Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1958)

Trads Patsonals: Maj. Gen. George F. Smith (USAF ret.) appointed v.p. & gen. mgr. of Magnavox govt. & industrial div. . . . Roger S. Drew, ex-RCA mgr. of color TV development, named asst, to Philco gen. merchandise mgr. James J. Shallow . . . Wm. N. Brown, ex-v.p. of Zenith hearing aid div., named marketing v.p. of Dictograph Products . . . Henry B. Nelson promoted to mgr. of trade I'elations & distributor development, GE receiving tube dept. . . . Erwin B. May promoted to promotion mgr., RCA semiconductor & materials div. . . . John W. Merritt, distributor sales mgr., assigned by Howard W. Sams Co. to handle adv., sales promotion & merchandising, gen. mgr. Joe H. Morin assuming responsibility for sale of all Sams products & sei'vices; John J. Lieland appointed mgr. of publication div. . . . H. Joseph Carlin promoted to Emerson eastern regional sales mgr. . . . Wm. J. Jiles promoted to Philco gen. credit mgr., succeeding Wm. H. Bradbury, now field operations mgr. . . . Martin P. Salkin promoted to v.p. of Decca Records . . . George R. Marek, RCA Victor Record Div. v.p. & gen. mgr., goes to Japan early in Oct. on business . . . Kenneth G. Herring promoted to N. Y. district sales mgr., Lewis L. Parson to Dallas sales mgr., Ampex professional products div. . . . George R. Simkowski promoted to Webcor sales promotion mgr. . . . Howard A. Reed, gen. sales mgr., has been promoted to publisher of Electronic Technician . . . John T. Hickey, gen. mgr. of Motorola semiconductor products div., promoted to asst, to pres. Robert W. Galvin . . . George E. Tirone promoted to technical product sales mgr. of DuMont international div. Selchell Carlson’s 1959 line of TV combinations, announced by the St. Paul firm this week, ranges from 17-in. portable priced at $189 to 27-in. custom lowboy console at $512. Sets are “unitized” to permit plug-in for AM-FM, record players & hi-fi monaural or stereo equipment. Past Is Prologue— lo Color: Some 90 of the 150 pages that make up Sept. 10 Variety, bible of show business, are devoted to textual and advertising accolades to NBC — some of the copy designed to gladden the hearts of RCANBC executives and their affiliates and customers. Occasion is TV’s “10-Year milestone”, with leaders written by editor Abel Green (“When TV ‘Invaded’ Show Biz — In ’48”) and TV-radio editor George Rosen (“Television on Threshold of New Areas of Conquest As It Moves Into Second Decade”) — and with articles by NBC’s Robt. Kintner, Harry Bannister, John Royal, Wm. McAndrew, Stockton Helffrich, Tom Gallery and such other authorities as McCann-Erickson’s C. Terence Clyne, Grey Adv.’s Alfred L. Hollender, Milton Berle, George Burns, Hal Kanter, Art Woodstone, Jo Ransom, Joe Cohen, Richard Rodgers. Special section contains wealth of data for student of the history of TV — but, looking forward, the most significant observations in our view were those on color TV by Rosen, who followed his chief Abel Green to the Brussels Exposition last summer. He writes: “There’s more than casual significance that attaches to the color TV hoopla this summer at the Brussels Fair under RCA-NBC auspices. The Europeans . . . are literally eating it up, jamming the 400-seat theatre at the U. S. Pavilion. It’s estimated that by Fair’s end approximately 2,500,000 Expo attendants will bave witnessed the NBC-RCA brand of compatible tint. That’s a figure that would even do credit to U. S. recognition of color. “Which is precisely what boss man Gen. David Sarnoff has in mind. Whatever the deterring factors holding back tint TV’s advance, it’s inevitable that 5-10 years hence DISTRIBUTOR NOTES: Philco realigns N. J. distribution, N. Y. factory branch taking over northern counties while John M. Otter Co., Philadelphia, serves Trenton area as wel las So. Jersey, both replacing Fineburg’s of Trenton & Elizabeth . . . Sylvania appoints Litteral Distributing, Indianapolis, for TV, radio, phonos . . . Westinghouse Appliance Sales names Wm. E. Skinner, ex-v.p. of Zenith, N. Y., eastern regional mgr.; J. Robert St. Clair, exEdgar Morris Sales Co., named Washington (D. C.) sales mgr. . . . Admiral Distributing Corp., Houston, takes over 75 Texas counties formerly served by Lone Star Wholesalers, San Antonio . . . ITT appoints Anderson Sales Co., Boston, for components. TV-stereo simulcast of Plymouth’s Lawrence Welk Show (Vol. 14:36) on 5-city ABC-TV hookup Wed., Sept. 10, drew accolades from Plymouth dealers, brought sponsor request to add Philadelphia & Washington to this week’s show. ABC spokesman said more cities would be added as soon as radio long-line carriers matched to TV lines are available. This week’s simulcast debut went to N. Y., Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco “without a hitch,” spokesman said. Uhf oscillator radiation limit shouldn’t be changed Jan. 1 from present 1000 uv/m at 100 ft. to 500 uv/m & 100 ft. — as scheduled by FCC — EIA told Commission in petition filed this week. It stated that present limit hasn’t caused trouble; that there’s no economical way of reducing radiation now; that current limit “ti’uly represents the edge of the ‘state of the art.’ ” Westinghouse adds 3 TV consoles to 1959 line, all 21in. vertical consoles priced from $230 to $290. Two models feature multiple speakers. Dr. Mervin J. Kelly, since 1951 pres, of Bell Labs, slated to retire next Feb. color will be ‘the thing.’ It’s as natural an electronics progression as TV itself was vs. radio. And the potentials of global tint are obviously as enormous. General S, who has a habit of anticipating the future and translating vision into reality, is making sure the RCA label and performance get in there first . . .” * * * * * NBC-TV showcased its new-season lineups of commercial shows via lV2-hour closed circuit to affiliate stations Sept. 11, viewed also in N. Y., Washington & elsewhere by advertisers, agency people & newsmen — with colorcasts in profusion at most pickup points. It was excellent entertainment per se, with chairman Robt. Sarnoff & pres. Robt. Kintner pridefully discussing season’s prospects. Array of stars — live, on film and on tape recordings — included Dinah Shore, Steve Allen, Bob Hope, Ernie Ford, Jack Paar, Peri’y Como, George Gobel, Milton Berle, Ed Wynn, George Burns, Fred Astaire. Sarnoff stressed 1958-59 season’s total of 600 hours of scheduled color, averaging about 2 hours weekdays, 214 hours each Sun. night (Vol. 14:36). Gripes were still heard that there weren’t enough “color exposures”, NBC referring gripes to recalcitrance of other networks — and it’s probable distributoi's-dealers won’t find more hours in color each afternoon, plus Sat. football games and World Series, enough for customer demonstrations. Comment of those who watched Sept. 11 preview: Westerns more abundant than ever; drama and quiz shows fewer. Milton Berle looks like a smash hit in his Kraft-sponsored comeback, Wed. 9-9:30 p.m. fin color); old-timers like Hope, Como, Dinah Shore, Ernie Ford look like they’ll bo at their best — and they will be in color regularly.