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

8 Telscasiing Notes: XBC-Radio, too, is making big pitch to national advertisers, with full-page ads this week beginning buildup paralleling CBS’s (Vol. 7:31). Ad captioned “People sell better than paper” makes point that “when you want to close a sale with a tough customer, you don’t send a printed page” and that radio reaches 19 out of 20 families whereas TV as yet reaches only 3 out of 10. “The voice is more persuasive than ink,” says first ad, which looks like it’s going to start nice furore among competing printed media. Pi'inted NBC-Radio ads in 14 business papers will be backed up by 5 Sun. night radio shows starting Aug. 12, promoting radio as ad medium, playing on theme “You Can’t Take It With You.” Whole campaign is budgeted at $720,200 for rest of year . . . AFRA will bar from membership Communists so proven by State or Federal court action “since Dec. 31, 1945”, result of 2118 to 457 vote on ballots sent to 7000. Federation will also disqualify subversives identified by FBI, Justice & State depts. ... Of 244 adult Negro TV viewers polled by Advertest Research about CBS-TV Amos Andy show, 75% said it’s “not harmful” to colored race; 86.5% said it should be continued; survey was occasioned by Negro association’s threats of boycott (Vol. 7:27) . . . CBS has leased 25,000 sq. ft., 6 upper fioors, in 7-story building being built on E. 52nd St., adjacent its Madison Ave. quarters, for use as executive offices . . . Cathedral Films has released entire backlog of 40 religious pictures to TV, asking $12,500 per film, for first run . . . Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and producer Sol Lesser planning to reissue about 16 old Doug Fairbanks Sr. films to theatres, then sell them to TV . . . K LAC-TV, Los Angeles, reported to have paid $320,500 for 52 old features bought from Quality Films (Charles Weintraub) who put package together from properties of independent producers and local Chemical Bank & Trust Co. . . . WKZO-TV, Kalamazoo, raised base hour rate Aug. 1 from $400 to $500, one-min. from $60 to $90, set 9 a.m.-5 p.m. as Class B time . . . WDAF-TV, Kansas City, raises base hour rate Aug. 15 from $450 to $550, one-min. from $90 to $110 . . . WHBF-TV, Rock Island, new rate card Sept. 1 raises base hour rate from $250 to $300, one-min. from $50 to $60, changes Class A time to 6-11 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-11 p.m. Sat. & Sun., Class B to 5-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. . . . WENR-TV, Chicago, raises base hour rate Sept. 1 from $1300 to $1500, one-min. from $250 to $300. Q TV network hookups via coaxial and/or microwave cost 7 times more than radio, requiring much wider-band channels, but they’re far from highest item in networking overhead, according to AT&T spokesman taking issue with our obseiwations about high cost of coaxial-microwave (TV Films May Supex-sede Live Networks; Vol. 7:31). Long lines represent far less than 5% of average program cost, actually average only 10<i per mile per half hour of program time, or $11 per station on 40-station hookup, we’re infoi'med. There are now approximately 18,500 miles of coaxial-microwave TV circuits, and during 1950 (when combined TV netwoi'ks took in $55,000,000) total long lines billings ran some $5,000,000, accoi’ding to FCC soui’ces. Admiral $7,000,000 plant expansion program includes $2,000,000 for new 300,000 sq. ft. building at Cortland & Springfield, Chicago, for defense work; $1,500,000 sevenstory office building at Cortland & Hamlin; $1,000,000 expansion of Galesburg plant by 120,000 sq. ft.; $2,500,000 for added distribution space and facilities in Chicago, New York, Boston — all financed from working capital, no borrowings. Dr. Edward U. Condon, dii’ectoi’. Bureau of Standards, has resigned as of Sept. 30 to join Corning Glass as director of research and development. Truly international TV standards, meaning easy direct exchange of programs without film, just aren’t in the cards for visible future; regional standards have good chance. Those facts are clear from June 5-July 6 intei'national committee sessions in Geneva, according to recently-returned U. S. participants. No nation would yield in advocacy of its system — 405 lines, 5 me channels (Britain); 525, 6 me (U. S. and most of Americas); 625, 7 me (most of Europe); 819, 14 me (France). All that was agreed upon were 11 standards common to all systems — 4:3 aspect ratio, 2:1 interlace, independence of power supply frequency, etc. Besides number of lines, and channel widths, systems differ in fields (50 & 60), modulation (positive and negative picture, AM & FM sound), other basic characteristics. Pai'ticipants decided to study many problems, including: (1) Color, which all want to integrate inexpensively into their systems. (2) Bandwidth reduction techniques, such as dot-interlace, “crispening”, long-persistence phosphors. (3) Interchange of programs among nations and between systems. (4) Desired-to-undesired signal values. * * * Foreign TV stations now operating, other than Latin American, are as follows, according to data submitted at Geneva sessions (all experimental except British and French) : Denmark — 1 station, 625 lines, .5 kw transmitter output, 50 receivers, 6 more stations planned. France — 1 station on 441 lines, 30 kw; 2 on 819 lines, 3 kw, 25,000 sets, 3 more stations planned. Italy — 1 station, 625 lines, 5 kw, 1000 sets. Japan — 1 station, 525 lines, .5 kw, 25 sets. Netherlands — 2 stations, 625 lines, one with 3 kw, other 5 kw, 1000 sets, 1 or 2 more stations planned. Britain — 2 stations, 405 lines, one with 17 kw, other 42 kw, 1,000,000 sets, 3 more stations planned. Sweden — 1 station, 625 lines, 1 kw, 25 sets, 1 more station planned. Switzerland — 1 station, 625 lines .4 kw, 30 sets. Czechoslavakia — 1 station, 625 lines. Germany (Allied High Commission) — 1 station, 625 lines, 1 kw, 25 sets, 6 more stations planned. Russia — number of stations and sets not given, 625 lines (8 me channels). Countries without stations, but planning to build: Spain 2, Morocco-Tunisia 2, Monaco 1. Still others report existence of “planning committees.” TV’s own “Battle of Berlin” opens Aug. 13 when U.S. throws two electronic “divisions” into cold war to show strength and productivity of free world. Sponsored by ECA, both CBS and RCA will give most Berliners their fii'st taste of TV — color and monochrome, respectively. Two-week demonstrations are expected to attract thousands from World Communist Youth Festival in East Berlin, for which Russia claims 2,000,000 attendance. CBS contingent of 7, headed by Dr. Peter Goldmark, will conduct closed-circuit color programs in Funksturm Exhibit Gi’ounds. RCA’s Richard Hooper and staff of 27, taking along some 35 tons of materials, have installed complete monochrome ti-ansmitter, the pictures to be received on 3 big-screen units in Schowenedgerstadt Park. Additional 110 home-type sets will be scattered throughout West Berlin. CBS also plans color transmissions of surgery, sponsored by Smith, Kline & French Labs, at Sept. 24-29 International Congi'ess of Surgeons in Paris. GE Appliance Div.’s 150 distributors and salesmen meet in NBC-TV’s Studio AA in Chicago’s Meixhandise Mart Sept. 5 for 9-9:30 a.m. closed-circuit preview of GE’s Bill Goodwin Shoxv, starting Sept. 11, Thu. 3:30-4, thru Young & Rubicam. It’s part of sponsor’s sales counselors convention in Chicago, and 48 intexxonnected stations will carry the preview so local GE distx'ibutors and dealers can also watch. NBC calls it “pattexTi for what may be the typical sales convention of the future.”