Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

REVISION WARMING UP FOR XPERIMENTAL RELAY RACE T. & T. Among Companies fockeying for Position to Control Facilities jlevision, especially theatre television, is around that peace-time corner, but the race control of facilities for network transmision of broadcasts has begun. Three comes, one of them the giant American Telele'and Telegraph Company, familiar to the on picture industry from the earliest days ound, have applied to the Federal Comications Commission for authority to con:t a series of experimental relay stations, aking shape, also, are plans by motion picproducers for production units designed cially to make television program material, he AT&T asked for authority to erect seven o relay stations between New York and ton, a further step in its experiment with •o-wave radio transmission of telephone sages. Running parallel to this function Id be experiments to compare the results elevision relay broadcasts with those obed over the coaxial cables currently in use planned by the company. stern Union Radio Test insmission Approved he Western Union Telegraph Company been authorized to begin experiments in the 0 transmission of messages. The FCC said : the tests would be conducted with a view ard eventual use of radio in lieu of wire lities for certain types of traffic . They will :onducted first between New York and PhilIphia over a chain of radio relay stations :nding from Camden, N. J., near Philadeli, through Bordentown and New Brunsk, N. J., to New York. t was noted that the proposed wave lengths lid be high in the radio spectrum, extending n 2,000.000 kilocycles to 11,372.000 kilocy. The FCC waived a number of its rules lermit the company to approximate as nearis possible actual commercial conditions in experiments. 'lans were announced by the Raytheon Manuring Company for the creation of a Coastroast television and broadcasting network radio relay stations. The application to FCC envisioned channels for television, mency-modulation and standard broadcast, a micfo-wave relay chain, a public call tem, highway-control traffic and police masstations. There also would be a provision radio safety airplane operation within a ius of 300 to 500 miles around each transter location. ans Comics Production r Television Use n the field of film production, Steve Slesin, of New York, announced the formation of lecomics, Inc., to produce nationally _ known 1 original comics for 16mm distribution and television. Ruthrauff & Ryan, Chicago ad •tising agency, has optioned programs for first 26 weeks for Station WABD there. '. Slesinger also announced the formation of lepictures, Inc., Hollywood, to produce nm films for television. Seorge Pal, Paramount producer, was rerted negotiating with several commercial msors for production after the war of a TO RECORD SAN FRANCISCO PARLEY FOR TELEVISION Events of the United Nations Conference opening in San Francisco April 25 will be recorded for television broadcasts, according to John F. Royal, vice-president in charge of television for the National Broadcasting Company. He said that special television films would be made and flown to New York for telecasts over NBC. He predicted they would go on the air within 24 hours of the sessions. Newsreel shots of the battle of Manila were telecast in New York before they were released to local theatres. They were broadcast over WNBT Monday night but were not released to the theatres until Tuesday morning. series of entertainment television short subjects and television commercials, using 16mm film. Mr. Pal is producer of the "Puppetoon" shorts series for Paramount. Leslie Charteris, author of "The Saint" mystery stories, and Anson Bond, producer of films for the armed services, formed BondCharteris Enterprises last week in Hollywood. Among other activities, the company will produce motion pictures designed especially for television. The films, to be commercially sponsored, will deal primarily with visualization of product for inclusion in televised advertisements. Other television products will include 15 to 30-minute "packaged televised entertainments." George A. Hirliman, president of International Theatrical and Television Corporation, announced last week that he was planning to form a production unit in Hollywood to be devoted exclusively to the making of 16mm motion pictures. This unit, unlike the documentary and instructional unit in the east, will devote itself mostly to entertainment pictures. Wartime Progress Is Seen Advancing Medium Rapidly Meanwhile, testimony as to the future possibility of television came from Dr. C. B. Jolliffe, vice-president in charge of the RCA Laboratories. A new radio frequency spectrum opened by scientific developments in this war promises "a much larger explosion than that which occurred during the start of sound broadcasting," he told a joint meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers in Indianapolis last week. Pointing out that sound broadcasting "revolutionized our ideas of entertainment and altered our way of living," Dr. Jolliffe declared that television "can provide a second revolution of entertainment and affect our mode of living to an even greater degree." Saying that the manufacturers were able to build sets for "very satisfactory" home reception, he emphasized the importance of having definite frequency assignments and a well-organized system of distribution of programs. "It does not take much imagination," he said, "to see this industry as a possible five or 10-billion dollar enterprise, employing thousands of men, either directly or indirectly." Dr. Jolliffe expressed a desire to avoid controversy over the merits of whether television should be below 300 megacycles or above 500 megacycles. He declared that the question which needed to be answered was whether the public wanted television or not. If it did, he pointed out, technically it could be produced below 300 megacycles. If it did not, he recommended that the trade "honestly postpone its inauguration and not hide behind the probability of new developments." Dr. Jolliffe discussed radio relay stations, declaring that "a single communications channel may carry telegraph, telephone and television messages or programs simultaneously with less maintenance or service than simple wire lines." CBS Still Pressing for Higher Definition Continuing its championship of higher definition, the Columbia Broadcasting System devoted considerable attention to television in its annual financial report. Paul V. Kesten, executive vice-president, said that secret electronic work and research for the Government as a war job had made company engineers sure that "post-war television, simply by following in the footsteps of military electronics, could emerge at a much higher level than its pre-war 'freeze.' " He declared it could start with pictures "twice as clear, twice as sharp, and perhaps twice as large." The report held that television in color seemed just as sure, pointing out that the company had contracted with the Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation for the first transmitter capable of broadcasting the improved picture in color. It would be erected in the Chrysler Tower in New York as soon as war priorities permitted. An order has been placed with the General Electric Company for a transmitter to be installed near Hollywood. Dr. A. H. Rosenthal, director of research and development for Scophony Corporation of America, told the Atlantic Coast Section of the Society of Motion Picture . Engineers in session last week at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York that many far-reaching improvements had been made for theatre-size television. He said that other improvements were in the making looking toward color. Philco Corporation plans to produce television sets within a few months after the end of the war, John Ballantyne, president, informed stockholders in a letter. 20th-Fox Asks Approval for Stations in East and West Twentieth Century-Fox will file applications with the FCC for two experimental stations in New York and Hollywood. Paramount recently asked authority to construct a series of relay stations. Loew's, Inc., asked for permission to construction stations in New York, Washington and Los Angeles. Warner Brothers has asked for a station in Hollywood on a site already acquired. The total number of applications pending before the FCC last week was 112, according to the Television Broadcasters Association. The applications came from 31 states and the District of Columbia, in 50 major market areas. >TION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 31, 1945 17