Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

VOL. 16: No. 1 19 WINTER TV MARTS: The traditional Jan. showings of new & revamped TV-phono-radio lines, beginning this week at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and in satellite displays in Chicago hotels, will be almost completely dominated by the 23-in. square-cornered tube, according to advance indications. Another highlight: first showings of TV sets under old-line brand names recently taken over by new owners — Capehart & Sonora. Admiral will go almost all-out for the 28-in. tube, revamping its line on the basis of excellent reaction to its 23-in. models of last summer. Hottest news about the Admiral line is a low-end 23-in. table model with suggested list of $199.95 — cheapest 23-in. set yet announced. In last-minute price-tag jockeying, it’s possible that at least one other manufacturer will throw in a similarly priced promotional 23. Admiral has dropped 5 more 23-in. and two 21-in. sets into its line, for a total of 29 of the former and 12 of the latter. Electronics vp Ross D. Siragusa Jr. said Admiral currently is selling as many 23 as 21-in. sets and first-quarter production schedules call for more 23s than 21s. All Admiral’s 23-in. sets use the Corning bonded-on safety glass. Admiral plans to back its 23-in. models with a $500,000 newspaper & magazine ad campaign in the first quarter featuring “23-in. TV at the price of 21.” — in what it says is “probably the biggest campaign ever conducted by a TV manufacturer during a 9-week period.” In other promotional plans. Admiral announced its dealer showings of 1961 TV-stereo-radio lines will be held next June in Miami Beach & Las Vegas — providing “some 4,000 Admiral dealers with business-vacation trips.” Capehart, Sonora Showings The 2 revived brand-names — Capehart and Sonora — will have their own line showings in Chicago simultaneously with the International Home Furnishings Market, the former at the Congress, the latter at the Hilton Hotel. The Capehart name, purchased last summer from Benjamin & Robert Gross by Dynamic Electronics-N.Y. — which then changed its name to Capehart Corp. (Vol. 15:33 pl6) — will show a line which includes TV sets for the first time since Capehart was an ITT property in 1956. The TVs will all be 23-in. units, and all will be incorporated into super-duper TV-radio-phono home entertainment centers, as we reported last Aug. Capehart’s line, including 4 models with TV, will feature fine-fumiture cabinets by Tomlinson of High Point Inc., with instruments priced from $150 to $3,000. The TV combinations will list at $1,600 to $3,000. Production is due to start next month. The Sonora name was recently taken over by Trav-Ler Radio Corp. after it had been buffeted about for more than 2 years in an Internal Revenue auction followed by a bankruptcy in 1958 under Earl Muntz-Frank Atlas ownership (Vol. 15:47 p20). Trav-Ler’s new Sonora div. will show 7 TV models ranging from 17-in. at $139.95 to 21-in. console at $249.95 (with 2 “open list” sets), a table-model AM radio-phono at $99.95 and a portable stereo phono at $99.95 and a monaural tape recorder at $149.95. Muntz TV will introduce 3 new 24-in. TVs at Chicago’s Conrad Hilton Hotel — at $169.95, $239.95 & $279.95. Among TV-phono-radio exhibitors at the International Market in the Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Jan. 4-15: Admiral, GE, Philco, RCA, Motorola, Sylvania, Westinghouse, Zenith. Most of them have already shown their lines to distributors. Elsewhere in Chicago, Olympic & Capehart will show at the Congress Hotel, Muntz, Sonora " & Granco at the Hilton. Television Digest has assigned 2 editorial staffers to cover the Chicago markets this week. * * * Private-label manufacturer Wells Gardner & Co. (Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, Gamble-Skogmo) will add 23-in. sets to its line this spring. They will be among the first 23-in. models to use the Pittsburgh Plate Glass bonded-on safety glass (Vol. 15:52 pl8). The firm expects to have 19-in. tubes without laminated glass in portables by June. Pres. Robert S. Alexander predicted that 1960 would be a “much better” sales year for WG than 1959. Du Mont will show 4 new TV sets to franchised distributors Jan. 5-6 at New York’s Savoy Hilton Hotel. No 23-in. models will be introduced. Also to be shown will be an AM-FM table radio, 2 stereo consoles and a 9-transistor pocket radio. No ban on transistor imports is urged by the BritishAmerican Chamber of Commerce, N.Y., in a brief filed in OCDM’s inquiry. The group argues that imports of semiconductor devices represent no threat to U.S. security, as claimed by EIA. Meanwhile, Japan says it’s modifying its “dangerous game” (Vol. 15:46 p21) of exporting much and banning many imports. The Ministry of International Trade & Industry has announced that 60% -70% of Japan’s imports will be free of trade restrictions by April, 1961. Indications are that 24 items will go on the approval list this month. Although it’s not yet known whether barriers to imports of TV sets & appliances will be lifted, it’s understood the U.S. will be a chief beneficiary, and the items could increase Japan’s U.S. purchases by $5 million in the next 3 months. “RCA Bldg.” is name given to new 13-story office building in Washington, at 1725 K St. N.W., in honor of its major tenant. Most RCA Washington divisions, including about 275 employes, will move in about March 1, taking over half the street floor, plus the entire 2nd, 3rd & 4th floors. A $2.5 million 10-year lease was signed last week by Pinckney B. Reed, RCA vp-Washington. The structure will house all RCA people in Washington except those with NBC, RCA Service Co., RCA Communications & RCA Frequency Bureau. New plants & expansions: Philco, multi-million-dollar 2-story research center on 25-acre site at Blue Bell, Pa., near Philadelphia, for completion early 1961 . . . Sylvania, 100,000-sq.-ft. electron tube manufacturing center at Brockville, Pa., replacing 3 production facilities there totaling 60,000 sq. ft.; construction begins early this year . . . Dynamics Corp., addition to Carlisle (Pa.) quartz crystal plant, due for completion early this year, to double production of the facility operated by the Reeves-Hoffman div. . . . Standard Electronics, transmitter manufacturing div. of Radio Engineering Labs, has moved to new 36,000-sq.ft. plant at Farmingdale, N.J.; parent REL remains at Long Island City . . . Hewlett-Packard to begin construction by mid-1960 of $500,000-$750,000 electronics research, development & production plant near Loveland, Cal. International Radio & Electronics Corp., Elkhart, Ind., recently announced reorganization into 2 new subsidiaries— Crown International (tape recorders) and International Radio (radio broadcast transmitters & accessories). The firm’s new 24,000-sq. ft. plant at S. 17th St. & Mishawaka Rd., will make it possible to triple output this year.