Variety (Nov 1948)

Wcdnesclar, NoTember 10, 1948 TELEVISION 31 Children's Viewing Do l/our childmi: tttotch the pfo^ams OS mtenseVy as ior- mer\y2 . No. % Watch less intensely . 49 ! About the same... .129 Watch more inten- sely 20 Total respondents answering , 198 Respondents witli no ■: children who could ; not answer lor and who have set short time60 24 7 65 2 10.1 100. 5 VIEWERS WATCH 3 HOURS AS VIDEO'S AVERAGE HOME AUDIENCE New Low-Price Sets on Market New lines of 1949 television sets unveiled last week by Several ma- jor manufacturers revealed the first attempt to lower prices since the end of the war. Instead of cut- (The second m a series of three articles on telenmon viewinci ; habits. Based on a swryey cornptlcd and assembled by PuUe, Inc, ior Vahiety ) Theatre Status OnTVPkbps Still in Doubt With the Broadway Paramount theatre paying for its theatre tele- vision coverage of both election returns and President Truman's return to Washington last week, the question of • theatre's rigM | to pick up events for which a, broadcaster has paid for tele rights remains in doubt. Both broadcast-1 ers and theatre owners have de-| .elded to hold their fire until a! suitable situation arises that will force a test case in the courts. _ For its coverage of the election returns Nov. 2, Paramount worked out an arrangement with the N. Y. Daily News' WPIX to feed returns Smce%hre''arly%Snrretui?n"s Z^nJ^^iS^TLZTJZ ti^ularly stressed to obla.n the con- tamed vievvmg at t.o hours FoUv weie not too important, the theatre the end of the war. Instead of cut- ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ belMcen the new l^D^/f. admit they watch foi wasn't forced to break into its fea- \ ting the Sales price on current sets, • and the veteran viewers '^^ms at a stretch, this prob ture at any time during the night.' however, most set producers are ^ . ably including the youngsters anc Instead, a schedule was arranged, turning out new models grooved J^;«3f3't'J°«^^^^ the late afternoon shows. Tor the 24 7^'„ say that the youngsters now so that'the theatre could present 1 to retail for less. Also ""^eiled ^^V^H.^^iU'^ 'l''^^'^ ^'^"^I'f f/'" .^/i*'^""'!'' an up-to the-minute summary three last week were DuMont's first jj freshman video viewer watch- number is 3 23 hours. This 65 2'-o replied that the children's times during the evening, at sched- metal cathode-ray viewing tubes.'^^^^^j;?"" ^ figure is important because most vie\Mng habits "are the same" as uled-breaks in the show , which most manufacturers look for fi?/X "onths he has hi! sef ■ P*""!""" questioned have when the video set 3rst cattle inttt By GEORGE ROSEN * This second chapter in a survey of TV home vieweis dedls with | (1) how 'long do they watch at one sitting; (2) how many in the average home audience, and (3) the intensity of childien's viewing, Instigated by Variety, vv'ith the field work and statistical summar- ies by Pulse, Inc., this survey is primarily based on-, a sample. of .238 [television set owners, most of {whom have had their sets six to ; nine months. This - has been par- Viewers Per Set How 'maiij/ persons usually t«atch with you'' Number of Viewers 1 2 3 4 , 5 6 7 ' 8 9 10 and over.. Total TV families interviewed 258 Afcdiau number of persons per ■ session^SiZ' came up with a figure of 5.2 as the iWediaii number of peirsohs per session. As 300,000 sets are now in use in the Greater Xew York areaj it shows there are now l,- 500.000 ■ home tele Viewers in the naetropplitau zone.: eouple- this with the intensity^ of. watching (3^0 : hours ) and; it■ ■iiiVies ■ a^p)fetty'; %ot^ idea _<if yTy^s.;i«i3gress., ■:':■.-.'}■:',I , The 5^2 p^rsdhs per set repre- sents :a figure larger than the aver- ' age faKiily generally (placed at between 3; and 4 j hence, tlie figure obviously includes visitors. • I'■ \ln ■ thisi.5,2'; figure! 'there 'is. al$ii I another segment not to be ignored. It i.s the after-school and early I evening grngup of kids for tte. j rnojiijct-slanted shows, plus ■ west- ern films, etc. ; ■ y'- 1 The survey further reveals that of those responding on the "in- ably including the youngsters and tensity of children's viewing," 100 uled-breaks in the show. , wnicn most manwaciureis iook loi g^st six months he has his pet. haH th»ir .,v tn « i, ^ Theatre used its intermediate 'eventually to end the current tube hPPins tn ffi narJipniar i 'O nine months,, the home. filnV method fo? the coverage. Au-, shortage.' ^'h"s cho^ce^ of pro4am^The ter- ^^'''If^ ^L*^. Those watching more than they dience reaction was good but, ac-1 Indicative of iho irAVf-r nrire. are ' " ' hJh,: tJT.,,;,, ♦nw I of novelty worn oif tele view- did amount to 10 1%. The chil- coiding to Par theatre e\ecs, use rca's three indicative or the lo.cr prices are ritoiy^covei-ed by the ..rvey tal^es , ^^.^ ^^^^^^^^ of theatre tele election night didn't models One is puced at $325, one | including new 10-] ol the audience'both as to number ot viewers and hours ot viewing. The decline in mteiest m certain , i-- : sT, V ' ■ • inu in iiie nome nas woven 1 a ^'^a^ nnP i/'if 5"Hr '''t«''^°'v ''k^S' into the pattern of family life at hilo, one including all the New York bor- j «m' boost the boxoffice gross any. | at $349 50 and one at $395, with j oughs, ^Vestchester and some coun- In covering President Truman's, differences in cabinet construe-1 ties in New Jersey. Those in The 3.26 median figure on view return to Washington from his In- tion accounting for the differences charge for Pulse find that these ing is also significant in terms of \l programs, what viewers would dependence. Mo., home Fiiday t5l, m prices Following the intioduc-] summaries run much the same as long-range appraisal and in weigh- ^^^^^ to see^na^t^^s ^not^^ww avau- Par paid for a share in the broad-ition of the new models. RC.V plans those compiled in other "television ing television's impact when con- "" " ""' ^ ' ■ trasted with the average amount of radio listening per family. The re- search boys have established uni casters'pool on the event Theatie igi-aduallj to discontinue production centers such as Philadelphia, thus look a line feed duectly oft'on the table set now retailing at Washington, Chicago, etc the Washington to N Y. coaxial $375, until now the company's most | Of the 258 viewers responding popular receiver. able to them, and an appraisal of the likes and dLslikes in specific programming will be taken up in third and . concluding installment to the question, "How long do you versal figures to show that radio' of t'"s survey next week cable, thereby eliminating the ne> cessitv of taking a pickup from I also hi ought out a new l usually watch your television set 1 lis'tening in the home adds up to one of the N. Y. stations coveung ig-inch table model equipped with at one sitting-*" the largest per-'four hours a day. «~.voo tho the event. Tele Chatter f _ - - Of course, the ' itV own "table standPto'^f^^ at.centage, 32 6~(or 84 persons T es-' span of radio listening runs around . I $349 50 Set IS being offered for a timated thiee hours, with 28 3% 1 the clock, whereas television pro-| limited introductoiy period at (or 73 persons) putting their sus-1 gramming at present stage is main- , $329 50 Philco also 'brought out a 1 ' concentrated over a few eve-, new TV combination featuring I 1 ning hours Yet in these few houis ' New York Sherling: Oliver, former pro-1 tele, AM, FIM and a phonograph 1 equipped with both standard and ( long playing tone arms, to letail , at $873 Geneial Etectnc unveiled 1 ducei-d.u>ctor for the N Y lowest-priced console to date. News WPIX, now pedriung to i,, u 5pi ,„ ,„tail at $359 95, agemios and netwoiks a 15-»"n"te , ^, l"-\"™„,f*t 19 ,,^{, L m,,^^^^^ dmno.l.c comedN series stain ing' and its fiist l^^^ model, Virsuua feale and hei husband hsted at $389 .-jO Sam Wien, and titled "Wiens Nest" . . . Don MacLaushlin, detec- li\e on his own ladio senes set to guest on the Dunniiiser-Paul WinchcU ' Uigelow Show tomoi- row iTluirs ) night on NBC-TV . . . Owen Davis. Jr.. NBC-TV piognun exec scheduled to speak befoie \ales Uiama dt-paitmenl Saluida ,,(13i uate =s'^^i;ctVdqu\erforMa-rine ho has lust completed wUh ^ Resoive O.ficers Assn dance at the Fiench goveinnient Al.nev tch as Hold \stoi tonighl (Wed 1 boon gianted n(?IUs to make film, Cai lortniHt Otto. SokIow sol MINEVITCH'S FRENCH IKE RIGHTS FOR U.S. Bom ah MincMtch whose "Har- monica Rascals' are curienlly ap- , \''m"Yh';5"„'X\ Tid- Peanng at the Last Fiontier, Las ) at New Haven. He s a g a - ^ , f^, pai,sever, the^weckend on a video deal wh.c^^ as' fii-st , ot all TV shows aired by. Radio Length of Viewing How long do you usually watch your televwon'set at one 0iing? ^' ■ X' Estimate In hours - —1 , 1 2 3 4 5 and ovei Don't know, depends Total TV families in- tciviewed 258 100 ' JMedian number of houi^-H. 3.^^ hours I the video adherents almost match I those who listen as to time de voted to their respective mediums Important, too, is whether this average 3 26 hours of tele viewing will. continue as owners become more accustomed to their sets. L iie statistijs portend • nothing alonrf these lines for the future. The pat- tern is not yet definitely estab- lished Much depends on the pio- gram men. toi the fiee ride of; "novelty" can't go on forever for. television, Groups of 5 Asked "How many persons watch j with you''" the 258 set ovinots Inside Television Roach Lot Now Coast TV Hdqrs. Hollywood, Nov. 9.• Home for. young television pro- du(eis is being cicatod at Hal Roach studios. Roach lot ha.s in-, duccd eight video production firms to headquarter there with a rental- olTri pioducers feel they can't tuin down. There are 10 v.id-pic mak- 01s on the Jot inclading Fedciated 1 i'lcvision Films topped bv Hal Roach Jr, and HaJ Roath Tele- vision headed bv Hal Roach Si ■ Roach, studios are. charpmg the. pioducois a Hat lental loo ol .'?4(i0 pel dav foi the use ot of! ice space and iaciUties Farilities include ste^e,■; 11 ghfihg';: eqiiiphi e;h t. : jJ'rpjec-' lion rooms, .recordiilg rooni.sV'sotiiid , cfitarinels,, cutting rooms and con-:, t.'ict with the heads ol departments. ■ Pioducpis quirlenng Iheie related that the service is complete along; with the studios facilities which are kept in top condition Depart- :Artliur KnoiM-. producer of the stage shows at the. Roxy theati^f ,,.NV guosi on the new Vicks sho\- Diflusion 1 lancaiso goveimnent m now handling both pioduction and direction on 'Texaco Slai Tho- 'Pioiuic 1 his" which starts tO' agencx which contiols all video atre ' aired Tueadav nights on the NBC-TV web Knon had been night iWed > on the NBC-TV web and tadio llollollei the films for lighting and pioduction consultant on the seiies almost from its in- _ , with Wendj Bariic slai 1 (d . sale in the U. S with the Fiench ception but took over actual diiection after NBC stall daectoi Eddie nient heads see that the caineras Stanton Miller Osgood, ioitnoilj getting a pei'<^entage Sobol left for the Coast to head up NBC-TV's piogramming thcie i:d and othoi available equipment are with RKO-Patihe's commeicial film Minevitch s plan is to lecord the Cashman is pioducci-diiectoi foi the Kudner agency, which handles kopf in top condition foi producers* the lexiico account on the show, with Kudner veepee Myron Kirk as use ^ overall supervisor.: ■■ ^::■,::^, 'f^v-^ depaitment. named film piocuie- ment manager for CBb-TV films oil the iconoscope: . tube WABD (DuMontToffering diamond ,^>";,':JV"-!^'^;e'r'':'eok^s' bv'RDF rings totaling $1,800 in vaUie to m the PaSt le« weeks ov "ui Moueis vfl'o o^^^^^^ 2,T-uoid t.om the 450-linc s-t-'n^ii'd to 1- ansvuns to 'I hke davtime tele- 000 linos whu 1 is consideiabb visum because" . . WJZ-TV i VBCl finer than prevails now in the U. b Producers now quartering.on the. lot aic Maishall Gtant-Roajm Pio- ABC s seating airangoinenl for its ejection night loundup of names ductions, IMPPRO Federated 'ielcvision Film Production.s, Apex Films. Cascade Pictures of Cali- foi nia. MRS, Armor. ' Cinecraft, paid off in. extra dividends in having Elmer Davis .scaled next to and ^ . speaking after Wmchell. in the: routine round of annouuceinehtSf The toveiing the 'Sloaii ot"Arc"' preem Terms ol the deal Minevitch closed contrast between Winehelt's staccato delivery and Davis' slow di\ iiom the Bioadway Victoria the- m Pans lecenth with Vladimu commentary was tonsistenth amusing Once when Winchell allei atie lobbv tonight" fWed ' Poichet, ditectoi geneial ot RDF, reading big citv bulletins tuined it over for ' woid irom outlying dis- Aithur Pine Associates now han- foi his tianstiibing ol shows tncts ' Davis tianslatod that into "news is stalling to eonle in lioin dluig publicity ioi Andrea Radio joi the puipose ot cieating good the head ol the crick' Robert W. Sariioft, until novv an ; ,v.i:|i and showing the cultural ad I'.oland Reed Pioductions and the lioach film. account exec m NBC's netwoik sales depaitment, named assistant to NBC-TV national piogiam chiel Norman Blackburn. He's to act as cooidmalor between the sales de- partment and TV piogram opeia- tions Indie tele packagei Lester Lewis lining up a new show star- ring Maiv Anderson, who'll plav the lead m the foithcoming Bioad- wav legilei Jenn> Kissed Ale. opposite Leo G. CalToll. vantages ot Fiance Hollywood Lott-.lohnson Commeicial Film Stravinsky, Jr., Starred In Longhair Teiepix Holhwood Nov 9 HoimeS Films n( w tele film pio- ducing unit, will put Inst ol a seller, of longhaii piv bofoie the cameias at Hal Roaeh studios Nov 22 liUod 'Gieat iMastcis of \Tusic initial thiee ot the 26 NBC s electric seoroboard for the .election was a pip. Giving the individual vote lot the vaiioiis candicUtes it was smaitlv used in keep- ing the tolals 111 lound figuies making it casici loi the viewet lo keep tiack OAfliiE PROGRAfiiVOro : ■■■ '... ' .Chicago. Nov.. 9- ■' Tele set dealers hcio ate nettled The concentiation of the video viewer is so much on the picture about the lack of daytime video that he oltcn forgets (n doesn t taie about the audio portion ot the programs to provide sales demon-5 piogiam It mav bo lusl as well foi the sound on manv musical shoe's suations Since baseball ended is fiequentlj ofV balance and sometimes 'way of! It mainlv has to do the onlv daytime pictures available with tiie siTiothering 01 a soloist s accompauiniufit.. SDjiieliiiies, il • are test patterns, except for foot- sounds as though th<'\ weie ptacticmg. ringing without any musical lull showings on Saiuida' Test backgiound at all ii.itteuis sa> tho d'alcis, don t iiii- pi ess potential cu^tomeis .AV'BKB formerly had. a lineup of fororiooh sustai.n:ers;:btii;: they . wore' (li'oppfid: "this f jill 'a^;' aii; econbm# ' „ „ . . :.All television packages' bi'ought to NBC!s : KNBH-on the Gofist will Pioductions has been foi mod bv quartcr-houi shorts will stai Souli- be pioduced dueetod and staged bj station's hands Concessum to Dave Lolt and Gajlord Johnson, mar Stiavinskv pianist and son ot this luling will be made for commeicial agencv packages but onlv il heads ol hott AdveitiSing Agencv composer Igoi Stravinskj Pic- Hie station is absoliilcK positive that the agencv man knows his tde- Film companv will be a stibsid ol tonal mscits will be accompanied vision 10b tompletciv Ultimatum sot down b> NBC execs means tlial tlie ad agencv_to scive clients with i,^ naiiation and Stravinsky 5 88- packagers with sustaining show accepted for tek-nsmg will m<')("l\ gather the material and;:place It,at KNBH director.s feet for'intcrpfeta^ TV film . Eastern-Columbia de- £3^1, f5[„i 1., slated for a o»e- parlment stores^ ha\c^_ purchased ^^^^ shooting schedule will.deal vvith -tlve life of newlv built \i'd-studios within two eight spots wceklj on Krf-1\ KL^C-TV expects .to move into ^;,;'\\,^„^., with Tschai- js ko\\:sky : and .third.; #ith:th^ ^Pfigin. SDonsoiine a^one-mmule'^fi'lm'coni- of Vienese wall/es in the music'of showing of the I liieiciiil on KTSL twice woekh 101 Beethoven, Schubert Biahams and motion, that Union Oil games sponsoi ovei KFl has puichased addi- Slow motion iootball ovoi Kl l-l V on the Coast has hit the lafKpot with fans and lor station Station got such heavv icsponse Irom the A. Rams games which were filmed lor video, in slow 52 weeks .Sentinel Piodnciions Strauss Eugene Louiie will pio- tional time: so that all games put on him can be telecast m ,slow riio- staits shooting next .vvOiik on the duce and diiect Heimes officers tiOn Shoit speed showing picks up much of the smait football plus flist of its new tele senes titled aie l.ouric, Hans de Schulthess all the foul plav which the eje cannot catch at regulai speed and the (Continued on |>age 41) i<<nd Aaion Sapiio. 1 vid fans are eating it up M'waukee's 9,250 Sets Milwaukee. Nov 9 Check of tclcviiion dealeis and ; di>iii'ibutors . reveals; , that '/as, of . ,\o\ 1 theie weie 9 230 televi- sion Sots installed in the Alilwau- k(-o area. . 'this IS an inciCasc ot 2,2:i2 .seti sin(e Oct 1 with 8()T'f in homes and 13 9'c in public places.