Yearbook of radio and television (1957)

Color Television Takes Sliape As A Reality For RCA In 1957 THROUGHOUT 1956 many statements were made publicly about the position of color television in the United States. Some of these were made by well-intentioned people interested in the progress of a new art and the promise of a new industry. Others were made by those whose objective is to retard the progress of color television in order to serve their short-term puprposes. In every pioneering industry there are those who prefer to see the other fellow undertake the risks of initial investments and do the spade work while they watch and wait. Sometimes they even try to impede the progress of the pioneer. For RCA, which has pioneered in worldwide radio communications, in radio broadcasting, in black-and-white television, in electronics and compatible color, such manmade roadblocks do not represent a new experience. We recall, for example, that when RCA pioneered and established black-andwhite TV, there were those in the industry who labelled us as "Televisionaries" and the head of one company asserted publicly that "television is economically so unsound that it will never succeed." As late as 1946, an officer of the same company testified before the Federal Communications Commission, "We are not making and do not plan to make any black-and-white receivers." But several years later, after RCA had demonstrated, beyond peradventure, the great success of TV and that the public embraced it eagerly, these same folks jumped on the bandwagon. (KZ>0 History often repeats itself, and I suspect that the same pattern will emerge in color TV as did in black-and-white TV. Today, we hear arguments in some quarters that it will be years before color can reach the stage of profitable operations. Moreover, some other irresponsible statements have been made that in its efforts to establish and promote color television as a new and regular service to the public, RCA in 1956 poured untold millions of dollars into this undertaking. I feel that the interests of the industry generally would be constructively served if the record of the actual facts of the situation were made public. Accordingly, here is the record, and here are the facts. RCA introduced, for the first time, simplified large-screen 21 -inch compatible color TV receivers for the Fall of 1955. During the remaining few months of that year, a small quantity of these sets was produced and sold; By DAVID SARNOFF Chairman of the Board Radio Corporation of America the major portion was sold in 1956. By the end of last year we had sold and delivered 102,000 of these 21 -inch color sets. During this period we also sold and delivered color picture tubes, color components and equipment. The total factory billing price of all these color sales amounted to approximately $58,000,000. After accounting for last year's costs of color developments and improvements, the extra costs of training personnel, of advertising and promotion campaigns involved in launching a new product and service, and the costs of providing color programs on the air, the net loss (after Federal taxes) of all RCA color activities for 1956 amounted to approximately $6,900,000. This is certainly a reasonable expenditure to lay the foundation for a business that promises substantial profits in the near future. (XZX) This year will witness acceleration on all fronts of color TV as a new dimension in entertainment, education, news and sports, as well as advertising and merchandising. RCA's goal for color television in 1957 is to produce and sell 250,000 color sets, to double the number of color programs on the air, to attract sponsors to the new and productive medium, and to encourage others in the industry to enter the field. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect, on this volume to earn, during the second half of 1957, a modest profit on the color sets and color tubes we sell. Thereafter, profits from operations in all branches of color TV should be substantial. 0<Z>0 RCA is firmly convinced that color television will provide a greater and more interesting service to the public, a profitable business for broadcasters, manufacturers, distributors and dealers, and a rewarding medium for advertisers. The future of television is in color. For 1956, the RCA volume of business totaled approximately $1,125,000,000 — an increase of about six per cent over 1955. This was the second time in its 37-year history that RCA exceeded the one billion dollar figure. 75