Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

1 : NEW SERIES VOL. 3, No. 33 Trade Personals ' Lawrence Levy elected Raytheon corporate development vp, a new post. Robert E. Kirby elected Westinghouse engineering vp, succeeded by James M. BeggS as Electronics Div. gen. mgr. W. Stratton Anderson Jr., former State Dept, for; eign service officer, named vp of GT&E International ^ and GT&E Service Corp. James J. Egan appointed TV products mgr. , West; inghouse TV-Radio Div. mktg. dept. , a new post. Other new posts in department reorganization: Here Paxlnos, I radio & intercommunication products mgr. ; S. SllverI man, replay products mgr. (stereo, phonographs, tape I recorders); Dominick F. Sementa, selective distribuI tion sales mgr. ; A. D. Burke, multiple distribution i sales mgr. William A. Ray, founder of General Controls, and I George K. Bryant, long-time RCA, elected chmn. & pres., respectively, of ITT General Controls. Howard J. Corey elected Oxford Electric pres. & j chief exec, officer, succeeding J. B. Ceader, who con! tinues as chnrn. . . Arthur T. Cestaro appointed Gen: eral Electronic Labs broadcast products n^r. Everett W. Woerter, formerly American Machine & I Foundry, appointed EIA staff engineer for Parts Div. , succeeding J. Howard Schumacher. Wayne B. Swift appointed vp & northeastern regional dir. of C-E-I-R's Boston center. Louie H. Backe m, ex-RCA, named southeastern regional mgr. , ITT Distributor Products Div. . . Charles E. Shaw Jr. appointed Philco Consumer Products Div. industrial relations mgr. , a new post. W. F. Wansbrough, Canadian GE vp, will be keynote speaker at Aug. 23 CNE's press, radio & TV directors luncheon. G. Willard King appointed asst. PR dir. , Illinois Institute of Technology; Gunther Marx named to similar post at nT Research Institute. Obituary Louie Abrams, 68, co-founder & a dir. of Emerson Radio & Phonograph, died Aug. 15 in New York's Doctors Hospital after a long illness. He had been in the phonograph industry since 1915, co-founded Emerson in 1922 with brothers Benjamin (now Emerson pres.) & Max (secy, -treas.). Abrams' most recent corporate post was pres, of subsidiary Plastimold Corp. Illness forced his retirement from active corporate participation several months ago. He is survived by widow & son. DISTRIBUTOR NOTES: Philco establishes factory branch to succeed Medaris Co. as distributor in Dallas & Lubbock, Texas. PDI-Dallas will operate from offices at 1202 Dragon St. , Dallas, and 23rd & C Sts. , Lubbock. Ed Rogers is branch mgr. . . Westinghouse Appliance Sales appoints Richard Affel TV & stereo product sales mgr. for New York & parts of New Jersey & Connecticut, || succeeding Max Zagoren, resigned to open manufacturers ** rep office in New York. . . George H. Wilkins resigns as Magnavox's metropolitan New York zone mgr. , succeeded by Philip Well. TELEVISION DIGEST-9 RCA DROPS COLOR PRICE: Adding impetus to downward trend of color TV pricing, RCA this week put lowest base on its color line in 7 years by adding 21-in. , black metal table model at $449. 95— as we forecast last May (Vol. 3:20 p8). This "lowest ever” set supplants $495 models which had been RCA price starters since 1956. " Color sales growth will be stimulated even further this fall with the introduction of this lower priced set, " announced RCA Sales Corp. Pres. Raymond W. Saxon. He also forecast "record RCA TV sales rate" this year with "well over one million sets produced and sold. ” Color will account for greater proportion of this total than last year, but RCA b&w s^es "are headed for their best showing since 1957. " Also added by RCA: Lowboy hardboard color consolette at $549. 95, b&w 23-in. lowboy at $228. 88 and 2 top-of-the-line 100-watt stereo consoles at $795 & $695. CBS'S RECORD PACE: CBS sales & earnings rose to record levels in both first half & June quarter (see financial table). First-half earnings rose sharply to $19. 4 million from $14. 6 million on sales gain to $273.3 million from $253. 1 million. TV Network & TV Stations Divs. contributed to upbeat performance with sales markedly ahead of year earlier, Chmn. William S. Paley & Pres. Frank Stanton noted in stockholder report, adding: Ad revenues of TV industry in first quarter were "approximately 10% above" same 1962 period, and rate of growth of TV revenues, once expected to level off, continues to increase. Current pace "even exceeds the rapid rate of growth during the 1957-59 period." Paley & Stanton also noted that "current year sales & orders for CBS Radio Network, " at end of first half, "exceeded by over 1/3 the network's revenues for the full year 1962." TelePrompTer is selling its Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Weathers, Conley Electronics & Audio-Visual Divs. to Defiance Industries in $1. 5 -million -plus transaction slated for consummation early next month. TelePrompTer Pres. Irving B. Kahn said businesses being sold account for approximately 40% of company's gross revenues but represent less than 10% of total assets. H. J. Schlafly Jr. will resign as engineering vp to become executive head of the Cherry Hill operation under Defiance Industries. He will continue as a TelePrompTer dir. TelePrompTer will concentrate on expanding its CATV holdings & related closed-circuit TV & meeting production services, anticipates "the highest earnings in our corporate history in 1963," Kahn said. Zenith dropped in what it describes as "the only TV receiver on the market today that combines portability with the convenience of a remote control that turns set off & on, changes channels to the left & to the right, adjusts volume to any of 3 different levels, and silences sound while the picture stays on the screen. " New set is 19-in. "Shorecrest" at $269. 95, including Space Command Remote Control as standard equipment. Macfadden-Bartell expects 1963 profit to jump to more than $1 million from 1962's $162,738. Pres. Lee Bartell said revenues should rise to nearly $25 million from $23. 2 million. Company's broadcasting stations produced 213% gain in operating profit in first half (Vol. 3:32 pl2) to $294, 282 & continue to forge ahead, he said.