Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

24 . MAY 9, 1960 Wometco Enterprises Inc. (WTVJ Miami, WLOS-TV & WLOS Asheville, 47%% of WFGA-TV Jacksonville, Wometco theater chain, vending operation, Miami Seaquarium, etc.) reports a 17.4% increase in net income for the first 12 weeks of 1960 over the same 1959 period, on slightly higher sales. The interim report does not include the operations of the Miami Seaquarium, acquired April 12. For 12 weeks ended March 26: jggQ Gross income $2,418,950 Net income 200,321 Per common share 22<i 1959 $2,360,268 170,644 19c International Resistance Co. registered record sales & earnings in fiscal-1960’s first 15 weeks as volume gained 12.8% and income rose 18.6%, Pres. Walter W. Slocum reported to the annual meeting last week. IRC also announced plans to apply for a listing on the NYSE, increased the quarterly dividend to 7%^ from 5^, and obtained stockholders' approval to increase the common stock to 2.5 million from the 1.5 million now authorized. “No specific transaction involving any part of the additional one million shares is now in contemplation,” IRC said. In the table below, per-share earnings are based on the 1,381,098 shares outstanding on April 17. For 15 weeks ended April 17: Net sales Net income Per common share Conunon shares . 1960 $6,191,383 677,398 49(; 1,381,098 1959 $5,489,439 571,204 41(f 1,354,898 Oak Mfg. reports a decline in earnings despite a moderate sales increase in the quarter ended March 31: Sales Net income Per common share 1960 1959 $4,709,996 $4,271,905 151,677 218,150 23^ 33(i Sonotone Corp. sales & earnings sagged in the quarter ended March 31: Net sales Net income Per com. share (after pfd.) 1960 1959 $5,363,135 $5,676,733 175,780 222,487 15(i 19^ Transitron Electronic Corp. opened 1960 wdth recoi’d sales & earnings in the first 13 weeks and reported that the outlook for the current quarter “continues promising.” For the 13-week period ended March 26, Transitron earned $2,154,216 (29^ a share on 7,502,500 shares) on sales of $13,128,611. For 39 weeks to March 26, the net income totaled $5,961,478 (79^) on $35,113,222 sales. Comparative figures for the year-ago periods are not available. A typographical mishap wrongly rearranged the column heads on page 21 of Special Supplement #5 which you received last week. Tliese heads can easily be corrected in ink by duplicating the heads at the top of opposite page (20). A similar error inadvertently listed as Admiral Corp’s 1960 sales the $44.7-million volume it reported for first-quarter 1959. Common Stock Dividends Corporation Period Amt. Payable Stk. of Record Consol. Electronics.... Q $0.25 Jul. 1 Jun. 15 General Tire & Rubber. Q .25 May 31 May 16 Internatl. Resistance . . Q .071/2 Jun. 1 May 16 Lear Inc .10 Jun. 1 May 12 Meredith Publishing . . Q .45 Jun. 10 May 27 Siegler Q .10 Jun. 1 May 16 Siegler Stk. 4% Jun. 29 May 16 Speer Carbon Q .171/2 Jun. 15 Jun. 1 Taft Bestg. ......... i Q .10 Jun. 15 May 13 TV-Electronics Fund . . .04 May 31 May 2 Technology TOSHIBA’S VTR: U.S. TV engineers got their first “look” at the Tokyo Shibaura single-head TV tape recorder last week at the Los Angeles convention of the Society of Motion Picture & TV Engineers. Dr. Norikazu Sawazaki, head of the team which developed the “simplified” device, described its operation & principles and showed a 4-min. film of the recorder in action. “The unique Toshiba system video tape recorder,” said Dr. Sawazaki, “has caused a revolution in TV broadcasting in Japan, and — as likely as not — may influence TV broadcasting in the West tomorrow.” Highlights of his paper: The first experimental VTR-1 was completed in 1958, and commercial production began this year. The machine records the whole picture of one TV field on one long diagonal track on the tape, using a single rotating head (U.S. systems use 4 revolving heads). The tape runs in a helical loop around the head cylinder. The cylinder is divided horizonally into 2 parts, and the rotating head disc is at the gap between the 2, the head contacting the tape at the gap of the cylinder. Characteristics of Toshiba System Like U.S. TV tape recorders, the tape is driven at 15 in. per second and FM is used for video recording. These other characteristics of the Toshiba VTR were given: Recording time, 64 min. on 12%-in. reel (4,800 ft.) of 2-in. wide tape; rewind time, about 4 minutes for 4,800 ft.; video frequency response, gradual decrease from 1 me to about 6-db down at 4 me; video signal-to-noise ratio, 35 db; audio signal-to-noise ratio, 45 db. Dr. Sawazaki claimed these advantages for the Toshiba over U.S. TV tape systems: (1) Few adjustments required; no special techniques needed; no" problems of Venetian blinds; skewing, scalloping, etc. (2) Simplified construction. (3) Drop-outs are “extremely decreased.” (4) Recording conditions can be monitored from the recording head. (5) Picture can be reproduced at any tape speed — including fast-forward, slow-forward, rewind or stopped— an advantage for special effects or splicing. (6) The system “has remarkable advantages for NTSC color [because] it is unnecessary to switch the head in the middle of a picture.” Commenting on the Toshiba paper, Ampex vp Neal McNaughten, mgr. of Anipex Professional Products Co., said he is convinced TV stations & networks all over the world will continue to use the U.S. system as a “standard for the industry.” _He said a noncompatible system, if it is cheaper & technically acceptable, may have specialized applications in ETV & industrial TV plus supplementary uses in broadcasting. Ampex for 4 years has been investigating a system using a one-head approach and already has applied for several basis patents in this areSj he added. Foreign Costa Rica’s first TV station, Televisora de Costa Rica, went on the air May 6 in San Jose. AB-PT holds a minority interest in the Ch. 7 outlet, which is a member of the ABCcontrolled Central American TV Network. AB-PT officials who were present for the station opening and a concurrent Central American Network board meeting were Presl Leonard H. Goldensoh," financial •vp Simon B. Siegel, ABC International vp Donald ' W. :Coyle,. lABC engineering vp Frank Marx, AB-PT attorney William Klein.’ V