Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

"TIMELINESS IS THE GREAT ADVANTAGE WHICH TELEVISION HAS OVER ALL OTHER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT." feature into television by limiting its service to telephone subscribers only. Such a system, which would further limit its service only to those who would agree to pay for the programs as well as for the receivers, is an idle dream. The political implications, the legal and regulatory aspects as well as the technical difficulties of preventing non-payers from receiving the same programs doom such an impractical system from the start. Moreover, the idea is not in keeping with the traditional American policy of "Freedom to Listen" and "Freedom to Look." These are the principles upon which our country's broad- casting is founded and under which it has developed and prospered. Manufacturing and Broadcasting I should like to digress a bit to make an observation regarding a statement I have heard from time to time which implied that it is sin- ful for a company to be interested in both broadcasting and manufac- turing. The truth is that manufac- turing interests have been largely responsible for the development of television and have provided broad- casters with new opportunities for service. If it were not for research, engineering and manufacturing, there would be no broadcasting, either sound or sight. Therefore, I feel that while a broadcaster should not be criticized for confining his activities to broad- casting or a manufacturer for con- fining his operations to manufac- turing, nevertheless, where both are conducted by the same organi- zation, the art and industry are advanced rather than retarded. Years of experience have amply demonstrated this to be a fact. The 25-year period of experimen- tation and development of television has been full of difficulties. It has been an extremely complex new science and art to establish in the laboratory, the factory, and on the air. The scientists, research men and engineers have done heroic work, for which all of us will ever be indebted. *; Television as a New Industry Television is moving forward rapidly and is destined to become one of the major industries of the United States. In addition to serv- ing the home, television has appli- cation to the theatre, the motion picture studio and the entertain- ment film. In the manifold proc- esses of industrial life, television also is destined to play an impor- tant role. The possible size of the television industry is indicated by the follow- ing figures: in the first two years of sound broadcasting, that is, 1921 and 1922, the sales of receiving sets amounted to approximately $100,- 000,000. In those two years, more than 500 broadcasting stations were on the air. Now, for the first two full years of postwar television operation, namely, 1947 and 1948, with ap- proximately only ten per cent as many stations on the air, that is 50 instead of 500, it is estimated that the public, during this two years period of television, will spend ap- proximately $375,000,000 for re- ceiving sets—$375,000,000 in tele- vision, as compared to $100,000,000 in sound broadcasting. This does not take into account the additional expenditures on television trans- mitters, the cost of erecting and operating them and the cost of pro- grams. Therefore, in round figures, within a year and a half or so from the present time, we shall approach a $500,000,000-a-year industry in television. And that will be only the beginning. As time goes on, I am confident the industry will grow substantially. [6 RADIO AGE]