Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1952)

11 Weekly retail survey by Retailing Daily of Oct. 15 shows Chicago's TV sales up average of 10% over year ago, radio up 25%; Philadelphia's TV-radio up 5-10%. But New York's total "electrical appliances" are reported off 6% from last year; Atlanta TV only fair; Boston & Cleveland TV among slowest items. Our own contacts with manufacturers, large and small, indicate favorable picture at their end. Biggest worry at factories is higher materials prices — not only components but now also cabinets. (Fact is, trend to higher prices for home furniture is already noted, trade sources forecasting 5% increases by end of year. ) The manufacturers are saying business is "good" to "terrific". As one put it, "Business is terrific and getting better." Said CBS-Columbia sales chief Dick Payne: "The improvement is not due to the new markets; demand is up everywhere. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel to keep distributors supplied. We have no sets in the warehouse." Hallicraf ters Wm. Halligan said demand is now beyond capacity to produce. Heavy demand is causing spot shortages of parts and tubes — right now 21-in. CR tubes are hardest to get — leading Zenith's Henry Bonfig to observe: "We live from day to day, but that's nothing unusual — it's part and parcel of this business." * * * * Another record output week was racked up Oct. 10 — RTMA reporting 179,147 TV sets produced (13,944 private label) as against 167,861 preceding week and year's record 168,308 on Sept. 26. Factory inventories fell to 140,299 on Oct. 10, lowest since December 1950 and down from 147,313 the week before. With 11 weeks of 1952 statistical year yet to be counted, total TV output has already gone slightly ahead of 4,000,000. Radios are doing nicely, too. Week ended Oct. 10 saw 206,855 output (76,869 private) vs. 189,617 week before. Factory inventories were 222,088 vs. 224,608. Week's radios were 85,096 home models, 29,461 portables, 46,978 clock, 45,320 auto. Trade Personals: Rear Admiral Willis E. Cleaves, USN ret., named staff asst, to gen. mgr. of Bendix radio div.; he recently was director of aviation sales, Collins Radio . . . Glen McDaniel, who resigned as of Oct. 1 as president of RTMA, now a partner in N. Y. law firm of Lundgren, Lincoln, Peterson & McDaniel, 63 Wall St.; phone Whitehall 3-7380 . . . Ross D. Siragusa, Admiral president and a leading Catholic layman in Chicago area, to be general chairman of silver jubilee dinner sponsored by Chicago business and professional men at Conrad Hilton Hotel Dec. 2 on behalf of brotherhood program of National Conference of Christians & Jews . . . Jack Siegrist, now with Admiral-New York Inc., to become advertising mgr. of Motorola in Chicago under Ellis Redden, adv. director . . . Marshall A. Williams, ex-Hughes Aircraft, Air Associates & Bendix Aviation, appointed regional mgr. of Philco’s govt. & industrial div. in Beverly Hills, Cal.; he succeeds Edward Harbison, resigmed . . . Paul Bryant, ex-Herbert Horn and Leo J. Meyberg, California RCA distributors, named to newly created post of western sales mgr., Zenith Radio, covering 11 western states out of Los Angeles . . . Joseph Dworken, Dynavox pres., elected pres, of Phonograph Manufacturers Assn. Inc.; I. Rothman B&R Electronics Inc., v.p.; Harold Kraft, Kraft Bros., secy.-treas. . . . Karl von Gaa, ex-DuMont, named sales mgr., Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd., exclusive DuMont licensee . . . James E. Doughty, ex-Admiral & Philco sales rep, named Capehart’s New England sales mgr. . . . Ernest Bareuther named Philco controller, replacing William B. Yoder, new chief accountant . . . Isadore Leyden, ex-Majestic-Garod, named chief mechanical engineer, Tele King . . . Wm. L. Thibadeau resigns as Starrett gen. sales mgr. . . . S. D. Newman resigms as sales mgr., Mars TV . . . Mort Farr, NARDA president, now on speaking tour, due to address Northwest Appliance & TV Assn, in Seattle Oct. 21, Bakersfield (Cal.) Dealers Assn., Oct. 28. Jacob Friedus, who with Mrs. Friedus controlled nowbankrupt Starrett Television Corp. (Vol. 8:8,11,15), was indicted in Federal court in the District of Columbia this week along with Larry Knohl, who figures in the $5000 airplane commission deal with ex-Asst. Attorney General T. Lamar Caudle. They were charged with conspiracy to acquire Aireon Mfg. Co., Kansas City jukebox manufacturer, in offering $700,000 for it to the RFC which had taken it over for non-payment of $1,500,000 loan. According to charges, Knohl represented himself falsely as a v.p. of Starrett, and with Mr. Friedus told RFC falsely that the firm was making a profit when it actually was deeply in debt. Friedus is now serving 4-year sentence for tax frauds involving nearly $250,000, and Knohl once served term for violating bankruptcy laws. New charges carry penalties up to $30,000 fine, 15 years imprisonment. New “universal” color scanner, designed to generate any known color system, was demonstrated Oct. 17-18 by Telechrome Inc. at its plant in Amityville, N. Y. President J. R. Popkin-Clurman, ex-Hazeltine engineer, reports that gear has been sold to west coast manufacturer Gilfillan Bros, for close to $75,000; that another will be built for Hytron, CBS subsidiary; that Kollsman Instrument (Standard Coil subsidiary) and Sylvania are considering purchases. Gear is housed in 7 racks, employs flying-spot scanner, uses dichroic-mirror receiver, contains 900 tubes, can be switched from system to system by pushbuttons controlling 10 motors. Telechrome has sold a color scanner to FCC for its lab division (Vol. 8:3), but Clurman says that equipment comprised only about “twotenths” of latest gear which he terms the “Colossus.” DuMont has sold vhf transmitter with full studio equipment and mobile unit to new Radio-TV Roquette Pinto, educational station to be built by city of Rio de Janiero (Dr. Ferdinando Tude de Souza, dii’ector).