Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan-Dec 1951)

13 in CBS sets, he added. He emphasized rejection of tri-color tube when he said that drum sets for 17-in. or larger pictures are planned next year. * * * * ^ Besides TV and radio advertising, splurges in Life, Saturday Evening Post, ; etc. are planned in promotion campaign this fall-winter. But CBS is now treading cautiously, for it faces (1) problem of keeping that two-thirds line of monochrome f receivers moving; (2) task of meeting pro-compatibility arguments of main body of i the TV-radio industry, who also are good advertisers and promoters ; (3) probable need to persuade own color set customers their sets won*t be obsoleted soon. As a ? starter, it has published booklet "Questions and Answers About Color Television." Topics & Tronds of TV Trade: namm’s annual mu ,f sic trade show in Chicago this week resulted in little, if ■ any, more business for TV manufacturers than did dull I summer furniture market there few weeks earlier. Re ports were uniformly “blue” — Retailing Daily's Martin IRosenhlum even describing how some of the exhibitors (Vol. 7:28) whiled away their time (as retailers merely “looked around”) by watching ball games on their display sets or playing gin rummy. Consensus seemed to be that J it was slowest such show in many years, that much of the ' time was spent bemoaning sad state of business and en j gaging in guessing games about when upturn would come. Reporter Rosenblum even told of furniture chain \ picking up 17-in. tables at $85, to be promoted shortly at ^ $139 retail; of “secondary manufacturers” quoting 17-in. k leatherette-covered table at $105, 20-in. table at $130, 20-in. open console at $140, latter 2 with tax-warranty included. New York trade circles sat up and took notice this week when Gertz dept, store in Jamaica advertised 17-in. table sets (made for store’s own Ambassador brand by Starrett) at $99 plus $20 to cover excise tax year’s warranty on picture tube, 90-day warranty on replacement parts. Needless to say, the sets sold like the proverbial hot cakes. Off-brand manufacturers are known to be offering enormous concessions to dealers to help move factory inventories, and it’s generally felt some mortalities are inevitable. But the top brand producers insist they’re sticking to wholesale price schedules, pressing their outlets to promote more and more, some even paying 100% of the retail advertising bills. In fact, one of biggest told us last week that, so far as his company and others at top level are concerned, business at retail level has been “extraordinarily good” this summer — ^better than seasonally expected; even better than same time last year. Factory sales are another matter, and the big boys are simply biding their time until retailers unload; they’re confident of good fall-winter season, though nobody thinks it will be as good as lush 1950’s. Some think the industry was lulled by easy selling last year into thinking that condition would be permanent. * ■■:= * * Prices being quoted on such new models as are coming out don’t indicate any price collapses — quite the contrary. Magnavox’s 2 additions to line are TV-radio-phono combination at $595 list in mahogany, $610 blonde, and TV console at $475. Zenith has 5 new super-dooper 19-in. mahogany units selling from $1300 to $1925. StrombergCarlson adds 12 new sets, lowest priced being 17-in. at $290, with 4 new 24-in. at $675, $725, $795, $975 proposed list. Pilot’s new sets range from 17-in. mahogany table at $299.50 to 20-in. console at $495. Trad has 24-in. console at $340, 20-in. console at $220. Video Products Corp., now operating as Sheraton Television Corp., has 20-in. line starting with table at $300 up to console at $379, plus 24-in., unpriced. Rash of articles on how to hypo TV sales has broken out in current issues of merchandising publications. For example: July Electrical Merchandising features spread on “Two Ways of Riding the TV Slump,” discusses results achieved by Algene Electric Co., Bridgeport, Conn., based on good servicing department, very little advertising, no price-cut promotions or big trade-in offers. Contrasting methods used by Music Shop, Cleveland, are described in same article; it increased sales volume from $20,000 to $75,000 a month on basis of large trade-in business built up solely by newspaper advertising. Store does no installation or servicing. Sales resistance fostered by color ballyhoo is hot topic in July Radio & Television Retailing. Two-page questionanswer feature, “What to Tell Your Customer About Color Television,” points to paucity of color programs and sets, high cost of sets, “open door” to compatible systems, etc. Another article, “How One Dealer Overcomes the Color TV Sales Bogey,” points to success of Sneed’s Radio & Television Co., Tulsa, in telling public via ads and talks that “folk who ‘wait’ will miss big shows now on air.” In same magazine is story on how to “Sell More TV Sets via the Home-Trial Method.” “How a Music Dealer Sells Television” through planned promotions, intelligent displays, alertness to changing times is discussed in July Radio & Television Journal article on Hopper-Kelly music store, Seattle. Overcoming credit restrictions is topic of big feature in July 12 Retailing Daily, which cites “new, aggressive merchandising plan” which it says boosted TV sales of Dorn’s House of Miracles chain in Los Angeles $500,000 in 5 months. Dorn’s, says article, turned “temporary defeat by hands of Regulation W into startling sales victory.” Owner Harry Dorn is quoted: “The crux of the whole problem is that you must offer sets at a low enough total price so that the down payment is also budgetwise.” Note: In anticipation of end of freeze, NARDA is instituting unique program to acquaint dealers from non-TV areas with problems and techniques of TV retailing. NARDA members in TV areas are being asked to sei-ve as hosts to dealers from non-TV cities to give them first-hand look-see into the unique aspects of TV receiver selling. * * * * Sylvania is out with 14 new models, four embracing its new “Halolight” for better viewing comfort (Vol. 7:23, 25,28). Three 17-in. tables sell at $250, $300, $310; one 20-in. at $400. Two 17-in. open consoles are $370 & $380; two 20-in. with Halolight are $500 & $520. Two 17-in. consoles with doors are $400 & $420, and 20-in. console with Halolight $530. Console combinations are 17-in. at $550 & $570, and 20-in. with Halolight $660. Carried over are 12 models, ranging from 14-in. table at $220 to 20-in. consoles with doors at $490 & $510 to 17-in. combination at $550. Some new lines have uhf convertei-s offered separately, Sylvania’s at $44.95 and Stromberg’s promised later this year at around $50.