Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

11 41st week and brought year's output to date to about 5,930,000, closing in on 1952 total production of 6,096,279. Output this time last year was about 4,200,000. Radio production totaled 254,705, down from 247,289 week ended Oct. 9 and 250,399 week before. It brought year's production to date to about 10,650,000. [Note : New RETMA policy discontinues release of weekly figures for private label TV-radio production, as well as weekly breakdown on radio output by types of sets. This information will henceforth be released on monthly basis only.] COLOR GO-AHEAD from FCC by late Nov. or Dec. is still best guess around Commission, with no intention to take action before all commissioners are on hand after Nov. 1 (Vol. 9:42). Sen. Johnson (D-Colo.), longtime color enthusiast, and Robert L’Heureux, counsel for Senate Interstate Commerce Committee, in letters to Commission urged speed, as did Rep. Wolverton last week. Comr. Sterling, thinking over last week’s demonstration, says he regrets not having sufficient time to tune receivers himself. He said he had checked only a couple before he was urged to watch something else. He’s satisfied with those tuned but would have liked to work on all 13 sets and discuss tuning controls with engineers of each company. Sterling says he appreciates great pressure to get demonstration over -with, but that he’s “smarting” under the “rush” he received. “I’d still like to check more sets,” he adds, “not necessarily all in a group — perhaps individually.” He also regrets that demonstration didn’t include color film, says he would have insisted on it if he had been present when Commission arranged program. RCA-NBC take color to Hollywood for first time Nov. 3 for demonstrations to movie executives, advertisers, agencies, talent, bankers, newsmen — and movement is already afoot, sparked by Blair TV’s Lindsey Spight on behalf of San Francisco Ad Club, for showing there, too. Half-hour show will be sent over AT&T circuit from N. Y. Colonial Theatre to NBC-TV’s big Studio A in Burbank, where 11 a.m. pi’ess showing will be followed by one for industry folk. It will be longest line haul yet attempted with color, but is expected to offer no more difficulty than did highly successful recent showing before Assn, of National Advertisers in Chicago’s Drake Hotel (Vol. 9:39). Show will have Ben Grauer as m.c., with Nanette Fabray, Hit Parade cast, and for first time excerpts from color film. Gear is being flown out this week, and RCA-NBC delegation going to Hollywood will include Sarnoff, Folsom, Jolliffe, Sacks, Weaver, Robt. Sarnoff. Meanwhile, RCA announced that first technical color seminar for consulting engineers will be conducted in Camden Oct. 28-29, and some engineers are so impressed with importance of learning job facing stations that they’re bringing along entire staff. RCA also announced that week that first deliveries of equipment to enable stations to rebroadcast color picked up from network — first stage of colorcasts — will begin in Dec. and that one or more stations in 57 cities have placed orders. Delivery of equipment for local color originations, including cameras, will start in March. And NBC reminded that its first opera in color, Carmen, will be telecast Oct. 31, 5:30-6:30 p.m. All affiliates will have to rebroadcast program in black-&-white, since they’re not equipped for color. NBC says there are no plans to make color monitors available in any city for VIPs, press, etc. ■ Yale campus will have own TV station, closed circuit, using DuMont camera donated by Sponsor Magazine. They intend to call it WBYC-TV, sell time, make station pay for itself. Trade Personals: Wm. H. Kelley, Motorola sales v.p., resigns Dec. 31 to become DuMont v.p. in charge of marketing; he remains, until mid-Nov., at Motorola, wffiere exec. v.p. Robt. W. Galvin states “no additions or changes of executive personnel are contemplated at this time” . . . Brig. Gen. Tom C. Rives (ret.), transferred from technical military liaison mgr. to mgr. of GE electronics div.’s new laboratories dept., Syracuse, comprising lab at Syracuse and Advanced Electronics Center at Cornell U . . . Wm. W. Garstang, works mgr., promoted to asst. v.p. in charge of manufacturing, Raytheon TV-radio div. ; Francis D. Edes, from legal dept., named administrative asst, to Raytheon v.p. Henry F. Argento . . . James J. Shallow, sales mgr., Philco Distributors Inc., Philadelphia, appointed mgr. of accessory div., Philco Corp., succeeding Herbert S. Riband, transferred to refrigeration div.; Shallow is succeeded by David Brody . . . Arthur A. Currie promoted to Sylvania TV-radio sales mgr., John Suor to contract & special sales mgr. . . . Marcus N. Brooks, from standard control div., named purchasing agent, Westinghouse TV-radio div., Metuchen, N. J. . . . Gordon S. Humphrey, exec. asst, to David R. Hull, gen. mgr. of Raytheon equipment div., promoted to asst. v.p. . . . Frank R. Norton, ex-Magnavox, named to new post of Sparton engineering director . . . S. W. Muldowny, chairman of Lanston Monotype Machine Co., Philadelphia, onetime pres, of National Union Radio & v.p. of RTMA, elected chairman of Tele-Ray Tube Co., Yonkers, N. Y., following purchase of “substantial interest ’ in company . . . Kenneth R. Hesse promoted to chief engineer, Tel-O-Tube Corp. of America, E. Paterson, N. J. . . . Wm. P. Short appointed asst, to pres. John H. Briggs of Gabriel Co. (antennas), in charge of new product development in electronics div., Norwood, Mass. . . . Stanley W. Cramer, named acting mgr., special apparatus div., Radio Condenser Co., succeeding Frank A. Cowgill, resigned because of ill health . . . Patrick Irwin appointed mgr. of Ideco erection dept., supervising TV-radio towers as well as industrial & commercial steel buildings . . . Herbert A. Frank, ex-Majestic, Jackson & Starrett, named CBS-Columbia district sales mgr. for upper N. Y. State, Scranton & Wilkes-Barre . . . John DuBroy named CBSColumbia resident field engineer for western LT. S., C. H. Ehrhard for midwest. New RETMA committee chairmen: promotion, H. J. Hoffman, Machlett Labs, and Jerome J. Kahn, ex-pres. of Standard Transformer Corp. who retired in July from management of new Chicago Standard Transformer Corp. shortly after merger of 2 companies, co-chairmen; jobber relations, J. A. (Shine) Milling, exec. v.p. & gen. mgr., Howard V . Sams Inc., and ex-NPA electronics director; sports, J. B. Elliott, RCA Victor (reappointed). Boston Conference on Distribution, at 25th annual convention, named 122 industrial leaders to “Distribution Hall of Fame” for significant contributions to “advancement of distribution” in last 25 years. Included: David Sarnoff & Frank Folsom, RCA; Allen B. DuMont; Ralph J. Cordiner, GE; Victor Emanuel, Avco; Don G. Mitchell, Sylvania; Stanley Resor, Arno H. Johnson & Vergil D. Reed, J. Walter Thompson Co.