Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

10 OCTOBER 12, 1959 Programming TV, SPACE & THE MOON: Commercial possibilities of space satellites — for relaying worldwide TV, telephone, etc. — may be even more significant than their military potential. This was indicated last week by Deputy Chief Signal Officer Brig. Gen. Earle F. Cook in address to Radio & TV Executives Society in N.Y. Undoubtedly referring to Bell Labs’ research project on TV-telephone space relays (Vol. 15:40), Gen. Cook told his broadcasting audience: “Satellites will ultimately provide a reliable & efficient means of spanning the oceans & polar regions, of providing truly global communications — for military, but more particularly commercial, purposes.” The world stands “on the threshold of a vast new era in communications,” he said, adding: “Although initially of considerable expense, the regular transmission of transcontinental video programs — and even trans-world video programs — would soon absorb the cost of launching an active communications satellite. The magnitude of commercial possibilities of such a privatelyowned satellite relay staggers the imagination of even those of us who daily work with outer-space devices.” * * * While Gen. Cook was discussing the role of space research in the future of TV, the N.Y. convention of the SMPTE was taking a look at the role of TV in future space research. All components for a TV system for taking pictures on the moon and relaying them to earth already have been developed, S. W. Spaulding of RCA’s astro-electronics products div. told the convention. He pictured a system which could take still pictures of the moon both from a satellite & from the moon’s surface itself. Principal features of the system : A single picture could give better than 50-ft. resolution — meaning that, using a 500-line system, a picture could cover about a 5-mile square surface of the moon. The transistorized vidicon camera would weigh 6 lb., feeding slowscan pictures to a tape recorder which would operate at 60 in. per sec. for recording, 2 in. per sec. for playback, and weighing 12% lb. The transmitter would use a commercially-available exciter unit weighing 1 lb., and an available intermediate power amplifier (1% lb.) in the 240-mc frequency range. To deliver a signal 2-kc wide, the transmitter power into the crossed dipole antennas should be about 600 watts. The receiving station on earth would have a 60-ft. parabolic antenna. To send one single still picture to the earth with 500-line resolution would require one minute because of the narrow bandwidth; a 200-line picture could be sent in about 10 seconds. Other RCA scientists described a new space camera being developed at the astro-electronic products div., in which all elements of camera & electrostatic tape recorder to store its pictures are built into a single vacuum tube. AP has introduced a new format for its 5-min. news summaries by introducing each news item with a conversational capsule. (Sample: “There’s news of more trouble on the labor front tonight.”) Station news editors polled on the change last week by AP radio editor John Aspinwall approved it overwhelmingly — 567 out of 743 respondents. The capsule “lead-ins” will be continued, Aspinwall says, for optional use as stations desire. Approving editors indicated that the capsule headings provide good transitions. HOW NEW SHOWS WILL DO: Established TV shows will have to look to their rating laurels this season, for more of the season’s newcomers will succeed than did new shows last year. One effect of this will be to make network rivalry tighter, with ABC-TV emerging with real rating strength, and the other 2 webs facing a tight race. That’s the prediction of N. W. Ayer & Son’s uncannily successful analyst, James H. Cornell, in a special report due this week in Television, monthly trade magazine. Cornell, whose slide-rule predictions of advance Nielsen ratings used to give program executives some uneasy moments when he was an exective of NBC-TV’s research dept., has picked some interesting potential winners in his latest study. Here are some of his predictions: Riverboat will get a 38.5 average share of audience in the Nov.-Dee. 1959 period against lower shares on ABC & CBS. The Rebel will get ahead of Dinah Shore with a share of 36.0 as against 27.0 The much-touted Ford Startime specials will do only moderately well with a 35.0 share against mysteries. Westerns and comedies on ABC & CBS. Veteran 77 Sunset Strip will outpoint the Fri.-night specials on NBC-TV and edge out Desilu Playhouse on CBSTV with respective scores of 34.0, 26.0 and 32.0. The Deputy will draw a 41.0 share against a 26.0 for Mr. Lucky, another newcomer, and a not-so-hot 26.0 for Lawrence Welk on Sat. Another strong newcomer will be Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, which should show up in Nov.Dee. national ratings with a 38.0 share — 4 points ahead of The Detectives on ABC and 18 points ahead of boxing bouts on NBC. Of the 39 new shows being launched this season, Cornell looks for 25 to receive shares “higher than the programs they replaced,” and only 7 to get less than a 25.0 share — a figure he regards as “the danger point.” What gives Cornell’s predictions significance is his past record as a TV handicapper. Despite all the imponderables involved, Cornell last fall predicted 50 out of 100 show ratings with an accuracy range of 3 points; over 2/3 within a 5-point range. Statistically, an error of a point or two is meaningless, which makes Cornell’s guesswork impressive indeed. Many factors enter into Cornell’s judgments. A few: He sees almost all the pilots of each new season. He classifies each as to idea, stars, novelty, theme, production and writing values. He analyzes scheduling, audience appeal, program competition, composition of audience. The focus of Cornell’s study is on the so-called “competitive markets” (where all 3 networks have o&o’s or affiliates), and on “share” rather than “rating,” since setsin-use figures vary with the hour and a high-share program late at night may, of course, have a smaller audience than a low-share program aired at an earlier hour. * * ♦ In contrast to the above views, most Hollywood TV executives we’ve checked seem to view the new season as generally unimpressive. They feel that on the whole the new entries have failed to provide any spark or excitement, largely because they are imitative, offering little that is fresh or original. They predict that the best film ratings will be drawn by such holdovers as Gunsmoke, 77 Sunset Strip, Peter Gunn, Maverick and Rifleman. The consensus is that the best new potentials are Goldie, Dobie Gillis and Bourbon Street Beat. Result: There’s more behind-the-scenes preparation of replacements than ever.