Variety (December 1953)

Dovid Sornoff, Choirman of the Board, Radio Corporation of. America I I ■ ■ !■!« > I >«■' . - " I I ■!» !■ <* ■;' RCA LEADERSHIP Compatible color television broadcasting has been ap- proved. This progressive action by the Federal Communi- cations Commission speeds the day of color television in the American home. The RCA COLOR TELEVISION SYSTEM operates on the compatible color signal standards approved by the FCC. Color television opens a new era in electronic communi- cations and odds a new dimension to the entertainment arts. It supplies a new power to advertising and greatly increases its merchandising possibilities. It adds realism to journalism, intensifies television os a social and educational force and opens the way for a significant advance in service to the public December 17,1953, the day on which the FCC approved standards for the commercial broadcasting of COMPAT- IBLE COLOR TELEVISION, will, be remembered in the annals of communications along with the historic date of April 30, 1939, when RCA-NBC introduced ALL-ELEC- TRONIC BLACK-AND-WHITE TELEVISION as a new broad- cast service to the public at the opening of the World's Fair in New York. At that time we added sight to sound. Now we add color to sight. RCA is proud of the leadership its scientists and engi- neers achieved in developing—the all-electronic black-and- white television system—the a I l-electronic compatible color television system—and the RCA tri-color tube, which made the latter practicable. Dedicated to pioneering and steadfast in our purpose to give America pre-eminence in communications, we shall continue our efforts to advance and to merit the faith and confidence the American people have in "RCA" as an emblem of quality, dependability and progress. _ Wednesday, December 23, 1953 ■■vl \i Owen years ago—on May 7,1946—David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of the Radio Coijioration of America, said:— “When a modern and practical color ielevmm 1 system for the home is here, RCA will have it.” The public will benefit On December 17, 1953, the Federal Communications Com- mission approved compatible standards for color television broad- casting. This is a great victory for RCA. But it is an even greater i triumph for the public and the entire television industry. Color is a new dimension that will greatly increase the public's enjoyment and appreciation of the wealth of news events, enter- tainment, and education available on television sets. Behind this great development are many long years of scientific research, hard work and financial risk. Our scientists were engaged in research basically related to color television as far back as the 1920's . . . even before we introduced btack-and-wKite television service. ♦ In the intervening years we have spent more than $25,000,000. to achieve our objective of adding the beauty and reality of color to the black-and-white service we pioneered. The fruit of this great investment is the RCA all-electronic compatible color television system which makes it possible to send high quality color pictures that can be received in full color on color receivers; and in black and white on the set you now own. Without this compatibility, for which RCA has fought and worked hard and long, your present set would go completely blind to color broadcasts. With it, your black-and-white set will continue to bring you every program on the air until such time as color receivers are available and you decide to buy one. Now that tfie FCC has approved the standards on which the RCA color television system operates, the way is clear for the orderly introduction of color television without any interruption in the fine black-and-white service you now enjoy. RCA and NBC have the know-how to broadcast color programs, to build equipment for color broadcasting, and to build sets that