Television digest and FM reports (Feb-Dec 1947)

promote and sell intensively for first v/eek in those cities opening up new TV outlets. We're conducting survey now to find out construction and opening date plans of the 50-odd TV construction permittees (Supplement No. 18-B) and hope to report to you soon. Right now we don't look for many new ones on air this summer, but prospects look good for at least dozen more outlets before year ends. Meanwhile, we've had reports on 4 more manufacturers v/ho say they're definitely planning’ TV set production this year. You can add these to the 25 or so we reported in Vol. 5, No. 7 and 13: Howard Radio, Chicago, table model and console, ' both with 10-inch tube, latter with AM-FM-phono; John Meek Industries, Plymouth, Ind. , table and console, with AM-FM-phono, planned production 25,000 units this year; Pilot , table model with 10-inch tube, console with 15x20-inch screen and AMFM-phono; Bace Television Corp. , So. Hackensack, N.J., large-screen console for clubs, taverns, etc., cost §1,650 up. None of others could tell prices as yet. $19 H3LLI0H TMiATBS TV GATE: Maybe it's only Broadway big-talk, but "Variety" this week plays up "Sock Boxoffice In Theatre' Video," forecasts §10,000,000 "gates" at Madison. Square Garden when TV rights can be sold. It quotes Garden Corp.'s president John Reed Kilpatrick as seeing earnings of that much even when actual boxoffice is "mere" §1,000,000 — the rest to come from people going into movie houses all over country (coaxial cable to make this possible by end of 1948) to watch big events as they occur. Gen. Kilpatrick also apparently isn't any more afraid of TV inroads on boxoffice than N.Y. baseball clubs, who've all sold rights, is quoted as saying TV will stimulate interest in sports, make new converts (especially ladies, who seem to love today's prizefight telecasts). This attitude apparently isn't shared by Ringling-Barnum & Bailey Gircus, who so far have declined permission to WCBS-TV which holds Garden video rights for Ford Motor Co. As viewed from Washington vantage point, trouble with big-money story is that acceptable theatre-screen TV seems long way from ready, channels haven't even been applied for, movie moguls with exception of Paramount seem even more indifferent to ‘TV than newspapers were to radio in early days, have even gone along meekly with Petrillo ban on video's use of films with music however old. Society of Motion Picture Engineers, however, has Paul J. Larsen watching things at FCC ; former president of SMPE , he's now employed as scientist at Johns Hopkins Labs in suburban Silver Spring, Md. HCiVs ERI3HTSH TV SSHESH: Not to be outdone by Philco, whose bright and contrasty large-Screen TV receiver (Vol. 3, No. 7) is due on market in 30 to 60 days, RCA at New York IRE meeting Wednesday demonstrated new 15x20-in screen (about newspaper page size) that boosts brightness of projection-type pictures "2% times" over earlier models — comparing very favorably in brightness with direct-view tubes. In fact, said TV design chief Antony Wright, "we are not aware of any commercial projection type of receiver which will produce a brighter or clearer picture-" iScreen is understood to use same directive principle as Philco's, will go into big RCA console models due out later this year. Added is anti-halation lens, which permits good contrast no matter how bright the picture. T-MIS* IHTEslFERIHO WITH TV: There's interference in TV reception, too, aside from what you'd naturally expect from street-cars, diathermy machines and suchlike. Reports that TV set owners are getting it from nearby "ham" transmitters are true enough, but engineers don't think it's serious. FCC has received several letters about WCBS-TV's Channel No. 2 — from Bridgeport, Conn., and southern New Jersey. Second harmonic of amateur 28-29.7 me band (56-59.4 mef falls within TV 54-60 me band, thus can play hob with video reception. But difficulty can be overcome by (1) asking "hams" to suppress harmonic to as near zero as possible, (2) ordering them to shut down during best telecast hours. Latter is within power of FCC under rules. TV engineers look for similar interference from diathermy equipment when units come on market in recently authorized 27.3 me band.