Variety (Oct 1946)

Wednesday, October 9, 1946 TKLEVISION 51 ADMEN BOW TO NEmOGRAMS For Snobs or Mok? - What are the television set manufacturers doing for televis- ion? Is it their intention to restrict the medium to the snob trade, or would they like to make it a mass medium, like radio? The prices currently quoted on sets tadicate that there may be a good deal of astigmatism among those who must provide the public with receivers for the product ol clearsighted l.O. cameras. The figures of costs per set "on the market'' (that, too, is a euphemism as yet) speak for themselves. Viewtone's $279.95 model (which, with taxes, cost of installation, etc., will come closer to $350) seems about the cheapest for a combo set that In- cludes AM reception with FM, television and a record changer. Certainly, that's not a price for the masses. The other models, running into the $2,000-and-upward cjitegory, are strictly class -produefcion, O.K. If that's what television wants—to be a class medium— the approach is correct. But the multi-million costs of coaxial cables, the building of telenets, the expansion of television broadcasting and programming—these will never be paid off through outlets at the fancier bars on New York's east side or Chicago's Loop. , Radio started going places, piling up millions of listeners, only when prices of sets came down to within reach of the average pocketbook. And the average American purse, even dUritig an in- flationary period, can't aiXord those $350 productions, let alone the fancier jobs costing two-grand up. Television will have to do the same. If it Isn't to restrict Itself to the narrow confines of the snob-trade. Set Manufacturers Settle Down, But Prices Mostly Stratospheric Television set manufacturers, af- ter almost a full year of postwar reconversion difficulties, are finally ' Mttllng down in"-«a-rnest-to Ihe-pro- ditction of receivers. Although most manufacturers are reluctant to pre- dict how many sets they'll be able to turn out during the next few months, it's estimated that at least 25,000 new models will be in retail ttores in television broadcasting areas by Christmas. Samples of the new models, including 28 different sets, are slated for exhibition at the Television Broadcasters' Assn. meet tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. RCA-Victor has earmarked two model sets for production this year, first of which will go out to dealers in quantity early next month. Mod^ els include a seven-inch direct view tube, furnishing a 23-square inch picture, that's slated to retail at $225; and a 10-inch direct view tube, giv- ing a 52-square inch picture, for re- tail at $350. Two sets, which were demonstrated to RCA dealers at a closed'showing last month, will in- clude video reception facilities only. \RCA also has a console model, in- cluding a 10-inch tele screen, plus AiVI and FM radio and an automatic record changer, which will not go into mass production until after the first of the year. Companys large, screen projection model will also be held back until after Jan. 1. Trans- mitters and all other elements of broadcast equipment are currently m production and will be delivered to broadcasters late this year. United States Television, which jumped the gun on its better-knoWn competitors via fuUpage ads in N. Y. oaUies last month, already' has sets w immediate delivery in Macy's, Bamberger's, Abraham & Strauss *na Bloomingdale's de pa r t m e n t stores. Set is a custom-built projec- Jjon model, with a five-inch tube throwing a 21xl6-inch..pictui:e, that's earmarked for bars, niteries and pri- vate offices, usually built directly ■inio a wall, the set retails for .$2,750. ^ompany this week installed one .such set in El Borracho's, N. Y, eai- *5y. and two in the^ Stork Club. .$235 to $2,350 ^ Same size .tube incorporated into "^^J^isole cabinet for sale to bars rin ^^^^^'^ 8'so being pro- "f,"" now to retail at $2,350. An- "■■"er smaller console cabinet with the same tube that's for home use th™ ^° into production in about IJiee weeks at $1,995. In addition, vM.r' a 10-inch direct view con- am=,iT?^^ *° I'^tail at $745 and a inr-v, ;?^^^'"°^<>'' including a seven- iin direct view tube, to retail at bpt,.;., '"P^'^y expects to turn out oetwfien 500-1,000 of the $1,995 mod- 's. «>y the end of the year, and a (Continued on page 68) N. Y/s Television Row^ Manhattan's . W. 47th street between Sixth and Seventh avenues became the city's first "television row" last Thursday (3), as several bars on both sides of the street advertised via large windowcards the telecast of the Dodgers-Cards playoff game. With only an 8x10 inch screen perched high on the walls in each bistro, the customers jammed-them- throughout the day. Owners could- n't charge admission but still made greatly hypoed profits via terrific sales of beer and liquor. Gerl Pounds Drum For Superior Tele Philadelphia, Oct. 8. Joseph Gerl, prexy of the Sonora Radio and Television Corp., last week urged that tele manufacturers and broadcasters set up an industry- wide committee to draft and enforce a code of ethics against' "excessive commercialization" of tele programs. "'Without such a committee there is danger that television may turn out to be nothing t)u« a complicated mechanism operated for the sole purpose of selling mouthwash and deodorants," Gerl told a meeting of the Poor Richard Club, advertising men's organization here. He said that television today is experiment- ing generally along the lines of com- mercialization, rsyther than with pub- lic education and entertainment, and declared: "Because of the 'fact that most of the personnel of television today has come from radio, there seems to be some danger that tele- vision may degenerate into an ani- mated radio broadcast, with all the singing commercials and spots not only grating on our ears but also on our eyes." Gerl said that television would not compete with newspapers, the radio or magazines as an advertising me- dium. "Now-spaper ads are pre- dominantly price and comparative value'advertising,'' he said. "Radio advertising is mainly institutional, repeating a brand name over and ovei'. National magazines do show the product,' but tile cost of a na-^ tional television hookup, to reach the same audience, would be so far out of line, that magazines have given up: worrying over television compe- tition. "Television as an advertising me- dium will complement all ■ other forms of advertising, and will be used mainly to show a product and demonstrate how it work.s." ■ T[[E'S ROLE INlllEtiSt By TOM GBIES The long-standing radio feud between the ad agencies and net- works, over who should do program- ming, has ishifted into television, but the video arguments have taken quite a different slant. Where in broadcasting agency reps, have hotly maintained that to them aloije be- longs the right to set program stand- ards and formats—in the video field they have taken just the opposite stand, saying that it's up to the networks and other-tele-vision station operators to do the programming. And, with few exceptions, agencies seem to be stuck with this "Let George do it" story, in spite of their own admissions that it will give the nets a strangle-hold on video tech- niques and programming know-how. One of the big network talking points . vised to bring agencies and their clients into the television fold has been that they can make their mistakes now, while time and talent are cheap, and profit by them later when the chips are down. Agencies' answer has been that they don't have to learn the hard, way, but can take their cue from fluffs made by station programmers, which! leaves program control right back ift the laps of the nets. Although the television depart- ment head in each agency is an enthusiastic proponent of the me- dium, recommendations that clients spend their advertising dollars . on video always seem to get pigeon- holed. This iis seen as especially bad for sponsorship because, with televi- sion trying to break out of the pioneering shell, potential clients need a strong sales pitch before they're willing to lay out capital for bankrolling of video programs. Result is that most contracts for sponsored programs have arisen out of a direct ^ftch made by the net-, works to clients, showing the latter that they could profit as much from exploitation of their participation in television as they could from product sales coming from the same advertising expenditures- in another medium. No Charity Majority o£ agency and client arguments against money outlay have centered around the fact that there are relatively few receiving sets in homes, One agency exec said: "We're not in the philanthropy business. Our clients are engaged in commercial ventures and they cer- tainly can't make anything on the sales they'll get from television programs now. Most of us are just (Continued on page 60) * Ford Cops More Pigskin To Round Out Sportsked As Biggest Telespender Ford . Motors, continuing to. hold its own a.s the heaviest spender in televisioii, to date, has sighed to spon.so.r the first two home games of the. Brooklyn- Dodgers pro football team over WCBW (CBS, N. Y.). Gaines iiiclude: th.e Dodgers-Chicaqp Rockets tilt this Friday (11) ni^ht, and the Dodgers-Miami -..Sc.ahawks game on,Oct. 25. 'J. Walter Thomp-, son is the agency. ■ As the top advertiser in tele, Ford ha.s concontrotcd all iCs money on remote -pickups of sports and special, events. . In addition to, ,the.- t,vyo Dodger games, the company now bankrolls pickups of,, all events from Madison .Sq. Garden, with the ex- coptibn of fights staged by Mike Jacobs, over WCBW, as well a.s all home games of the Columbia Uni-, versity football team over the same stations. Comparty also sponsors all' games played in H. Y. by the Ail- American Football Conference over WABD (DuMont, N. Y.), and all Northwestern ' University • home games Over WBKB tBalaban & KatZr Chicago). Connie Desmond will handle play- by-play on the first game, with no announcer .set yet for the second. They'll be covered by CBS' hewly- •delivered RCA Image Orthicon cameras. Tele Puts Best Foot Forward As SRO Crowd Treks to N. Y. Confab; Meets, ExhibTtTto Be Telecast CAN VIDEO STAND IT? 'Gore' Is Involved as Magico Plans Shaw on NBC First in a new series of shows featuring magico Russell Swann over WNBT- (NBC, N. Y.) hits the air next Sunday (13) night at 8:30 p.m. 'Titled "Magic in the Air," the 20-minute program will be carried on a sustaining basis. Swann is an old hand at tele- vision, having appeared on several NBC video shows before the war. NBC tele producers are currently trying to decide whether Swann's feature act, in which he ostensibly cuts off a girl's head, would be too goi-y for video home audiences. FCCMayUnfimber Teletint Hearing Plans in TBA Time Washington, Oct. 8, FCC is expected to announce mo- mentarily a hearing date on CBS' request for commercialization of color television^ since, according to reports here, the commission will make full disclosure in advance of Television Broadcastres Assn. meet- ing which opens in New York this week. Idea is that TBA members can then map strategy for the color K'eaHnl~diiring-course of their New York meeting. At same time, it is understood the hearing will probably open in the first week - of December^timed to precede or at least coincide with RCA's first big shipment of from 12- to 14,000. black-and-white television receivers for the Christrha.s market. Behindfthe-scenes word is that acting FCC Chairman Charles R. Denny refused to speak at the TBA conference because of his foreknowl- edge of the CBS hearing. However, Denny, Commissioner Ewell K. Jett, Curtis Plummer, chief of FCC's Television Engineering Division, and A.sst. General Counsel Harry Plot- kin will all attend the TBA meet- ings, it is understood. The December hearing—which promises to be only the fir.st round of a long series of ses.sions on the same subject, covering months and maybe year.'j—is expected to delve into both economic and en,e;ineerinH aspects of rainbow video. It is '.e- ealled that it required almost a three-year period between expoi'i- mental pha.se and commercial authol-izatiqn for a type, o£ black- and-white video that „ had been on the air for years. ,, v ' ' ; Color sympathizers argue in behalf of giving CBS the cohnmei'Cial green lit;ht now that the public apparently prefers colored picture^,to the blaek- and-white it has, ,.soeni ' They , raise (Continued on page 60) By BOB STAHL , Proof of whether television is finally, ready to shake off its inertia and move ahead on a .commercial basis is expected to be the chief out- come of tlie Television Broadcasters/ Ass»!-s--second-_CDnfeience._aiid_ex-_ hibition. Which opens a two-day run tomorrow (Thursday) at the. Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. Shackled heretofore by mofe set- backs .from both within and outside the industry than have probably, ever confronted a new medium try- ing to stand up and walk on its-own feet, .:■ television, according , to itsL. chief proponents, is finally prepared to make its stand. TBA meet, it's claimed, will herald the launching of a concerted dj-ive, by the entire industry to create, a national video service. I Latest developments in both trans- mission and reception equipment, including 28 different receiving set models, will be exhibited at the meet. More than 80 addresses, cov- ering every phase of the industry, are slated to be delivered. Capacity, attendance of more than 1,200 top'' execs from tele, radio, motion pic- tures, advertising and other fields is expected to be able to make its own decision by the time the final cur- tain rings down on the meet as to whether tele is yet ready or will continue to flounder in the' back-J ground of the entertainment world. All principal sessions of the con- ference are to be televised on the Schenectady - New York - Philadel- phia-Washington network, through arrangements completed, by the pro- gram committee headed up by Noran E. Kersta, manager of NBC television. N. 'VT. stations WNBT (NBC) and WABD (DuMont) will handle all the telecasts, with the exception of one show slated to be transmitted from Wa.shington. Sta- tions will be on the air 14 hours each Say,, chalking up a new record for continuous programming. ' Proceedings in the main ballroom of the Waldorf, scene of most of the (Continued on page 60) ABG Sets 3 New Shows, 2 on WPTZ, 1 WRGB . Three new shows have been lined CiP, by ABC television, two for trans- mission over its Philadelphia outlet, WPTZ (Philco),, and the third 'for WRGB (GE, Schenectady)., The two Philly show..; each, 15 n-iinuies, will tee off Friday (11), replacing "Stop the Clock" in the 8 to 8:30 pjn. slot; "Woman's Angle in Sports". is, to feature Alice Mar- ble, iji the first , half , of the show, with Vera Massey, radio actor, tak- ing-over the second half with moti- plog.s-,and songs, Schenectady show is an audience participationer, titled "Don't' You Know Me?," slated to begin next Wednesday (16). All three .shows will be directed by. Bobbie Henry. ABC production chief Harvey Marlowe is producer. By Truck & Plane They Roll Their Own to Get Those 1.0. Cameras Fast Proof that the RCA Image Orthi- , con tube is the hottest thing in tele- i vision equipment today was seen last week "as tele broadcasters from cities in all parts of the country ar- ranged to pick up- the tubes them- selves from the RCA plant in Cam- den, N. J. Broadcasters, in a hurry to f>et the tubes as fast as they roll I off the production lines, were re- portedly afraid that the current N. Y. trucking strike might in some way slow down delivery. WCBW (CBS, N. Y.) was the first, sending its own truck down to Camden on Sept. 27 and pressing the cameras into service the follow- . ing day for the Columbia-Rutgers I football game. WPTZ (PhilCo,' Philadelphia; also .sent a truck to the plant to pick up the tubes. St. Louis Post-Dispatch station, KSD, with its tele station still under construction, flew its own plane to Camden to pick up an l.O. camera, as well as other field pickup •.geaf-i* Capt. William Eddy, manager of WBKB (Balaban & Katz, Chicago), also flew his own plane to Camdeh to* get his, eqaipment; ■ , Goodyear's Navy Fillin With Army playing Michigan at . Anrt Arbor this Saturday (12), WNBT' , (NBC, N.Y.) is slated to televise the Navy-Duke football' game from BaltimorCi Events will be sponssored by Goodyear, which bankrolls all telecasts of Army home games and other games selected on the three Saturdays during the season when Army plays out of town. - , Game, marks the first telecast ever, done frorh Baltimore. Images '^vlll be transmitted to N.Y, via the Bell .Sy.stem's coaxial cable. > '