Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

patible color enables the present receivers to receive the color programs in black-and-white without any changes whatever. Moreover, as was the case with black-and-white television, the first color receivers are bound to be substantially more expensive than a black-and-white television receiver. It will be some years, I think, before a color television receiver can be produced and sold at anything like the current prices, especially in the lower brackets. Present prices, of course, are possible because some 25,000,000 television receivers already have been produced. No one can estimate today what a color television receiver will sell for after 25,000,000 of them have been manufactured. With the promise of transistors and printed circuits and all the other possibilities of reducing costs of production, there is every reason for looking forward hopefully. That, my friends, is the story of color television as I see it today.] Color Will Attract New Advertisers Color will make television more exciting, more dramatic and more enjoyable. It will give added sales power to commercial messages. It will attract advertisers who now do not use the medium because their particular products cannot be fully appreciated in black and white. With a compatible system, the broadcaster and the advertiser do not have to wait for color receivers to appear in quantity. Stations will be able to transmit network programs in compatible color with only minor modifications to their existing equipment. The origination of color programs, however, will involve changes in production technique, and probably increased production cost for lighting, costuming and scenery. Time and again, we have seen technical progress in broadcasting presenting new opportunities to those with the courage and imagination to act. Six or seven years ago, the opportunities offered by black-&-white television were recognized at once by a number of forward-looking broadcasters. They lost no time in acting, and their alertness has paid off magnificently. Those who are determined to lead in broadcasting will again, I am sure, act promptly. They will begin color operations as soon as standards for commercial compatible color broadcasting are officially approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Opportunities and Responsibilities Broadcasting is a dynamic and changing enterprise. It goes through cycles of development and adaptation; reaches plateaus; then surges to higher levels of service. The industry is now in the throes of one of these great cycles of transition to a higher level. Although the problems of transition are large, the prospects are correspondingly promising. We have in radio a very flexible, inexpensive medium with powers of resilience and adjustment greater than some may realize. We have in television an unparalleled communications system which has become an indispensable tool of American salesmanship and a major influence in American life. The public wants both radio and television. It will use each of them to the extent that it serves and satisfies the public interest. Our economy needs both mediums, and it is big enough to support both, provided they will conscientiously meet its requirements for effective and economical advertising. In the final checkup, the amazing history of our industry, its record of consistent growth and success, are end-products of the American system of free economy. They represent not merely triumphs of electronics but triumphs of America. It is the magic of freedom that gives full play to all the energies and talents in our economy; that strikes a fruitful balance between competition and cooperation; that blends the motive power of self-interest and public interest to enrich the life of the individual citizen and the vitality of the nation as a whole. The price of that freedom has ever been restraint and self-discipline, as well as a strong sense of personal and group responsibility. Nowhere is the payment of this price more essential than in an industry like ours, using public channels and concerned with the needs, the wellbeing, the happiness and moral health of the entire population. In facing the future, the experience we have gained in more than a quarter century of broadcasting gives us confidence that American ingenuity and skill can solve problems as they arise. My own confidence in the future rests on the fact that science is our partner, and that radio and television are in the hands of resourceful men and women — the broadcasters of America — who have built a great industry on a tradition of dedicated service to the American people. 7