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National Press BIdg. Washington 4, D. C.
JANUARY 1, 1951
BROADCASTING, Telecasting $7 annually, 25c weekly
'51 CABLE PREDICTIONS
TV NETWORK system of AT&T has grown from 476 miles of facilities (coaxial cable or radio relay) connecting three stations in two cities at the end of 1946, to 17,344 miles of intercity connections linking 72 stations in 42 cities at the end of 1950, AT&T reported last week in a yearend review of the company's TV progress.
Final figures for 1950, the report noted, do not include the seven Los Angeles or the three San Francisco TV stations nor the 750 miles of connections between these two West Coast cities, since they are not as yet connected with the Bell System's east midwest TV network.
Extension of the radio relay between Omaha and San Francisco is expected to make such a connection possible before the end of 1951, AT&T predicted. Link will be used first for long distance telephonic communication but it is anticipated that the task of equipping it for video program transmission will be completed by late fall, available for coast-to-coast simultaneous TV broadcasts if the networks or the TV program sponsors order such service.
Other TV plans of the Bell System for 1951 call for linking Binghamton, N. Y., to the network by means of radio relay from a point near Schenectady; erection of a direct relay route connecting Charlotte and Atlanta; equipping an existing coaxial cable from Memphis to Birmingham for TV use and the addition of a number of new video circuits on existing routes.
Network Telecasting
In its review, AT&T set Dec. 1, 1945, as the date of the first postwar network telecast, when the Army-Navy football game was sent by coaxial cable from Philadelphia to New York for broadcast in the latter city. This temporary twocity hookup was replaced on Feb. 12, 1946, by the first permanent network installation — a northbound coaxial link from Washington to New York, which was augmented with a second circuit, providing service in the opposite direction, two months later.
Philadelphia and Baltimore were joined permanently to the New York-Washington coaxial in October 1947 and a month later New York and Boston were connected
BELL SYSTEM TELEVISION NETWORK ROUTES ^^^1
AT&T Reviews Growth
the telephone company had filed a rate schedule with the FCC.
On Sept. 20, 1948, a midwestern hookup went into service, connecting Cleveland, Buffalo, Toledo, Chicago, and St. Louis by coaxial cable, with radio relay connections between Chicago and Milwaukee and between Toledo and Detroit. In January 1949 the eastern and midwestern networks were joined by a Philadelphia-Cleveland cable circuit which added Pittsburgh to the TV network en route. Wilmington, Providence, Albany, Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Erie, Lancaster, Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati where added to the number of interconnected cities for TV program service during 1949.
by the Bell System's first radio relay system, with eight intermediate relay stations between the
two cities. Experimental at first, these circuits were put on a commercial basis May 1, 1948, after
Continued Expansion
During 1950 the network continued to expand. Memphis was connected to St. Louis by coaxial
(Continued on page 58)
FOLSOM @
Cites TV's Record Progress in "50
Mr. Folsom
TELEVISION progress in 1950 "outdistanced the progress of all of its previous years combined," Frank M. Folsom, president of RCA, said in a year-end statement released last week. "As 1951 bowed in, the New York metropolitan area alone had more than 2 million sets with an estimated viewing audience of 8 million men, women and children," he continued.
Television receiver circulation has increased 12 times in the past year, he said. Video now reaches 10 million homes and approximately 40 million people. The public spent $1.5 billion for sets last year, representing an increase of more than 100% over 1949, the best preceding year in television. Set manufacturing facilities and production schedules were stepped up to such an extent that more sets were offered to the public in a single month than in the entire year of 1948, he said.
"Theatre television, with giant projections of special events on
screens of motion picture houses, began to spread across the country in 1950," his statement continued. RCA Victor installations in New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles "was believed to form the pioneering basis for an independent theatre television network which would supplement regular film fare with special offerings to attract the public." Installations in 71 theatres, from Yuma, Ariz., to San Francisco, were planned by one big chain at year's end, the statement continued.
Set Production
During 1950, 70% of total RCA Victor production was of sets with 16-inch tubes, the "overwhelming choice," from 18 models offered, including three with 12% -inch tubes, 11 with 16-inch tubes, and four with 19-inch tubes.
Network facilities were extended and programs improved. NBC, when its present construction plans are completed, will have invested between $35 million and $40 million, the statement went on. And there are plans for acquisition of more top talent, and for morning network programming as sponsorship goes up.
"NBC's commanding' lead in all
Telecasting • BROADCASTING
phases of television broadcasting is expected to increase as 1951 progresses. The plan is to provide entertainment of such quality and variety that increasing numbers of set owners will be attracted to the NBC network. At the same time, efforts will be made to provide the finest cultural and informational programs," the announcement said.
Among NBC "tasks completed," Mr. Folsom listed the building of a talent line-up for producing programs at the rate of 100 per week, the leasing and transforming of the Center and Hudson Theatres in New York, and the conversion of three radio broadcasting studios into production studios for TV.
Outside the United States, RCAequipped television stations were opened in Havana, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, and plans for a Canadian station were being studied.
Meanwhile, Mr. Folsom said, radio continued to serve the public. Thirty-five million listeners every evening of the week was the average audience for the first half of 1950. The potential audience of families with sets in their homes comprised 95% of the population.
RCA scientific achievements of (Continued on page 58)
January 1, 1951 • Page 49