Boxoffice (Jun 30, 1951)

NETWORK DELAYS FORESEEN Rush for Television Projectors Is On By JAMES M. JERAULD NEW YORK—Nothing since the introduction of sound has stirred more general excitement among exhibitors than the drawing power of the Joe Louis-Lee Savold televised pictures in nine theatres. The rush to get in orders for theatre TV projectors is on, but this doesn’t mean that there will be widespread use of theatre television in the near future. Too many hurdles remain on the course, with the Federal Communications Commission and the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. among them. STILL TWO YEARS AWAY It may be two years or more before theatre television can become what one observer has described as “a revolutionary force that will convince distributors and exhibitors that they have to supply a new form of entertainment that can’t be supplied on home receivers.” ~ The battle is on. All opponents of the Columbia Broadcasting System’s color have combined their talents to find an all-electronic substitute. They may come up with something by the end of this year. In the meantime the barrages of publicity statements will keep both exhibitors and owners of home receivers in a state of uncertainty and slow both the production and sale of black and white receivers. Here are some of the uncertainties: There are not enough coaxial cables or microwave relay stations in existence or planned to take on general hookups for exclusive theatre telecasts on top of the commitments already made to radio and television companies. Coast-to-coast telecasts may become possible by the end of the year, but theatres may find it impossible to get time either on the cables or the air. Regional hookups for important sportscasts may be used, however. What the Federal Communications Commission will do is the major mystery at present. Theoretically it will be possible to have 2,000 or more television stations by using the ultrahigh frequencies in addition to the very high frequencies now in use. Theatre men hope to get some of these channels. MUST CONVINCE FCC First, they have to convince the FCC that exclusive theatre telecasts will be a public service. They are on the way to doing that now, but they can count on opposition because television is now at the crossroads. Will it continue to be free to set owners, or will the owners have to pay for it? Since Oct. 1, 1948, there has been a ban against building new TV stations. It will be continued indefinitely because of materials scarcities and the need for more technical information. Unless the A.T.&T. can increase its coaxial cable facilities tremendously or provide new microwave relays, the present jam on transmission facilities will become worse, What has seemed to exhibitors like a one Sided battle, with the broadcasters and set manufacturers holding the important weap BOXOFFICE :: June 30, 1951 Louis B. Mayer and MGM Are Parting Company HOLLY WOoOD—Other than the fact—now definitely determined after many months of widely circulated rumors—that Louis B. Mayer will sever connections with MGM, of which he is the studio head, all of the wild conjecture anent his future plans, which has kept Cinemania’s gossip specialists abuzz, apparently has no confirmable basis at this time. Such was the viewpoint of a source close to Mayer, forthcoming after it was more or less officially revealed that the industry veteran will on or about August 1 leave the company which he helped to found in 1924. From Mayer on Monday (25) came a Statement making known his definite plans to leave, but in no way hinting as to what he may have in mind after his departure. That statement said: “It has been my great honor to have served as head of MGM studio activities since the birth of the company in 1924. “T have great pride in its accomplishments and am grateful to and proud of the fine men Louis B. Mayer and women of the organization who have established the studio in the high position it has always held. “Naturally I regret severing the ties and relationships that have been built up over the many years, but I leave with my very best wishes to the organization and to those connected with it, and for its future prosperity and success.” Mayer, it was said, has as yet made no commitments relating to his future industry plans and probably will reach no decision thereon until his resignation has been submitted to and accepted by Loew’s, Inc., MGM's parent company. Meantime the rumor mills were churning out such items as: 1. He has been offered a full partnership by Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna in their production unit at RKO Radio. 2. He might purchase J. Arthur Rank’s holdings in Universal-International, together with other stock, to share operating control of the company with William Goetz and Leo Spitz. 3. He might purchase a part of controlling interest in Columbla Pictures from President Harry Cohn. 4. He may form his own production and distribution organization. Of course, none is capable of confirmation. rr ons, now is a two-way fight that can upset many calculations. The Supreme Court decision permitting Columbia Broadcasting System to show color films by its revolving disc process was an earthquake to the broadcasters and set makers who have been doing a lot of talking about color television, but have been delaying it to protect the investments of set owners and makers so long as the gold-rush aspects of the business continued. The CBS “premiere” of color, even though it could be seen by only a few hundred persons, had the effect of the washout of a dam. Everybody is trying to ride the current. NEW RCA EXPERIMENTS RCA immediately announced that it would stage a series of field tests starting July 9 over WNBT on Channel 4. These programs will be receivable on black and white sets, but not in color. At least 100 sets will be equipped with the RCA color tube. Set manufacturers and sellers are in something bordering on a panic. Philco Corp. announced Friday (22) that it would suspend production of home receivers for four weeks. The National Retail Dry Goods Ass‘’n was told to push color receivers because these soon will be regarded as replacements and new trade-in problems will arise. Another member of this group said the saturation point had been reached on set sales. The expected stampede to get RCA theatre TV projectors began a few days after the Louis-Savold fight. Orders for 28 have been announced in the past few days. How many others are in is a trade secret up to the present. The Illinois Allied unit, headed by Jack Kirsch of Chicago, decided to ask Abram F. Myers, general counsel, for advice on how to best get in on the television rush. After a series of announcements by Paramount which showed the company has made some important improvements in its tube-tofilm apparatus—that it has a color tube, and, in addition, coin-in-the slot apparatus for home receivers—a period of silence developed. This will be broken at the FCC hearings next month when the frequency allotment hearings start. MGM, PARA. IN RACE Some months ago when Commander E, F. McDonald of Zenith was hurling a barrage of publicity to get films for its Phonevision tests —a system that requires the help of the telephone companies—he pressured the Department of Justice into inquiring whether the film hold-back was a conspiracy to restrain trade. If that happens again, Paramount and probably MGM will have competitive colleetion systems which they claim are superior to Phonevision. It may be a long time before either of these goes on the market, but they are now factors in the competitive struggle, Balaban & Katz in Chicago, using the Paramount tube-to-film system, showed the Louis-Savold fight in several theatres. The International Boxing Club protested that this Was not in the original agreement, so B&K probably will dicker for film duplicating rights in the future. The results of this may be far-reaching because regional groups of theatres could he serviced quickly in this way in both color and black and white.