Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

14 SET BUYING habits are analyzed in detail in Cunningham & Walsh’s seventh annual “Videotown” survey (Vol. 10:4), complete report on which was released this week. Study of typical U. S. community called Videotown, which is New Brunswick, N. J., shows it’s now 80% saturated, gives these findings: (1) Second sets. As of April, 5% of owners had 2 sets, and figure was expected to rise to 7% by Jan., while 13% of single set owners planned to buy second set eventually. (2) Replacement. Of 1500 sets estimated to be sold by end of this year, 760 are expected to be replacement, 740 new — replacement surpassing new for first time. (3) Picture size. Of sets sold first 5 months of 1954, 71.2% were 21-in., compared with 69.1% for last half of 1953, 64.7% for first half of 1953. Next largest group this year was 17-in., with 13.5%, then 24-in. with 3.9% — all other sizes 1.9% each. The 24-in. percentage was well up from the 1.4% of last half 1953. Of all sets now in use, 7% are 10-in. or less, 15% are 12-in., 15% are 15-16-in., 32% are 17-in., 31% are 20-in. and over. (4) Brand names. Five top brands (unidentified) account for 54% of this year’s sales, 52% of last year’s. Top 10 brands account for 77%. Two of this year’s top 10 brands nudged out 2 in top 10 last year. (5) Type of set. Over 3/5 of sales are consoles, % table, rest combinations. (6) Servicing. Service contracts are held by 12% of owners, compared with 17% last year. Average set is serviced every 11 months, with each bill averaging $7.60. Picture tube has been replaced in 17% of sets. (7) Radio set ownership. TV homes average 2 radios each, non-TV 1.7. Cars are owned by 72% of TV owners, 33% of non-TV owners. There are radios in 80% of TV owners’ cars, 70% of non-TV owners’. In defense of American TV, CBS-TV program v.p. Hubbell Robinson Jr. writes in Jan. Esquire article headed “Television Faces Life — Distilling Hope and Happiness Into the Cathode Tube” that it has done pretty well so far “but obviously pretty well is not enough.” He lashes back at the “damners and deriders,” promises TV will evolve as “a sight to delight the American eye and heart and mind.” In Omaha this week, Creighton U’s director of communications arts and coordinator of TV, Rev. R. C. Williams, S.J., said that American TV has in general “I’espected its family audience” and that “our commercial system usually safeguards the family from direct assaults on fundamental decencies.” Where-have-we-heard-that-one-before dept.: Dr. William Boyd, lecturer in education at Glasgow U, calls TV “Enemy No. 1 of the social life of the British people.” Even though commercial TV is still 9-10 months away, he calls TV a “devil” that keeps people “gaping at a screen instead of meeting their fellows and enjoying social life.” Roy Thomson, the Canadian newspaper-radio tycoon, who also owns 49% interest (with Sen. Rupert Davies, 51%) in CKWS-TV, Kingston and upcoming CHEX-TV, Peterborough, Ont., reported bidder for commercial TV license in Scotland, where he publishes the Glasgow' Scotsman. Master’s degree in TV is being offered by Stanfoi'd U, with cooperation of San Francisco’s KPIX; academic program consists of regular graduate work, 8-week summer institute divided between campus and TV studios, then 10week internship at KPIX. Radio Luxembourg, whose commercially sponsored shows (largely British) have big audience in Britain, reported planning commercial TV station. Big Ten took strongest stand to date in opposition to NCAA’s national college football TV controls in statement Dec. 10, as regional athletic conferences chose up sides for forthcoming battle over televised games. “An NCAA TV program of the character and operation of this season is entirely unacceptable to the Big Ten,” said statement by faculty representatives and athletic directors. “A program of nationally controlled regional TV such as the Big Ten has proposed in the past is the most suitable plan. [We are] not in a position to say that we can go ahead on our own but we are facing up to possible necessary action to put our plan in effect. We cannot say that we will go outside an NCAA restricted national program such as has been in effect the last 4 years [but] it can be said that such a move is possible.” Previously, Pacific Coast Conference had aligned itself with Big Ten in favor of regional televising. And this week big Eastern College Athletic Conference came out in favor of modified version of existing NCAA controls — permitting network or sponsor to select any game without being subject to geographical limitations, the selection to be made any time up to 5 days before game, with each team permitted to appear on one national and one local telecast. Praise for NARTB’s TV code review board came this week from Sen. Hendrickson (R-N. J.), chairman of Senate juvenile delinquency subcommittee, who cited its “prompt action in releasing a statement which finds some validity in our criticism of certain crime-horror films now shown for children on TV” (Vol. 10:49). At the time of last October’s public hearings on TV (Vol. 10:43), Sen. Hendrickson said, “a small but vocal segment of the industry cried havoc and sought through blanket denials of our criticism to absolve the entire industry.” Now, however, “the great weight of the major portion of the TV industry shows both intelligence and responsibility by its forthright statement.” Hendrickson said he was particularly pleased to learn that the code board hopes to pay closer attention to films shown on TV. Bandwidth and spurious emission standards for AM & FM stations were proposed this week by FCC, which has long had such standards for other services. Issuing notice of rule-making, Commission stated that it has received complaints that FM second harmonics are troubling vhf reception in fringe areas and that AM harmonics have interfered with govt, stations. Comments are due March 7. Document is Notice 54-1518, Docket 11233, available from Commission — or from us. Majority of applications being filed these days are for satellites or “quasi-satellites.” This week’s sole TV application was for Florence, S. D., Ch. 3, by KELO-TV, Sioux Falls (Ch. 11), which plans to rebroadcast Sioux Falls network programs on Florence station via off-air pickup. [For further details about application, see TV Addenda 19-V herewith; for complete listings of all grants, new stations, applications, etc., see TV Factbook No. 19 with Addenda to date.] AT&T’s interconnection schedule for rest of year: WFIE, Evansville, Ind. & WEHT, Henderson, Ky., Dec. 24; WSFA-TV, Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 25; KLRJ-TV, Henderson, Nev. ; V/BTW, Florence, S. C.; KEYD-TV, Minneapolis & WEAT-TV, West Palm Beach, Jan. 1. KVOO-TV, Tulsa, was interconnected Dec. 5. Restrictions on major league baseball telecasts and broadcasts, approved unanimously last week by minor league convention (Vol 10:45,49), were killed — as predicted— by major leagues this week in annual winter meeting in New York. Sets-in-use totaled 32,262,000 as of Nov. 1, reports NBC research director Hugh M. Beville Jr., up 6,000,000 from same date year ago. In Oct., 588,000 were added.