Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

use test pattern. One attempts to answer dealers' complaints about programming: "Naturally, all of us would like to see more network shows, but it's not as easy as it looks. Network shows must be sold to national advertisers [who] must be convinced there is a sufficient TV audience in this market to make it profitable to add WSBT-TV to their network..." * * * # To measure uhf audience, station sends weekly questionnaire to 18 distributors, who return them unsigned. This anonymity, station believes, helps to assure accuracy of the count. Uhf-equipped. sets in area total little over 25,000, according to latest distributor census. Nearly four-fifths of uhf units sold have been converters & strips for existing sets — about 5300 vhf-uhf sets have been shipped to dealers, as opposed to 19,800 converters and strips. This census doesn't accurately show number of sets-in-use, though it's best available method of counting sets. Converters and sets in dealers' inventory, as well as those in hands of public, are included in count. While South Bend isn't exactly a TV "boom town", set sales are good. But fact is that TV isn't new to area, and sales were good even before the local station went on air. Now all new set sales are vhf-uhf, and nearly two-thirds of the old vhf sets have been converted. Number of TV dealers in area has just about doubled since uhf came to town. Among newcomers are factory-branch stores opened by Meek and Wells-Gardner , and it's rumored Muntz has rented South Bend store. But all isn't gravy by any means, and old established retailers are getting most of business. One big new shop reportedly sold only 8 sets first week, despite heavy advertising. * * * * There's no shortage of n ew sets. Stores are full of merchandise, display wide variety of makes and models. Internal converters for some big makes aren't so readily available, however, and shortage of strips is only now being ironed out. Question of strips vs. continuous tuners — despite advertising ballyhoo — doesn't seem important to South Bend consumers. Dealers say that they continue to pick sets according to cabinet style, brand name and preference for a particular picture, without expressing much interest in mode of tuning. There's no price-cutting so far, though some dealers feel it could break out any time. Some customers cut cost corners by using indoor antennas, against advice of station and dealers — and generally get less satisfactory picture. Vhf antenna installations to get Chicago and Kalamazoo stations cost $150 and up. Dealers say 50-60% of new-set customers buy only uhf antenna ($22 and up) or no antenna at all, but many call back later to order complete vhf installations. TV trade-ins have become big business. Louis Chikar, the city's largest TV dealer, says 20% of his TV customers trade in old TVs. He sells trade-ins at store he owns which deals exclusively in used TV-radios. He owns 5 other stores in South Bend and neighboring towns — all selling TV only — which did $500,000 worth of business in last 3 months of 1952. * * * * Uhf pioneering on local level isn't confined to telecasters. Confronted by mass of claims for the huge number of uhf antennas now on the market, South Bend TV parts and set distributor Bruce Bouchard (Radio Distributing Co . , DuMont) set out to "take the myth and mystery out of this business." In 3-story, 10, 000-sq. -f t . building at Warsaw, Ind. , 35 mi. southeast of South Bend, he set up Television Testing Laboratory to make comparative tests of the many makes and types of uhf antennas. "We're finding some amazing things about some high-priced well-advertised antennas, " he said. Laboratory has attracted many antenna manufacturers who have come to Indiana to make actual-use tests of new designs. While he originally started project to guide him in purchase of antennas, interest in tests has been so great r.hat Mr. Bouchard plans to publish lab reports on virtually every type of uhf & vhf antenna, including directivity patterns and field strength data.