Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

11 Trade Miscellany: Lacy’s, big Washington TV-radio chain (6 stores), filed petition of voluntary bankruptcy in U. S. District Court Oct. 8, listing about 200 creditors, with debts of $320,000, was given until Oct. 23 to file schedule of assets and liabilities. It was second Washington chain to go out of business in recent months, Phillip’s TV having been adjudged bankrupt and its assets purchased by George’s, sole remaining chain . . . Something new in promotions: CBS-Columbia New Orleans distributor, Interstate Electric Co., piped Mississippi and Louisiana dealers aboard Mississippi River showboat to present its new TV line . . . National Assn, of Music Merchants exec, committee meets Oct. 15-16 at New York’s Essex House to consider new assn, projects and finalize membership promotion plans . . . NARDA board to meet Oct. 14 at Louisville’s Brown Hotel . . . Los Angeles area TV sales totaled 20,186 in Aug., bringing total sets-in-use to 1,652,206 in area embracing Los Angeles, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, reports Electrical League of Los Angeles . . . Sales of high-fidelity components will amount to $70,000,000 this year, and together with phonographs will total $200-$300,000,000 next year, predicts RCA Victor v.p. Henry Baker . . . Radio Condenser Co. started production this week in its 00,000-sq. ft. plant at Camden, N. J., for tuner and special appai-atus output . . . “UHF AutoBooster,” uhf receiver booster made by Industrial TV Inc. (Vol. 9:40), lists at $49.95. Hoffman Radio sales for first 9 months totaled about 839,000,000, up from $25,728,140 in same 1952 period, estimates pres. H. L. Hoffman in statement this week. At present pace, Hoffman sales for 1953 will exceed $52,000,000, increase of $17,000,000 over the $34,769,201 sales reported for 1952, he said, adding that Sept, sales volume this year was about $7,000,000, best in company’s history, up 50 over Sept. 1952. He also disclosed additional common stock offering may be made next year; it noAV has 574,726 common shares outstanding but public distribution is limited to 170,000 shares, held by some 3000 investors. DuMont signed first contract this week with Local 420, International Union of Electrical Workers (CIO), covering 2500 production and maintenance workers at 5 company plants in E. Paterson, Clifton & Passaic. N. .T. Twoyear contract provides 10d hourly wage increase, with additional automatic 5<' hourly increase on March 4, 1954. On another labor front, members of Hytron Employes Union of Massachusetts rejected offer of average 8c hourly boost covering 4000 CBS-Hytron employes in Newburyport, Danvers & Salem, Mass. New entry in commercial electronics field is Thompson Products Inc., Cleveland, which this week purchased Bell Sound System Inc., Columbus, O. (high-fidelity amplifiers & tape recorders) for estimated $1,000,000. Thompson, big producer of automotive and aircraft parts, will operate Bell as a subsidiary, will provide capital for expansion of Bell’s line. Thompson, which has been making high-frequency electronic components for defense since 1950, appointed Wm. M. Jones, mgr. of its electronics div., as director of Bell operations. Trar.svision Inc., New Rochelle, N. Y., specializing in manufacture of coin-operated TV sets which filed Chapter XI petition under Bankruptcy Act in N. Y. Federal Court Sept. 25 (Vol. 9:39), this week filed schedules listing assets of $998,011, liabilities of $722,589. Among principal creditors were Croyden Syndicate Inc., $252,759; GE, $18,645; Sylvania. $15,093; Standard Coil, $11,638. Federal reduces prices of its TV microwave cquipm< nt, distributed by Graybar. Video link has been cut to $13,000 from $15,500, associated sound channel equipment to $3090 from $4500. Network Accounts: Big-name shows have resulted in $20,000,000 annual gross billings for ABC-TV in new fall business, reports v.p. Alexander Stronach Jr. He lists 23 new national advertisers in impressive fall line-up, adds: “That ABC has now established itself as a strong contender in the never-ending race of attracting blue chip sponsors is an established fact. What is more important and the proof of having established itself as a top competitor is our ability to hold these and other sponsors on our roster of national advertisers” . . . Four new sponsors for NBC-TV’s Today, Mon.-thru-Fri. 7-9 a.m. : American Maize-Products Co. (Amazo dessert), 18 partic. starting Oct. 27, thru Kenyon & Eckhardt; Magic Chef (ranges), 12 partic. starting March 22, thru Krupnick & Assoc., St. Louis; Brown & Haley (“Almond Roca” candy), 3 partic. starting Nov. 23, thru Honig-Cooper Co., Seattle; Kiwi shoe polish, 16 partic., starting Nov. 9, thru N. W. Ayer . . . Benrus (watches) sponsors Meet Your Congress, for 13 weeks, on DuMont, starting Oct. 18, Sun. 1:30-2 p.m. or 4:30-5 p.m., depending on football schedules, thru Cecil & Presbrey . . . Englander Co. (mattresses) buys Fri. 3:303:45 p.m. segment of Bob Crosby Show, on CBS-TV, starting Dec. 25, Mon.-thru-Fri. 3:30-4, thi’u Leo Burnett Co. . . . American Chicle Co. to sponsor Name’s the Same, on ABC-TV, starting Dec. 1, on alt. weeks, Tue. 10:30-11 p.m., thru Dancer-Fiztgerald-Sample . . . Anacin to sponsor John Daly and the Netvs, on ABC-TV, starting Oct. 12, Mon.-thru-Fri. 7:15-7:30 p.m., thru Biow . . . Carter Products (Arrid, Rise shaving cream) to be alt. sponsor, with Gruen watches, of Walter Winchell show, on ABC-TV, starting Oct. 18, Sun. 9-9:15 p.m., thru Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles . . . Camels to sponsor Man Against Crime on both NBC-TV and DuMont, starting Oct. 18, Sun. 10:30-11 p.m., thru Wm. Esty Co. Another uhf grantee asked FCC to approve fee-TV this week — making total of 7 CP-holders requesting subscription TV rules. WTTM-TV, Trenton, N. J. (Ch. 41), noted in petition that its area receives 7 New York and 3 Philadelphia stations, that only “exceptionally high quality, unique and different programming” could stimulate mass conversion to uhf. Also this week, the 4 original uhf petitioners for subscription TV (Vol. 9:32,35-38) in new petition, told FCC that pendency of Rep. Hinshaw’s bill (H.R. 6431) to make fee-TV a common carrier service (Vol. 9:31-32) “makes it highly desirable that the Commission thoroughly explore this issue at a hearing at an early date [so] that it and Congress may be fully advised in the matter.” Meanwhile, Broadcasters for Subscription TV, formed at Philadelphia meeting called Sept. 17 by 4 petitioners (Vol. 9:38), issued first edition of its Newsletter on. Subscription TV, summing up fee-TV activities to date. On other subscription-TV fronts, one ambitious pay-as-you-see test was cancelled and another apparently came closer to reality — both of them, oddly enough, in Palm Springs, Cal. At request of grantee IIoward-Yale Corp., FCC cancelled STA for experimental booster station to relay “scrambled” signals from Los Angeles TV stations to Palm Springs (Vol. 9:13). Telemeter’s Palm Springs community antenna system, with coinbox feature scheduled to be put into use next month, plans to televise world premiere of a movie by closed circuit from local theatre simultaneously with theatre showing as first pay-as-you-see attraction. Picture reportedly will be Forever Female, starring Ginger Rogers and Wm. Holden, made by Paramount. CP for Ch. 57 was relinquished this week by WRBJ, Beloit, Wis., which told FCC it had been unable to sign up a network, that market is now well ser\ed from Milwaukee, Madison, Wis. and Rockford, 111. To date, 13 uhf grantees and 6 post-freeze vhf grantees have given up.