Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

11 I Color Trends & Briefs: “Hit of the Fair” is way I crowds characterized RCA’s color caravan at Mid-South j Fair in Memphis, its first stop on nation-wide tour (Vol. 10:37). It’s estimated hundreds of thousands saw weeklong series of demonstrations which started Sept. 25. A 150x50-ft. tent, accommodating 500, was set up with stage at one end. Six 15-in. color sets were placed about tent, while 16 more were distributed among other buildings on fairgrounds. Two cameras were employed and 20min. closed-circuit shows were put on every hour from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. — plus half-hour show 6-6:30 p.m. which was colorcast by WMCT. WMCT shared cost of setup with Fair, recouped some of costs by selling time on closed-circuit medium — including among 8 sponsors RCA and Motorola distributors and local ad agency Simon & Gwynn. Cost of caravan for week ran some $20-$30,000. Project is under Julius Haber, RCA director of community relations, and crew of 18 was . supervised by Richard H. Hooper, mgr. of shows & exhibits. Next stop is Chicago Nov. 5-6 at Lithographical " Technical Foundation meeting. ^ * * 5ft ♦ Latest color “spectaculars” and “extravaganzas” ben gan to hearten NBC and CBS as they climbed both in t ratings and in critical appraisals, up from Satins & Spurs 1 which disappointed on both counts (Vol. 10:38). Max 4 Liebman’s second effort in the “blockbuster” field was 90-min. Lady in the Da.rk on NBC Sept. 25, starring Ann Sothern. It achieved Trendex of 26, 25.9 & 25.4 for successive half hours, and TV columnists were generally delighted to cheer Liebman’s home run his second time at bat. CBS’s Shower of Stars did even better in ratings, getting 28 Trendex, with critical consensus generally placing it above Satins & Spurs, under Lady in the Dark. CBS’s next Shower of Stars Oct. 28 is musical comedy Lend an Ear with Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, Sheree North, Gene Nelson. NBC has chosen Gloria Vanderbilt for Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8:30 on Oct. 18, cast Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson for 2-hour Macbeth Nov. 28. “The TV show was the crowning blow,” said comedienne Betty Hutton this week in announcing her retirement from show business. Referring to Sept. 12 NBC-TV color spectacular, Satins & Spurs, which drew unfavorable reviews and middling audience ratings (Vol. 10:36), she t remarked, “It could have been much better.” She is retiring because of her children and “because I just can’t take the heartbreak any more.” !l Electronics Reports: Successful testing of new radar I system devised by Western Electric as result of studies » at Lincoln Laboratory of MIT was believed to be basis t for this week’s joint U. S.-Canadian announcement of pro • jected “distant early warning” (DEW) radar barrier r well within the Arctic Circle. Although no details were • 1 announced, it was presumed that the Western Electric-MIT i system may be used. One unit of this system was tested I last summer at Bai'ter Island, off North Alaska coast. It sounds alarm when aircraft approach, need not be < constantly watched, could be manned by civilians in same I manner as are lighthouses. New radar screen will be third radio warning barrier across northern America. The first, or pine tree chain, ! across Canada near U. S. border, is virtually complete and in operation. Second, mid-Canada line, a Canadian-financed project, is under construction. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Stanford Research Institute is opening a lU’oject office in Honolulu, Wni. E. Hosketi to head statt' comprising economist, chemist, research assistant and secretary. Deploring tiny color TV audiences and screens for huge and expensive “spectaculars,” Variety editor Abel Green urges industry to go all-out in producing big-screen color sets. He writes: “Spectacular TV calls for spectacular dimensions, and at the moment the chicken-&-theegg axiom sees spectrum entertainment hatched before the public can fully appreciate the show . . . The fact that the early-season spectaculars have been somewhat lacking is beside the point. There’s nothing like a big league audience to bring out the best performance in any rookie. Not to mention the boys with the checkbooks who certainly rate a better audience razzle-dazzle commensurate with their spectacular investments. Nor does this mean any pulling-in on the budgets; the medium has matured and merits going forward.” This week’s network color schedules: CBS-TV Oct. 4-7, 10-10:30 a.m. and Oct. 8, 10-11:30 a.m., Garry Moore Show, CBS’s first week-long series; Oct. 4, 8-8:30 p.m., Bui-ns & Allen Show. NBC-TV — Oct. 8, 11:50-11:58 a.m., segment of Home, Oct. 10, 7:30-9 p.m.. City Ceiiter spectactular. Opening color service school at new headquarters building in Long Island City, CBS-Columbia product service director Harold J. Schulman stated that none of company’s distributors gets color sets until it has put at least one serviceman through the 5-day 50-hour course. “How Color TV Will Affect Tomorrow’s Advertising” is title of address to be delivered by Barry Wood, NBC executive producer in charge of color, at Ohio State U Advertising Conference in Columbus Oct. 15. Technical classes on color servicing were started by WTVJ, Miami, some 150 technicians attending. Instructors are from Radio-TV Technician’s Guild of South Florida and station staff. Course runs 2% hours each Thursday for 10 weeks. Keyed to color — both TV and film — SMPTE’s 76th semi-annual convention at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel Oct. 18-22 will feature 2 days (Oct. 18-19) devoted entirely to color TV, including technical papers and tours of NBC & CBS studios. GPL shows new 3-vidicon color film chain for first time Oct. 18 at SMPTE convention in Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel. New studio switcher, engineered for color requirements as well as monochrome, is being offered by RCA. Latest camera shipment by RCA is this week’s delivery to WBAL-TV, Baltimore. New Signal Corps Engineering Labortory, which will soon become nation’s largest scientific and research center, was dedicated at Eatontown, N. J. Sept. 30 by Asst. Defense Secy. Donald A. Quarles. Four buildings in the center have been completed — 2 of them 2 city blocks long each — and 5th & 6th structures are to be finished by 1958. Center will have 496 laboratories and will house research projects formerly carried on in 400 different buildings, many at nearby Ft. Monmouth. Magnavox Research Lab, Los Angeles, is new div. formed to specialize on electronic computing devices for military and industrial use, headed by Dr. Ragnar Thorensen, ex-Bureau of Standards. David M. Goodman, exHughes Aircraft, was named administrative head of lab and Magnavox west coast regional director of industrial & defense products divisions. Electronic truck .scales that weigh vehicles in motion has been developed by Cox & Stevens Aircraft Corp., Mineola, N. Y, Trucks pass over platform connected to eciiiipment which relays information to remote indicator. Wheels are on platform for 1/30 second.