Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

VIRGINIA Television Market Rankings* DR. BAKER MANUFACTURING GE's Dr. W. R. G. Baker Honored on Retirement Dr. W. R. G. Baker, vice president of General Electric Co. since 1941 and president of Electronic Industries Assn., retired last Saturday. One of the leading figures in electronic development, Dr. Baker left GE on his 65th birthday under provisions of its pension plan. Chancellor W i 1 Ham P. Tolley of Syracuse U. announced that Dr. Baker has been appointed research vice president in charge of the institution's contract research program. In announcing Dr. Baker's retirement, Cramer W. Lapierre, vice president of GE's electronic-atomic-defense systems group, said he had given the company "more than 34 years of loyal and outstandingly effective service." For many years he was director of the GE electronics division. During his regime electronic equipment sales took a high place in company business and an electronics plant and research center was developed near Syracuse. When three electronics divisions were set up in 1956, Dr. Baker was made a consultant to the company's executive office. He has been honored by many professional and business associations for his contributions to electronics. In 1947 he was president of Institute of Radio Engineers and is in his second term as EIA president. Both groups have awarded him their medals of honor. The Army awarded him its medal of freedom citation in 1953. Next March he will receive the founders award of IRE, bestowed on special occasions to outstanding administrative leaders in the radio and electronics fields. He will be the fourth person to receive the award since IRE was founded in 1912. Dr. Baker was active in developing and directing the two committees that recommended television engineering standards, paving the way for commercial monochrome telecasting in 1941 and color tv in 1953. Last summer he retired because of ill health from membership on the Television Allocations Study Organization. GE's pioneer tv station at Schenectady, N. Y., WRGB (TV), uses Dr. Baker's initials in recognition of his contributions to company developments and to the entire industry. Fancher Sees Transistor Boom A prediction was made last week by H. Brainer Fancher, general manager of the General Electric Co.'s semiconductor department, that the increasing use of transistors will be instrumental in the expansion of the electronics industry from a total new equipment sales volume of $6.9 billion in 1957 to about $12.5 billion in 1967. He told a meet Broadcasting ing of the Cleveland Society of Security Analysts that use of transistors in new equipment will grow from 12% this year to 80% in 1967; the total sales figures for the semiconductor industry will rise from $140 million this year to $200 million in 1958 and $1 billion in 1967, and transistor sales in 1958 will increase 50% over those in 1957 to about $105 million. Radio Set Shipments Up Half-Million; Tv Down Shipments of radio sets to dealers by manufacturers are running over a halfmillion ahead of last year, according to a nine-month report by Electronic Industries Assn. (formerly RETMA). Tv shipments are running behind 1956. EIA announced that 5,844,280 radio sets had been shipped through September compared to 5,326,820 in the same nine months of 1956. Shipments in the month of September totaled 1,056,274 compared to 833,624 in September 1956. Shipments of tv receivers totaled 4,249,775 in the first nine months of 1957 compared to 4,578,983 in the same 1956 period. September shipments totaled 789,675 sets compared to 827,873 in the same 1956 month. Following are radio shipments to dealers by states during the first nine months of 1957: State Total State Total Alabama 69,591 New Jersey 239,221 Arizona 27,900 New Mexico 16,987 Arkansas 27,649 New York 904,824 California 449,289 North Carolina 87,230 Colorado 39,544 North Dakota 14,417 Connecticut 84,856 Ohio 336,428 Delaware 10,457 Oklahoma 52,686 D. of C. 54,753 Oregon 48,502 Florida 129,956 Pennsylvania 445,364 Georgia Idaho ' 105,792 Rhode Island 35,275 13,135 South Carolina 37,112 Illinois 494,331 South Dakota 14,127 Indiana 107,358 Tennessee 76,987 Iowa 63,321 Texas 258,862 Kansas 48,924 Utah 18,641 Kentucky 84,608 Vermont 13,160 Louisiana 85,872 Virginia 90,073 Maine 33,712 Washington 80,714 Maryland 114,358 West Virginia 43,745 Massachusetts 220,497 Wisconsin 125,978 Michigan 256,035 Wyoming 6,771 Minnesota 95,487 Mississippi 33,658 U. S. TOTAL 5,830,237 Missouri 153,244 Alaska 3,080 Montana 15,668 Hawaii 10,963 Nebraska 34,721 Nevada 8,070 GRAND New Hampshire 20,347 TOTAL 5,844,280 Following are tv set shipments to dealers by states for the first nine months of 1957: State Total State Total Alabama 61,066 Indiana 105,874 Arizona 26,446 Iowa 47,489 Arkansas 36,045 Kansas 48,863 California 421,641 Kentucky 70,057 Colorado 34,324 Louisiana 77,693 Connecticut 69,346 Maine 23,566 Delaware 9,899 Maryland 58,315 D. of C. 44,770 Massachusetts 128,059 Florida 145,657 Michigan 162,562 Georgia 83,476 Minnesota 65,002 Idaho 13,183 Mississippi 35,741 Illinois 255,795 Mis; ^ri 100,059 ROANOKE IS FIRST IN ALL CATEGORIES EXCEPT TV HOMES, WITH ONLY 3.2% DIFFERENCE THERE! • FAMILIES V Roanoke 436,700 Norfolk 386,400 Richmond 337,400 • POPULATION V Roanoke 1,759,200 Norfolk 1,514,900 Richmond 1,360,200 • RETAIL SALES V Roanoke $1,554,643,000 Norfolk $1,399,667,000 Richmond $ 1 ,289, 1 55,000 • TELEVISION HOMES Norfolk 313,299 (81.2%) V Roanoke „ 303,598 (69.5%) Richmond 243,778 (72.3%) Norfolk has 3.2% more TV Homes than Roanoke, BUT — Roanoke has 11.7% more Retail Sales Dollars to influence! Contact Peters, Griffin, Woodward for choice availabilities! *AII figures from Television Magazine 1957 Marketbook and S M "Survey Of Buying Power." WDBW ROANOKE, VA. Owned and operated by the Times-World Corp. December 2, 1957 • Page 79