Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan - Mar 1951)

TV AIDS GATE WTVJ Head Blames Schedule TELEVISION is a definite aid to football attendance and should not be blamed for slumps in gate receipts, Col. Mitchell Wolfson, president of WTVJ (TV) Miami, said in a recent letter to the Orange Bowl Advisory Committee. Col. Wolfson urged the committee to evaluate the preceding season's football attendance records with four factors in mind — weather, general economic conditions, schedule of games, and television. He concluded that the schedule of games was the most important factor governing paid attendance, not TV. Average attendance at Miami U.'s home games, held in the Orange Bowl, was 36,517 in the 1950 season, he said, a 9% drop from 1949's average of 39,931 per game. Analyzing the past season's schedule, Col. Wolfson pointed out that the two biggest games of the 1949 season, those with Florida U. and Purdue, were played away from home in 1950. If these two crowddrawing games had been played at home during the past season, he said, the attendance would have showed only a %% drop from last year. As for the other factors — weather, economic conditions, and TV — Col. Wolfson said: "There is a strong indication that people don't stay home to watch television because of rain." Citing 1950 attendance figures again, he pointed out that the Villanova game, played in the rain, enjoyed higher attendance than three of the other games on the schedule. Mentioning the all-time high of the cost of living index and the 3% increase in personal income taxes put into effect in October, Col. Wolfson urged that these factors be taken into consideration as affecting economic TRICOLOR TUBE Invented by Chew INVENTION of a new all-electronic color television picture tube which is claimed to avoid "pitfalls" of current color TV systems was announced last week by Thornton Chew, vice president in charge of engineering for KFMB-TV San Diego. Mr. Chew, who has secured a patent (No. 2529485) on his invention, said the tube employs a magnetic field to select color sequences and combinations. Its screen was described as having successive groups of strips of material, each with red, green, and blue colors. The tube has a single gun. It was said to render a spinning disc unnecessary, and to need no complicated lens system. KFMB-TV spokesmen said plans for exhibition of the tube are now in progress. Mr. Chew, a former research engineer with Don Lee television interests in Los Angeles, joined KFMB-TV in May 1949. . Telecasting • BROADCASTING conditions and therefore the sale of tickets. Emphasizing the selling job TV has done for football, Col. Wolfson enumerated the promotional support WTVJ gave the university's home games last season. In all its football features, Col. Wolfson said, the public was urged to get out to the games for "full enjoyment of atmosphere, half time spectacle, etc." Also, over $2,000 worth of season tickets were sold in advance on a special series of eight TV programs called Rumpus on the Campus, he pointed out. "Now if television — rather than the schedule — had been the major factor in attendance losses," said Col. Wolfson, "we should have expected the losses to have increased as the season advanced, because the number of television sets in the area increased. But it is obvious that the season ended with peak attendance at the two major games with more TV sets in the area than TRUMAN DINNER Correspondents Map Plans PROGRAM representatives of the major radio and TV networks are slated to meet in New York this Friday to map out entertainment plans for the ninth annual Radio Correspondents Assn. dinner in honor of the President of the United States. The dinner will be held Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Hotel Statler, Washington, D. C. The association's executive committee met last Thursday to work out seating arrangements and other details for the occasion, which is expected to draw about 700 key government officials, Congressional members and industry representatives, including the radio correspondents. John Edwards, ABC, is serving as general chairman of this year's planning committee, with ABC the "coordinating" network on the usual rotation basis. DuMont Television Network will participate along with the four major radio networks. A feature of the 1950 dinner, during which President Truman will receive a gift from the correspondents, will be the installation of new officers of the association. Elections are scheduled to be held Jan. 10. William McAndrew, WRCAM-FM and WNBW (TV) Washington, president of the organization, will preside. WTMJ-TV Tube Costs WTMJ-TV Milwaukee has released figures on tube costs showing the cost per hour of the various tubes in use at t'^e station as well as the total net cost of each type of tube. According to the figures, orthicon tubes averaged an hourly cost of $2.47 each, while iconoscope tubes, used in film cameras, cost 294 per hour, and transmitter tubes cost 71$ per hour. One of America's TEN TOP DAYTIME PROGRAMS . . . reported in the November issue of TELEVISION . . . PAUL DIXON'S MUSIC SHOP. This "tops-in-the-nation" program is seen Monday through Saturday . . . WCPO-TV, 3 to 5 P.M. WCP0-TV CHANNEL 7 CINCINNATI WEWS Cleveland under same general management is also one of the country's top TV stations. SEE YOUR BRANHAM MAN! January 1, 1951 * Page 61