Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

NEW SERIES VOL. 3, No. 42 TELEVISION DIGEST-7 MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTION, FINANCE DETENT-TYPE UHF TUNER FROM MALLORY: Although there* * s little prospect of any substantial increase in all-channel set demand between now and U-Day, several new sources of uhf tuners are opening in preparation for that April 30 deadline. Set makers, now convinced there'll be no change or postponement of all-channel law (Vol. 3:40 p7), have started making plans to minimize dislocations & shortages next spring. Old-line tuner maker P. R. Mallory & Co. , which pulled out of TV tuner business in 1957, has decided time is ripe to come back in market with vmique product— one which many people thought was still year or two off. Due to go into production shortly after first of next year, it’s a transistorized continuous tuner with detent action, claimed to be as simple to tune as vhf timer and capable of being motorized for remote -control use. New Mallory tuner is claimed to be competitive in price with conventional continuous tuners de spite its easy-tune convenience feature. Basically, it is continuous tuner capable of full 360° rotation. However, by removing knob, consumer can adjust detents in own home to set tuner to click into position for local channels. To adjust, set is tuned to channel and screw is tightened. Uhf channels are then tuned just like vhf, by turning knob until station clicks in, then adjusting fine tuning. Present developmental models offer up to 6 detents (those not used can be removed), but Mallory says this could be increased to 10 or 12. Incidentally, Mallory has also designed transistorized vhf switch-t5rpe tuner and tube & transistor FM tuners, will offer FM tuners early next year, vhf when demand for transistor tuners increases. * * * * Mallory is only one of companies entering or re-entering tuner production. TRW's Electrocom Div. (parent of one-time tuner maker Radio Condenser Co.) investigated uhf tuner market year ago, concluded that "Japanese were going to take over the business"— and stayed out. Japanese are stepping up tuner export activity, although their efforts to date are confined principally to vhf. (They supply vhf tuners for all 11-in. sets.) More set makers, too, are increasing tuner -making activities. Admiral recently started building some of own tuners, although it also buys substantial amount. GE now manufactures all of its own uhf tuners (transistorized). RCA, which builds virtually all of its vhf tuners, hopes also to be able to supply all of its own uhf tuner requirements by next year. Zenith makes high percentage of its own vhf & uhf tuners. Those set manufacturers who build own tuners were unanimous in telling us that they expect no serious uhf tuner bottlenecks next spring, even if it’s necessary to increase all-channel set production fourfold overnight between April 30 & May 1. Others foresaw possibilities of slowdowns and were making plans to forestall or minimize them. Motorola’s Ed Taylor, for example, said his company is buying uhf tuners in advance of requirements. Another major set maker also reported it’s keeping about 60 -day stockpile on hand. There’s one thing almost everybody is agreed on: Percentage of all-channel sets isn’t going to go up substantially before next spring. Almost everybody says it’s virtually impossible to push any major quantities of all -channel sets into vhf -only markets now. Exception, of course, is Sears Roebuck, most of whose line is now available only in all -channel, and which reportedly has won its gamble in switching early to all-channel. This early switchover will forestall tuner bottlenecks next spring, too. Survey of leading set makers finds all of them at a loss to guess whether a vhf set next year will be a hotcake or a drug on the market. There’s no indication whether any manufacturers intend to pro