Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry (1951)

TELEVISION AT THE PRESENT time there is but one theatre television installa¬ tion in Canada, that of the Im¬ perial Theatre, Toronto, a Fa¬ mous Players unit and the largest movie house in Canada. Famous Players Can¬ adian Corporation, Canada’s largest theatre circuit, has been granted a clos¬ ed circuit licence on the recommendation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora¬ tion. It maintains a mobile TV unit but no commercial use has been made of the Imperial installation. The application of Famous Players for a TV station licence has been re¬ jected, along with those of nine others. The CBC has suggested that applicants become partners so that they might more easily avoid economic snags, then apply jointly, but this advice has not been followed. Radio representatives opposed the granting of a licence to Famous Players before the CBC Board of Governors, holding that television was part of the "rapidly expanding art of broadcast¬ ing.” Famous Players representative, John J. Fitzgibbons, replied that it was merely another way of projecting mov¬ ing pictures. Before the same meeting L. W. Brockington, KC, stated the position of Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd., this country’s second largest circuit. It is that all should have the privilege of buying exhibition rights to any program that each or any wish to play. That is, no exclusive tieups, whether sports or variety programs. It is entirely likely that the theatre vs. television situation will work itself out along the lines of joint action, as it is doing in the USA — if the CBC does not interfere. A number of the radio stations for which TV licences are being sought have made production arrange¬ ments with the film studios in their areas. The Bell Telephone Co. is experiment¬ ing with the delivery of a clear TV signal for theatres and stations between Buffalo and Toronto, so Independents who make TV installations will find a carrier handy. The CBC has arranged for this Bell service, which will also reach Montreal at a cost of $225,564. The Moving Picture Projectionists’ Union of Toronto, through an arrange¬ ment with the Ryerson Institute of Technology, has trained most of its members in theatre TV through a spe¬ cial course. The CBC doesn’t expect to offer tele¬ vision until the winter of 1952, when its Montreal and Toronto buildings will come into use for that purpose. Mean¬ while TV sets are being sold in Canada at the rate of more than 5,000 per month for listening to programs from the USA. Some theatres in border areas profess to have suffered a decline in patronage because of this. An interesting phase of television in this country is the service being pre¬ pared in Montreal by Rediffusion, Inc. This company, via co-axial cable, will market TV into homes, offices and fac¬ tories. Its laboratory experiments were carried on in Great Britain, in which country the company has its head¬ quarters, and its field work in Montreal. Because its signals are transmitted by wire only the company does not come within the authority of the CBC. The theatre section of the motion pic¬ ture industry in this country is watch¬ ing television developments as they effect theatres through the TV commit¬ tee of the National Committee of Mo¬ tion Picture Exhibitors Associations of Canada. For several years the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association had Hy Goldin, now chief engineer for Perkins Electric Co., as an observer at the meetings of the Canadian Radio Planning Board, which the Government has called on for advice about frequency allocations. The Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada has also established a tele¬ vision committee and this one will keep a record of the latest developments in the field. The information it gathers will be organized and made available to Council affiliates. The information it gathers will be organized and made available to Council affiliates. The atti¬ tudes of official USA and British gov¬ ernment bodies will studied, as will the reports of government-sponsored boards, such as Britain’s Beveridge Commission. 166