Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

11 Color Trends & Briefs: Most ambitious immediate plans for color by any single station yet reporting are those of Baltimore Sunpapers’ WMAR-TV (Ch. 2), basic CBS outlet managed by E. K. (Jack) Jett, onetime member of FCC and its ex-chief engineer. With a “library” of about 100 color slides, he is already putting color on daily at 9:30-9:45 a.m. — using color picture of U. S. Capitol, for example, as background of news from Washington and similar shots. In week or two, he expects to have all of the 5-min. local segments in CBS 7-9 a.m. Morning Show done with color slides. Throughout the day’s schedule he proposes to put on all local public service announcements in color as well as all introductory cards for local sustaining shows. WMAR-TV has ordered an RCA 3-tube vidicon camera chain with projectors for Sept, delivery at cost of $51,700, claims it has highest priority. By then, it’s planned to have color on air at least once every hour, 7 days a week — all local and in addition to the CBS weekly colorcasts Fri., 5:30-6 p.m. Jett says he estimates only 20 color TV sets in Baltimore up to now, of which his own company has 5. But he foresees 1500 by Xmas if the industry really produces and sells its estimated 50,000 this year. He expects to offer sponsors 10-sec. ID announcements in color, hasn’t decided what charge to add to compatible black-&-white rates. 4> * * « First live local color origination, non-network, was 5-min. program April 8 on WKY-TV, Oklahoma City. Using brand new tri-color camera, station had pi’es. E. K. ) Gaylord giving dedicatory message which was received on ! color sets at Oklahoma Home Builders’ Show in Municipal ' Auditorium. WKY-TV was first non-network station to I obtain RCA color camera (Vol. 10:13); it plans to start regular local color shows in addition to network. Stations with GE transmitters are being lined up for color by Telechrome Inc., makers of special color equipment. It has helped WCBS-TV, New York; WMAR-TV, Baltimore; WHEN-TV, Syracuse. Pres. Ray Clurman also reports plans for manufacture of color test equipment for picture tube manufacturers. Devoted entirely to color, RCA’s Jan.-Feb. Broadcast News is aimed at giving station engineers and managers the fundamentals of color transmission. Issue includes 12 articles, from description of system to test equipment. AT&T’s rates for color transmission were again postponed this week, phone company filing to extend present experimental rates to Sept. 16. Robert L. Henry, developer of “tinkertoy” automatic production of electronic equipment for Bureau of Standards (Vol. 9:38 & 10:12), who recently became manufacturing mgr., ACF Electronics, Alexandria, Va., receives Arthur S. Flemming award from Washington Jr. Chamber of Commerce as “outstanding young man in the Federal Govt, in the field of science & technology.” This week 6 members of Bureau staff received Commerce Dept. Gold Medal awards for work on Project Tinkertoy — Henry, J. G. Reid, Dr. Benjamin L. Davis, Charles C. Rayburn, James G. Black Jr., Harold S. Horiuchi. All except Dr. Davis are now with ACF Electronics. Samuel W. J. Welch, administrative officer of Corona (Cal.) Naval Ordnance Lab and ex-administrative officer of National Bureau of Standards’ Central Radio Piopagation Lab, named executive officer of Bureau’s Boulder (Colo.) Labs, as principal asst, to director F. W. Brown. I/ehman Corp., big investment trust, reveals that as of March 31 it held 30,000 shares of American BroadcastingParamount Theatres, 8800 shares of CBS “A” and 11,200 of CBS “B”, 20,000 shares of RCA. COLOR LEADOFF cities for RCA will be Washington and Oklahoma City, with full-page ads scheduled to break there Sun., April 25. Time schedule hasn’t been released, but it’s known that New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore promotions start May 2. All 38 cities equipped for color will have RCA sets by May 9. Promotional details will be left largely to individual distributors. Company spokesman told us: “As in every other program, certain basic promotional recommendations will come from the factory, but each distributor — who after all knows his market best — is empowered to modify them according to local conditions.” Southern Wholesalers Inc., RCA Washington distributor, reported at weekend it was still consulting with factory on details of introduction. RCA will place samples of the $1000 set on dealer floors without charging for installation, as means of assuring good position for demonstration purposes. Normally, installation of each set costs dealer $15-25. As many other RCA distributors are expected to do, Philadelphia’s Raymond Rosen & Co. already has scheduled series of dealer meetings, first to be April 21 after dealers witness Kraft Theatre colorcast. Meanwhile, first RCA color set sold was installed 2 weeks ago in home of Norwalk, Conn, customer. To list of VIPs with color sets, add the 7 FCC commissioners who now have sets on loan from RCA. State Dept.’s Blair House, used for visiting foreign dignitaries, now also has color set. One of first sets sold in Washington by RCA was to Woodward & Lothrop dept, store, where it has already been installed. White House has had receiver for several months, as have NBC executives, Broadcasting-Telecasting Magazine and Television Digest. Admiral reported first color set sale this week. It went to Michael J. Joyce, retired Chicago moving company executive. How electronics is taking up slack in New England cities deserted by textile industry is detailed in April 10 Wall Street Journal. Article reports textile jobs in New England slumped from 275,000 before World War II to 221,000 last year, while “electrical machinery” jobs (including electronics) rose from 53,000 to 137,000. Specifically mentioned are new plants of Eastern Air Devices Inc. and Clarostat Mfg. Co. in Dover, N.H.; Sprague Electric Co. in Nashua, N. H., Western Electric in Lawrence, Mass. — among the “dozens” of electronics companies filling idle plant space and bringing jobs back to New England textile centers. Magnavox reports sales of slightly more than $51,000,000 for 9 months ended March 31, up 12% over the $45,000,000 in comparable period of last fiscal year. Earnings report is not available yet. Pres. Frank Freimann .said decline in TV sales last fall was more than offset by increases in high-fidelity volume. He attributed TV decline to “the public’s erroneous belief that commercial color TV is imminent.” He predicted this trend will reverse itself by fall as consumers “develop an awareness of the limitations of color in its present stage of development and begins to recognize that color TV, at commercially acceptable prices and satisfactory picture sizes, is still years away.” Radio Condenser Co. 1953 profit declined to $384,001 from 1952 earnings of $525,916, even though sales advanced from $14,743,068 to record $21,465,247. Pres. Russell E. Cramer blamed such “abnormal” factors as heavy initial production costs on new products and lower demand for TV & radio receivers last fall. In addition, annual report says company “was forced to share an industry setback attributable to the failui'e of uhf stations to commence broadcasting in the numbers and rate oi'iginally anticipated by set manufacturers.”