American television directory (1946)

% T elevision network growth is direct¬ ly related to the expansion of the tele¬ vision industry. As the number of television stations increases the greater will be the demand for network facili¬ ties, and inversely, the more rapidly network facilities are established the more rapid will be the growth of tele¬ vision stations in this country. Network facilities and stations go hand-in-hand. A microwave tele-network relay sys¬ tem makes possible the achievement of two primary objectives from the stand¬ point of programs. First, it permits the program originating in the studios in one city, for example, Hollywood, to be duplicated over a television transmitter in another city, let us say Chicago. Sec¬ ondly, it provides a means of picking up a live television program from points where no television station exists. Immediate Pickups Possible For instance, part of our proposed coast to coast tele network* passes through Indian reservations in remote regions of the Southwest. Since a tele¬ vision program can be injected into a network at any repeater station point, it becomes feasible, for example, to televise Indian ceremonial dances in the deserts of Arizona by means of portable television pickup cameras and equip¬ ment, and to transmit the images and sound to viewing audiences in Chicago, Washington, New York, Boston and other distant cities connected with the transcontinental network. The ability to duplicate live television programs on a nationwide basis over a multitude of stations is a vital neces¬ sity to the business side of television. The programming cost of television is high. Unless two or more market areas are enabled to share these costs, programming will be severely limited and handicapped. The full capabilities of the television art cannot be realized without tele-network facilities. It is not economically feasible for a national ad¬ vertiser to undertake separate and dis¬ tinct productions of his program at each individual station. The total cost would be increased by additional pro¬ duction expense at every station after the first. While it is technically possible to pro¬ * Raytheon’s proposed transcontinental microwave relay system is mapped on page 24. RAYTHEON’S MICROWAVE RELAY SYSTEM National tele-networks are vital to the commercial development of television. Bigger audiences is the single direct answer to excessive programming costs. By LAURENCE K. MARSHALL President, Raytheon Manufacturing Co. duce, or reproduce, a live show sepa¬ rately at each station, “big name stars” would not be available outside of the major production centers, and many types of “perishable” programs could not be handled on this basis at all. News events, current sports such as prominent baseball and football games, conventions and ceremonies are exam¬ ples. Radio broadcasting enables the public to hear these events reported while they are happening. Newspapers with radio-photos and newsreels speeded by fast planes, trail the radio by only a few hours, sometimes only by min¬ utes. Television is expected to combine all these services, to present sight and sound immediately and simultaneously to the eyes and ears of the public. An important part of tele-network expansion is the development of branch circuits from main line circuits. On a main line circuit between Chicago and New York, a number of branches will be required. A branch circuit to Buffalo, for example, would have a main line connection at one of the repeater sta¬ tions east of Cleveland. Whether such branches are to be arranged for transmission in either direction depends entirely upon pro¬ gram requirements. If programs orig¬ inating in Buffalo are to be fed to the main line for delivery to stations in New York and Boston, the circuit must be capable of handling them as well as “feeds” from the main line to Buffalo. Adequate news coverage alone may make two-way transmission imperative. Some of the repeater stations on microwave radio relay networks will be located at very high elevations when passing over mountain ranges. Due to the quasi-optical characteristics of tele¬ vision broadcast frequencies, a tele¬ vision broadcast transmitter located at one of these high elevations would enjoy what is known as a large “service area.” That is, the satisfactory transmission range radius in miles is much greater than if the station were located at a relatively low altitude. Thus, large rural areas which might be deprived of television program reception because of primary metropolitan area considera¬ tions can be adequately served on an economical basis. The importance of rural area service cannot be overlooked. Television receivers will sell well only in areas where buyers are able to receive entertaining programs. Nation¬ al tele-networks, therefore, are impor¬ tant to the commercial development of television, especially from a program cost standpoint. In our opinion, tele¬ network facilities will expand simul¬ taneously with the growth of television stations throughout the country. Photograph by Larry Colwell READY for national audiences: Lever Bros.’ “Thanks for Looking" audience participation show, m.c.'d. by John Reed King, assisted by Pat Murray. Produced by Ruthrauff & Ryan. 26