined, surveys indicate. The advantage to the exhibitor is that in spite of television, he can "sell" his current attraction to thousands more via the TV route, and although many of his 2,000 theater seats may be empty, he still would be playing to a "capacity house," with a good part of his audience seeing the film in hundreds of living rooms. And paying for it at his theater! It should be emphasized that, under this plan, unless a person had a plastic "TV ticket" for the specified performance, he could not receive an intelligible program were he to tune the exchange area frequencies. Two types of "coded" television processes are now in various phases of experimentation, l'h(ine\ ision and Subscribervision, and either might prove to be the "key" to this proposal. Since this recommendation appeared in Film Daily Yearbook a year ago, queries as to its acceptance and ultimate utilization by the motion picture industry have evoked interesting commentaries. One strong objection raised is the fact that the current practice of clearances would be "out the window" under such an arrangement. The reply has been that clearances were originally established for a single purpoje— to bring as great a return on each product as possible. Clearances seemed to be the answer. On the other hand, if utilization of television can achieve a better method, then this new system of distribution seems to he in order. Another objection has been the query: what happens to the second-run and neighborhood theaters under this plan? Since no major film company turns out 52 top pictures a year, there is no reason why each operator of a film transmitter could not set aside every third week for a repeat showing of each picture. During this repeat performance, secondrun and neighborhood theaters would get the prints, sell the "television tickets"— at a lower fee than the first run— and reap benefits! In any case, televi'ion can, in this manner, be iiarnessed to the specific advantage of the motion picture industry— with the industry maintaining complete control of the boxoffice. Certainly, this stands as a possible answer to TV's threat to the movie boxoffice— far belter than candy vending machines, soft drink machines, popcorn dispensers—and, more lately, ice cream counters. TELEVISION INDUSTRY STATISTICS As oi the End of 1950 By RICHARD G. IVES New York Research Director, Cumpbell-Eivald Co. THE TV STATIONS Number of stations operating commercially 107 in 65 U. S. cities, (98 stations operating in 59 cities end 1949) 33 states Number of construction permits outstanding none Number of commercial applications outstanding 381 Total investment in operating TV stations (est.) .'{159,770.000 .'\verage annual operating co.«ts of individual TV stations (est.) $560,000 Total employment in operating TV stations (est.) 8,500 TV NETWORK FACILETIES Number of TV cities interconnected by Bell TV Network 41 (Cities connected end 1949 26) Number of cities interconnected by private microwave facilities 7 Maximum number of outlets used in TV network broadcasts (live and film) 61 Total U. S. families with available TV network service (est.) 20,061,000 Total U. S. families owning TV sets in live TV network areas (est.) 8,550,000 TV SET PRODUCTION Number of receivers manufactured in 1950 (e.st.) 7,400,000 ( Total 1949 production 3,029,000) Estimated at factory sale value of 1950 production |1, 317,000,000 764