Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

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13 ' Elscironics Reports: “Accelerated electronization” of the TV-radio-electronics industry was forecast by RCA tube distributor sales mgr. Harold F. Bersche at Western Electronic Show and Convention in Los Angeles this week. Tube & component renewal market, he said, is keyed to quantities of electronic devices in use, and he predicted TV sets-in-use will go up from 27,000,000 to 32,000,000 by year’s end; radios, from 117,000,000 to 124,000,000; record players, from 24,000,000 to 26,000,000; TV stations up to 450 (now 395), AM-FM to 3250, non-broadcast to 625,000. Tenth annual National Electronics Conference, scheduled for Oct. 4-6 in Hotel Sherman, Chicago, shapes up as best to date, featuring 21 technical sessions and 116 exhibitors. Conference is sponsored by AIEE, IRE, RETMA, SMPTE and 6 major midwestern universities. Luncheon speakers are Dr. J. E. Hobson, director of Stanford Research Institute; Dr. A. N. Goldsmith, consultant; Dr. J. W. McRae, pres, of Sandia Corp. Entrance into industrial TV is planned by Philco, which sees field burgeoning just as microwave has — and Philco claims to be leader in microwave sales. Units will be built around vidicon. In Britain, Marconi announced availability of 4% -lb. industrial TV camera with vidicon, operating on 525 or 625 lines. Raytheon engineers will be offered 4 graduate extension courses by Northwestern U in Newton-Waltham, Mass, area starting Sept. 13, under “Raytheon Grant Plan” whereby qualified company engineers are reimbursed for tuition expenses. A 440-mc junction transistor, capable of handling .5 f watt and 100 volts, has been developed by Bell Labs, which I calls it an “intrinsic barrier” transistor and claims 440 me I highest frequency achieved by any transistor. A 4,000,000-watt klystron for radar, 8-ft. tall, has been developed by Sperry Gyroscope Co., is now in operation at Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome, N. Y. * * • * Albert H. Holley, Brooklyn div. mgr. of N. Y. Telephone Co., on leave of absence to succeed Wm. A. Vanstory, asst. v.p. of N. J. Bell Telephone Co., as director of comI munications div., business & defense seiwices administration, Dept, of Commerce. Dr. J. E. Hobson, director of Stanford Research Institute, succeeds Dr. Eric T. B. Gross, Illinois Institute of Technology, as national pres, of Eta Kappa Nu Assn., national honorary engineering society, which holds golden anniversary convention at Urbana, 111., Oct. 15-16. Dr. r. Canby Balderston, who resigned last week as dean of Wharton School of Finance & Commerce, U of Pennsylvania, to become governor of the Federal Reserve System, is a cousin of Philco chairman Wm. Balderston. Round building shaped like a pile of records, 13 stories high anrl 90 ft. in diameter, j^lanncd by Capitol Records Inc. in Hollywood. Ground for structure, costing $2,000,000 and rising above rectangular one-stoi y base, will be broken Sept. 24. About 45'/' w'ill be occupied by Capitol, remainder leased, occupancy scheduled about Oct. 1, 1955. Extra speaker for TV set, attached to jeceiver but placed at chairside and controlled there by viewer, is being offered at $11.95 by Tele-Matic Industries Inc., 16 Howard Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. Device is designed to ease listening without disturbing neighbors or others in room and for the hard of hearing. Radio shipments to dealers (excluding auto radios) totaled 2,323,774 in first 6 months, compared to 3,214,024 in fiist half of 1953, according to RETMA ’s state-by-state report released this week and available on lequest. June shipments were 548,235, compared with 406,382 in May. Financial & Trade Notes: Philips of Eindhoven, Holland, which is probably the biggest TV-radio-electronics entity in the world outside the U. S., and which is giving U. S. companies plenty of competition abroad, especially in Latin America (Vol. 10:12), enjoyed sales volume of $423,545,000 in 1953, netted $23,161,000 in profits (5.5% of sales) after a 49% tax rate. Its total assets were $514, 719.000 at end of year, net working capital $201,106,000, and it employed 106,000 persons. By comparison, biggest U. S. firm is RCA, whose soles last year were $853,054,000, profit after taxes $35, 022.000 (4.1% of sales) after 51.7% tax rate. RCA’s total assets were $532,000,000 at end of 1953, net working capital $228,940,000, and it employed 61,000. Note: Philips is admittedly a “tough” competitor, has even entered U. S. market with its hi-fi after an abortive start with tubes and projection TV, and it’s significant that its average wage per employe was $1405 as against RCA’s $4918, which can be taken as typical of U. S. Philips figures were converted from guilders to dollars at rate of 3.78 to the dollar (26.45^). * * if: Upsurge in movie business, which blamed TV for declines of last few years (a few admitting that bad pictures might have contributed, too), is epitomized in first half report of 20th Century-Fox showing consolidated net earnings of $3,096,545 ($1.17 a share) on film rentals & other revenues totaling $52,449,508. This compares with $138,309 (6^) on $51,515,004 for same 1953 period. For 13 weeks ended June 26, net profit was $1,048,515 (40^) against net loss of $865,656 for same 1953 quarter. Teleprompter Corp. had gross sales of $222,886 and profit before taxes of $16,164 in 6 months ended June 30. During entire 1953, gross was $323,188, net before taxes $17,281. Firm moves on or about Sept. 1 to 300 W. 43rd St., reports chairman Irving B. Kahn, who also announces Teleprompter equipment is provided for in IBM’s new deluxe lectern, multi-functional speakers’ podium. Pye Ltd. and subsidiaries showed net profit of £1,127,886 befoi’e taxes, £259,690 after taxes in year ended March 31, according to report issued July 7 by big Cambridge, England, electronics concern. This compares with £743,973 & £235,717 for preceding year. Gross sales are not stated. (British pound is cm-rently about $2.80.) ■ Dividends: Hazeltine, 25(f Sept. 15 payable to stockholders of record Sept. 1 ; Clevite Corp., 25<# Sept. 10 to holders Aug. 30; Oak Mfg. Co., 35(‘ Sept. 15 to holders Sept. 1: Storer Bestg., “A” 37V2^ and “B” 6%(^ Sept. 14 to holders Sept. 1; Aerovox Corp., '\5<t Sept. 15 to holders Sept. 1; Canadian GE, $1 Oct. 1 to holders Sept. 15; Canadian Westinghouse. 50r Oct. 1 to holders Sept. 19; Sprague Electric. AOt Sept. 14 to holders Aug. 30; General Precision Equipment, 50c Sept. 15 to holders Sept. 9; Stromberg('arlson, 37 $2 c Sept. 30 to holders Sept. 15; Sylvania, 50(1 Oct. 1 to holders Sept. 10; Hoffman Radio, 25(1 Sept. 30 to holders Sept. 1 ; IVells-Gardner, IS*/ Sept. 15 to holders Sept. 9; Paramount Pictures, 50( Sept. 14 to holders Sept. 1 : 20th Century-Fox, 40(' Sept. 30 holders Sept. 10. I.ow opinion of compatible color is held by British Pye Ltd. chairman C. 0. Stanley, who said in recent speech: “Compatible colour, in my opinion, was thought up in the U. S. as a political manoeuvre. [Compatible color is] a most ingenious and complicated system which has increased the cost of the receiver many times over that of the present black-&-white receiver . . . Let us make our own mistakes if we must, but not a mistake just because the Americans have already made it. I am convinced that we now have a marvellous opportunity to forge ahead in TV by adopting a colour standard which may well be in advance of that used in the U. S.”