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

8 DPA. On distant horizon is possibility of regulations standardizing TV-radio components and limiting variety of models each set maker may produce. In advance of any such action, NPA officials assure us, set and component makers would be given opportunity to draw up their own set of rules. It will be nip and tuck whether transformers or receiving tubes are scarcest civilian electronic items next year. Transformer production will suffer seriously because of sharp cutbacks in copper allotments. And civilian tube production seems destined to do tailspin because of (1) serious shortage of nickel and (2) steadily increasing military demand for tubes. There's no magic key to nickel snarl — that's becoming increasingly apparent. At week's end there were signs that most critical sectors of tube industry would get some spot relief. But by the very nature of NPA's nickel allotment setup and complexity of tube industry itself, there can be no special overall ration of nickel to keep entire industry operating at hefty rate. Severity of present situation was underscored in letter to NPA from RTMA president Glen McDaniel following special tube division meeting Sept. 11. Tube makers will have to start cutting production by mid-October unless there's special relief, McDaniel said. He made these points: Receiving tube industry will be operating at "as low as 50% of its present rate of production" by Dec. 1, necessitating layoffs of as many as 15,000-18,000 employes, if there's no "immediate relief from present nickel allocation policies." "Delays in meeting delivery schedules for military tubes will inevitably result... The lead time for obtaining new nickel is 2-5 months... A fair estimate of delays in military tube deliveries is 4-5 months." Nickel conservation is paying off, McDaniel said, in production of more tubes from less nickel. Industry turned out "229,000,000 tubes in first 7 months of 1951 with only two-thirds of the nickel used to produce 191,000,000 tubes in the corresponding period of 1950. " When Senate raised its sights on military production this week it was, in effect, chalking up more cutbacks for civilian industry. It added |3 billion to arms bill after being told of "fantastic new weapons" including new electronically-guided pilotless bomber. Every such increase in appropriations for military procurement inevitably results in less material remaining for TV-radio and other consumer goods. Nobilizalion Notes: Applications for CMP allotments of steel, copper and aluminum for first quarter 1952 must be filed with NPA by Oct. 1, but spokesmen for NPA’s Electronics Div. urged manufacturers not to wait for deadline to submit them. Applicants who file after Oct. 1 deadline are liable to be short-changed on their material rations, since the division expects to base its allocations on the applications on hand shortly after the deadline date. Applications for fourth quarter allocations — as well as some for third quarter — are continuing to pour into Electronics Div., despite fact that deadlines passed long ago and materials have already been allotted. All manufacturers of Class B (standard civilian -type) items, including TV-radios & appliances, must file form CMP-4B, except those whose requirements are so small they never have been required to file. An NPA official estimated that little more than half the nation’s TV-radio manufacturers filed applications for fourth quarter allotments. He could give no explanation for large number of abstentions other than possibility that non-filing firms may have sufficient materials to take care of fourth quarter production. TV and radio broadcasters will get priorities to buy wire and cable under terms of new ruling now being drafted and slated for official NPA approval. Ruling probably will be in form of amendment to CMP Regulation 5, which governs maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies. Much of the wire and cable required by broadcasters doesn’t fall within definition of MRO, but is vital to operation of stations. Excellent roundup on “Film in the Future, as TV’s Horizons Expand,” by Broadcasting Magazine’s Los Angeles correspondent Dave Glickman, is published in Sept. 10 edition — starting with premise: “Cross country microwave relay notwithstanding, film is expected to represent more than 65% of TV’s future program total, with Hollywood as the major supply line.” It states 75 independent TV production units in Hollywood are filming TV programs, reports on some (with sponsors), tells of plans of bigger movie producers and the TV networks to supply film programs. It quotes tycoon Louis B. Mayer, ex-MGM, as taking attitude that TV and movies must work together and saying: “We’ll furnish the entertainment and talent, and TV will distribute it.” Cuban advertisers have greeted TV so enthusiastically, reports Circuito CMQ’s Goar Mestre, that his CMQ-TV, Havana, is up to 507c of CMQ’s billings, after only 8 months of operation. He expects figure to reach 80% by year’s end, TV billings catching up with radio by mid1952. Mestre says that 4 other stations under construction by his company (at Matanzas, Santa Clara, Camaguey, Santiago) should be on air by year’s end, covering 80 7o of island’s population. Plans include microwave relays feeding programs from Havana.