Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

VOL. 16; No. 2 19 m In U.S. electronics exports, biggest single decline from 1958 was registered in radio communications equipment — from $91.4 million to $69.9 million — while TV-radio broadcast equipment exports increased by 65% to $7.4 million from $2.2 million, mainly as a result of the rise in demand for TV studio equipment. TV picture tube exports rose 21%, while receiving tube exports dropped 17%. Noting trend to greater competition from foreign electronics firms. Commerce Dept, adds that "there is also evidence of greater participation by U.S. firms in international trade through licensing arrangements with or direct investments in foreign firms." For your convenience, the Commerce Dept, tables on U.S. electronics imports & exports and on shipments of radios from selected countries are reprinted on page 22. THE 23 AND THE 19: Although they’re look-alikes, the new 23-in. and the upcoming 19-in. picture tubes will serve entirely different functions in TV lines, in the opinion of manufacturers with whom we discussed the subject at the Chicago market last week. While some set makers gave the impression that they were being dragged, kicking & screaming, into the 23-in. set field, every manufacturer we contacted was enthusiastic about the square-cornered 19-in. and there are indications that some unique set designing is now being carried on around the newcomer. The 23-in. is now in nearly every major line — and will be in all of them by summer — although some manufacturers are giving it more emphasis than others. Admiral and Sylvania still seem to be staunchest proponents, with longest lines & greatest stress on the new size. Admiral sales vp Carl E. Lantz predicted that by year’s end the 23-in. would account for 75% of his company’s largescreen TV set sales. Probably 3rd most enthusiastic 23-in. set manufacturer is Zenith, which prominently displayed its new long lines of square-corner tube sets. Zenith has gone to 110degree deflection for the new tube, abandoning the “doghouse” on back of the set rather than slimming cabinets. Most other set makers exhibiting in Chicago had 23-in. tubes in new high-end merchandise. The Corning twin-panel approach was used in most — but not all — cases. It’s the most widely available 23-in. tube now. Westinghouse showed 2 new 23-in. sets using the Corning bonded safety glass approach as the predecessors of 16 new models, due this week. But Westinghouse officials said they planned to use the Kimble non-bonded 23-in. with standard safety glass when the tube is more plentiful. GE introduced two basic models of the 23-in. set in Syracuse last week, but did not include them in its Chicago display. GE became the first manufacturer to use Kimble Glass non-bonded 23s, and announced the new sets would retail for about $30 more than comparable 21-in. models. Motorola is the only company using 2 different 23-in. tubes. Two 23-in. models in its Drexel furniture series have 110-degree Corning twin-panel tubes, while the 2 in its regular line use 90-degree Kimble bulbs with Pittsburgh Plate Glass bonded-on implosion plate. Magnavox, which has not yet introduced a 23-in. tube, is stressing 24-in. sets, and the official company line is “a bigger tube at less cost.” But it’s understood that Magnavox is also readying 23-in. models this spring. % 4: The 19-in. square-cornered tube will be featured in nearly every TV line by this summer — and in some as early as next March. Where will the 19-in. fit in the line? We asked several manufacturers and found there’s no general agreement whether the 19-in. will end up as a substitute for the 17-in. portable, the low-end 21-in. table model, or as a completely new size unto itself. A slight majority seems to feel that the latter will probably be the case. “The 19-in. set,” we were told by Sylvania Home Electronics Pres. Robert L. Shaw, “is a table model. It will start a new category, beginning in the 2nd quarter of this year.” He indicated it would fall between the 17-in. portable and the 21 or 23-in. table model. Westinghouse TV-radio mktg. mgr. C. J. Urban told us he saw the new size cutting into the 21-in. table model’s market more than the 17-in. portable. He said it also will arouse considerable interest for hotel, motel & institutional use — since it has a bigger picture (19 sq. in. more) than a 17-in., but isn’t as bulky as a 21-in. Motorola plans to have 19-in. portables & table models in its June lines. “We’ve found that weight is no longer an important consideration in a portable” (the 19-in. is heavier than the 17-in. tube), said a top official. Nevertheless, Motorola plans to design the 19-in. as “a distinct new set,” not a replacement for any sets now in the line. Other major set makers told us they were counting on the 19-in. to replace the 17-in. in portable lines, except at the low end. Zenith’s Wright Looks Ahead: The I960s will see a wider variety of new electronic products & services than the ’50s — along with an increasing consumer interest in quality of goods. So said Zenith Pres. Joseph Wright in a luncheon address to NARDA’s Chicago convention last week. Reiterating Zenith’s claim to the No. 1 TV sales rank for 1959, he said the industry had underestimated the public’s willingness to pay for quality — but now “the highest-price line is also the biggest selling line.” He said Zenith will “very shortly” introduce a new home magnetictape music system. This was understood to be the system being developed by Minnesota Mining and others in which cartridge-loaded tapes are stacked for automatic playing. He predicted the perfection of electronic refrigeration for the home during the ’60s, and said “developments in the next few years to simplify receivers & transmitters” would make color a mass item. He injected the traditional Zenith plug for pay TV, predicting that the Phonevision system will be in “fullscale commercial operation in the next 5 years.” He blamed the 1958 TV-receiver sales slump at least partly on poor programming. And, with what may even have been a note of sadness in his voice, he pointed out that broadcasters have stopped attacking the pay-TV proponents. “They’re in so much hot water,” he said, “they’re not paying any attention to us.” (For his comments on Japanese imports, see p. 21.)