Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

VOL. 16; No. 26 5 We discussed the 2 companies’ pitches with many operators— and they’re still cautious. Their general feeling is that they have problems enough & costs enough, but that they don’t want to miss anything. One of the ablest operators of them all offered us an analysis of the Toronto experiment: “They can’t do it with movies alone. They need $8-10 a month to break even. They put on 2 movies a week, at $1 each. If every home watched every movie, they’d just break even. People won’t. Telemeter reports figures of 20% to 50%, roughly. I think it will average out to 20% or less. They must get more program fare.” * ♦ * Patterson-Johansson heavyweight title bout is indicated by “flash” responses from theater owners to have won more than $2 million gross for TelePrompTer closedcircuit telecast. Final tally should be available by the middle of this week, said TPT. In-theater seats should total over $500,000, it was estimated. The money breaks down as follows: Half of the gross stays with the local exhibitor who pays for local loop, projector and operator and any local promotion & publicity. Of the remaining half, TPT keeps 20%, Feature Sports Inc., the fight promoter, keeps 80%. TPT pays for the long-line charges at the rate of 1%^ per mile per hour. Champion Patterson will get half of Feature Sports’ gross. Johansson had exchanged most of his share of the remaining gross with FS for Scandanavian ancillary rights to the fight. * * ♦ New NCTA officers elected: Sandford Randolph, Clarksbui'g, W.Va., pres.; Larry Boggs, Oklahoma City, vp; Charles E. Clements, Waterville, Wash., secy.; Glenn H. Flinn, Tyler, Tex., treas. New directors: Fred Goddard, Aberdeen, Wash.; Ray Schneider, Williamsport, Pa.; Dean Devoe, Barstow, Cal.; Norman Hendry, Prescott, Ariz.; Jack Crosby, Del Rio, Tex.; Curt Paris, Guymon, Okla.; Jack Pryor, Cornell, N.Y.; Gene Schneider, Casper, Wyo.; Lee Stoner, La Grande, Ore.; A1 Ricci, Keene, N.H. Retiring Pres. A1 Malin, Laconia, N.H., became a board member automatically. Martin Malarkey, pres, for first 5 years & board member since, left the board because of a rule prohibiting a director from succeeding himself; his colleagues presented him with a special plaque. « ♦ * NCTA convention in Miami Beach developed an apropos sidelight at the annual banquet. CATV operator from Tenn., also a tombstone maker, walked up to outgoing Pres. A1 Malin, presented him with a miniature tombstone. It was inscribed: “S-2653 — Just Sleeping.” S-2653 is the defunct CATV-regulation bill. “Usually,” the marker maker told Malin, “people want me to put on ‘at rest,’ but I thought I’d better put ‘just sleeping.’ ” Incidentally, the Pasteur Room, where NCTA board met, soon became known as the Pastore Room — in reference to the Senator who led the fight for S-2653. Telemeter deal with BBC-TV is being discussed in London by Telemeter Pres. Louis Novins and BBC officials. Reportedly, Novins would like to franchise his firm’s payTV system to BBC for home operation in Britain. Telemeter already has a foot in the Canadian door through its Toronto operation, but such a deal would mark the first time that Telemeter has arranged a franchise outside North America. 20th Century-(Matty) Fox? The hottest rumor in the payTV field last week involved 2 familiar movie-industry names: 20th Century-Fox Pres. Spyros Skouras and Tolvision Inc. Pres, (and veteran pay-TV entrepreneur) Matthew J. Fox. The rumor, which TCF sources declined to confirm or deny: that Fox & Skouras were discussing a stock-swap merger under which Tolvision would become part of the TCF operation, with Fox operating out of TCF’s N.Y. hq. Lending support to the reports was the fact that Skouras had just returned from a meeting of theatrical exhibitors in Toronto where, as guest of honor, he made a ringing speech praising the concept of pay TV. While in Toronto, Skouras also toured (and was reportedly impressed with) the Telemeter pay-TV installation. No definite TCF-Tolvision plans have been formed, we’re told, although discussions have centered on possible test cities and TCF feature product available for a pay-TV test. Fox was also reportedly discussing product with MGM. Protest of microwave to feed a CATV system in Athol, Mass, was granted by FCC to WRLP (Ch. 32) Greenfield, Mass., against New England Microwave Corp. The Commission said that the microwave CPs would be designated for hearing, but that construction could continue pending a final decision on the protest. Traffic control by TV will be possible at the Lincoln Tunnel when the Port of N.Y. Authority installs a closedcircuit TV operation in Sept. A camera, placed atop the nearby McGraw-Hill building in Manhattan to command a view of approaches to the tunnel, will be operated from a traffic control center in N.J., 2 miles away. Foreign 625-line standards for British TV have been recommended by the TV Advisory Committee, which also reported to the government that color TV is not yet ready for introduction. Postmaster-General Bevins indicated that a govt, committee would be appointed to study the recommendations and render a decision by 1962. If a 625-line system is adopted, the first transmissions won’t begin before 1964. Another 5-7 years would be needed to develop a network. Meanwhile, the British public was reassured that the pi’esent 405-line service will continue & that 405line TV sets do not face ohsolesence. TAC, in recommending adoption of 625-line service, said that 405-line standards are not adequate for full TV service. BBC’s new $45-million TV center, “White City,” on a 13-acre site some 4 miles from downtown London, is slated to go into operation this week (29). The giant 8-story, 7studio structure, described by BBC as “the world’s largest TV factory,” eventually will originate almost all of BBC’s live programming. BBC-TV dir. Gerald Beadle described the center’s function: “To produce about 1,500 hours of electronic program material a year — equivalent to 1,000 full-length feature films.” Grundig will establish a tape-recorder plant in Northern Ireland and start production in Sept, with a line of battery-operated models for export to the U.S., reports Britain’s Wireless & Electrical Trader. The 72,000-sq.-ft. plant will be at Dunmurry, near Belfast. The plant will be operated by newly formed Grundig Works Ltd., registered in Northern Ireland, which will function as a member of Grundig’s international organization of 11 factories.