Variety (December 1953)

WfdnMxUy, Pwcmfcer 23, MSS ^iSTgTy . SS IN TELEVISION will receive these programs. In addition, we have trained per- sonnel ready to do the job. RCA and NBG will invest an additional $15,000,000 during color television's introductory year to establish this new service on a solid foundation. T he industry will benefit In the development of any great new service to the American public, someone must take the risks of leadership and incur the ^initial capital expense required to start a new industry. RCA has done this before with radio broadcasting and black-and-white television, RCA has done it again with compatible color television. We spent $50,000,000 in developing and establishing black-and- white television. From this pioneering, the public and the industiy as well as RCA have benefited. In introducing color, RCA is following the same policy of making its inventions available to the entire industry as it did in radio broadcasting and black-and-white television. This means that other members of. this highly competitive industry can get into color television quickly and benefit accordingly. There are approximately 85 competing set manufacturers and 70 competing tube manufacturers in the radio-television industry. More than 340 competing television stations now are on the air. The opportunities to advance with color television are available to all of them. - When will color television sets be available? Color television sets will begin to come off the production lines in small quantities within approximately six months from today. It will probably be an additional year before wass production is reached. The first color sets manufactured by RCA will have a 14-inch picture size and will be priced - between $800 and $ 1 , 000 . Considering the relative valuesof the dollar,this compares favorably with the price of the first lO-inch black-and-white television sets introduced in 1939. When mass production of color receivers and tri-color tubes gets under wjqr, pricey will come dbwn, as they did with black-and-white tubes and receiver8. Inevitably t it will take several years to reach this goal. If you are planning to buy a television set, don’t hesitate to buy now. For remember, the new RCA Victor television sets bnng you sharper, clearer black-and-white pictures every program on the air • • . whether they are transmitted in color or black and white. When will color programs be available? NBC has completed program plans for color television's intro- ductory year that call for each of NBC's r^ular productions to be broadcast in color at least once during the year—at the average rate of two programs a week. RCA has completed plans for manufacturing transmitting and studio equipment for broadcasting color. In accordance with our policies, we are offering such equipment for sale to others. Television stations throughput the country can make slight modifications in their transmitting equipment that will enable them to pick up from the network and broadcast these color shows. Five NBC-owried stations and 65 NBG affiliated stations already have announced their intention of doing so and more will follow. NBC is giving program and technical people frOm affiliated stations the benefit of our experience in televising color. RCA has furnished competing manufacturers with circuit dia- grams and technical information which enable them to manufac- ture color receivers and tri-color tubes. By the time manufacturers have produced color receivers for sale to the public, many broadcasters will have equipped their stations to transmit television programs in color. RCA, the pioneer in compatible color television development, and NBC, the pioneer in color television broadcasting and program- ming, are proud to have the opportunity to bring a n ew ser vice to the American public ... for the opportunity to enrich the lives of people everywhere is a privilege of leadership. President