Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1960)

WHAT'S WHAT IN ETDBICDKE? (Continued from Page 8) meter coin boxes. Testing on a limited basis in a number of wired homes is just about ready to begin. As was the case in the ill-fated Bartlesville experiment, the wired system in Etobicoke will not interfere with free signals. Neither is there any reduction in the maximum number of TV channels assigned to the area. On the contrary, the telemeter-equipped receiver has three more channels than conventional sets. Is pay-TV a threat to the motion picture industry? In the Canadian trade there are at least two schools of thought. Odeon Theatre, Canada, Ltd. officials say their company is watching the Etobicoke experiment with interest. "Asked to participate, we decided instead to wait and see. But we're definitely not opposed." Other theatre and movie chain spokesmen declined to be quoted, althought some flatly commented: "We don't think it'll work." Opposed in no uncertain terms is Montreal's Joseph H. Strauss, whose Plan Monthly Fee QTOA is an affiliate of the Theatre Owners of America. His charge is that there is little hope of bringing wired, uninterrupted, commercial-free television to Canada at a reasonable cost. And he believes firmly that toll-TV would spell the death-knell for most theatres in the community. The report that Etobicoke customers would be charged a high monthly fee for the tollvision service has been emphatically denied. The plan is for a $5 fee, payable when the contract for leasing of the telemeter unit is signed, and a charge of from 75 cents to $1.50 for the movies or special programs — but you pay only for what you select. Current film fare instead of the dated, pre-1948 pictures are being promised by TCT. Negotiations are on now for screening of Big Four professional football league games — normally blacked out locally. Clubs are favorable to reimbursement for loss in attendance, but there is nothing definite. Another phase of the project calls for special shows for children on Saturdays. And what will happen to the theatre matinees! The telemetering units — coin boxes — are about the size of small table PARAMOUNT'S BALABAN He's Satisfied radios. 8hey take 5, 10, 25 and 50cent coins; indicate credits and keep a record of programs viewed. Units can be installed in minutes, when available. Three programs can be transmitted over a single cable simultaneously. Channel 5 is being assigned to Etobicobe pay-TV and through it TCT will operate three program channels — A, B and C. Channels A and B will offer films, which will run twice nightly like a regular movie house, while channel C will be reserved for public service programs of local news, current events, panel discussions, religion and service club activities. The studios at the intersection of Bloor St. W. and Royal York Rd., one of the west end's busiest corners, are equipped with three sets of movie projection equipment and live camera facilities. The month of January will probably see the experiment given a real tryout in Etobicoke. Requests for service in adjoining areas are already beginning to come in, the TransCanada Telemeter people claim. But what will it mean to the motion picture industry? Toronto's film distributors, despite a revival this past season in attendance at downtown, first-run houses, say revenues have been slipping steadily since 1953. In that peak year, motion picture theatres in Canada took in $108,000,000. By 1957, revenue had dropped to $82,000,000. Ontario's share of the pie for 1957 — the last year for which figures are available — was $30,000,000, of which one-sixth was derived from the sale of popcorn, candy, drinks and cigarets. At one time, Famous Players owned nearly 50 theatres in Toronto. It has closed down a few each year since about 1952 until today's count is 30. "We are realistic," a spokesman told me. "When an area becomes unprofitable, we close down the house." The Second World War gave an extended life to many little movie theatres which would otherwise have died anyway. Changing habits — influenced by TV and the trend of suburbia and auto travel — would have cut a swath through movie attendance in any case, he said. "We're not sharpies. Famous Players has been bringing entertainment to Canadians for 40 years. We'll continue to do that. We have sunk a great deal of money into this pay-TV experiment. It might go and it might not. We can't say for certain but we were reasonably sure it would or we wouldn't have started it. "We're not engaged in big promotion yet. We don't want to repeat the Bartlesville fiasco," he said. Not Swan Song, They Say The Famous Players theatre chain apparently does not feel that this experiment is the movie theatre's swan song, even if some distributors do. Pay-as-you-see television is not considered by them as the force which will destroy the movie theatre in America. The company's experiment is a natural follow-up to its earlier participation in commercial television. Famous Players Canadian now owns 50 per cent of the English and French language TV stations in Quebec City as well as a similar chunk of CKCOTV in Kitchener, Ont. A representative of one of the major film companies offered other reasons for the falling attendance at movie houses between 1953 and 1959. He said the theatre operators might take a look at themselves and their houses. Many of the theatres which have closed in Toronto were mere holes in the wall, dirty, dilapidated, dismal. There are still those operators who think of the patron only as a person with a ticket. Complaints have been rife lately in Toronto newpapers about those operators who think a large popcorn machine in the shabby lobby makes up for comfort and courtesy, and this film man contends neglect by exhibitors has been a key factor in the attendance decline. No one can confidently predict the final outcome of the Etobicoke experiment at this date. We must simply wait to see how this dramatic interlude in entertainment unfolds. The first reel has only started. Page 14 Film BULLETIN January 4, I960