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RKO PRODUCTIONS, INCORPORATED 157
The average rental per contract on film was three times the average rental on disc. With only one month of distribution, the total rentals for disc reproduction were several times the direct costs of producing the discs.
The experience encountered in the release of the superspecial picture was believed by the executives of RKO Productions, Incorporated, to be unusual in certain respects. The total rentals and the average rentals were considered to be higher than might be reasonably expected on other pictures during the coming year. On the other hand, the number of contracts for disc reproduction was taken to be a conclusive indication of the size of that portion of the market that could be reached through the distribution of discs.
Because of the market situation and its effect upon picture revenue, the executives of RKO Productions, Incorporated, decided to supply discs as well as sound on film for the reproduction of its 1929-1930 product. Pictures would be recorded on film at the studios and re-recorded on discs at the Victor Talking Machine Company's plant in New Jersey. About 10 exchanges would serve as distributing depots for discs.
Commentary: The question of whether or not disc synchronization is superior to film synchronization is not an issue in this case. In the opinion of this company, sound on film was superior to sound on disc. The issue, therefore, was whether or not the company should lend its support to a type of product which it believed at that time to be distinctly inferior. It is clear that, although a production problem of major importance was presented, the ultimate decision would depend upon the reaction of the public and of the exhibitors. The argument in favor of continuing to record sound on the film was substantially as follows: The company believed that the product was distinctly superior. Some theaters were not equipped to reproduce sound on the disc. To present to the public sound pictures which were less perfect than they might be, involved the danger of antagonizing the public against the new sound pictures. To lend encouragement to an inferior product gave to it an element of support which might indefinitely guarantee its use in the market, instead of hastening its disappearance through competition with a superior product. It is clear also that the cost of producing a picture in which the sound was reproduced both on disc and on film would be greater than that of producing it on film alone, particularly since it was alleged that the incidental costs of physical distribution such as handling would be heavier in the case of discs.