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

6 COMPATIBLE color showings by RCA in New York’s Johnny Victor & Center Theatres resume Sept. 10. Industry groups are scheduled first 2 weeks, public to be invited after shutdown for week or so. Setup is about same as during smash-hit July showings (Vol. 7:28) — 10 a.m. program telecast from WNBT, 2 & 4 p.m. programs on closed-circuit. No networking is scheduled first two weeks. Guests of RCA Victor go to Johnny Victor, NBC’s to Center. RCA has this lineup: Sept. 10, distributors, dealers; Sept. 11, station operators, consulting engineers, attorneys; Sept. 12, RCA Service Co., NRDGA, station engineers; Sept. 13, distributors, dealers, parts suppliers; Sept. 14, dept, stores, tube disti-ibutors ; Sept. 17, distributors of sound, industrial, film and theatre equipment, plus govt, procurement officers; Sept. 18, recording artists; Sept. 19, RCA technical groups; Sept. 20, security analysts; Sept. 21, “postponements” — late comers and overflow from previous groups. NBC guests comprise affiliates, advertisers, station reps, artists, etc. ♦ CBS hasn’t yet revealed stations or sponsor involved in its proposed 11 -station hookup for football colorcasts (Vol. 7:35). But it announced that singer Mel Tox-me would star in new 4:30-5 daily color show, says it plans to reach 20 hours of color weekly by mid-October. CBS reports enthusiastic reception of color shows in Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 5, says French manufactm’er Radio Industrie will demonstrate color-monochrome sets at Sept. 13-18 Paris demonstrations. Webster-Chicago, one of few manufacturers planning production of CBS color converters, is still in tooling process, says C. P. Cushway, executive v.p. First production, at least 30 days off, will be wheel assemblies for other manufacturers, presumably including CBS-Columbia, “In PsrSOnsl Notes: Haan J. Tyler moved to KFI (AM) as gen. mgr. with Sept. 6 transfer of KFI-TV to Don Lee and change of its call letters to KHJ-TV; he succeeds Kevin Sweeney, resigned. Willet Brown is president of Don Lee (General Tire-O’Neil) and head of KHJ-TV, and George Whitney is sales v.p. . . . Charles H. Phillips, ex-sales chief, NBC-TV spot sales, named asst. gen. mgr. of WNBC & WNBT, New York network keys, under gen. mgi-. Ted Cott . . . Gilbert W. Kingsbury promoted from publicitypromotion director to administrative asst, to Robert E. Dunville, president, Crosley Broadcasting Corp. (WLWT, WLWD, WLWC) . . . Ren Kraft, Midwest sales mgr.. Fort Industry Co. stations (including WJBK-TV, WSPD-TV, WAGA-TV) designated to supex-vise newly opened Chicago offices for Geox-ge Stox’er gx’oup, 230 No. Michigan Ave. . . . John R. Hurley, ex-Don Lee program mgr., joins TV Time, Los Angeles fan magazine . . . Bernard M. Kliman, adv. mgr., Gruen watch, resigning to open own agency with headquax’ters in New Yox'k and TV office in Hollywood . . . C. H. Cottington has resigned as TV-radio v.p.. Young & Rubicam . . . Joseph H. McConnell, NBC president, and Mrs. McConnell sailed Sept. 6 on Queen Mary for London in connection with Talullah Bankhead BBC recordings (Vol. 7:33), then vacations in Paris and Cannes, returns in mid-Oct. . . . Fritz Snyder, ex-Biow, named CBS-TV station relations director and Wm. Schudt named CBSRadio station relations director . . . Dr. Kenneth H. Baker, NARTB research director since 1946, has resigned to start radio audience-coverage service to be known as Standard Audience Measurement Service, with offices in N. Y. . . . John H. Smith Jr., ex-Bureau of National Affaix’S, Washington, named director of NARTB’s FM dept., succeeding Edward L. Sellers, resigned. terms of actual orders, thex-e’s no gxeat demand,” says Mr. Cushway. Wheel assemblies may also be offexed to “buildit-yourself” customers. Company plans complete “slave” converters, says Mr. Cushway, but production dates and quantities are still undecided. Px'ice of 10-in. model (magnified) “will be near $350, pex’haps even $400,” he believes. No adapters are scheduled. “Fx-ankly, we’re feeling our way,” says Mr. Cushway. “We don’t know what the demand will be. We decided to take the risk and tool up. If we sell a few thousand, that will take care of the tooling costs. Everything we sell after that will be fine. There are a lot of problems — the materials situation, for example. We’ve got to decide whether we want to take materials from our other production and put it into color. It’s a gamble.” ♦ ♦ * ♦ Paramount’s tri-color tube (Vol. 7:22-25) has undergone gx’eat improvement recently, said v.p. Paul Raiboum in exclusive interview in Sept. 3 Broadcasting. According to article, Paramount plans to demonstrate it within a month, and Mr. Raibourn believes “it looks like all the color problems are solved.” He credited latest idea to Dr. Ernest Lawrence, Nobel Prize winner who invented tube. FCC personnel saw earlier models of tubes many months ago, said it suffered then from extx'emely coarse line structure, low resolution (“too low even for CBS system”), improper color balance. Tube was first repox’ted May 1950, dux’ing color hearing (Vol. 6:18). In June 1951, after Supx-eme Court decision. Paramount announced plans to build and market set with tube (with AM-FM, for about $1000), said it would be demonstrated following month. Tube hasn’t been shown to press or public. This week. Paramount stock jumped to year’s high, presumably on strength of reports of new tube developments. SENATE hearings on Sen. Benton’s TV bills to establish national radio-TV program advisory board and encoux-age “pay-as-you-look” TV (Vol. 7:15, 20-22, 33, 35) sounded rather routine this week — but opponents haven’t yet had their innings. Boiling-mad NARTB-TV sent scathing statement, approved at Sept. 7 board meeting, to Senators Johnson (D-Colo.) and McFarland (D-Ariz.) chairmen, respectively, of Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee and subcommittee. Said statement in part: “We consider the Benton proposals potentially more dangerous to free expression than any legislation that has been befox*e the Congress in the 30-year history of American broadcasting.” ~ Sen. Benton and his witnesses testified that 11-man board would be completely advisory, that stations had nothing to fear in way of censorship. Witnesses included: Sen. Hunt (D-Wyo.), co-sponsor of bills, plus x-epresentatives of American Libx-ary Assn., National Farmers Union, New Yox-k Board of Regents, Joint Committee on Educational TV, CIO, Cooperative League of U. S. A., Ohio State U. Because James Webb, Asst. Secretary of State, testified as to success of advisoxy boax’ds for UNESCO, Voice of America, etc., NARTB-TV board called attention to Japanese tx-eaty telecasts at behest of State Dept., said “it is inconceivable [that] a State Dept, executive of such high rank should fail so utterly in evaluating the public service contributions of Amexdcan broadcasting ...” Only opposition was that of Sen. Capehart (R-Ind.) who wondered, if board’s function is desirable, why Interstate Committee can’t do job itself. Date for hearing resumption hasn’t been set.