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

Bros, and Twentieth Century-Fox have filed applications for television stations in several cities. Film Companies Show Interest More than a year ago, develop- ment work at RCA indicated the attainment of large-screen televi- sion pictures of a quality much superior to pre-war performances. Some of the motion picture com- panies were interested. Inquiries came from national and local theatre circuits, and independent theatres. However until programming possi- bilities had been explored and cus- tomer "know-how" developed, we were not too sure what type of equipment ultimately would best suit customer needs. We could easily have been led into "building a boat that couldn't be moved up the cellar stairs". Accordingly, several mo- tion picture companies were offered what have since been called "joint development contracts" under which we agreed to furnish technical in- formation and "know-how", engi- neering assistance, a large-screen projector capable of producing 6- by 8-foot projected pictures, a large-screen projector capable of throwing a 15- by 20-foot picture and, ultimately, an 18- by 24-foot picture, a kinescope photography system which, when coupled to a high-speed developer, is capable of feeding film to a standard theatre projector in a short time-cycle—less than 1 minute—and the services of trained theatre service engineers. Warner Bros, and Twentieth Cen- tury-Fox joined us in this under- taking and have some of the equip- ment in operation. The remainder is scheduled for early delivery. All of these systems are con- structed as professional equipment without regard to physical dimen- sions or installation requirements. Indeed, the larger projection unit, employing a 42-inch reilector, con- tains the largest Schmidt-type pro- jection system in use. Everyone knows that television broadcast stations use and require vast amounts of film fare for pro- gramming. They are obtaining some of it from a supply "made in Hollywood." Of its quality, all one can say is that it is the best Holly- wood made in those years. Why, one might ask, does the public ac- cept the current film fare? The answer is simple: novelty and lack of competition. As viewers and sponsors increase, they will demand and get better film programming. Furthermore, it is our opinion that advertisers will finance much of this film programming, because we are convinced that the American pattern of free television, like free radio, already has been established and will continue. Telecaster is a Film Producer The term "film storage and kine- scope photography systems" refers to the business of filming the pic- ture from a special high-intensity television monitor. Adoption of this method makes the television broadcaster a producer of pictures —perhaps chiefly for syndicate or transcription purposes, but never- theless a producer of pictures. Thus far, relatively little has been said about the precise nature of programming, much about equip- ment. Essentially, that is the posi- tion of RCA. When we manufac- ture and sell theatre film projectors and sound equipment, we do not tell the exhibitor what films to run. That is his business and one in which he is skilled. And speaking of things to come, there is an additional RCA televi- sion item which is due on the mar- THE AUTHOR AND BARTON KREUZEB, MANAGER OP RCA THEATRE AND RECORD- ING EQUIPMENT, EXAMINE A TELEVISION PROJECTOR GIVING A 15 BY 20-FOOT SCREEN IMAGE. ket shortly in limited quantities. This is a large-screen, nominally priced television projector capable of a 7- by 9-foot picture, suitable for theatre lobbies and lounges. Much of the equipment which has been mentioned here utilizes motion pictures. It has been estimated that television stations of this country ultimately will require many more feet of film than Hollywood now produces, a condition aided and abetted by the fact that there are few chances of "extended runs" on television. If you could build a theatre large enough to accommodate at one time all of the patrons who attend a three-week run, you would show your film only once. That, in effect, corresponds to television. A little forecasting based on cur- rent AM-FM broadcast practice provides some idea of what the po- tential film usage of television might become. Today there are about 2,500 AM-FM stations on the air. Nearly half of these are affili- ates of the four major chains. They operate about 18 hours per day. Conservatively, they use five hours of chain-originated material daily. That adds up to 4 chains times 5 hours (20 hours daily), times 365 days, or 7,300 hours of network- originated material per year. Now let us see how those figures might apply to television. It has already been pointed out that the FCC has prepared nearly 1,000 channel allocations in 456 cities. Let us assume that when these 1,000 stations are on the air, they follow the current broadcast pat- tern, carrying chain material for the same 5 hours, with 2^/2 hours programmed from film. Four net- works times 21/2 hours (10 hours per day) times 365 days means 3,650 hours of film annually. That is the equivalent of 1,825 two-hour features or 14,600 15- minute shorts—plus all the addi- tional film material the 500 re- maining independents will use, which is not network originated. It will require far more film, more technicians, more talent, and more equipment than exists today. It presents an opportunity to which both the motion picture industry and the television industry can an- ticipate with high enthusiasm. [RADIO AGE 19]