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

4 via 107 relay stations spaced an average of 28.2 miles apart. All but 18 of these stations are unattended, operating automatically. The stations are designed for phone traffic, too, will be engineered for more TV circuits, both ways, as demand requires. Right now, the 4 TV networks are splitting time on the single 2-way circuit now available. Time breaks were good ones for the networks. President Truman *s Sept. 4 speech at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 Pacific Time) was inaugural, came through clearly. Conference's morning sessions started at 1 p.m. EDT, evening sessions 11 p.m. EDT. Afternoon sessions, whose start would have been 6 p.m. EDT and would have run into evening schedules, were omitted for that reason. Some good material thus was missed, notably John Foster Dulles' important Sept. 5 speech. But so much afternoon and late night time was cleared, unsponsored, that only the most captious could carp over omissions. Moreover, kine-recording, newsreel and radio coverage were able to complete TV's truly fine job. There weren't many fluffs, though the interpolations of commercial spots at inapropos moments didn't sit well with many. Eagerness of networks to preserve own identities was also too apparent. Indeed, full-page ad in New York newspapers by CBS-TV Sept. 4, followed by similar one next day by NBC-TV, almost seemed designed to give impression those networks "owned the show" — so intense is rivalry between them now and so eager is each to capture audience loyalty. V ^ ^ 'I* Editorial comment was uniformly enthusiastic. Washington Post (WTOP-TV) took particular note of clarity of pictures, stated; "For this blessing the whole TV industry deserves thanks [and] the public would be twice blessed if TV's aesthetic quality were to keep pace with its technical progress." New York Herald Tribune paid tribute to great technical achievement, but observed; "We are still waiting for signs of similar advances in the industry's conception of TV as an entertainment and educational medium. [The] coverage is a prime example of what TV can do. But we can't help wondering what kind of program is going to follow it on the new coast-to-coast hookup." What followed Mr. Truman's address on NBC-TV s Washington outlet points up pitfalls TV programmers must guard against — just what the Herald Tribune editorialist probably pondered. Film spot that followed immediately after the President concluded was a particularly noxious ad for a deodorant ! THEATRE TV's NEWEST SPORTS WRINKLE: Movie forces have come forth with new formula for outbidding home TV for rights to sports events — and first attempt to use it is apparently quite a success. Basic idea is that theatre-TV rights plus rights for special films of the event can total more than any home sponsor is willing to pay. It worked with Randy Turpin-Ray Robinson fight Sept. 12 in New York, for which some theatres on hookup are charging S2-S2.60, with International Boxing Club reported to be getting 75c^ per seat cut — as against A0<f: for earlier theatre fight telecasts (Vol. 7 '.2'5-2Q) , Theatre-TV rights were made contingent on RKO's guarantee of $200,000 for film. Then RKO sought to line up exhibitors to show film, with ads in trade press headed: "Exhibitors Attention! Do you want 60,000,000 people at home or going to theatres?" Ad went on: "For the first time, alert and far-seeing showmen have the opportunity of assuring themselves in advance of boxoffice special events which will not be seen or heard elsewhere" (last 8 words were italicized for emphasis). So confident was IBC of profit opportunities of scheme that it reportedly turned down S325.0Q0 offer from unidentified sponsor for TV-radio rights. RKO and theatre-TV people use same formula for Willie Pep-Sandy Saddler title bout Sept. 26. High interest in Robinson-Turpin bout may make it success — Philadelphia's Stanley is already advance sellout at $2.60 — but public apathy was noted in recent Joe Louis-Jimmy Bivins theatre telecast from Baltimore, with many seats vacant. The TV— radio manufacturers, who footed bill for Ezzard Charles-Joe Walcott home telecast (Vol. 7:28Y. ^av they won't be used as pawns in bidding up prices, but are watching