Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

7 PROMOTION OF UHF conversion is teaching station managers a lot about the business of merchandising — indeed, some are virtually “in the business” as result of extremely close cooperation with set dealers, distributors and manufacturers. Most upcoming uhf stations are now setting up committees with station and trade represented, and this cooperation is paying off in sales for the trade and audience for the station. Several of these committees are now negotiating with local banks and finance companies to devise easy time payment plans for uhf converters and antennas. Station merchandising plan which has attracted most attention — and is due to be emulated by other uhf grantees— was devised last spring by WEEU-TV, Reading, Pa. (Ch. 33), and is still going strong. It’s clever combination of station promotion and old-fashioned selling, and results have been very good. Nub of plan: Station provides newspaper, TV and radio advertising for every dealer who puts salesmen on street “ringing doorbells for uhf.” Dealers may call on anyone they choose — including their past TV-appliance customers. Salesman leaves copy of WEEU-TV program log at each house, offers to demonstrate converter. He fills out report form for each call, returns it to station. In turn his firm gets free individual newspaper ads, radio & TV spots. How has it worked? It’s been pretty expensive, but WEEU-TV exec. v.p. Thomas E. Martin quotes reports from the dozen dealers participating as showing that approximately one sale is made for every 2 calls. One participating dealer reports 65% success. Despite heavy penetration of vhf in Reading, the reports filed with station show 60% of customers buy new vhf -uhf sets, 30% buy converters, 10% buy strips. One dealer reported: “It is my experience that most folks want the newer sets with built-in uhf. Once the consumer sees the clarity of local uhf reception, he’s as good as sold.” Another repoi’ted best June business in history of his firm. Modified form of same plan was inaugurated this week by Walter Reade’s upcoming WRTV (Ch. 58) in vhfsaturated Asbury Park, N. J., near New York. His station reimburses dealers 25<f for each home call. WRTV is going in for trade cooperation in big way. House-tohouse campaign was launched with big dinner meeting for dealers, distributors and servicemen. Station has already put out 8 issues of its weekly newsletter to local trade, although on-the-air date isn’t until December. Norfolk-Portsmouth area’s new NBC affiliate WVECTV (Ch. 15) began programming Sept. 19 with big inaugural show featuring Margaret Truman, Faye Emerson, Skitch Henderson and other NBC stars, after tremendous NBC publicity buildup. Pres. Tom Chisman estimates 40,000-50,000 uhf sets in area, with conversions building up rapidly now that programming has actually begun — but he says it’s difficult to pinpoint number of sets because of large number of converters ordered from Army PX’s and Navy ships’ stores in area and from mail order houses by the 100,000 servicemen and their families in area. Last reported count of sets sold by distributors and dealers in area came to 16,872 as of Sept. 5, with firm orders for 4,102 more. In Buffalo — where there are 2 uhf stations and one vhf — sales of refrigerators, dryers, freezers and ranges are building up uhf audience. New gimmick is offer by dealer Music House to convert any set to uhf, including antenna, as bonus with purchase of major appliance. Personal Nolss: Charles M. Underhill, director of ABCTV program dept., elected v.p. in charge of network programming; Jean MacDonald, ex-NBC, now asst, to Underhill, assuming some of duties of Betty Forsling, recently resigned . . . Allen W. Kerr, ex-H-R Representatives and WCBS, and Robert Miller, ex-NBC Spot Sales, Cleveland, staff new NBC Spot Sales office opening Oct. 15 in Penobscot Bldg., Detroit . . . Frank Coffin, ex-KGW, becomes national adv. mgr. of new KOIN-TV, Portland, Ore., due on air in about month . . . J. A. Cowan, AT&T Long Lines information mgr., Oct. 1 becomes commercial development engineer, succeeded by F. W. Shelton Jr., asst, to gen. mgr. for Long Lines eastern area . . . Loy R. Lee named asst. mgr. of NBC merchandising dept., succeeded as southeast merchandising supervisor by Holland C. Bourbeau, ex-WBAL, Baltimore . . . Dave Harris, ex-KWG, Stockton, named mgr. of KMJ, Fresno, as Perry Nelson is transferred by McClatchy from KFBK to be gen. mgr. of KMJ-TV; they succeed late Wm. S. Sanford . . . Richard E. Farnham, ex-Westinghouse TV-radio div. public relations director, now adv. & sales promotion mgr., WBZ-TV, Boston . . . David Russell, ex-KVTV, Sioux City, la., joins TV-radio dept, of W. D. Lyon Co., Cedar Rapids ad agency, will also serve as advisor to new WMT-TV there . . . R. Lee Black, having purchased control of KWAL (Wallace, Ida. AM), resigns as v.p. & gen. mgr. of Cascade Bcstg. Co., licensee of KIMA-TV & KIMA, Yakima, Wash., is replaced by KIMA-TV mgr. Thomas C. Bostic . . . Milton R. Slater promoted to program director of WWLP, Springfield. Mass. . . . Wm. Gibbs, ex-Jam Handy Organization, appointed asst, production supervisor for TV films, Fuller & Smith & Ross . . . Marshall Pengra, ex-mgr. of KGKB, Tyler, Tex., named pres.-gen. mgr., KTSM-TV, St. Louis (Ch. 36), succeeding late Wm. Ware . . . Lew Kerner named v.p. of Motion Pictures for TV. Color TV will dominate session on broadcasting systems Nov. 3-4 at AIEE convention in Kansas City. Papers on color will be presented by RCA Labs’ George H. Brown, GE’s J. E. Allen, Philco’s J. F. Fisher & A. J. Anderson. On other broadcast subjects, session will hear paper on uhf amplifier operation by RCA’s Wen Yuan Pan, TV picture quality by DuMont’s B. Amos & C. Quirk, TV service standards by Oscar Reed of Jansky & Bailey Inc., Conelrad by NARTB chief engineer A. Prose Walker, hi-fi by Stromberg-Carlson’s Frank A. Slaymaker. NARTB TV film committee, named Sept. 25 by pres. Harold Fellows: Harold See, KRON-TV, San Francisco, chairman; Martin Campbell, WFAA-TV, Dallas; Raymond W. Wellpott, WRGB, Schenectady. Committee will hold first meeting Oct. 13 in Chicago with TV v.p. Thad Brown and his assistant Howard Bell “to look into the feasibility of establishing a form of standard film contracts” for guidance of stations and film industry. Committee may later be enlarged. New ANA officers, elected at Chicago convention this week: B. R. Donaldson, Ford Motor Co., chairman, succeeding J. Ward Maurer, Wildroot Co.; Guy Berghoff, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., vice-chairman. Other directors elected: Charles W. Rice, American Viscose; Storrs Case, Sun Oil; Edwin W. Ebel, General Foods; George Park, GE; M. F. Peckels, International Harvester. Philippine Islands’ first TV station, DZAQ. Manila (Ch. 3) went on air Sept. 25 with RCA 2-kw transmitter. It’s owned by Bolinao Electronics Corp. (Juan Quirino). Edward J. Nally, 94, original pres, of RCA, having risen from Western Union messenger boy to head newly formed RCA when it was organized to succeed British Marconi here in 1919, died Sept. 22 at his home in Bronxville, N. Y. Although retired since 1925, he continued as a director of RCA, RCAC & NBC.