American television directory (1946)

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AN ADVERTISER LOOKS AT TELEVISION Exploration of television’s commercial possibilities reveals that it’s up to the broadcasters to make the medium an effective instrument for the advertisers. By CHARLES J. DURBAN Assistant Director of Advertising, United States Rubber Company Nearly two years ago United States Rubber Company decided to explore the possibilities of television, keep in touch with its progress and be prepared to use it “if, as and when.” We thought when we started that television was potentially one of the strongest, most effective of advertising and merchandising mediums. Time, study and experiment have not changed our opinion. But please note the em¬ phasis on the word “potentially.” Much depends on the manner in which tele¬ vision is developed and this, in turn, hinges on the breadth of vision, intelli¬ gence and philosophy of the men man¬ aging the industry. What is television? Certainly it isn’t radio or stage or screen, though it par¬ takes of all three. It can visually and audibly teach and inform — bring you the news as it happens — tell a story — entertain. And it can demonstrate and sell products. Most Flexible Art in History In practice, television has, at the mo¬ ment, stringent limitations. Yet as a medium for conveying human thought and feelings, it is the most flexible art in all history. During 1945 we presented a number of half-hour programs* over station WABD, New York. While these were strictly experimental and for the pur¬ pose of adding to our own store of knowledge, we scored several television firsts'. The fact that viewers liked some of them was our great good fortune. Among the experiments attempted was the teaching of geology — normally a rather dry subject — in co-operation with one of the leading New York col¬ leges. The professor who held the chair in this study took the lead role — play¬ ing himself. Members of the faculty as well as students from the regular geol¬ ogy class were in the audience, and the result was an urgent request from the college that they be permitted to co-operate with the company in a series of programs of this type for the benefit of all concerned. On another occasion, a half hour was devoted to the dramatization and demonstration of one of our products which lent itself to such treatment. Still another was composed entirely of one of our institutional motion pictures which took the viewer through our va¬ rious plants and showed him the actual making of the many products for war which we were then manufacturing. We learned that television, above any other medium, can capitalize on the public’s very real interest in industry and on its consuming curiosity as to the use of products. This is particularly true when products are in the style field, or contribute to comfort, conven¬ ience or safety. Naturally, the method of presentation is important. Shipwreck in the Studio We did a shipwreck at sea in a 9'xl8' tank with 10" of water, right in the studio. We built camera ramps and experimented with various lenses. We tried a number of motion pictures, finding all too often that regardless of the merit of the picture they seldom televised very well. We picked up a radio quiz show “as is” and televised it exactly as it would have been pre¬ sented in radio. Later, we altered and improved it specifically for television. We did a lot of other things, both orthodox and unorthodox. We made an enormous number of mistakes. But from them we learned. We learned that the producer, writer, director and the key man on the control board form the “backfield.” And that everyone else in the studio is on the “line” — camera men, cable girls, technicians and cast. Some of the things we did could only have been accomplished because every¬ one was on the team and knew it. That’s not new in the theater or in Hollywood — but we didn’t find it being done in television. We cannot agree with motion picture men who are inclined to look at tele¬ vision as a new way to get moving pictures into the home. We have a dif¬ ferent approach than so many of the radio people who quite unconsciously approach television pretty much in terms of enlarging the radio studio audience. “Use" Development Next Only a few within and without the industry are approaching television as a completely new and different medium. We believe that the television industry itself, heretofore concentrating so strongly and justifiably on mechanical and technical details, must henceforth devote much of its best brains and in¬ telligence to developing the use of this magnificent new medium. * See page 101 for complete resume of United States Rubber Co. television activities. A THOROUGHLY TESTED INVENTION “Television will be the biggest and most fascinating of the country’s newest industries. It will provide new employment for many thousands of ex-service men and women. It will furnish a broad public service of information and entertainment that will be just as new and original and different from anything in the past as were the automobile, the airplane, the motion picture and the radio when they were introduced. Yet none of these important inventions, when first offered to the public, had been so thoroughly tested, or had reached a degree of advanced technical development comparable to the television which now is ready for the people of the United States.” — Niles Trammell, President , National Broadcasting Company 42