Variety (July 1953)

M mapio-televisiox I Color TV Sets By Spring— If • = ! Continue^ from pagf 21 ' ... , i,, cinndards are Great Conversations,, and other oc the casional as well as adopted, the •'001J'^r TinS-'i)ro.ii*ht Under its plans, said RCA, ‘'by be built in quorilily • j, tjie timc the manufacturers have d?*“ to a --IMice .wUhln the «..acn Soled^P tor toass distribution ot °fThe coiSny' s^aid that ihe pres color receivers, and a large audi; I he c ompany _ w o JVnd cnee -watches our . programming Ss'inStoby ■*<&. >e will, have, 'learned toe M .1 r < li rMi irhows of ho plans program technology just :as our i)v anv manufacturer to make sets engineers have : learned the proper. & a ^ T of any M,roadOaster ,to u«e or thmr new tools;:Meanwhi^ I 1 ,1, , h 'i ttrmrrnms the art of entertainment and the ‘''HCA eltilnated that if the NTSC presentation of reality, in color, . slandai-ds are -approved; by ..the ento. will have progressed far, . . of this su)nmer, ehgineerlng work in a press release, announcing the on eoleir receivers can be completed filing, of ; the: petition, Brig. Gen. in the fall and production can start David; Sarnoff, RCA board . chairnext spring. Company said its. pilot , man, said, that RCA and NBC are plant at. I /aucaster, Pa., lor pro-, prepared to invest $15,000,000 durduction oL tricolorkinescopes can ing^ the introductory year for color, be expanded within a: few months in addition to $25,000,000 RCA to attai n! an output of 2,00,0 tubes; will have spent; by the end of 1953 a month; ' !. for research and development. 41 AffiUates Sign / Gen. Sarnoff said that. RCA and Once flic Commission adopts the NBC. risked $.^0,000,000. in deyelopr unc . nBC Would ing black and white IV before in Tclurh gud that; .ready, it said', . 41 of the network's its ip vestment in color is ,an ex* affliatos have -sighed to make the penditure that must precede the n^^v-modJflcations to their achievement of inass production in= WsmitUng • equipment : to tarry manufacturing, and substanUal color ^ sliows; .-'V broadcasting of color programs.” In a; statement contained in the. Noting that there are how about petition’ i)r. C. B. Jolliffe,; RCA 210 TV receiver and 70 tube irianm technical director, said the retail facturers and about 190 TV stapriee of tiie first RCA color . re lions on the air, Gen. Sarnoff said ceivors will range from $000 to “it is my great hope that all of $1 000 arid th.'it .the picture, size them will participate in the effort will be equal, to a 14-lneh black -to take the color television ‘baby’ and white tube. Jolliffe pointed Out out of the cradle and teach it to .that the price of a 12-inch black walk:” arid white set introduced in 1939 ,■> , ■■ . was $500 which, in terms of 1935 — dollars, would be $1,050.. TSit . A major item jit the cost of color fclv sets is the tri color tube, said Jol . !_ lifTe. and this will go down and JOSSSt Continued from page 18 picture size will go up just as in jias 80q ctient stations on threethe case of black and white tubes. year firm deals. World’s budget jolliffe said .. it won’t be necessaiy for this year will exceed $275,000, for TV stations . to/ equip color .stm ■ ^hfch is exclusive of talent. Re. dios. to broadcast, network tint. QQ|.de#l repertoire of World pfoV/ith relatively minor expenditures, Yarns' -'.range, from hillbilly to lie said, color shows can be taken symphony music, fropi the network. “The station op r£0 affect music clearances for eririiSr may expand his operations the World platters, Ziv set up by adding a color slide camera, freiaware Music Co., which concolor filni equipment and color trols 500 copyrights. Company cameras if he desires to provide ipay phter. active publication in programs from local sources,” he the fall of original music written added. . for its programs. Plan 2. Shows a Week Qn this .year’s TV schedule, Ziv Petition said that in the “intro will turn out 136 pictures for TV ductory year”; of color broadcast atl(j 312 radio programs. World’s ing, NBC would average two shows outpiit wiu he 1,000 recorded a week from the Colonial Theatre musical selections, iii. New York, averaging an hour , ... together. “We/ will schedule the ■ color premier.es,” company said, m. • j. ■ “on a rotational basis of all our |J8f8lttl I18P881S blaekrand-wiiite attractions, so that ” each show is seen in color at least Continued from page 18 sees every day, but the mathematical chances of . a single Viewer having caught the show on its original run. Statistics show,” he continues, “that a habit viewer sees a particular weekly evening series twice a month, which indicates there’s a whale of a lot of expensive good material being missed;, during the, winter.” V'., ■Gross supports this view, point-, ing out that in the case of “Big.. ..Town,” it s repeated, but hot on a ; summer basis. Repeat films arc slotted throughout .the year, and . while total results isn’t as. noticeable as in summer, it amounts to the same, thing— ratings . hold up. He also' points to the situation, in Detroit, where current “Big. Towns” . are; running: against repeats ovc,r six months old under the title of “Heart Of the City” on two separate stations, and ratings for both are good. Damm’s Repeat Playhouse From another ' source,. United Television Programs, came information that Walter; Damm, who started the drive against 'repeats . last week, has himself bought repeats for local sponsorship. He. purchased UTP’s “Royal' Playhouse" scries, the second runs of the 1950-51 . “Fireside Theatre” series which Procter & Gamble bankrolls. Heart of the matter appears to lie in. the amount of time allowed to elapse, between original, showing and repeat, the producers say, and most of the shows being repeated have enough of a backlog to allow a year’s clearance. Hence, they can’t sCe what the noise is all about. Additionally, while admitting the unusual circumstances, they point to the. clamor for a repeat Of the Ford 50th Anniversary $how to prove that there’s a demand for repeat showings of good material. , While admitting there’s a difference between summer repeats and longterm residuals, such as syndication in markets outside those , sold nationally and reruns following a. suitable clearance period, ■ the producers say that the prob lems involved and the issues at stake can’t be separated. Summer 1 repeats determine the original » production policy, and all residual • plans are based on that policy. each, show is seen in color at least (sss Continued from page 18 s&s! once, in a the case of Marx, shows used for shovv. \vliich _will he gieat^n repeata v/eren’t from the current black and whlte^bUtwcRoi e sur se1son but Wefe from the year perb in color. We will include the . , th t si10W 0f NBC opera in English, Toscanini, ^ — r;~~. . ^2),” he said, “and I couldn’t re / '• SPECIAL. OPTICAL EFFECTS ever seelh« the sl,ow be. AND TITLES _ Quiz and variety shows, Guedel On FIRESIDE THEATRE says, lend themselves best to re Teleyision Show peats because “they contain no by single memorable event.” But RAY MERCER (5r COMPANY dramas too. if not repeated too 4241 Normal Av*„ H'wood 29, Coi. soon, are worth repeating because ’ Send for Free optical Ejjccts Chart of the. “remarkable, audience turn-sHHHBiiHiBaiBnBBBaapaHpaiw over— ^not just the new set owners S9me fame MERCHANDISING Hits the "Bullseye" in Sales Results Coordinated Vl calls by KDYL's merchandising team to brokers and retailers, plus strategic placing of these eye-catching "bullseye" display pieces — with your product attached — means powerful merchandising support in the fast-growing Intermountain West. L— ^ Continued from page 26 ssssJ spoiled son, Henry Barnaid, is discovered stealing money from his employer. A rival newscaster, Don Briggs, threatens to reveal the scandal, unless Mitchell promises to retire from radio. Mitchell did a magnificent job of suggesting the emotions of this three-dimensional character grappling with his dilemma. His socially prominent wife, Madge Evans, pleads with him to give in, because, “You’re in a dirty game and the dirt has rubbed off on us.” His daughter, Louise King, is fearful that the revelation Will ruin her prospects of marriage. His son sheers at his indecision,’ because, “It’s your class coming out.” Worst of all, when he’s reduced to begging his rival to keep silent, the newscaster reminds him of his lack of humanity: “People may admire or fear you; they do not like you. You came up too fast from the gutter and had too much power.” Thfc realization of this loneliness, becomes apparent, and the radio oracle says poignantly, after drinking himself to thought. “I know a million people and I can’t talk to anybody,” It ends up with a shot of the tortured face of his wife, as she listens to her husband on the air telling his. audience that he holds truth above home, family and even love, and so he reveals the tragedy himself. ' The acting, by virtue of being understated, was uniformly realistic. Direction by Earl Ebi, Cal Kuhl’s production, and music by Vlndmir Selinsky were all handled with understanding of what the author was attempting to do. The Lux . commercials, emphasizing a tieiii with Hollywood : stars ,and ending with an interview with Miss Evans, \\:.eie. as. glossily' professional, as usual. ' Rask. . • ■ Wednesday, July 1, 1953 Inside Stuff-Radio . Total number of the U. S. radio sets in working order on Jan. 1 of this year was 110,000,000, an increase of 5,000,000 over the year before, according to estimates released by a joint research committee of the four major AM nets, ABC, CBS, Mutual and NBC. “Data from the Radio-Television Manufacturers Assn, indicates that 11,000,000 new radio sets were sold in 1952,” the committee noted. “This total, which is substantially greater than the sales of new auto. mobiles, . electric refrigerators, television sets, or any, other home appliance, reflects a continued public interest in expanding its accessibility to the radio medium.”. •/.•Breakdown -follows': Total radio homes ...... ;. ........ . , . . . . . .44,800,000 Extra sets in homes ... , ... .... ... .... .30,000,000 Sets in passenger cars , . . ... . . : ... 26,200,000 • . • Sets in barracks, dormitories, eatirig placcs^hotels, , / . . offices, business and service esta.bli:Shnrents, taxis, trucks and personal portables used outside the ■ — ■ home ■ « . ... . « 1 1 • i, ■< 1 1 ; • • . I . • • 9 ,000 , 000 . ■ ’ . , Total . . « . , ,•-, . 1 1 . 1 . . . . . .. 1.1 . . . < ■. 1 • . .. 1 10,000,000 ■ Eowell^ ^ Thomas, hegi under Kaiser . Motors sponsorship this week, was given full exploitation treatment by CBS Radio and William Weintraub agency. . Accompanied by Eldon Hazard, net sales manager; Joe Reid, account exec, and trade newsieditor Harry ; Feeney, Thomas spent Monday and Tuesday in special ceremonies, at Willow Run and Detroit!.; •" " •’ Newscaster loured Kaiser plant Monday arid spoke at . Detroit Press Club lunch yesterday (29). Station W JR aired luncheon talks for local broadcast. Among those attending from Weintraub agency was veepee Harry Trenner. . . . Christmas gifts of the North Dakota Broadcasting Co. of Minot, N( D.; given last December to time buyers and others in radio-tele in' the form of 200 shares . in the firm’s property in Williston Basin, had a June payoff at the Hotel Gothamin N. Y, last week. ' NDBC shareholders, were invited by John W. Boler; prexy of the firm Which operates KCJB and. KCJB-TV,. Minot, and KSJB,: Jamestown, to a cocktail party to collect a dividend check of $2.13, a fee of one silver dollar for attending, and a sample of crude oil taken from their property. When shares were distributed; the; property involved was still unexplored, but first: drilling hit oil in a shallow well. So dividend payoff brought NDBC another round of attention from time buyers and account execs, Unusual gifts were thought up by Boler to drum up interest in Minot on the radiortele map; KCJB and KSJB are CHS • affiliates and WCJB is affiliated With CBS-TV, NBC-TV and DuMont. Silver dollars handed out as fees were obtained after much difficulty from several N. Y. banks, and Cleaned and polished by Mr?. Boler and her daughter; Payment of Checks and silver dollars came to a total of about $700, with the bill for the cocktail party reportedly much higher. Charles Antelh Iric.f Baltimore, will answer within 20 days charges by the Federal Trade Commission that it has been using misleading advertising for its Formula No. 9 hairdressing shampoo and Hexachlorophene soap, Antell is. currently spending $5,000,000 annually for spot radio-TV advertising, and just completed sponsorship of DuMont’s Sunday .night half-hour show, “What’s Your Bid?” FTC charges that lanolin is not the main ingredient of Formula No. 9; that lanolin is not the only oil or grease absorbed by the hair and scalp; questions the company’s claim that the hardressing contains substantial quantities of lanolin; and that the soap removes 25 times more dirt than ordinary soap. NBC Spot Sales has ; been appointed national spot rep for radio station KGU and tele station KONA, Honolulu. Stations sent hundreds of orchid leis to distaff members of ad agencies and radio-tele press in New York arid Chicago as mementoes of the signing. K 3-D No TV Aid Continued from pax* 18 I happy and the ratings up. Tele film buyers are not worrying a bit about the future necessary retooling of tele that will be required before the current 3-D and widescreen pix can be shown on home screens. They figure that’s such a long way off that television, in the meanwhile, might very well come up with 3-D of its own, following the Oncoming color TV revolution. DuMont arid RCA, It's reported, are already experimenting with 3-D color in tele, and if they succeed, TV execs believe Hollywood will be a ghost town with all of its product on sale for a song. Chi’s 1,415,695 Sets Chicago, June 30. Latest tabulation of TV receivers installed and in use in the Chicago area shows an increase of 13,004 sets during May. With a gain of. 258,358 sets for past year, the total now is 1,415,695. • IMPORTANT TV PROPERTY Write for details, or see your Blair man TODAY Salt Lake City, Utah National Representative: John UVIIIIII O . . <|'VV)VVV|VVU VU5 Chicago, June 30. Zenith Radio Cpfp. r.epbxTs that its June sales convention \vas: the most successful in the company’s history. Orders for the 1954 line, of tee-, vee; sets, radios and radio-phonos for. the months of July, August; -arid — Sje;Dtem her, total —approx i;_ rtiately $50,000,000, or more ...than dou&le the orders booked at the June showing a year ago. : ,