Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

EQUIPMENT & ENGINEERING Fm, uhf tuner set production shows rise Production of tv receivers with uhf tuners and fm radio sets both moved upward in the first three months of 1960, Electronic Industries Assn, reported last week. Retails sales of both tv and radio also rose over the com parable period of last year. Production and sales figures for the first 1960 quarter compared to the same period in 1959 are given below: Period Jan. -March '60 Jan. -March '59 Jan.-March '60 Jan. -March '59 TELEVISION Production 1,579,447 1,390,550 RADIO 4,465,706 3,597,676 Sales 1,600,369 1,375,628 2,079,308 1,690,941 There were 139,067 tv sets made with uhf tuners in the first 1960 quarter, compared with 102,631 in the same period in 1959. Fm radio production totaled 167,906 receivers, up 75,000 over same 1959 period. Auto radios comprised 1,863,094 sets of total radio production, up 500,000 over the same 1959 quarter. Radio sales do not reflect auto radio. RCA head talks about foreign competition The U.S. electronics industry can meet any fundamental foreign competition threat, RCA President John L. Burns said Thursday (May 26). In Miami Beach to address RCA’s eastern and southern distributors at their annual meeting, Mr. Burns cautioned foreign countries to “exert wisdom in their export policies.” Forced entry into the American market through an excessive combination of government subsidies and lower labor costs will “only stimulate the demand for new governmental barriers against electronics imports,” he told the southern distributors. Japan’s headway in the production of vest-pocket portable radios was made possible by the development of miniaturized components not available in this country, the RCA head said. Such competition can be met head-on with products that hold their position in the market place purely on the basis of styling, quality and performance, Mr. Burns stated. He pointed to the development of RCA’s own vest-pocket portables as the “way we hope we can always counter foreign competition.” In the face of increased imports, he added, RCA last year sold more radios than ever before. In remarks to the distributors about RCA Victor television models for 196061, Mr. Burns discounted the notion that color tv is a “rich man’s plaything.” According to an RCA sampling of families who bought color tv sets during the past two years, nearly half had annual incomes of less than $10,000, he said. Substantial gains in tv set sales can be made only if the ipdustry embraces color, Mr. Burns said. RCA will introduce this fall four deluxe tv models with cabinets made by Henredon furniture manufacturer. The three black-and-white and one color sets will range in price from about $800 to $1,400. ■ Technical topics Merger agreement ■ A merger of General Instrument Corp and General Transistor Corp. is near. Directors of the two companies agreed in principle to the merger on May 20. It is now subject to further investigation and stockholder approval. The arrangement calls for the issuance of seven-tenths (.7) of a share of General Instrument common stock for each outstanding share of General Transistor common. GI’s sales for the nine months ended DIAL 1110 50,000 WATTS KRLA America’s greatest radio market! RADIO LOS ANGELES Represented by DONALD COOKE INC. Newest among the leaders serving More audience per dollar than any other leading radio station in greater Los Angeles Nov. 30, 1959, were $41,277,875. GT’s sales last year were $10,278,585. Muzak's manufacturer ■ Continental Manufacturing Inc., Omaha, has entered into a long-term agreement with Muzak Corp., N.Y., to manufacture and supply power amplifiers. Muzak has more than 215 franchisers. In addition to doing sub-contract work for several well-known electronic firms and marketing a line of custom receivers for the broadcasting industry under the trade name McMartin, Continental also manufactures and markets a complete line of hi-fi components and radio intercom systems under the Harmony brand. Shipment summary ■ RCA has shipped tv tape recorders, antennas and transmitters, to the following: three color tv tape recorders to NBC in Burbank, Calif.; two to NBC New York; three monochrome to Reeves Sound Studio, N.Y.; one black and white each to WMAR-TV Baltimore, KWTV (TV) Oklahoma City, Children’s Hospital, Pittsburgh. Foreign deliveries include two monochrome units each to Norway and Egypt. Transmitters were shipped to KSSO-TV Sioux Falls (25kw), KHQ-TV Spokane, Wash, (used 2-kw), WXTV Youngstown, Ohio (1kw), and KCBY-TV Coos Bay, Ore. (2-kw), and antenna to KCBY-TV (six-section). Tester ■ Smith-Florence Inc., Seattle, Wash., has announced a new model of its “Fault-Finder” product line. The new 5-inch presentation Model 751 was specifically designed for the broadcasting industry, according to the manufacturer, where examination of large-diameter coaxial air dielectric cable is necessary to discover impedance mismatches, shorts or opens. To make the instrument more versatile, an “airpoly” switch is incorporated to change the range mark and sweep circuitry to agree with the difference in propagation constants of air and polyethylene cables. The 751 reads faults from 0 to 1200' on either type of cable. 'Pancaked' ■ Sylvania Electric Products, Woburn, Mass., reports the development there of “Pancake” construction for transistor packaging, which will result in a line of miniaturized transistors for smaller and lighter electronic equipment including airborne communications and computer systems. Height dimension of the new transistor has been reduced to onetwentieth of an inch, it was reported, resulting in a wafer-thin semiconductor package with extreme ruggedness, reliability and ease of manufacture. 70 BROADCASTING, May 30, 1960