Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

10— TELEVISION DIGEST MARCH 11, 1963 Music Show exhibit hours have been changed by NAMM board as result of petition by L. M. Sandwich, EIA consumer products staff director. Pointing to poor attendance at EIA symposium during last year’s Music Show in N.Y. (Vol. 2:27 p7), Sandwich blamed competition from exhibits, urged that exhibits open late during moniing time reserved for meetings & seminars. Board voted to devote 8:30-10:30 a.m. to meetings, with exhibits open 10:30 a.m.G p.m. Mon. -Wed. (in place of former 9 a.m. opening) at this year’s .show July 21-2.5 in Chicago’s Palmer House. Sunday exhibit hours will be 1-5 p.m., Thurs. 9:30 a.m.noon. EIA’s consumer products executive committee will decide during next weeh’s EIA spring conference in Washington’s Statler Hilton whether to present program at this year’s Music Show. Largest single order for closed-circuit cameras is claimed by RCA, which has received contract from Diebold Inc. for 250 cameras for use in 2-way “hear-see” communications at drive-in banh stations. Added feature of system is expected to entertain customers: On arriving at drive-in station, customer sees himself on TV. By pressing signal bar, he summons teller. Actual transactions are accomplished by high-speed pneumatic tube. Raytheon, blaming price deterioration, will cease production of semiconductors at Lewistown, Me. by year’s end, will close plant unless company finds other manufacturing operations which can be substituted. Last Nov. (Vol. 2:47 p9), Raytheon closed Lowell, Mass, semiconductor plant because of industry’s overcapacity. Operations will continue at Raytheon’s Mountain View, Cal. semiconductor plant. There are more radios than people in U.S., Radio .\dvertising Bureau estimates. RAB said 200,258,000 radios were in operating order in U.S. Jan. 1, 1963, compared with 187 million Americans. It announced a record total of more than 24 million radios were sold last year, including more than 11 million portables. Figure includes 8 million imports from Japan, but no “toy” sets w'ith fewer than 3 transistors. RCA will package in clear plastic “skins,” for selfservice sales, various parts & accessories that have consumer adaptability. Parts & Accessories mgr. Paul B. Carver said program “should be a great aid to our distributors & dealers,” noted that “self-service merchandising has revolutionized consumer packaging and we are making every effort to help the product sell itself.” Entering tape recorder field, Argus Inc., Chicago camera maker, introduced 3 models at last week’s Master Photo Dealers Assn. Show in Atlantic City. Pres. Herbert R. Leopold termed move “natural diversification.” It’s estimated 40-50% of all tape recorders are sold by photo dealers. Formerly a Sylvania subsidiary, Arg^s was sold last April. Distributor products div. has been established by TelePrompTer Corp. for its Weather (hi-fi components) & Conley Electronics (automatic tape cartridges) manufacturing divisions. Peter C. Funk, former Conley sales mgr., is national sales mgi\ of new div., with hq at 60 W. 44th St., N.Y. Admiral showed new hotel TV set at recent Chicago Hotel-Motel Show. The 19-in. model has built-in provision for AM, FM, & background music channels as standard equipment. Admiral also showed hotel-model 23-in. & color sets. Distributor Notes: Preston B. Ray, former Westinghouse Credit Corp. regional mgr., joins newly formed Alcoa Credit Co. as vp-gen. mgr. • Robert A, Rosen, Zenith Radio Corp. of N.Y. ad & sales promotion mgr., resigns to become pres, of American Business Resources Corp., small business financing & management counseling firm • Thomas F. Joyce, Raymond Rosen & Co. pres., will be guest of honor at annual trade dinner March 12 of Home Furnishing Industries Div. of 1963 Allied Jewish Appeal, Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia. He’ll receive special award for “out•standing humanitarian work.” • Motorola has expanded territory of distributor Braid Electric, Nashville, from Nashville area to 12 Tennessee counties, 3 in northeastern Alabama, 7 in northwestern Georgia, formerly semdced by Harwell Distributing Co., Chattanooga • Philco Distributors has foimed San Francisco branch (Richard G. Evans, gen. mgr.; Paul Thomas, sales mgr.) 16th & Pennsylvania Sts., to serve territory formerly handled by California Electric Supply Co.; Graybar Electric, Los Angeles, Philco's southern California distributor adds Arizona territory formerly served by Philco Distributors of Phoenix; L & L Distributors, Tampa, will ser\ice Florida’s Seminole & Lake counties, formerly handled by PDl of Miami; J. E. Miller Co., Pittsburgh, named distributor for Pennsylvania’s Mercer & Lawrence counties & Ohio’s Columbiana, formerly handled by Appliance Wholesalers Co., Youngstown; PDI Cleveland will absorb latter’s Ohio counties of Mahoning, Poi-tage, Trumbull & Cayuga • Standard Radio appoints Techrep Associates, Topsfield, Mass., sales reps for New England area. Techrep’s George .Metzger & O. K. Makela will operate as Standard Radio manufacturers reps. ■ Consumer electronics sales will increase about 12% at factory level to total of $2.35 billion from 1962’s $2.1 billion. This was prediction by Commerce Dept. Business & Defense Seiwices Administration — considerably more optimistic than EIA’s forecast of 5% increase (Vol. 3:4 plO). Here are BDSA’s estimates of 1963 factory sales (1962 figures in parentheses) : Black-&-white TV, 6.8 million sets (up 5% from 6.3 million); radio, 20.5 million (up 7% from 19.2 million); phonos, 5.3 million (up 8% from 4.9 million). BDSA said average unit prices & profit levels should increase this year as result of higher output of color & all-channel TV’ and demand for higher-priced stereo. Consumer electronics’ balance of trade, unfavorable last year ($55 million exported, $154 million imported), will continue to deteriorate as exports increase 9% to $60 million while imports climb 20% to $185 million. By years end, “imports may reach 8% of total domestic factory output” of consumer electronics. Mergers & acquisitions: Cox Instrument dirs. have approved proposal to merge into Lynch Corp. (Vol. 3:6 pl2) which owns 54.7% of former Peninsula Metal Products Ck).’s 373,674 outstanding shares. Proposal still requires approval of stockholders of both firms. • Transvision Electronics, Yonkers, N.Y. maker of TV kits & educational electronic devices, and Pacotronics Inc., Glendale, N.Y. manufacturer of test equipment & kit-packaged audio components, wall merge into new company. Precision Apparatus Inc., if stockholders of both firms approve at special March meetings. Transrtsion I^res. Mehdn S. Rosen would be pres, of amalgamated company.