MAY1ON ;-)UtiLle UtityPrtREFERENCE

2nd FLOOR' %VI

TelevisionTHE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE ]NDUSTRY

November

35

"LIGHTS OUT"Approx. 30 min., Sun. p.m.

"It's usually considered in bad taste for areviewer to use superlatives in describing ashow. Sometimes, however, such a course ofaction cannot be helped, as in this first tele-vised version of the w.k. "Lights Out" radiospine-tingler ... the program was tops fromstart to finish and undoubtedly one of thebest dramatic shows yet seen on a televisionscreen . .

- VARIETY

Now Available .fin Sponsurship - For com-plete details write: Sales Department

NBC TelevisionNATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY

30 Roth:feller plaza. New Fork 20 New York

A Service of Radio Corporation of Ansec

The Ey\ Thai Never Clo es

You arc looking at a thermistor -a speck of metallic oxide imbedded ina glass bead hardly larger than a pin-head and mounted in a vacuum. Thethermistor was developed by Bell Tele-phone Laboratories to keep an eve onthe amplification in long-distance tele-phone circuits.

When a thermistor is heated, itsresistance to electric current changesrapidly. That is its secret. Connectedin the output of repeater amplifiers,it heats up as power increases, coolsas power decreases. This change intemperature alters the resistance, inturn alters the amplification, and somaintains the desired power level.Current through the wire at the leftprovides a little heat to compensatefor local temperature changes.

Wartime need brought a new usefor this device which can detect tem-perature changes of one -millionth ofa degree. Bell Laboratories scientistsproduced a thermistor which could"see" the warmth of a man's body aquarter of a mile away.

Thermistors arc made by WesternElectric Company, manufacturingbranch of the Bell System. Funda-mental work on this tiny device stillcontinues as part of the Laboratoriesprogram to keep giving America thefinest telephone service in the world.

BELL TELEPHONE LABORATORIESEXPLORING AND INVENTING, DEVISING AND PERFECTING FOR CON

TINUED IMPROVEMENTS AND ECONOMIES IN TELEPHONE SERVICE

Television contentsTHE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE INDUSTRY

Volume III, No. 9 November, 1946 WPTZ STATION OPERATIONS 7Operational set-up of Philco's Philadelphiastation-by Mary Gannon

TELEVISION OUTLOOK IN LOS ANGELES 11With Hughes withdrawal, seven applicants forseven channels makes contest a draw

FOOTBALL TAKES WINGS VIA RELAY 12An analysis of the commercial techniques and therelay problems involved in Goodyear sponsorship ofthe Army football games-by Sidney R. Lane

A.T.&T. NETWORK PLANS 15Present progress and future plans for televisionnetworks-by L. G. Woodford

FREDERICK A. KUGELEditor and Publisher THE INDUSTRY TODAY 17MARY GANNONManaging Editor

Condensation of the various trends in the industryas set forth at TBA

SIDNEY R. LANEAssociate Editor TELEVISION MAGAZINE'S AUDIENCE PANEL 25DOROTHY HOLLOWAY TELEVISION'S audience panel survey on the U. S. Rubber Com-Washington pany's educational program-conducted by Frederick A. KugelT. R. KENNEDY, JR.Technical Editor

JACK KILPATRICK DEPARTMENTSPatents

HELEN HOWLEYResearch TELESCOPE 2

PETER B. JAMES This month in the industry-persons and placesBusiness Manager

M. M. PRITCHARDWASHINGTON 4

Circulation Manager Junking of black -and -white no issue at color standards hearingDecember 9th-interim decision expected-by Dorothy Holloway

Published monthly by Frederick KugelCompany, 600 Madison Ave., New York22, N. Y. Single copy, 35 cents. Yearlysubscription in the United States, itspossessions and nations of the Pan Amer.ican Union, $3.50; in Canada, $4.00; else-where, $4.50. Entered as second-classmatter February 20, 1945, at the postofficeat New York, New York, under the actof March 3, 1879. Copyright 1946 byFrederick Kugel Company. All rightsreserved. Editorial content may not bereproduced in any form without per-mission.

LONG SHOTS AND CLOSE UPS 26In which H. G. Christensen takes a crack at some ofthe talk he's been hearing

ONE MAN'S REFLECTIONSTelevision Fallacies-by Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith

ADVERTISINGNetwork charges under discussion-review of current formats

FILMState Department to make 156 new films ... new releases

PROGRAMMINGWCBW-Board of Education to start six months weeklyquiz series . . . review of current formats

EQUIPMENTNew postwar features incorporated into equipment . . . patents

27

28

32

33

37

EDITORIAL 40

The men behind the B. T. Babbitt, Inc.television show-L. to R. Walter Wareand Ralph T. Smith (Duane Jones Co.),Robert E. Brenner (B. T. Babbitt),Duane Jones. Norman Menileson andL. J. Gumpert (B. T. Babbitt), BrentGroves (Duane Jones Co.)

The group responsible for the Atlanticsponsorship of the Penn football gamesover WPTZ, get together for the 6thconsecutive season. Bob Stanton, C. L.Jordan (N. W. Ayer), J. R. Rollins(Atlantic), W. W. Orr and H. L. Mc-Clinton (Ayer).

Shaking hands after signing a contractcalling for exchange of programs be-tween WPTZ and WNBT. E. B. Love -man (Philco) at left, and John Royal(NBC), at right.

J. B. Elliot (RCA) demonstrates theassembly line to members of the FCC(L. to R.) P. Walker. C. R. Denny.W. W. Watts and Elliot (RCA). E. K.Jett. R. C. Wakefield and R. Hyde.

This MonthAs receiver production goes, so goes the industry

. . . and it looks as if production will hit between20,000 and 25,000 before the end of the year. RCA willmarket 15,000 sets, DuMont about 6,000 and Viewtoneabout 3,000. U. S. Television and Telicon will be repre-sented with much smaller output. Farnsworth, Philcoand General Electric will not swing into real produc-tion before the first of the year.

Distribution pattern will probably follow thatplanned by RCA-bulk of receivers will go to NewYork area (Newark and Connecticut), with Philadel-phia second, Chicago third and Schenectady -Albanyarea fourth. Los Angeles section will not get any untilearly 1947. Deciding factors in allotments are popula-tion and available program service.

A resume of the characteristics and prices of re-ceivers: RCA 7 -inch tube table model will sell for $225,the 10 -inch model will be $350 with deliveries to startin November. Scheduled for December production isa $750 model which will have a 10 -inch tube, AM -FM& short-wave, plus a record changer. DuMont has es-tablished prices on its line, and inclusive of excise taxthey are: 12 -inch tube - $795, also includes an AMreceiver; 15 -inch tube-$1795 includes AM, FM andrecord changer; 20 -inch tube-$2495, includes AM,FM, short-wave and a record changer.

Farnsworth expects to make reasonable delivery inJanuary of its 10 -inch table model which will sell forabout $250. An AM receiver will be installed in thesame cabinet at the customer's option for an additional$30. General Electric is producing its 10 -inch modelwith an AM receiver priced between four and five hun-dred dollars in limited quantities at present. This setwith addition of FM and a record changer will be inthe neighborhood of $700.

Philco has thus far only made test runs in theirplant. Expect real production by mid -winter. Telicondoesn't expect much production this year, and is work-ing on models from a 10 -inch to a 24x18 projectionmodel. Prices range from $425 to $2640. Company isespecially interested in developing push button control.Viewtone is concentrating production on its Adven-turer model which has a 7 -inch tube and AM radiopriced at $279.95. U. S. Television is concentrating onits large size projection model. They are finding aready market in bars and restaurants.Persons and Places

Paul Knight, program manager at WPTZ, has re-signed. Executive -producer Ernie Walling is slated forthe post ... Marc Spinelli, director at WRGB, has alsoresigned from the station . . . Ronnie Oxford, WNBTtelevision director, is going to NBC's Los Angeles of-fice, ostensibly in a radio post. Would seem a prettysure bet though that if NBC receives an official okayon their Los Angeles application Ronnie will move intoa television spot . . . Kenneth Young is the new tele-vision director at Campbell -Ewald . . . At DuMont,John B. Murphy has been appointed Director of MobileOperations of WABD . . . Big -wig change due atWCBW. .

One of the most hilarious conversational breakshappened during the WCBW pick-up of the Rodeo. Theannouncer, Win Elliot, who has a staccato manner, wasinterviewing a drawling ex -cow -puncher. One of thequestions 'Elliot suddenly shot at the rangy ex -rangerider was, "What is the UTILITARIAN purpose ofcalf roping?" A long silence. Then the lanky Texanturned to his vocabulary -wise interviewer and in com-plete bewilderment drawled .. . "Ah beg yore pardon."

Television

At WABD the announcer made aslip when ushering in the IdaBailey Allan show. When introduc-ing the well known kitchen author-ity, the announcer slipped and said"the well-known home Communist,"instead of the well-known homeeconomist.

So hungry for equipment are thepersonnel of television stations thatthey are flying their own planes toCamden to effect faster delivery ofnewly -manufactured television pick-up equipment. Captain Bill Eddy,general manager of WBKB flew inwith his plane, and Edwin Risk ofthe St. Louis Post Dispatch's tele-vision station arrived with thenewspaper's Station KSD plane.Central airport, Camden was thepick-up point for the long-awaitedequipment.

Ruthrauff & Ryan (Chicago) con-ducted a 2 -day television sympos-ium last month in the radio studiosof the agency. Among the speakersscheduled to pass on valuable infor-mation to the clients and accountexecutives were: Paul Raibourn,president of Paramount PicturesTelevision Productions; Ardien B.Rodner, supervisor of television forthe Commonwealth Edison Com-pany; Paul Mowrey of ABC; Nor-man C. Lindquist, CommonwealthEdison Company, and Fran Harrisof Ruthrauff & Ryan.

During the TBA Conference aFarnsworth set was brought over tothe office of the New York Times inthe rain. After tinkering about tofind the best aerial they ended upwith the umbrella of a Times editorand secured wonderful reception.

Focal point of the New PostwarProducts Exposition held in Detroitthis month was the WWJ (DetroitNews) demonstration of television.Among the equipment on displaywas DuMont and RCA control andcamera units ... and Rosie the tele-vision bear.

Another show in which televisionreceivers and equipment outdrew allothers in public attendance was atthe Home Builder's Show in St.Paul, Minnesota. Joseph Beck, tele-vision director of WTCN arrangeda booth to give the people of thetwin cities of Minneapolis and St.Paul an idea of the way televisionwill look. A mock-up of a receiverwas employed to show motion pic-tures from the rear to give the ef-fect of actual reception. Film usedwas material shot by the ABC tele-vision camera crew. WTCN was re-cently granted a television CP.

CONTROL!Only MOTION PICTURES give you Control_

Showmanship Control_vital on TELEVISION programs

Q. What guarantees perfect lighting-absolute focus-flawless dialogue?

A. FILM!

A.

What makes possible repeat performances of uni-versal quality-identical selling messages-selectivemarketing ?FILM!What eliminates costly rehearsals-telephone linecharges-time zone differentials?

A. FILM!

In TELEVISION...FILM removes the question mark!,*

Now available for sponsorship ... exclusive a evel Series.In 13, 26 or 52 week installments.

Write for details and arrange for private screening.

Send for booklet:"Film-The Backbone of Television Programming."

.1110 TELEIISIONCORPORATION

Dept. 1270 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y. 20, N.Y.

A Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation Subsidiary

°Copyright U. S. Pat. Off.

November, 1946 3

WASHINGTON

ALREADY the lines of battle are drawn in anticipa-tion of FCC's upcoming hearing December 9-to

decide whether CBS is merely chasing rainbows or canhere and now produce a good, workable color televisionpicture at a price Mr. John Q. Public wants to pay.

It's a tough assignment and, some FCC staffers willtell you off-the-record, more than CBS bargained for.

Meanwhile, RCA and DuMont are marshalling factsand figures to show their own tests in the color fieldand to lay before the FCC the many "unknowns"which, they claim, still block development of a reliablecolor television system ... a system which will have thesame flexibility as our present two-tone TV pictures.

David Smith, capable director of engineering forPhilco, is, perhaps, more than any other, the man FCCwill lean on for advice in December. He was virtuallysubpoenaed by the Commission and is, in fact, as mucha part of the proceeding as Columbia itself. He will becalled to testify in his dual role as Chairman of theRadio Technical Planning Board Panel on Televisionand also as Chairman of the special Radio Manufac-turers' Association subcommittee studying ultra -high -frequency transmission.

He may even don another hat and take the standlater on as spokesman for his own company-which,along with RCA, Westinghouse and a few other largeset -makers, is expected to have an opinion on the colorquestion.

Meanwhile, some FCC staffers are bemoaning thefact that the public and a much bewildered press hasbeen misled into believing that the December hearingwill decide whether or not black -and -white televisionwill be dropped for color.

In subsequent publicity they have tried to make itcrystal clear that junking black -and -white is not evenan issue here. Columbia's own standards-as proposedto FCC-do not contemplate displacement of black -and -white, now or later. There is no question but thatmonochrome television will be retained and retainedin its present spectrum location. So much, FCC staffersadd ruefully, have they tried to explain to a bemusedand television -hungry public.

In any event, everyone will know more about bothblack -and -white and color television before the hearingis over.

FCC is expected to continue the December 9 pro-ceeding only so long as is necessary to hand down aninterim opinion. From where we sit now, it would ap-pear a safe hunch to predict that the Commission, onceconvinced color has not advanced to the point where itcan be safely commercialized, will issue an interimorder to this effect. The hearing will then be recesseduntil a later date.

FCC will then resume the proceeding at any timewhen new evidence appears on television's behavior inthe ultra -high regions of the spectrum.

TV Grants MultiplyA half dozen new television stations are now author-

ized as result of FCC approvals during the month. Twoof the neophytes are CBS -affiliates, both of whom

Junking black and white no issue in color standardshearing . . . TV grants- by Dorothy Holloway

registered enthusiasm for the "color" pictures of thefuture but quietly pursued their monochrome applica-tions at FCC in the interests of "Television Now !"

These are the Dallas (Tex.) Times -Herald station,KRLD and WHAS, Louisville, Ky. - owned by theLouisville Courier -Journal and Louisville Times, andunder the capable direction of Mark Ethridge, a for-mer president of the National Association of Broad-casters.

During the month, Philadelphia picked up its thirdTV outlet when William McLean's dignified, most -readevening daily "The Evening Bulletin" was awardedvideo channel 10 for immediate operation.

The Bulletin, FCC was told, would spend over $200,-000 on its television plant and underwrite costs ofoperation up to $15,000 a month. Philadelphia's otherTV stations: WPTZ, the pioneer Philco station; and arecent grant to Walter Annenberg's Philadelphia In-quirer, which is erecting a several million -dollar RadioCity to house its AM -FM -TV activities. ( The Inquirer,incidentally, expects to spend up to $35,000 a monthprogramming its TV station.)

Television picked up new strength in the Midwesttoo. The Minnesota Broadcasting Co., licensee ofWTCN, Minneapolis, now holds a lien on channel No.4 and plans to build a $136,500 station with studiosand transmitter located in Minneapolis' handsomeFoshay Tower. WTCN expects to program a full 28 -hour week from the outset. It will be on the air from2 to 4 and 8 to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

A second large department store - The WilliamBlock Co. of Indianapolis - also entered the TV foldthis month. (The Outlet Co. of Providence, R. I., gotits permit last December). Block, which has operated aretail store in Indianapolis since 1895, was given telechannel No. 3 for a $230,000 station. The store willstress tele advertising for retailers, expects to returna profit the first year. The Block application shows$49,920 earmarked for annual operating costs and$78,000 in expected revenues, based on 60 percent com-mercial programming. Block has an FM applicationpending but has no standard broadcast affiliation.

One of the first TV operations of its kind waschalked up during the month when the Iowa StateCollege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (WOI),Ames, Iowa, won a commercial TV permit for non-commercial operation. The College expects to leanheavily on student talent and engineering faculty forits operation. The station will cost in excess of $185,-000 but monthly costs of operation, using student per-sonnel, have been pared down to a bare $800 to $1200.

In the experimental field, St. Louis University wonFCC approval this month to put up a $168,000 trans-mitter on its campus. Station will program one hour aweek. The university's goal: "to develop a universalsystem equally efficient for black -and -white and forcolor television." It will test both monochrome andrainbow video.

As we went to press, FCC engineers had processeda half dozen more TV bids-among them the ambitioustele project of Col. Bertie McCormick's all-powerful

4 Television

Chicago Tribune and application ofWesley Dumm's KSFO, San Fran-cisco.

A Crosley Network?Crosley Broadcasting Co., now

one of giant Aviation Corporation'smultiple holdings, bids fair to beone of the first TV network oper-ations-although to date it has nota single permit.

Unless top policy changes rad-ically in the next few weeks planscall for: Crosley stations in Co-lumbus, Dayton and Cincinnati-and, FCC willing, purchase ofKSTP, St. Paul, Minnesota, whichalready holds a permit for a TVstation in St. Paul. With favorableFCC action on these applications,Crosley would theoretically haveclosely -knit Midwest network offour TV outlets.

Departures and Arrivals!Joseph Borkin, chief economic

advisor and attorney in the Anti-trust Division of the Departmentof Justice left government servicethis month to set up shop as aprivate economic consultant inWashington. Sigmund Timberg, Jr.,new head of the Consent DecreeDivision of Justice will carry onBorkin's work on the Scophonycase.

Latest addition to staff of NBC-WRC is George Sandefer, who willbe assistant to Carleton Smith,WRC manager, in charge of tele-vision. Sandefer just returned fromfour months' indoctrination in teleat RCA and WNBT, New York. Heis now holding hourly sessions fourdays a week passing on that knowl-edge to WRC staffers who willdouble in brass in NBC's televisionoperation here.

Over at WMAL, the EveningStar station, Frank W. Harvey,formerly in charge of field opera-tions for RCA television, is a newaddition.

Gordon Hubbel, a program di-rector at WMAL, will also handlesome TV shows. He is already linedup as an instructor in TV pro-gramming at American Universitynext spring.

Here and There in the News:FCC has pushed back to 1947

requirement for full 28 -hour a weekprogramming of TV stations. TBAsought the reprieve . . . Mike Ulinehas signed over video rights ofsports events in Uline Arena toDuMont's WTTG . . . Clark Grif-fith is still holding out againsttele-shows of football or baseballgames in his Griffith stadium.There'll come a day!

%'%*6%.'ih:::::::::::e.e:s' .0.41.0:41:65:41:1,:%a. "'..

Can'tle"Guide -i4E-RE SHutchinson's I

feteV/SIOnWOILLD

1-(T"Wow ASH HUTCHINSONYOUR TCH

Programmers, advertising men, engineers, technicians!Tom Hutchinson has written the book you've waited for - a com-plete, fully illustrated television guide. Here, in a single, practicalvolume, is all the information you have learned the hard way - in-formation about every aspect of the industry from the studio to thehome receiver.

Minaprovides a detailed breakdown of the operational picture.Chapters include: The Television Studio, The Camera, TelevisionSound, The Control Room, Program Operation, The ProjectionBooth, The Mobile Unit, The Master Control Room, The Tele-vision Pickup Tube, The Television Receiver.

rifinikcovers programming. Among the subjects discussed are: Pro-grams in General, Interviews, Informative Programs, Variety Pro-grams, Drama, Musical Programs, Puppets, Remote Programs, News,Programs on Film, Visual Effects, Television Rights.

=Ma discusses the commercial aspect. Chapter headings are: Com-mercial Programs, Large Station Operation, Small Station Opera-tion, Television Networks, Theater Television, Future Develop-ments, Jobs in Television.

Part Four offers a short summary of television progress.

TOM HUTCHINSON, 411111111111=1now a television consultant and director, draws onhis long experience as Director of Television Pro-grams and Production at NBC and RKO, and asInstructor of Television Program productioncourses at N. Y. University and elsewhere.

HERE IS TELEVISION offers the perfect ref-erence work for members of your organization. With its wealth of photo-graphs and line drawings demonstrating all the why's and how's of tele-vision, it provides an ideal guide for new personnel.Order your copy today. For your convenience use the coupon below.

Ready Nov. 15th '-384 pages,76 photographs,lo line drawinp,$4.00

HASTINGS HOUSE67 West 44th Street New York 18, N. Y.Please send me....copies of HERE IS TELEVISION,for which I enclose S

0 Check enclosed 0 Money Order enclosed

T1

I NAME

STREET

H*H*H'`{H*HLCITY AND ZONE STATE

ws

er

_J

November, 1946 5

(://7././7 ence-

"U.S." ENGINEERED RUBBER

SERVES TELEVISION

Manufacturers of equipment-builders of stations-and owners

of telecasting facilities-already use many U. S. Rubber Com-

pany products. When planning expansion 3nd new designs

we invite you to call on the experience and special "know

how" of U. S. Rubber Scientists and Eng veers for all problems

and applications requiring rubber.

UNITED STATES RUBBER COMPANYROCKEFELLER CENTRE NEW YORK 20, N. Y.

6 Television

PHILCO STATION OPERATIONS

WPTZWPTZ, in spite of the limitations of their tempo-

rary studio, are stepping up their programmingcoverage to give Philadelphia viewers a well roundedvideo selection. In addition to live studio shows andfilm, Saturday and Sunday telecasts of the footballgames are also on their schedule. And big news wasmade last month with the joint announcement by JohnRoyal and Ernest Loveman for two way relaying ofprograms between WNBT and WPTZ.

Back of this activity is a staff of thirty, who co-ordinate the programming set-up. Starting point isthe weekly Friday morning meetings where everyonethat has anything to do with programming gets to-gether for an exchange of ideas. Generally ErnestLoveman, vice-president and general manager of PhilcoTelevision Broadcasting Corp. (subsidiary of PhilcoCorp.) ; Rolland Tooke, commercial manager; PaulKnight, program manager; Clarence Thoman, directorof special events ( including remotes 1 ; Ernie Walling,executive producer; and W. Craig Smith, art director,represent the production side. On the operations side,Frank J. Bingley, vice-president and chief televisionengineer of Philco Television Broadcasting Corp.;Ray Bowley, chief operations engineer, Dave Miller,studio engineer; Arthur M. Hopwood, Jr., transmitterengineer; and John Roth, remote engineer, sit in togive their ideas.

By Mary Cannon

First topic for discussion are the program sched-ules drawn up for two weeks in advance by eitherPaul Knight or Clarence Thoman after a conferencewith the staff. Dry studio and camera rehearsals arechecked to see if they jibe; film must be procured, de-livery and previewing schedules arranged; convenientauditioning time set; time alloted for recording quickieannouncements, etc.

After the schedules are checked and okayed, atten-tion is then turned to the previous week's programs-both from the artistic and technical angle of what waswrong and what was right. For while WPTZ stafferssay that programming is experimental, they do notuse "experimental" as a generic term to cover care-lessness or as a handy peg on which to hang slipshodproduction. They're out to learn from everythingthey do.

Good example of Philco's cooperative working ar-rangement is the procedure followed when a sustain-ing show is okayed and goes into the works. Executiveproducer Ernie Walling draws up a sketch of the setsand a prop list, and goes over it with stage managerSam Stewart and art director W. Craig Smith. DaveMiller and George Borden of the technical side arepresent to okay lighting, mikes, camera placement inrelation to lights, etc. Thus, right from the beginning,everyone is familiar with what the director wants-and the director knows what he can get.

In the WPTZ control room, the direct°,sits at the contrcl board and does hisown switching and fading. Panel wasdesigned by Philco for their own use.

Personnel TrainingWhile they believe in ultimate specialization in each

job category, best method of training anyone for aparticular niche is to familiarize him with every phaseof studio operations. By doing this each member of thestaff has a realization of the other's problems and candovetail his particular task into the composite team-work that's necessary for smooth video programming.With most of the key men in their prewar staff backnow, this group forms the nucleus of experiencedhands. Newcomers generally start in doing the oddsand ends-getting props, setting up scenery, etc. Par-ticular aptitudes and talents are taken into considera-tion-for example, they feel it's helpful if a potentialcameraman's hobby is photography or shooting homemovies, for that should give him some knowledge ofcomposition. Best spot for learning your way aroundis as a dolly pusher-and this is usually reserved forfuture cameramen. Equipped with earphones, thedollyman knows what the director is doing, what thecameraman's instructions are-in brief, he's right in

RNEST B. LOVEMANVice President andGeneral Manager

FRANK J. BINGLEYVice President and

Chief Television Engineer

RAYMOND J. BOWLEYChief Operations Engineer

the middle of things. (This kind of training also makeshim, when he graduates to cameraman, a good sub forthe stage manager if the need arises.)

Television techniques are also taught to new talentand Ernie Walling's best trick along these lines is toput in a stand-in and take the actor into the controlroom to show him the picture he wants to get on themonitor. It's important that an actor knows what thedirector is trying to do; he must be conscious of thecamera, where it will be, its scope, etc. And only bytaking him behind the scenes can a director train hiscast in developing a television technique.

ProgrammingWPTZ offers the usual programming fare of sus-

taining and sponsored studio shows, remotes, film andrelay programs. Film is a small percentage of theirprogramming, with most of their releases coming fromdifferent government agencies. However they haveprepared a library of film subjects, of varying lengthsto use when programs do not go off on the nose. Typ-ical example is the Thursday night pick-up of the"Hour Glass" from WNBT. If show goes off before8:55 a film is used to bridge the gap until 9:00; after8:55 transcribed music is used.

On studio shows, audience participation type pro-grams are mostly ad lib. It's on the scripted dramatic

shows that the work must be done.Producer Walling's theory of direction is quick pace

and complete use of cameras. He believes the old ideathat television must be slow moving because of theequipment involved in putting on a show is obsoleteand false. While Ernie doesn't "work by the book,"here are some of the more basic principles he hasevolved: Get picture sequence in mind while first readingscript. Edit script for studio. Start to plan camera shots during line rehearsals.Pre -planning obviously cuts down rehearsal time. Check the high spots in the script with cameraangling in mind. Ask the actors to hit the spots whichare going to be highlighted by the cameras. Figure out camera action during dry rehearsals. Go straight through the first camera rehearsalwithout stopping-give the cast a chance to warm up,to get used to the cameras and the lights. (And thetime's not wasted for the director either-he gets the

04

ROLLAND V. TOOKECommercial Manager

PAUL KNIGHT CLARENCE THOMANProgram Manager Director of Special Events

whole picture of the problems to be solved and therough spots to be smoothed out.) Stop them the second time through-but only on thebig things. Actors are people too-and they can onlyabsorb so much instruction at a time. Tackle the minor flaws next. Make your plans and stick to them. Constant "mindchanging" will keep everyone in a constant state offlux. There are too many people involved who mustcarry out the director's instructions-and no one yethas invented a push button to change everyone's mindsimultaneously. Use plenty of background music where the scriptcan stand it. Pipe the music into the studio to put the cast intothe right mood during certain scenes.

About four to one camera rehearsal is adequatewith proper pre -rehearsal planning. As soon as actorsand directors have more experience, rehearsals can becut to two to one or lower.

WPTZ's plans call for a stock company, a musi-cal troupe and a ballet ensemble as a nucleus for thesetypes of productions. Keeping your own staff of talenton tap, training them to your way of doing things,making them video -wise will eliminate many of pres-ent-day programming headaches.

8 Television

Script MarkingBorrowing from the methods used to make a musical

score, Ernie has worked out his own system of cameracueing a dramatic script. With columns for cameras1 and 2 alongside the script, a vertical line is drawnunder the camera which is on the air down to thepoint in the script where a switch to another camerais made. A horizontal line is then used over to thenext column to show the switch and the same verticalline principle is used until the next camera change.Symbols have also been worked out-such as the cir-cle for a pan; a square for dollying; a C with an arrowpointing up or down for tilting; a wide H with a wavyline through the horizontal bar for dissolves. Withthese symbols superimposed over the line at the rightspot in the script, camera action can be seen at aglance.

RemotesIn pre-war days, WPTZ did a lot of remote pick-

ups-baseball, conventions, football, rodeos. Even dur-

ERNEST WALLINGFrecutive Producer

W. CRAIG SMITHArt Director

A. M. HOPWOODTransmitter Engineer

ing the war they continued, with their seventh fallseason of telecasting of all Penn home football games,sponsored this season by the Atlantic Refining Com-pany for the sixth consecutive year.

Clarence Thoman, special events director, believesthat local color is important in any remote and WPTZfootball telecasts show that he practices what hepreaches. Sam Stewart, assigned as "stage manager"on remotes, sits next to the announcer and his as-sistant, and spots the color on the field - the fightwhich breaks out in the grandstand; the drunk whoelects himself comedian for the day ; the inevitable dogwhich trots out after a player. Having two-way com-munication with the director in the control booth, Samcan point these things out.

At Franklin Field, two cameras are set up in theupper stand at about the 50 -yard line, separated bythe announcer's booth. Director Thoman believes thatcameras should be in approximately the same spot sothat they are shooting from the same angle-in otherwords, have the camera action the same as if theviewer were sitting there turning his head from sideto side to catch the play. While two cameras are ade-quate to do the job, no director ever feels he hasenough. Among other things, he would like to have acamera mounted on a truck to roll up and down theside lines, catching such human interest shots as thecoach tearing his hair out at a fumble, etc.

WPTZ was the first to install a monitor for the an-nouncer so that he could see what was going over theair and key his commentary to the picture the homeviewer is seeing.

Up in the control booth, Clarence Thoman directs thecameramen. Program is sent by radio relay to Wynd-moor transmitter. On Franklin Field, WPTZ has con-structed two transmitters and one receiving antenna,so that the director can receive the commercial seg-ments on the viewing screen.

This fall's schedule also includes the Sunday after-noon pro games from Shibe Park-so the equipment ismoved out and set up over there. Then the same thingstarts all over again.Sponsored Programs

WPTZ has recently set up a tentative rate cardbased on a thirteen -week contract. Charge is $180 perhalf hour and $300 per hour of studio air time. Re-hearsal time is $50 per hour to the nearest half hour.Art and construction work is charged on a man-hourbasis. Film rates are set at $140 per hour; $80 per half

DAVID MILLERStudio Engineer

JOHN ROTHRemote Engineer

hour and $50 per quarter hour.Their experience in trying to put television on a

commercial basis showed that it's not too difficult amatter to interest prospective clients in television untilyou hit the question of "Alright, but what will wedo?" For this reason, Philco is setting aside in theirbudget an appropriation for commercial program ex-perimentation so that potential sponsors can be showna complete program, rather than given a written storyoutline or an on -paper idea.

A case in point is the Sears "Visiquiz" program, anaudience -viewer participation show, in which theprizes are Sears merchandise. The idea was sold tothe client and the agency. Auditions were arranged foran emcee and a girl assistant, with members of theagency, sponsor and WPTZ present to make the selec-tion. Once that was over, the show went into produc-tion. Both had to be trained for video and rehearsalswere held on the first few shows to put the idea overto them. Now, with the exception of the opening andclosing, the show is ad lib and no rehearsals are neces-sary.

The Gimbel program, "All Eyes on Gimbels," is ascripted show, with the script written by Gimbels anddry rehearsals held before the show comes into thestudio for camera rehearsal. During this show, theGimbel man sits alongside the director in the controlroom as his assistant.

November, 1946 9

Philco's remote equipment is currently used at FranklinField and Shibe Park every week -end for the pick-ups ofthe football games. Remotes rate high in future plans.

Relayed ProgramsIn 1941, Philco started radio relaying New York

television programs to Philadelphia for rebroadcast byWPTZ. Then in 1944 Philco installed a radio relaystation at Mt. Rose, N. J., halfway between the twocities, to improve the pick-up of its New York pro-grams, and has picked up many of WNBT's programssince that time. Relay has worked very well and now,with some relatively minor improvements, a morepowerful transmitter and a more sensitive receiver hasresulted, and the system is very close to a transparentrelay.

This is the relay which will be used to pick up theWNBT programs and probably programs from otherstations in New York. In the meantime, however, onthe Philadelphia to New York transmission the AT&Tcoax cable will be used for the initial pick-ups. Solu-tion on a two-way radio relay can be easily achieved-one method being to build another station probablyaround Elizabeth, N. J. Electrical interference aroundNew York makes radio relaying to this city more dif-ficult than relaying from it.

So much for the technical angles of the two-waypickups. From the programming side, effects are farreaching in solving program variety and filling the 28hours a week requirement due to go into effect. An-other question to be answered is the rates for relayprograms. Sponsored shows originating in New Yorkwill pay WPTZ for the use of their facilities and theadditional coverage secured in the Philadelphia area.Same will be true of sponsored shows sent from Phillyto New York. Both NBC and Philco are now trying todetermine what these rates should be.

Naturally the best programs from each station willbe selected for transmission. Standard Brands "HourGlass," Bristol-Myers, the Gillette sponsored fights,baseball and other sports events are the choices so far.

There is also a possibility that WPTZ will pick upsome of the CBS programming-particularly the Fordsponsored sports shows, as well as WABD, a few ofwhose programs have already been rebroadcast byWPTZ.

FacilitiesIn their temporary studio WPTZ has two iconoscope

cameras with turret lenses mounted on modified Fear-

less dollies. Lighting consists of 150 watt projectionspots on adjustable tracts-or 35 kw. on both ends ofthe studio. (Ceiling height here is 12'). In order toget away from flat lighting, which detracts so muchfrom any television show, Paul Knight advocates usingprojection floods and spots for highlighting. There aretwo boxes to draw 10 kw. for spotlights and two 5 kw.fresno lights, in addition to 2 kw. spots on standswhich can be adjusted in height and moved around asneeded. Ceiling lights can be tilted. Usually they runabout 55 kw. of light in all shows.

Philco's control room set-up is a model of simplicity.The director sits at the control board, with a clearview of the studio through a large transparent plasticwindow, and does his own switching and fading. Thispanel was designed by Philco for their own use, as theyfelt it was easier to teach a man with show businessbackground how to push a few buttons than to teacha technician show business. Turn tables are next tothe control board. Slides and titling equipment areavailable in the studio with fades and dissolves madeby the program director.

The director has two-way communication with SamStewart, the stage manager, who acts as his repre-sentative on the floor. He cues talent for placing,makes sure titles are in place, etc. Sam can also advisethe director if difficulties come up-such as a cable inthe way of a camera moving, etc.-so that the directorcan plan to hold the shot on one camera until the nextis in place.

Technical panel is separate from the director's boardand there is a video operator for each camera, soundoperator, relay transmitter man and supervisor oftechnical production.

Up at the master control desk at Wyndmoor, wherethe WPTZ transmitter is located, Al Mann coordinatesthe entire program. Two-way communication with thedirector in the control room permits him to give thesignal for cutting from film to studio; from remote tostudio; from relay to studio. Fades and dissolves fromcommercial back to announcer are also made on re-motes.

Film equipment, which is at the Wyndmoor trans-mitter, consists of two 35 mm. projectors, one 16 mm.projector with sound, and a baloptican slide projectorfor transparencies and opaques. A Fairchild recorderis also at Wyndmoor and quickie announcements arerecorded by Al Mann (ex radio announcer), prior toeach telecast. This procedure is more convenient andsaves the expense of hiring an announcer.

Portable suitcase equipment, including two cameraswith four lenses, are used for remotes. Roof of thePhilco mobile unit truck has been constructed to holdtwo cameramen and an announcer for the days whenon -the -street pickups will be a regular feature ofWPTZ.

Props and Paints DepartmentHiring furniture for sets and set dressings is not

too easy a matter in the city of Brotherly Love, soWPTZ is now building up their prop department. Mainpoint in purchasing props is interchangeability-foreverything should be selected from a multiple useviewpoint. Simple system of indexing has been de-vised, whereby each prop is numbered to correspondto the shelf where it belongs. Cross index system, bothby shelf number and by name of article, makes forquick reference. After a show all props can be placedin hand carts and numbering system makes it easy tosort them out the next day.

(Continued on page 24)

10 Television

Television outlook in LOS ANGELES

WITH Howard Hughes withdrawing from boththe TV and FM pictures, Los Angeles contest

is now a draw-with seven applicants for the sevenavailable channels.

Hughes' move came as a surprise for FCC decisionwas expected momentarily on the eight day hearingsheld in Los Angeles last May. At that time Hughesstacked up as the biggest potential spender with theproposed yearly operating cost totaling $1,307,724.

Left in the field are the two pioneer coast televisionstations Don Lee and Television Productions; the netinterests, ABC and NBC; The Times-Mirror Company,local newspaper publishers; Earle C. Anthony, Inc.,owner and operator of KFI, an NBC affiliate; andDorothy S. Thackrey, publisher of the New York Post,

as well as owner of KLAC, KYA (San Francisco) andWLIB (New York).

If okays go through, this will give NBC its fifthvideo channel (CPs having already been granted inWashington, D. C., Chicago and Cleveland, plus theoperating station WNBT in New York), and ABC itsthird go-ahead, with grants in Chicago and Detroit,and others pending in New York and San Francisco.Don Lee has been operating experimentally in LosAngeles since 1931 over W6XAO and is also on file fora station in San Francisco. Application of TelevisionProductions, 100% Paramount subsidiary, is one ina series of applications by Paramount subsidiaries.Company has been programming over W6XYZ since1942. The Times-Mirror and Earle C. Anthony tele-vision plans are limited to Los Angeles alone.

LOS ANGELES SCRATCH SHEETThe

Times-MirrorAnthony Don Lee

T

ABC Thackrey TelevisionProductions

NBC

NOT GIVEN DUEConstruction Costs $3,768,500' $195,008.32 $45,0005 $589,258 $220,550 TO PRESENT $237,500CONDITIONS

$261,000Equipment Costs $570,900 $219,986.60' $248,188 $334,570 $287,300 $121,095 $897,500

ON HAND

Operating Expense $1,000,000'I st Yr. '

$421,269.60 $172,084.78 $821,308 $335,041.56 $896,000" $1,320,708

Revenue $655,200 --Program% Sustaining I00% 70% 35% 100% 100% 100° c% Commercial 30% 65%

Network Plans Regional Yes Yes Yes

Personnel# Technical 113 ( 38 ( 37 54 20 ( 100 ( 116# Program / ) ) 48 22 I i

Programming% Studio 55.3% 3.25% 30%40% 42% 42.8% 38%0% Film 25.9% 37.2% 20%-30% I7% 50% 21%% Remote 18.8% 30.3% 40% 41 % 7.2% 41%

Includes erection of 10 story building.2 Includes equipment coats.3 $40,000 a month thereafter.

$90,356.3 additional already invested in television.° Total expenditure and investment $985.546.04. Based on 40 hour weekly schedule.

November, 1946

N

00

WITH sports pick-ups easily ac-corded first place as the best

means of selling television to thepublic, The Goodyear Tire & Rub-ber Company made their entry intotelevision with the sponsorship ofthe Army football games. WithBlanchard, Davis & Company stillholding forth this year and promis-

> ing to be the twin threats to anyteam's aspirations, telecasting of

tithe games has high prestige value-a point on which Goodyear iscapitalizing. Arranged through N.W. Ayer & Son, games are beingcarried over WNBT, from WestPoint, from the Yankee Stadium inNew York, and from Franklin Fieldin Philadelphia.

Not having to worry over theformat or the entertainment valueof the show they were putting on,N. W. Ayer's television director,Don McClure and Dick Rose, tele-vision art director for the agency,turned their full attention to thecommercials. Break -down of a foot-ball game offers such natural spots

FOOTBALL TAKESBy Sidney R. Lane

as before the game, at the quarters,during the half and after the gamefor the sponsor's message. Butsince normal tendency of the vieweris usually to break away from theset at these times, they felt thatspecial care must be taken with thecommercial to keep them there andto get the message across.

Commercial TreatmentFirst thing they decided on were

short, punchy, visual commercials,with product identification themeused for before and after gamespots; 45 -second message at thequarters and the dramatized prod-uct commercial at the half.

Film commercials were deemed a

must, both from the nature of theproduct and the fact that filmwould be easier to work with. Bulkof the film was obtained from afilm library - such as the generalmontage effects used for the open-ing and closing commercial. Insome of the dramatized commer-cials, Goodyear films were editeddown - such as the one used todemonstrate the testing of Life-Guard Safety Tubes. Naturallysome had to be shot specifically forthe show-the Goodyear trademarkand the Goodyear flag, etc.

Working through a film librarycuts cost, of course, and saves time,the agency feels-when shots whichfit in with the theme can be ob-tained. However, it's a long, tediousjob-as both Don McClure and DickRose can testify.

The same visual commercials areused each week for the opening,closing and quarter mark spots.Pre -game commercial, which runsfor 45 seconds, shows the GoodyearWingfoot trademark, animated.

cial is given as accompaniment.Closing commercial shows the

Goodyear flag, followed by a globeof the world with a Goodyear tirearound it. Next cut is to an autotraveling along a highway, followedby a shot of an airplane, then backto the tire encircling the globe, andfinally fading out on the Goodyearflag. Closing commercial runs 35seconds and off -screen commentaryties in an invitation for next week'sgame-as Goodyear's guest.

Product PlugsIt's at the half time mark that a

dramatized visual commercial on aspecific product is given. To givethe viewers all the excitement thata football game means-and to keepthem looking at the screen insteadof going in search of a drink-cam-eras pick up the local color on thefield, the bands playing, the pa-rades, etc. Then into the commer-cial. Goodyear tires, LifeGuardSafety Tubes and Neolite soles andheels are the three products being

WINGS VIA RELAY!!This is followed by a montage intothe Goodyear flag, then a cross -dissolve to a score -board which an-nounces the teams for the day'sgame. Another cross -dissolve to filmcuts of marching cadets follows,winding up with a shot of the Good-year flag. While this accomplishesproduct identification, the viewergets visual information on theteams, sees the cadets marching andis prepped for the game to follow.

Quarter time commercial againties in the color of the game withGoodyear. This is put across byflashing a clock, encircled with aGoodyear tire, to show the time outperiod, ticking away, and a 45 -sec-ond straight -audio selling commer-

plugged - with two commercialseach on the tires and LifeGuardsand one on the Neolite soles andheels. This gives them five differentvisualizations.

Typical of the treatment whichthese commercials receive is theone of LifeGuard Safety Tubes.Dramatizing the emotional appealof safeguarding the lives of yourfamily and children, plug startedoff with the off -screen announce-ment . . . "Goodyear the greatestname in rubber . . ." then switchedto a solitary helpless child, with thecommentary implying that we mustdo all we can to protect them fromthe dangers of blow -outs. Next shotshows a speeding car heading for

An accolade must go to John K. Hough. directorof advertising of the Goodyear Tire and RubberCompany for his realization of the importance ofadvertising on television now. The sponsorship ofthe West Point football games this season gave hiscompany valuable experience and high promotionalreward. But more important than that is the factthat it has given Goodyear an option on tomorrow'shuge television audience.

trouble - then it happens - blow-out. But the driver didn't lose con-trol . . . he is riding on Goodyear'sLife Guard Safety Tubes whichgives him plenty of time to bringthe car to a safe and gradual stop.This is followed by a close-up whichshowed the inner construction ofthe LifeGuard. Sign -off showed theGoodyear flag.

Another commercial used at thehalf-time is one for Neolite Soles.Film dissolves from the Goodyearflag to a special torture chamberfor testing soles. Close-ups of thesole show it surviving the rigors ofhammering, rubbing, and water -soaking. Keyed with the words thatchildren are especially hard onshoes, are shots of a girl playingHop -Scotch, and a grinning boykicking a football. Close-up of theboy kicking the ball is in slow-motion to add emphasis to the act.Next is a dissolve to the two chil-dren running home to mother, whotalks of the consoling factor thatgrowing children's feet have theprotection of Neolite . . . and thatthe same quality is available inadults' shoes. Film then revealsmother placing shoes on the shoe -rack of her closet. This is done asa reverse shot through the closet

door which reveals the name Neo-lite on all the shoes on the rack.The fact that the same soles areavailable in stylish shoes is empha-sized here. Commercial closes witha final closeup of the Goodyear flagflying briskly in the breeze.

Technical ProblemsBut not quite so easy as having

the flag fly in the breeze, were thetechnical problems presented by re-laying three of the games from theWest Point stadium. Solution wasfinally worked out through a com-bination of coax cable and radio re-lay. Cameras in the stadium areconnected by cable to the NBCportable television trucks set up be-hind the stadium. A coax cable con-nects the truck with the AT&Tradio relay transmitter whichbeams the pictures to Crow's Nest.From there the signal is fed intoanother AT&T transmitter whichsends it by radio relay to theWNBT studios, where it passesthrough the Master Control andthen by coaxial cable to the Em-pire State Building for transmis-sion to the viewer. Games at Yan-kee Stadium, climaxed with thetraditional Army -Notre Damegame, are handled in the regularway.

The setup for telecasting fromBaltimore was a milestone in thedevelopment of an east coast tele-vision network. The game wasmicro -waved from the BaltimoreStadium to station WBAL, andfrom there the signal was fed tothe coaxial cable and transmittedsouth and north to Washington andNew York.

Summing It Up...So once again another big name

advertiser has thrown aside thetheory that there are still notenough sets to count and whybother with television now. Withmore sets operating in public placesand with audiences estimated ashigh as 150 gathered around themfor exciting sports events, this bul-wark of the old school of thought isleaking badly.

But aside from the audience,Goodyear is another newcomer totelevision and has sewn up one ofthe most interesting sports spots ofthe fall season. The promotionalpossibilities and the prestige-plusthe actual experience in television-will more than pay off when the

score is tallied.

14 Television

A. T. & T.network plansComplete story on construction schedule, equipmentdevelopment and rates outlined by L. G. Woodford,general manager, long lines department, American Tele-phone & Telegraph Company, at the TBA Conference.

IT HAS occurred to me that the two main subjectsfor discussion are:

First-What are the transmission facilities the BellSystem is undertaking to provide for the televisionindustry?

Second-When will these facilities be available be-tween certain points?

Types of FacilitiesThe type of facility suitable for television transmis-

sion which has undergone the greatest development todate is the coaxial cable. We are making real progressin the construction of coaxial networks and in the de-velopment of apparatus employed in their operation.

Early in 1944, the American Telephone and Tele-graph Company announced a five to six -year construc-tion program involving 7,000 route miles of coaxialcable. That program is now being compressed intoabout three years, and additional routes have beenadded to the enlarged program, so that by about 1950

we expect to have some 12,000 route miles of this broadband cable in service.

As of October 1, about 2,700 miles of coaxial cablewere in the ground, and construction is moving for-ward rapidly at a rate which will approach 3,000 milesnext year. Right now, cable plow trains on the South-

ern transcontinental route are laying cable betweenJackson, Miss., and Shreveport, Louisiana, and areoperating as far west as El Paso. Other trains areplacing cable between Buffalo and Cleveland.

Many of you, of course, are acquainted with coaxialcable, at least in a general way. But I should liketo tell you about a few of its highly interesting aspectswhich may not have come to your attention.

Take, for example, the big job of laying the cableacross the Southern transcontinental route. This routegoes through cities and towns of all sizes and acrossterrain of all descriptions. The cable is tailor-made tofit the requirements of each type of terrain. Throughcities it is placed in conduit; through areas subject tofrequent electrical storms, it is enclosed in a specialcopper jacketing; through particularly rugged sectionswhere rocks and boulders are encountered, and incrossing streams, a protective armor covering is used.

Larger Coaxial TubesThe coaxial "tubes" first used in 1936 were about a

quarter of an inch in diameter. Because of the widerfrequency bands now contemplated, the diameter of thetubes now being put into the cables has been increasedto three -eighths of an inch. These larger tubes permitus to station the auxiliary repeaters eight miles apart,instead of five and a half miles, and to put the mainrepeater stations as much as 150 miles apart, as com-pared to 90 miles in the case of the earlier cables. Therepeaters, as you know, make up for the weakening ofthe signal in passing over the cable. Toward the endof an eight -mile section, the strength of the signalmay be only a hundred -thousandth as great as it wasat the beginning of the section. Most of the auxiliaryrepeaters are in small, unattended buildings which arevisited only in case of trouble and for periodic routinetests.

A/ / // I

// / /

f//vme

/ // / / / //

umm.

Steps which have been taken to insure continuousand satisfactory operation are particularly interesting.You know perhaps that coaxial cables contain specialpairs of wires, in addition to the actual coaxial tubes,which help us to do the maintenance job. Continuousinformation as to the operation of the equipment inthe auxiliary repeater stations is sent automaticallyover these wires to the main repeater stations. Achange in the signal strength at any repeater mayindicate a weakening of that link in the chain. Suchan occurrence is immediately made known to attend-ants, even though they may be miles away. This per-mits potentially weak apparatus to be replaced beforea failure can occur.

As a further precaution to insure continuous service,each repeater has a double set of vacuum tubes, so thatfailure of a single vacuum tube will not cause an in-terruption.

Power for operating the repeaters is supplied fromcommercial sources through connections at the mainrepeater stations. Here again careful precautions aretaken to prevent interruption of service. Large stor-age batteries and gasoline driven engines are providedfor emergency use. Power for the auxiliary repeatersis transmitted from the main stations over the centralconductors of the coaxial tubes themselves.

In television transmission, each frequency com-ponent in the broad band required must travel overthe circuit at the exact speed of every other frequencyin the band. We know that if some frequencies arriveat a distant point a millionth of a second later thanthe other frequencies, the picture will appear quitefuzzy. Our precision job in this respect has been todevelop apparatus which makes extremely accurateadjustments in the time of travel as between frequen-cies. Those frequencies on the outer edge of the bandhave a tendency to move just a little more slowly thanthose nearer the center. This means that certain fre-quencies must be slowed up to permit other frequenciesto catch up. For the sake of comparison, just imaginetwo trains in a coast -to -coast race, reaching the finishline less than a train length apart.

It has been our view that coaxial cables are fairlycertain to play a prominent role in network televisiontransmission. Their reliability, the fact that the BellSystem is constructing a network of coaxial cables fortelephone usage between the principal cities of the na-tion, and the expectation that further developmentswill make it possible to provide both telephone andtelevision channels over the same coaxial conductors,all make the coaxial seem an attractive type of facilityfor television network use.

We are not placing our reliance solely on coaxialcable, however. The Bell Telephone Laboratories arealso conducting extensive development work on radiorelay systems. One such system is now being installedbetween New York and Boston and is expected to beavailable for experimental use next spring. Shouldradio relay systems prove advantageous for use eitheralone or in conjunction with coaxial cables, they will,of course, be utilized where indicated.

Local FacilitiesThus far we have been speaking only of facilities

for inter -city network transmission. These would ap-pear to be of first importance because of the economicsof network broadcasting and because of the urge therewill be to bring events of national interest to all im-portant centers of population. But local facilities alsoare a necessity to the broadcaster, and the Bell Labora-

tories have made progress in developing arrangementsfor this purpose as well.

For studio -transmitter links-where a permanent,reliable, high-grade facility is required-coaxial cablealready has been provided in a number of cases and weare now experimenting with a type of specially shieldedbalanced cable pair which we believe will be even bettersuited to this purpose in many situations.

For carrying programs from remote pick-up pointsto the broadcasters' control rooms, we have developedboth radio and wire methods.

It has been found that ordinary telephone wires canbe used for this purpose when special amplifying andequalizing equipment is provided, and the wires arecleared of all branching connections. This method hasthe great advantage that the wires already exist tomost all points of interest.

Micro -wave radio links may be better adapted forlocal pick-up facilities where "line -of -sight" locationscan be found for the transmitter and the receiver. Inshort, it appears to us that both wire and radio facili-ties will have fields of use for local pick-ups.

Time TableOur plans for future construction are based primar-

ily on our need for coaxial facilities for telephoneservice. Since these facilities will be provided to takecare of growth over a reasonable period of years, weexpect to have spare coaxials on almost all of theseroutes, which can be used for television transmissionuntil more facilities become available. Such use fortelevision, however, requires special terminal and lineequipment and other arrangements over and abovethose required for telephone service.

We expect the embryonic network which now con-nects New York and Washington with two-way tele-vision facilities to be extended to Boston next year,using radio relay. We expect also to make available twoadditional one-way television circuits between NewYork and Washington next year. In 1947 we will pushwestward towards Pittsburgh, and hope to be able toconnect such cities as Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Chi-cago, and St. Louis by the end of 1948 or shortly there-after. Other cities in this general area probably canbe connected not much later than this.

In addition, we expect the Southern transcontinentalroute through Washington, Atlanta, Dallas, El Pasoand on to Los Angeles to be completed by the end of1947, as well as an extension along the Atlantic sea-board to Miami. This does not mean that a coast -to -coast television circuit will be available by that time,although the basic coaxial facilities will be installedand in operation for telephone service.

One aspect of the situation which we expect will bepresent for the next couple of years is that the numberof television network facilities we can make availablebetween these major cities generally will be limited toone in each direction. This means that several broad-casters may have to share the use of these networks.

New RepeaterAs soon as we can catch up with the demand for

telephone circuits or the development of new equip-ment can be completed-for example, a new type ofrepeater which will permit us to transmit telephoneand television simultaneously on the same coaxial con-ductors-this sharing can be eliminated.

The new type of repeater just referred to, as nowprojected, will make it possible to transmit a band of

(Continued on page 24)

16 Television

INDUSTRY TODAY

Left to right: Paul Raibourn, president of Television Productions; J. R. Poppele, vice-president, secretary and chiefengineer of Bamberger Broadcasting System; Ralph B. Austrian, president of RKO Television-at the TBA Conference.

44TELE VISION-It's Here" is the industry slogan.But "Television-It's Here To Stay" will be de-

cided by an eager public who have given every indi-cation of buying receivers as soon as they are avail-able. And if there was one central theme runningthrough the entire agenda of the TBA conference, itwas the oft -repeated statement that keeping televisionsold is the mutual responsibility of everyone connectedwith the industry. Pioneer telecasters and engineershave developed television during the long viewer -lessand profitless years-it's now the manufacturers' re-sponsibility to start the receivers rolling off the pro-duction lines. It is the joint responsibility of the manu-facturer and the dealer to insure correct installation;of the telecaster to keep aware of reception in his area;of the programming departments and the agencies toremember always that "the show's the thing."

The sociological aspects of television were stressedby many of the speakers-and keynoted in TBA pres-ident Jack Poppele's speech, "Television's great chal-lenge is one of moral responsibility ... it must be cleanand wholesome, completely tolerant, fair in all publicissues." Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith verbally rapped a fewknuckles when he called upon "all groups interested intelevision to support vigorously whatever program themajority may desire."

Perhaps the most understanding appraisal of theindustry's immediate problems is the following state-ment by Ernest H. Vogel, vice-president in charge ofsales for Farnsworth. Pushing aside the adage, "whichcomes first, the chicken or the egg," he states that theresponsibility of presenting television to the public isnow the manufacturers.

With the public ready to buy; distributors, dealers,etc., ready to stock the merchandise; broadcasting in-

terests impatiently awaiting circulation (receivers)which will enable them to augment their programs on areasonably sound economic basis, and advertisersawaiting an audience to move in aggressively, he con-cludes, "The next step is now solely up to the receivermanufacturer."

Ernest VogelWith past restrictions out of the way and the solu-

tion to the materials problem almost certain to beachieved during 1947, industry's challenge is to pro-duce 750,000 to 1,000,000 receivers during the comingyear. "In setting this objective, I have tempered thefigures by my estimate of the ability of the industry toproduce and am not limiting this projection to thedesire and the ability of the public to purchase . . .

With this circulation available, program costs wouldbe evaluated from an entirely different viewpoint. Thisexperience in 1947 would set the tempo in dozens ofother cities and accelerate the speed with which servicewould be established in these other markets."

Pointing out that present black -and -white standardshave resulted from years of "calm deliberation by themost advanced technical minds in this field," he statedthat television today is offered in a higher state oftechnical perfection than any other vital public serviceat the time of its introduction.

As for the pessimists with their constant bringingup of future problems, best squelcher to that are theobvious facts that the advent of the automobile was notheld back until millions of miles of highways were con-structed, or radio kept in the laboratories until indus-try had all the answers to networking, high powertransmission, cleared channels and so forth.

November, 1946 17

STATION OPERATIONSUNDERLYING theme of the station managers' dis-

cussion was the preparation being done for com-mercial television and the programming and opera-tional policy which is now in effect to attain that end.

WNBTNoran Kersta, station manager of WNBT, which

leads the field with the number of commercially spon-sored shows, detailed the type of programming whichNBC has put on to build their listening audience-small as it is. Highlights of this programming includethe pick-up of all sports events-tennis matches, base-ball, football and fights; the building of package showsfor sponsorship; the Sunday night full length plays,either adapted from Broadway productions or originalscripts; on the street pick-ups; the NBC Newsreel; the"Hour Glass," and film documentaries.

WRGBG. Emerson Markham, WRGB's station manager,

while maintaining that the station has an amateurstanding, nevertheless stressed their interest in com-mercial television. Station policy has been to cooperatewith advertisers, letting them become familiar withthe new medium under informal operating conditions."When C -Day comes for us, we propose to be ready forit and to provide promotional values as nearly as pos-sible in line with costs," stated Mr. Markham.

With eight years operating experience and 2000 airshows, WRGB has streamlined their activities to getpractical results in the least amount of time. Wholeset-up has been carefully systematized and a well out-lined and defined schedule worked out for the staff tofollow. (See "WRGB Station Operations" in SeptemberTELEVISION for complete details.)

"As far as floor duties are concerned, staff members`double in brass' .. . This promotes flexibility of opera-tion, personal resourcefulness and all-round experience.There are limits to how far we can go with inter-changeability, however . . . Where specialization isnecessary we specialize."

Looking forward to network operation, and in factwith the WNBT pick-ups now regularly on theirschedule, station has become time -conscious. Final re-hearsal is a timing run, with programs predicated onfive minute segments.

"To sum up-WRGB today is a lively concern withan eye to the future. We are prepared to take our placeas a cooperative network affiliate," Mr. Markham con-cluded.

WABDRobert Jamieson, assistant manager of WABD,

stressed the importance of multi -studios if televisionprogramming is to be smooth. "Presently we are oper-ating three days per week in studio with two additionaldays a week being programmed with motion picturefilm features and sporting events picked up by ourmobile unit from local sporting arenas. In most cases,we have been able to maintain a 40 -hour work weekfor our staff of 85.

"The two major divisions of WABD personnel canbe classified as maintenance and operating . . . Themaintenance crew is required to report for work eachday at nine. This allows the morning for maintenancework since early afternoon rehearsals are required forprogram operation commitments. The operating per-

sonnel report for work at 12:30 p.m. and continue onthrough rehearsals and air time. The maintenancecrew, however, leaves at 5:30. If trouble should be en-countered during the evening, instructions are leftwhich directs the maintenance crew to make repairsthe next morning. Under this system, a 40 hour workweek is easily adhered to."

W6XYZKlaus Landsberg, west coast tele director for Tele-

vision Productions, (W6XYZ, Hollywood), prefaced hisspeech with the statement that Hollywood has all theadvantages over other centers, both as to talent and asthe scene of motion picture production. Television is ascreen medium and W6XYZ, being a Paramount sub-sidiary, is able to draw on the parent company for sets,talent, etc.

Program experimentation has tended toward doing aseries of shows-such as "Embarrassing Moments" orthe current "Movietown Backstage." They feel thatover a 20 week period they can really learn how topresent a particular type of show in the best and mostentertaining manner. Films have been left out of theirprogram structure for the past four years because theyfelt they knew how to make pictures and they weremore interested in learning how to make televisionentertaining.

Recent experience with remotes-notably the tennismatches and the sheriff's rodeo-convinced Landsbergthat it's good policy to sandwich interviews with per-sonalities in between the sport events to keep the view-ers interested. He estimates that about 50% of pro-grams will be special events.

W6XAOHarry Lubcke, television director of Don Lee's

W6XAO, also stressed that their present day opera-tions is one of preparing for commercialization. In1940, company built the world's largest television plant,with both outdoor and indoor studios. Studio area wasutilized recently by setting up a tennis court and put-ting on tennis matches at night-as they feel morepeople could view them in the evening hours. Mr.Lubcke believes that the living room will take an activepart in education and that adults and children willcontinue to learn as well as be entertained through themedium of television.

Both Mr. Landsberg and Mr. Lubcke stressed theexcellent topographical conditions around Los Angeles.Tests have shown that the signal may be picked up inSan Diego, 115 miles away.

WBKBCaptain William Eddy, station manager of WBKB,

detailed the thinking behind the sliding scale rate cardwhich the station recently issued. (Printed in OctoberTELEVISION). By ascertaining fixed labor and oper-ating expenses, the expense curve could also be esti-mated for a specified future period. Under this systemthe advertiser receives a fair return during the periodwhen development is being done; he pays only foractual receivers in use in the area, and receives theadvantage of coming in early under the lower ratesand having those same rates apply for the duration ofhis contract, with the advantage of a growing audi-ence.

Benefits to the station include a system under whichincome and outgo remain close to the graph ; the attain-ment of commercial operation in a predictable time;a chance to interest advertisers on a reasonable basis;

18 Television

TBA Awa-ds of Morit:I. Donovan B. .utter, advertising director of Standard Brands: for

producing :he best entertainment program-the "Hour Glass."2. Dr. Oliver P.. Buckley, president of Bell Telephone Laboratories: "for

his supervision of the application of television to military usesand his work in the application of his broad communicationknowledge of the transmission of television programs."

S. Keith S. McHugh. vice president of the American Telephone &Telegraph Company: for his work in furthering a program offacilities to transmit nation-wide television on a commercial basis."

4. Klaus Landsberg, west coast television director of Television Pro-ductions: for the best public service program.

5. Noran E. Kersta, manager of NBC Television Department, is shownhere receiving an award for John F. Royal. vice president of NBCTelevision. Royal was honored for producing the telecast of theLouis -Conn fight.

& Paul Belanger, television director at WCBW: tor the outstandingartistic program.

I. Dr. Paul K. Weiner, Dr. Harold B. Law and Dr. Albert Rost (leftto right) of RCA Laboratories: for the outstanding technical con-tribution to televilion-the development of the image orthicon.

an opportunity to watch plan of operations throughearly commercialization and thus set a guide for fu-ture operation.

Spots are limited to three a day and must be accom-panied by a public service message, such as time orweather report. Rehearsal ratios have been fixed witha penalty over 4 to 1 in order that as much pre -prep-aration be done by the sponsor as possible and thuseliminate unnecessary facilities tie-up. Result of thishas been that WBKB's alloted time has been sold andthe Chicago viewers will be getting better entertain-ment.

ABCPaul Mowrey, national television director of ABC,

emphasized the promotional possibilities which tele-vision offers. Stressing that ABC has sold television onthe "forget an audience-here is your chance to learn"basis, Mowrey detailed the extras which certain ad-vertisers had received from television experimenta-tion. Filming of special events, while too costly aprocess for one-time shots, can be made to pay bydual use of the film. Accounts, such as U. S. Rubber,made use of this with their sponsorship of the Automo-tive Jubilee Parade, by showing prints all over thecountry to their dealers and distributors.

Stating that this stand-by period of television hasbeen used to good advantage and that the 1946 videoviewers will not be the guinea pigs early radio listenerswere, Mowrey said: ". . . The kindergarten stage oftelevision programming is over. We are now enteringa more specialized period of experimentation. Thosewho enter video today need not proceed from scratch,but, on the contrary, may profit from what we havelearned in the past." On the subject of film, Mowreystated that ABC will film such special events as can-not be picked up live.

WPTZRolland Tooke, station manager of WPTZ, outlined

the Philco operation and summed up television's placein Philadelphia with the statement: "There's nothingwrong with television in Philadelphia, which 100,000receivers wouldn't cure overnight."

WPTZ are supplementing their studio schedule withrelay pick-ups from WNBT. Plans call for extension oftheir remote pick-ups, which presently include tele-casting the Penn home football games from FranklinField on Saturday afternoon and the pro games fromShibe Park on Sunday afternoon. The Penn games willbe replaced with Saturday night sports games whenthe season closes. (For complete story of "WPTZ Sta-tion Operations," see page 7.)

ADVERTISING

WITH sales results the important factor in any ad-vertising medium, perhaps the most encouraging

report on television was that of David Arons of Gim-bel's, Philadelphia. Basing their figures on the 752 setowners in the Philadelphia area, Gimbel has been ableto trace a sales return as high as Vic (based on totalset owners) for a single program.

Gimbel's has experimented with many types of pro-grams, in an effort to determine the best way of pre-senting the commercial. Dramatic skits were droppedbecause they felt they were too unreal, too obscure inselling merchandise. The commercials are now slanted

towards "presenting real people in real studios doingreal things with merchandise the first consideration."Interesting was Mr. Arons' report on subject material.Fashions "whose chief assets are color, pattern, ma-terials and details were ruled out. They fall flat on tele-vision . . . only those things which could be demon-strated, interestingly and realistically were chosen. Aclever vacuum cleaner is perfect for television." Manyitems such as black plastic, aluminum and copper kitch-en gadgets could not be used. They become too hot tohandle under studio lights. Many a garden demonstra-tion required duplicate plants as stand-ins for thosekilled by the intense heat.

The demonstration that produced the 3% sales re-turn was on postwar kitchen gadgets. Theme was theold and new way of doing kitchen chores. Can opener,rolling pin, mop, sweeper, food slicer, and egg beaterwere demonstrated, with the items shown in actual use.In the twenty-four hours following the program, elevencustomers phoned and twelve came in for one to fourof the items demonstrated. Gimbel's plans at present tocontinue their television series with straight, un-dramatized commercials featuring items that can bedemonstrated effectively.

Film ApproachJohn Allen of Marschalk and Pratt, agency for the

Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, summed uptheir film approach to television commercials :

"We believe the format of television commercials,motion picture or live, should follow basic advertisingprinciples. We use a title to perform some of the func-tions of a headline . . . primarily to arouse interest.

"We try to open with scenes that present a problemor situation with which the viewer can easily identifyhimself. We offer a solution through the use of someEsso product or service.

"We back up our claims with visual proof of effec-tiveness whenever possible. We show where to buy . . .

'at your neighborhood Esso dealer.'"These principles are basic and well known. They

form the mold into which you pour your material. Theingredients that make up the material, however, maynot be so widely known."

Charles Durban, assisting advertising director ofthe U. S. Rubber Company, analysed television fromthe advertiser's point of view. Mr. Durban stated theirapproach to films strictly from a promotion angle withtelevision incidental.

"We do try to cut and edit with television in mindwhich doesn't do the film any harm for other purposes.While U. S. Rubber has used film extensively in tele-vision they do use live commercials as well.

"We think intelligently handled live commercialshave as assured a place in television as film. Time is amost important factor.

"Live commercials give a corresponding advantagein time over films. Where the commercial is to be a one-time, one -station affair, the live commercial enjoys acost advantage. Flexibility is a point. Tires might bethe product we wanted to show in Washington, but atthe same time it might be best to feature footwear inPhiladelphia and raincoats in New York. Film could dothis, of course, but only at the expense of a ratherlarge film library and it would be pretty hard to justifyits cost at the moment and for some time to come. Thestudio audience is sometimes important. This is par-ticularly true in department stores and departmentstores are outlets for a great deal of our merchandise.

20 Television

Another way to use the live commercial is to work itinto the show itself, when such a move is logical. Wedo that now in 'Television Quarterback' over NBC,starring Lou Little. Lou gave us the idea himself byad libbing some remarks about our products, and nowwe try to do it just as acceptably but on a slightlybetter organized basis."

Tele NowR. M. Gray, manager of the advertising -sales promo-

tion department of the Standard Oil Company of NewJersey, gave four main reasons why Esso is spendingimportant money in television now.

"The first I would call technical experience. We wantto know how to produce good commercials, from aproduction standpoint. Commercials that will make thebest possible use of a new medium which combinessight, sound and motion.

"The second reason is to gain knowledge of show-manship in this medium .. . to learn by doing .. . andto gain an appreciation of what people like.

"The third reason grows out of an obligation webelieve most advertisers feel towards any new medium.Development is a teamwork job. It requires coopera-tion of advertiser and advertising medium to lead themedium out of experimental stages to the point whereit can roll up its sleeves and go to work.

"The fourth objective is to gain knowledge of thebest program times to suit our individual problems. . . and to be in the best possible position to establishpriorities on those times."

Touching on films Mr. Gray stated: "I won't go intoall the reasons for our selection of commercials onfilm. We tried many other techniques. We wanted mo-tion. We wanted cars on the road. We wanted ESSOdealers in action at actual ESSO stations.

"We found that-on film-we got more of the thingswe wanted in a more interesting form. We found thesecommercials could be repeated several times, thus dis-tributing the cost over several broadcasts."

Tracing the evolution of the Atlantic Refinery Com-pany's commercials during the six years they havebeen telecasting the Penn football games over WPTZ,Don McClure of N. W. Ayer & Sons, said that the es-tablishment of the puppet gas station attendant"Sparky Atlantic," and the use of film finally climaxedtheir search. Used first in 1945, Sparky drew a 10%response from set owners in the Philadelphia -Camdenarea. "We made four complete visual game sets whichconsisted of an opening-a 2 to 3 minute commercialat half-time-and another at the close of the game .. .Oral commercials were used at quarter times while thecamera picked up the Atlantic field clock . . . We dis-covered two to three minutes is much too long a timefor commercials during an action -packed football game.This year we have re-edited the Sparky commercialsto run from one and one-half to two minutes."

Mr. McClure also pointed out that the commercialsprepared for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Companyfor the Army games are even shorter-with most ofthem running a minute. (For full details of this com-mercial treatment, see "Football Takes Wings via Re-lay" on page 12).

Importance of advertising agencies learning thescope and limitations of the medium were stressed byEd Franklin of Newell Emmett. Among the most im-portant fundamentals for the novice to familiarizehimself with, were the following basic principles:

"Obtain the camera angle arc, and the width of the

stage made available at minimum and maximum shoot-ing distance.

"Make test shots to determine the depth of field;memorize the limitations with regard to the showingof detail-note how much you can pick up and trans-mit at a given distance.

"Become familiar with the translation of the colorsof the spectrum into values of black, white and gray.Charts, made up by the station, will simplify the choiceof all colors used.

"Be simple. Give them action. Don't be bound byother media-you can do things in television that youhave never done before."

Speaking on the live talent approach to a commer-cial, Kendall Foster of William Esty & Company, saidtheir experience proved that five minutes of commer-cial out of a thirty minute show was too much. Adlibbing he feels is dangerous because it may result inerror. On the Super Suds film, voice employed waslive. However costs of $1200 per minute of film he con-siders too high for present day experimentation.

EDUCATION : :

THAT television is the most potentially powerfulmedium yet advanced as an educational aid for in -

school training as well as at home viewing was reiter-ated by every one of the speakers at the educationalpanel.

Interesting angle on the question of sponsorship forschool programs was given by Edward Stasheff of theNew York Board of Education. "Those of us who be-lieve in educational television have long pointed outthat a restrained, institutional plug attached to aneducational telecast is no more out of order than thecredit line of the commercial corporation on the coverof a certain pamphlet, which is distributed widely inthousands of classrooms throughout the nation. Nor dowe object to the film title card which credits a givenautomobile manufacturer for producing a film on theinternal combustion engine . . . However there aremany states where just such a practice is forbidden."

Before the powers with the purse strings can bepersuaded though to install television receivers inclassrooms, telecasters must supply programs-"pro-grams sufficiently valuable, educationally and suffi-ciently well correlated with our curriculum to justifythe expense of receiver installation." Films made es-pecially for the school audience have the assurance ofan annual showing-for this is a repeat business, witheach new class ready for the same units studied by theprevious class in the preceding term. "Television hasone great advantage over standard classroom film-that is its flexibility and timeliness ... Television, evenwhen it uses film, can afford to bring its presentationup-to-date each time it broadcasts. Classroom film,printed in hundreds of copies, represents too great aninvestment to permit of annual reediting and the addi-tion of new footage. Film prepared for television canand must be brought up-to-date each year, and the costof providing fresh footage and new editing for the oneprint to be telecast in any given community will becomparatively minor."

Remote broadcasts will also be important, stated Mr.

November, 1946 21

Stasheff and as a further adjunct to education, actualparticipation in television by the students is recom-mended at the Junior High level. (Weekly quiz pro-gram along these lines is slated to start in Novemberover. WCBW, with 400 students and 40 teachers par-ticipating over a six month period.)

"We also ask that some thought be given to educa-

tional models . . . either in cheap plywood or metalcabinets, or sunk into receptacles in walls so that onlythe screen and tuning dials are visible-and theseslightly recessed into the wall, so that a protectivecover may be slid over them when the set is not in use.We ask too, along with cheap cabinets, an intra-telesystem, with one master receiver and three monitors."

NETWORK FACILITIESIN

DISCUSSING the three basic classes of televisionrelay service-studio-transmitter links, remote pick-

up links, and inter -city relay links-F. J. Bingley, vice-president and chief television engineer of PhilcoBroadcasting Corporation, pointed out that radio re-laying is applicable to all three classes.

"It is a natural for remote pick-ups, where rapidsetups have to be made on very short notice and some-times from relatively inaccessible locations . . . It isalso very suitable for studio -transmitter links, par-ticularly when the transmitter is in an inaccessiblelocation. At WPTZ it has provided an inexpensive solu-tion to the problem of transporting high quality pic-ture signal from our downtown studio to our NorthPhiladelphia transmitter without loss of quality.

"I foresee a great expansion in the use of radiofacilities for all classes of relay service. At Philco,we have found that our New York to Philadelphia relaysystem operating through our Mount Rose stationgives excellent quality with extremely low-cost opera-tion . . . which is one of the great advantages radiorelaying offers. In addition to this economy, qualitycan be much higher than on cable circuits, and this toois an important advantage for radio relaying."

As to which sytem is best, Mr. Bingley does notfeel that any final choice will ever be made. "Each sys-tem has its own peculiar advantages and either systemmay well be used depending on its suitability for. thepurpose at hand."

While radio relaying can handle all three types ofprogram requirements, cable circuits are not so suit-able for remote pick-up work. "In comparing the twosystems we may see that coaxial cable takes no etherspace but may be very expensive. It may, however, benecessary to use coaxial to get the signal out of largemetropolitan areas where the airways will be rela-tively crowded. Such a scheme would leave the radiohighways free for long intercity hauls for which theywould be well suited because by this means they wouldachieve sufficient geographical separation to enablefrequency assignments to be repeated across the coun-try.

"With respect to studio -transmitter links, it maywell be that in the larger cities cable circuits may beused where the transmitter is in a sufficiently acces-sible location. We can already see evidence of this inNew York City itself. In other cases, as in Philadel-phia, radio relaying is a better and less expensivemethod.

"Remote pick-ups as previously stated will probablybe predominately radio. Flexibility is the importantfactor here. Semi -permanent installations may, ofcourse, use cable facilities.

"In conclusion, it appears to me that television dur-ing the next few years is going to be a rapidly grow-ing service. In view of this I believe that the sum totalof all relaying facilities which are available will beneeded to stimulate and maintain this growth."

PROGRAMMINGDROGRAMMING panel was given over to the re-

iteration of the obvious fact that "it's the showthat counts," coupled with the equally obvious state-ment that what the audience sees on the receiver isthe important thing-not what's happening in thestudio. NBC's program director Warren Wade's opin-ion is that the home audience will enjoy not quite aspretentious programs as the movies and theatres offer-but whatever scale it's done on, it still must be goodentertainment.

Aside from "the show's the thing" adage, carefuland complete preparation prior to rehearsals wasstressed. Clark Jones, WRGB producer, and Dick Gog-gins, ABC director, detailed the responsibilities andrelationships necessary between station and guest pro-ducers. It's the guest producer's job to conceive oradapt the idea; cast show; plan sets, special effects,etc.; block out scripts; conduct dry rehearsals. Stationproducer's responsibility centers around working outrough set outline; treatment of sets; deciding generalmechanics such as style and continuity of titles; typesof music, sound effects, etc.; transitions; film, if any;special effects. In addition, he must make a floor plan

of show, showing alignment of sets, and camera posi-tions; schedule camera rehearsal; prepare shootingscript; conduct camera rehearsal and conduct the showon the air.

Studio AudiencesQuestion of studio audiences has a threefold answer

-they're a nuisance to the operating personnel; mostactors favor them for the stimulation which they pro-vide; and some shows, such as comedy, variety andsports, actually need them. As a solution to satisfyingall three, Helen Rhodes, production supervisor ofWRGB, suggested: "A separate viewing room, wheregroups can be accommodated comfortably, can watchthe program as it appears on a screen, and at the sametime can watch the activity going on on a studio floor. . ." or, as an alternate, where audience reaction iswanted, "... The main studio floor should be such thata large audience can be accommodated in a balcony oramphitheatre arrangement immediately above it. View-ing tubes can be located within their sight and theroom can be darkened enough to make it possible forthem to watch both phases of the television broadcast."

22 Television

....MERCHANDISING...1ERCHANDISING television sets does not stop

with the demonstration or sale in the store. In-stallation and follow-through on performance in thehome was also stressed as a manufacturer's respon-sibility by Leonard F. Cramer, executive vice-pres-ident, and Ernest A. Marx, general manager of AllenB. DuMont Laboratories, and Dan Halpin, sales man-ager-television receivers, RCA Victor.

"Until installation becomes commonplace, I believea factory serviceman should inspect and approve everyinstallation and only after approval, countersign a war-ranty card. Even after this, the manufacturer shouldretain contact with the customer by periodic question-naires covering not only the performance of the re-ceiver but the desires and opinions of the customerprogramwise," Mr. Cramer pointed out.

Stating that special training schools have been setup by manufacturers to train their service representa-tives without charge, Mr. Marx elaborated on some ofthe problems connected with home installations.

"An important consideration is the matter of sur-veying the prospective customer's locality or place ofresidence to ascertain the feasibility of receiving satis-factory signals at that point . . . The manner in whichthis problem is to be attacked shall largely depend uponwhat difficulties are encountered. The most commonwill undoubtedly prove to be reflections (ghosts) and,in some cases, the locality will have to be carefully sur-veyed to ascertain whether directional antennas prop-erly oriented, or reflectors may be indicated, orwhether in some extreme cases wave traps may haveto be installed, utilizing a favorable direct to reflectedsignal strength ratio.

"Low signal to noise ratio can be corrected by theinstallation of high -gain antennas positioned to dis-criminate against any local noise sources. Augmentingthis, filters on the local noise sources could be used, orthere's the possibility of applying special wide bandR.F. amplifiers to raise the signal to noise ratio.

"Installation crews will necessarily have to have thevery best and the most complete test equipment avail-able, including a small portable television receiver forsurvey purposes. They will require a mobile truck unitin most cases with extension power cables, antennakits, hand and power tools, hardware and other equip-ment. All this will be in addition to the equipmentnecessary at service headquarters."

As to costs on antenna installation, present chargesrange from $25 to $75 depending upon location. "Somemanufacturers are guaranteeing their sets for a yearagainst possible breakdown. Others are using theninety -day RMA Guarantee for the electronic parts,and a year's guarantee for the cathode-ray tube. Theultimate decision as to which of these procedures willsurvive, is largely a matter of experience and competi-tive approach, and it is somewhat early to predictthem," continued Mr. Marx.

Also stressed was the need for an energetic and in-telligent sales program to convince the landlords thatit will be profitable for them to install antenna dis-tributing and amplifying systems for their tenants.

In Mr. Halpin's opinion, dealer's installation is themost important retail sales problem in television today.

"Before a dealer can sell a television set, he mustgive the customer a perfect demonstration. His all

channel antenna must be the best there is, because aset is only as good as the signal into it. The bracketsholding the antenna mast should be rustproof iriditefor safe mounting of the antenna mast. His transmis-sion must be by polyethylene bright picture line, or itsequivalent . . . No conscientious television manufac-turer can ignore the importance of having his dealers'demonstration facilities installed or approved, in ad-vance by his own technical organization. The matter ofeventual consumer installations is of prime importancealso not only to the customer but to the dealer, dis-tributor and manufacturer, as well as the broadcaster."

Merchandising Your Station"Promotion begins with the public-and that means

both present and prospective set owners. The reasonis basic enough-to build television audiences in mass(and the greater the mass, the better) for sponsors tobuy." And while the philosophy is that of Charles P.Hammond, NBC's director of advertising and promo-tion, the principle should be industry wide. For obviousas it is, the most important factor is the public's in-terest in programs.

"All NBC television promotion to the public talksin terms of NBC television programs ON THE AIR. . . Such advertising helps the cause, generally. Ofmore direct benefit to NBC, as we see the purpose ofour present audience promotion of outstanding NBCtelevision shows, is that we are able to associate NBCand top televiewing in the minds of those who alreadyhave sets as well as in the minds of those who will ownthem. Thus we hope with promotion to lay the founda-tion now for what will one day become an NBC viewinghabit.

trade advertising we attempt to sell ourstation against the competition. Since at this time itis not possible to talk competitive circulation, we useas a talking point the fact that at WNBT the televisionadvertiser has an opportunity to make use of theknowledge and experience of NBC production per-sonnel in his own television efforts, and can save timeand money by this means in getting his own experiencewhich will be vital to him in the production of com-mercial television programs. We can point to the con-sistent quality of NBC program and production effortsto substantiate our claim. In this case, too, therefore,good shows have made it possible for us to do a goodpromotion job."

MRS. PUBLIC.....COMMENTING on the retailer's part in television.

William H. Howard, vice-president and publicitydirector of Macy's, told the little woman's side of it.He met this little woman, whose buying power canmake or break the biggest executive, in the uncrowdedtelevision section and got her reaction. She won't buytelevision simply by seeing a test pattern-and theinvitation to "come back Thursday night" to see aprogram, can't always be conveniently accepted.

Putting words in the mythical, typical customer'smouth, Mr. Howard delivered a message from her tothe television powers that be: "Tell them I won't buysomething I don't understand or can't see work. Askthem why they can't get together and spend a fewdollars on short movie subjects which could be demon -

November, 1946 23

strated here all day long so that I could see televisionand have some reason to get up some enthusiasm forit. Tell them to fire their director of test patterns andreplace him with a director of demonstration pictures.

"My taste is a good deal better than it used to beand a little classic design would be very welcome inthis modern plastic world. I want the answer to an-other question that they have brought up. The tele-vision fellows have been carrying on a debate on thefront pages of the newspapers I read, about color tele-vision versus black -and -white. I'm not a technician soI'm puzzled. I would like black -and -white television ifI could ever see what it looks like. Just as I like black -and -white movies. And I would like color television,just as I like technicolor movies. Ask them for theanswer to this: If I buy a black -and -white televisionset and then color television is perfected, must I throwaway my black -and -white set and buy another color set-or will they manufacture some kind of gadget thatwill enable me to see color on my black -and -white set?"

A.T.&T. network plans(continued from page 16)frequencies about 7 megacycles in width. This com-pares with about 3 megacycles, which is the limit ofthe repeater now in use. The entire band could be usedfor television or it could be divided into say a 4 -mega-cycle band for television and 3 for telephone.

Owing to the many technical factors involved, it nowappears that this new development may not be com-pleted for some time in the future. When it does be-come available for service, many changes will be re-quired in the then existing plant. The most extensiveof these is in the spacing of repeaters, which prob-ably must be cut in half. This means doubling the num-ber of repeaters and the number of buildings in whichthey are housed.

Local television facilities for use in picking up pro-grams have been provided by the Bell companies tosupply most of the service requests which have arisento date. Since the war we have furnished more thantwenty such facilities to various broadcasting stations.Both radio and wire arrangements have been used suc-cessfully. The development and manufacture of thenecessary equipment is being pushed and next year weexpect to be in a position to provide over one hundredof these pick-up facilities.

In considering rates, we have endeavored to take along-range view of the television broadcasting indus-try-in other words, to assume that it will operate agood many hours per day and that there will be sev-eral permanent country -wide networks. Under suchconditions, and with continuing development of ournetwork facilities, we think our rates will be attrac-tive to the broadcasters, because with the very largevolume of our communications business we believe wehave greater economics of production and operationthan any others in this field.

However, at the start it seems likely that the broad-casters will not be able to operate networks very manyhours per day and perhaps they will not be in the mar-ket for full-time network facilities.

With this in mind, and to give us experience in op-eration, we have made certain network facilities avail-able to the broadcasters without charge. We expect tocontinue the New York -Washington experiment on thisbasis until such time as we establish inter -city ratesfor all of these facilities.

As stated previously, in view of the fact that onmost of the important routes we will have only onefacility available in each direction for television dur-ing the next couple of years, it seems likely that theuse will have to be shared. Of course the necessity forjoint use will disappear when adequate facilities be-come available. But for the immediate future an un-usual situation is presented both as to the cooperationof the broadcasters in utilizing the facilities and in theestablishment of charges for limited usage which willbe fair and reasonable to all concerned.

We have already indicated, to some of you at least,that television network rates necessarily will be con-siderably higher than those for sound broadcast net-work service. This is mainly due to the fact that thetransmitting facility required is one which otherwisecould be used to provide a great many telephone cir-cuits-a fact which is readily apparent when one con-siders the relative widths of the frequency bands re-quired for television and telephone circuits. Neverthe-less, as stated previously, we believe we can make ratesfor network service low enough to be attractive to thetelevision industry.

WPTZ station operations(continued from page 10)

Standard flats, specially designed for television byW. Craig Smith, art director, differ from stage sceneryin that wood is used for the edge instead of flat. Thisgives greater rigidity-a needed attribute, for withthe concrete floor of the studio, ordinary stage hard-ware can't be used and the flats must be weighed downwith sand bags.

Sets are painted in various shades of gray unless astudio audience will be present-then color is used forthe psychological effect. There's no problem on setcoloring, for Smith made up a color chart, tested it toget response on the tube, and follows it now on all setdesign. Another important function of the art directoris to give advice on costume colors-often the mostgarish looking costume to the studio eye, gives themost pleasing effect on home receivers.

As to the Future...With the oft -postponed 28 hours due to go into effect

in 1947, WPTZ figures that with their present limitedstudio facilities, they can do six 1/2 hour commercialshows and two 1/2 hour sustaining shows designed forpossible sponsorship-or a total of four hours livestudio shows a week.

They are banking heavily on remotes-and have firstrefusal on practically every sporting event in the city.Outdoor and indoor sports - football from FranklinField and Shibe Park; ice hockey, wrestling, boxing,the rodeo and circus from Philadelphia Arena; specialevents from Convention Hall; parades; conventions;.on the street interviews; night club pick-ups (carefullyskipping the musicians in deference to Petrillo, ofcourse) are all on the cards-or as Paul Knight andClarence Thoman put it, "We'll wear the tires off thatmobile truck." Then there will be the pick-ups fromWNBT and perhaps other New York stations, plussome film fare, to round out the schedule.

But perhaps the best forecast is Rolland Tooke'sstatement: "There's nothing wrong with television inPhiladelphia that 100,000 receivers won't cure over-night."

24Television

Television magazine audience panelThe industry's only continuous audience survey

WHETHER education should be presented straightor sugar-coated; how long educational programs

should be; what time of the day is best for educationalprograms; what the subject matter should be-are justa few of the questions which have been batted back andforth among programmers. Because of the importantpart that education must play in television and be-cause the United States Rubber Company-Encyclo-paedia Britannica experiment on straight educationalprograms is the most consistent attempt to arrive atan accepted educational formula, the survey this monthwas based on their "Serving Through Science" series.Program Format

Program for the night of October 8th was on astron-omy. Informal intimate note was set in the openingscene, with Dr. McClintock of Encyclopaedia Britan-nica seated in a study, with book in hand. His openingremarks welcomed the televiewers and very brieflymentioned the part that educational motion picturesare assuming in modern school systems. With the en-trance of his research secretary and the announcer,conversation swung into a discussion of astronomy.Idea in back of this conversational introduction isbased on the need to orientate knowledge into commoninterests and lives of people who are going to look atthe picture and to arouse their curiosity on questionswhich they may or may not know. As an example, inthe preface to the film on astronomy, discussion cen-tered around the show the sky puts on every night, theproof science offers about the universe, etc. This filmran for 101/2 minutes, then there was another discus-sion between the three, this time centering around themoon, with questions being asked about the shadow onthe moon, etc.,-followed by another 101/2 minutefilm. This again was followed by a brief discussion onthe wonders of astronomy-in everyday language, andalso aimed at whetting the viewer's appetite for thefollowing week's program.Panel BreakdownNumber of questionnaires sent out 150Number of returns 63Sets not in use 33Sets out of order 2Sets in use 30Viewers per set 3.4Total Audience (39 men, 45 women, 19 children) 103

Obviously the first concern of the panel was to findout whether people liked the show. We asked:Did you like the U. S. Rubber show?Yes 87%No 13%

Comments to this question were: "Very interesting". . . "Yes, for an educational program it was a goodone" . . . "Yes, well informed narrator, very well ex-plained" . . . "Resembles a quick course in science". . . "Yes, but the topic itself was too dry." A qualify-ing one was the panel member who, while answeringthe question in the affirmative, stated, "However, I donot feel that this type of program adds to one's relaxa-tion and pleasure. This educational program should beshown much earlier in the evening."

Those who did not like the program felt that "It wasrather dull. It made us very sleepy" ... "Not interestedin that kind of show" . . . "Give us something to laughabout." One panel member thought that "actors talktoo much, conversation stilted and obviously staged."Another suggested "a careful study of Popular Sci-ence Magazine for topics." Three panel members sug-gested the program be on earlier so that the childrencould see it.

After finding out whether the viewers liked theshow, equally important was to find out whether theprogram accomplished its objective-education. Theresults were most favorable. The following three ques-tions were aimed for this purpose:Did this show give you a better understanding ofhow eclipses take place?Yes 83%No 7%No Answer 10%

Do you know what causes the "Dark of the Moon"?Yes 70%No 13%No Answer 17%

Do you feel you have learned more about whatcauses the seasons on the earth?Yes 80%No Answer 10%No 10%

In the next question we wanted to get some idea ofthe viewers' interest in educational programs ratherthan the specific program that was on that night.Would you like to see educational featuresregularly on television?Yes 83%No 7%Indifferent 10%

One of the points paramount in the minds of all pro-grammers was just how long an educational programcould be, just how much the public would take. Fewprogrammers thought that viewers would go for astraight educational show as long as a half-hour.Therefore the answers were very surprising to thisquestion:About how long should they be?1/2 hour 77%15 minutes 7%20 minutes 3%No Answer 13%

Perhaps the soundest observation of all though wasthe comment by the panel member who in answer tothe question, "What type of educational features wouldyou like to see?", stated, "Any kind as long as they arepresented in an interesting manner that will hold yourattention." That's a big order for educators to fill, butthe results of this panel seem to show that televisionis finding some of the answers to educational programsnow.

November, 1946 25

IT HAS been said that history re-peats itself ... and that is pretty

much what happened at the secondT.B.A. Conference . . . a repeat ofthe first one, with some added at-tractions-the main one being anexhibit of equipment which showedfar more progress in twenty-threemonths than most of the speakersdid.

In my humble opinion the manu-facturers of equipment, especiallytransmitting equipment, are farahead of the average producer re-sponsible for its use-that is, someof those responsible for program-ming ... writers, directors and pro-ducers. The boys can't say they'renot getting the tools to work with. . . all they gotta do is learn to use'em.

The new large projection receiv-ers with the large screens weresomewhat disappointing. Their im-age was pretty sad . . . and whenyou consider their cost is far outof the reach of the average buyer,it looks as though John Q. Publicis going to have to he satisfied withthe smaller screens for some timeto come. This of course will havesome effect on production technique. . . close-ups and medium shots willcontinue to be the vogue in tele-vision.

The speakers said about the samething they said at conference num-ber one, twenty-three months ago. . . a good deal of which certainlybelonged in the realm of the obvi-ous. That is, obvious to anyone en-gaged in the field of radio, advertis-ing, motion pictures, sales or mer-chandising, let alone television.

Fer 'ninstance, sage observationslike this regarding commercials . . .

"There are two kinds of motion pic-tures . . . still and action . . . wehave found still pictures are deadly. . . action should always be used."I wonder how long it took to findthat out ... although Gillette hasn'tfound it out yet. Or . . . "We havefound off screen voice the best be-cause more can be told in less timethan with dialogue." I've alwaysbeen under the delusion that thepurpose of television was to have

lose ups a regularmonthly feature

on film production-=by H. G. Christenio

the picture tell the story. One panelspeaker put it aptly when he said. . . "Radio writers write for theblind while television writers shouldwrite for the deaf." Another speak-er expressed himself very clearlywhen he reminded those presentthat in "Television, unlike radio ...words do not have to form a picturein the audience's mind . . . the pic-ture is before you." As obvious asthese things are, I suppose illus-trated lectures will be more or lessthe pattern for commercials forsome time to come.

Integrated CommercialsThere was only one man on the

television commercials panel . . .

and if I were giving out awards,he'd get one ... who brought up thesubject of integrated commercialsand explained in detail how hiscompany uses them. Mr. A. D. Rod-ner of Commonwealth Edison ofChicago. He made a lot of sense . . .

and here briefly is some of it.They use three types of commer-

cials . . . sometimes all in one show.Direct commercials . . . built-incommercials . . . and integratedcommercials. Direct commercials,they have found out, are not effec-tive for a real selling job . . . butgood for reminder advertising. Intheir experience, if a direct com-mercial runs over 45 seconds, thereis a great drop in viewer interest.

The built-in commercial is onewhere the plot leads into the com-mercial and at its finish leads backagain into the plot. In other words,this calls for a smooth, naturaltransition from the story into thecommercial which is related to thestory but not part of it.

The integrated commercial whichseems to be most effective is themost difficult of all to accomplish. . . because it must be woventhroughout the entire plot and be adefinite part of it. This is the tech-nique used in commercial motionpictures for consumer and salespromotional use and is not new tothe experienced motion picture di-rector. However, it seems prettyhard to sell it to the television

trade. I hope the definitions I havegiven in describing these threetypes of commercials are in linewith Mr. Rodner's because they'remy own interpretation of hisspeech.

He has learned that this type ofcommercial is not offensive to theaudience . . . as a matter of fact,the way he uses it . . . the audiencevirtually becomes part of the show. . . even though they're in theirown living rooms. More of this typeshow should be used.

One panel speaker on commer-cials admonished . . . "Don't bebound by old media." At the sametime he gave us some of the "Lim-itations of Television" by which wemust be bound. I'd like to add, ifone of that "old media" is motionpictures, they can and do a swell jobof eliminating most of those "limi-tations."

He offered some good basic rules:. . . be simple . . . have a single-,minded idea . . . choose your castcarefully ... give 'em action. To mymind that means, don't try to sellmore than one idea at a time, and ifthat isn't good sense, I don't knowwhat is. Be sure you've got theshirt sold before trying to sell thetie, . . . or you may end up not sell-ing either one.

Tim. TableIn talking to a number of agency

men who are responsible for theproduction of television, I was quitesurprised to find so much differencein opinion and, I might add, lack ofknowledge regarding the time ele-ments involved in the variousphases of producing a motion pic-ture. Some expect over -night mir-acles only to get ulcers; . . . othersproceed on the idea that a producerwith a contract in his pocket for afew "minute commercials" has gothis hands full for some months tocome.

Also, there is quite a differenceof opinion as to what these gems ofvideo should cost. Of course, whatthey should cost is one thing . . .

what they're worth, or what the ad-vertiser can afford to pay . . . is

(Continued on page 36)

26 Television

one man's

Television FallaciesThat amiable philosopher, Josha

Billings, once intimated that manypeople wish about lots of things-but the trouble is that the thingsare not so! This sage dictum wasprobably never better supportedthan in the television field. Tech-nical statements have been issuedwhich are either incomplete, notsupported by any sound evidence, ordefinitely incorrect. Further, in re-lation to the issue of televisionthere have also been many state-ments addressed to the public andthe radio industry which, unfor-tunately, are neither in accord withthe factors, nor constructively help-ful.

It is not astonishing that thisshould have happened, since tele-vision is a new and fairly complexart. These conditions frighten anddisappoint people. Many in goodfaith interpret the impressions asbeing equivalent to pictures.

To take a few rather conspicuousexamples of the fallacies that havebeen offered for consideration bythe radio industry, as suggestedguides to action or inaction in thetelevision field, the following maybe considered:

1. Television receivers are toocostly to be acceptable to the pub-lic. It is pointed out that the tele-vision receiver generally costs wellover $200. The economics in connec-tion with the industry are fairlyobvious. In the first place, numer-ous polls of prospective televisionreceiver purchasers have shownthat most of them are quite willingto pay up to $250 for a receiver. Inpractice, however, more people arereally ready to pay somewhat morefor an article than they think theyare prepared to pay when ques-tioned in advance.

Another economic factor in thecited statement is that the present-day dollar may probably be realizedas equivalent to 50 cents as com-pared to the 1940 dollar. A present-day $250 receiver is really no morethan a $125 1940 receiver. It is un-reasonable to expect that the pur-chasing power of the dollar will

a regularmonthly feature by

r. Alfred Goldsmith

drop in all fields except television!2. Television receivers contain-

ing color, although more costly thanblack -and -white receivers, will beaccepted far more readily by thepublic. Engineers who have studiedthe problems have estimated thatthe Color -television receiver willcost considerably more than black -and -white receivers. The optimistsadd five to fifteen per cent to thecost of a receiver when color is in-cluded. Other, less hopeful, engi-neers have estimated that color in atelevision receiver will add from35% to 100% to the cost. Polls ofthe public have been conducted un-der conditions where direct com-parison of well -arranged programsin black -and -white and also in colorhave not been offered. The samedramatic program, for example, hasnot been presented in two forms asit might in the motion -picture in-dustry. In the light of these circum-stances, as well as the considera-tions advanced in Section 1 above,no further comment is here made.Installations

3. Television receivers are toohard to install. It is pointed outthat television receivers require aspecial form of high directional an-tenna, properly placed on the roofof the dwelling place, and connectedto the receiver by a transmissionline of high quality. It is added thatthis is both expensive and difficultto handle in multi -apartment dwell-ings. How, for example, shall we in-stall 50 to 100 television aerials in-dependently on the same roof ?

In the first place, it is clear thatin the early years of television amoderate number of television aeri-als will be installed on one roof,even in the city where apartmenthouses abound. Further, skilledservice engineers will carry out theinstallations at a moderate cost.Later on, it will doubtlessly proveeconomical for the landlord in thesehouses to erect a few television an-tennae on the top of the building tosupply excellent television signalsto all apartments in the buildingwhere the service is desired ata monthly rental acceptable to thetelevision receiver owners.

Undoubtedly we shall learn moreabout television installations in thecity and country as we go along,even though there are already manysuch successful installations in op-eration today. There is no justifica-tion for any special worry concern-ing this alleged problem.

Program Costs4. Television program production

is too costly to be bought by theadvertiser. The argument in thiscase usually starts by some suchreasoning as the following. The col-or movie "Gone With the Wind"cost $4,500,000 to produce and ransomething over two hours. Accord-ingly television programs of accept-able quality may cost about $2,000,-000 an hour! The poverty strickenadvertisers of America cannot af-ford such vast sums. Consequentlytelevision programming is hopeless!

There is, of course, not theslightest shade of justification forany of these assumptions. Tele-vision programs may well be ofgreat simplicity and yet fully sat-isfy the audience. We do not requiresilks and satins, jewels and ban-quets and like extravagances all dayand every day. Quite the contrary,in fact. If we would insist on sucha diet, we should soon learn to dis-like it.

The fact is that television pro-grams, produced by people of orig-inality will not require anythinglike the elaborateness of even thesimplest motion picture. Further-more, the methods used in televisionstudios - are 60 minutes of enter-tainment or production, as againstthree minutes of film per day in atypical motion -picture studio-willenable entire acceptable productionsat cost much below those nowdeemed necessary in Hollywood.

Those who offer these particularfallacies to the public today havelittle conception of the many typesof television programs, which willcost less. Remote pickup of currentevents where "immediacy" greatlyappeals to the audience will haveproduction costs well within reason.

(continued on page 31)

November, 1946 27

ADVERTISING

station activitiesNETWORK charges are now un-

dergoing considerable scrutinywith the recently signed WPTZ andWNBT contract for exchange ofprograms, and with WNBT trans-mitting to WRGB on a five night aweek basis. While definite scheduleswill await greater set distribution,main interest is centering on adver-tising rates for the plus coveragewhich, while negligible now, is dueto zoom within the next eightmonths. Also under considerationare charges for sustaining shows,as well as relay facilities. On theNew York to Philadelphia telecasts,the Philco radio relay line is usedand on the New York to Schenec-tady hop, the G -E -RCA constructedrelay. (The A.T.&T. coaxial cableused for the Philadelphia to NewYork relays is still on a free experi-mental basis.)

commercialsFord uses a combination of films,

slides and cards in their commer-cials on the Parade of Sports.Theme of the whole series is tobring their ads to life. Opener isthe Ford symbol-the crystal ballwith the slogan "There's a Ford inyour future," with the word Fordfading out and Ford models drivingin the crystal ball.

Network charges under discussion . . . high percent-age of returns reported as results of telecasts.

On the football games, this is fol-lowed by one minute film withsound track designed to show allthe features of the Ford. When theoff -screen commentary mentions itsacceleration, the car picks up speed;at the word brakes, it stops; pack-ages are taken out of the trunk toshow its roominess, etc. At thequarters and half, cards visualizingthe current Ford animal ad is used.Entire commercial for the wholefootball game runs less than fiveminutes. In the play-by-play tech-nique used during the game, Fordis also mentioned. On the pro gamesover WABD game commentary isgiven by Dennis James; commer-cial by Tom Carr, while on theColumbia games over WCBW, MelAllen handles the game and DonBaker the commercial.

About forty minutes of the rodeowas relayed from Madison SquareGarden over WCBW. Same Ford inyour future film was used as anopener. Most effective commercialpossible though was included rightin the rodeo pick-up.

Opening sequences showed thecalf roping contest, with the winnerin line for silver spurs presented byFord. To make the presentation acowgirl drove a new Ford aroundthe Garden, stepped out to give theaward, and then drove off, againcircling the floor of the arena.Knowing that this car was being

driven as you watched, added to thepunch of the commercial.

Camera action on the rodeo pick-up was excellent and fast actionwas caught perfectly. Commentarywas good too-with Win Elliottgiving the identifying informationand Texas John Faulks giving thecolor dope in an inimitable,straight -from -the -range drawl.

Sign off used the slogan again,with an invitation to tune in on thenext sports event over WCBW.

Raid's Ice Cream sponsors theweather commercial over WCBW.Opener is a hand stamping theReid trademark seal, and then itswings into cartoons accompaniedby a catchy singing jingle whichgives the weather report. Com-mercial is injected again with theReid's sign over an ice cream store,and a close up of a soda and sundae,accompanied by off -screen blurb.Temperature and forecast is givenand sign off again uses the Reidseal. Agency is Doherty, Cliffordand Shenfield.

Ipso. "Shorty" program overWCBW uses the standard openingand closing film (described in Octo-ber TELEVISION), plus a com-mercial integrated into a cartoonstory. Recent tale of Shorty's ro-mance took him to the point wherehe was carrying his girl's bookshome from school. Passing a drugstore with an Ipana display -Shorty and Hester discovered theyhad something in common - theyboth used Ipana. Off -screen com-mentary takes up the plug -a laradio show - but the blurb was anunwelcome interruption to the con-tinuity of the story. Agency isDoherty, Clifford and Shenfield.

U. S. Rubber Company spon-sors the "Friday Night Quarter-back" over WNBT. Lou Little

"Play the Game," sponsored by Alex-ander's Department Store throughABC and presented over WABD,uses Mathilda, the mannequin-uponwhom all eyes are fixed-to handlethe commercial. Each item Mathildais wearing is described as to style,fabric and price. Charade format isused and the commercial is usuallygiven about the half -way mark.

28Television

makes with the expert talk in suf-ficient quantity to please all foot-ball fans. With the aid of film cutshe diagnoses the outstanding gamesand plays of the past week -end.Guest makes his predictions ofscores of Saturday's games, andthen Little follows up with his ownideas about the outcome. Scores areclearly chalked up on a scoreboardwith name of U. S. Rubber em-blazoned at the top.

Plugs for U.S. Rubber productsare well worked in, but not toomuch to distract from the newswhich is of such interest to thefootball fan. What with the black-board chalk talks, film clips, yarn-ing, and score predictions, enoughopportunity is afforded the partici-pants to get across the plug bysandwiching it with the ample foot-ball material.

Wanamakfer's presentation"Rigoletto" over WABD was a fair-ly acceptable cut version of the fa-mous opera. Show was put on bythe Piano and Organ Departmentof the store with only those instru-ments used for the musical accom-paniment. Professional singers dida very credible job. The part ofRigoletto was sung by Eugene Mor-gan, Gilda by Mario Vero, theDuke's paramour was StellaHughes, and the Duke was sung byGabor Carelli.

Sets which were good were exe-cuted by Rudy Luceck. The produc-tion was under the direction ofLouis A. Sposa. Full use of the cam-era's possibilities added to the vis-ual enjoyment of the presentation.For those who enjoy good musicthis presentation was more thansatisfactory. Adding visual to thefine sound should do much to buildup an appreciation for the valuesof opera as a definite cultural con-tribution.

G -E Appliances have been usingshort service spots, dramatized orhumorized, on a series of sponsoredprograms over WRGB for the pastfive months. Teeing off programwas the serial "War Bride," withcommercial given before and afterthe episode. Typical example of thistreatment was the plug used forthe G -E washing machine. Openingshot showed a husband laboringover the diapers in a wash tub, andignoring the washer which hethought was too tough a problem tohandle. His friend, eager for a golfgame, showed him how to work it,explaining the features of the newwasher, of course. A "sales talk"

Simple line film cartoons are used on Bristol-Myers "Geographically Yours"program which plugs Minit-Rub and Trushay. Off -screen narration tells a

story, with cartoons used to fill in the gaps. Above tale centered around acar owned by a gal nobody loved because of her red hands, until the cardrove right up to the Trushay billboard, and the gal took the hint. Agencyis Young & Rubicam. Fifteen minute show is a Sunday night feature on WNBT.

was visualized by good close-ups of clothes swirling inside the machine.the wringer in action and the After the soap opera episode, corn -

Films for Television

Specially Designedto PAY THEIR WAY . . .

Far-seeing advertisers, now extensive users of "radio",are finding that the most effective, the most economicalway to break into television is by means of FILMS.Mr. H. G. Christensen, vice-president in charge of ourTelevision Department, will be glad to show you howsuch films, as planned by Caravel', can be made topay their way-and show a proft.

' Back of Caravel is twentyfive years of "know how" in visualizingsales facts in an interesting and entertaining manner.

CARAVELTelephone CIRCLE 7-6112

FILMS INC.

730 FIFTH AVE., N. Y.

November, 1946 29

"The Magic Carpet," sponsored by Alexander Smith Carpet Co. and producedbi-monthly over WABD, puts the magic carpet idea across by having twobrownie dolls come to life and transport the little girl to the land of herdreams. Brownies are Martie Miller and Donald Hastings, who have playedprincipal roles in Broadway shows, and the little girl is Mary Ellen Terry, ofthe Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. (Sixteen children have gone from "TheMagic Carpet" to principal parts in Broadway shows.) Show, now in its thirdyear, is produced by Bud Gamble. Agency is Anderson, Davis & Platte.

mercial was again picked up toshow the husband finishing up thewash and feeling peppy enough toplay a nine -hole golf game.

An integrated commercial treat-ment was given to the musical pro-gram "Songs of the Road." Settingwas a railroad express platform andwhen the quartet finished singing,the agent called them over to look

at the new G -E refrigerator whichhe was crating. Main features ofthe refrigerator were pointed out,with close-ups of the humiditydrawer, meat compartment, frozenfood storage space, etc.

Slides and film have also beenused on other programs, wherethese would be clearer than cameraclose-ups. Film bits are prepared in

Sears "Visiquiz" program, presented over WPTZ, gives the home viewers achance to win along with the studio participant. Merchandise prizes are fromSears, and the Sears Roebuck name, on the backdrops, gives a visual plug.

advance and studio dialogue syn-chronized with the film actions.

G -E theory is to keep commer-cials fast moving and interestingand to tell the whole story in threeor four minutes.

Alexander Smith's "The MagicCarpet," one of the uldest sponsoredshows on television, has a 15 -min-ute spot every two weeks overWABD. Format, a combination oflive and film ties in the old magiccarpet of fairy-tale fame with thetravelogue film. Opening in the stu-dio, Magic Carpet theme is set byhaving a little girl reading a storybook about some far-off land.

Two Brownie dolls are in thechair and when the little girl goesto sleep, they come to life. Twodwarfs impersonate the Brownies,and place the girl on the "MagicCarpet." Technical effects are ex-tremely well handled, with the cloudeffect obtained by pouring milk intowater, and the three on the carpetfloating over the clouds. Dissolve isthen made into film.

Commercial is handled by ClaraDudley, home decorator for Alex-ander Smith, who talks directly tothe viewers and shows cards ofroom plans.

Show is produced by Bud Gamble.Agency is Anderson,Platte.

Atlantic Refining Company,now in its sixth year of sponsoringthe Penn football games overWPTZ, is using the commercial filmprepared for last year's coverage.At that time four game sets werecompiled featuring "Sparky," apuppet gas station attendant, whogreets the viewers before gametime, at the half and after thegame, and gives the lead in to directcommercial on the Atlantic prod-ucts. N. W. Ayer, agency for theaccount, have re-edited the films,cutting them from about 3 minutesto 11/2 minutes runing time. Oralplug is given at the quarters.

Goodyear's sponsorship of theArmy games also includes thePenn -Army and the Penn -Cornellgames in their schedule. (For com-plete story on Goodyear commer-cials, see page 12.) These twogames will be shown to WPTZviewers under Atlantic sponsorship.Brought to New York via coax, andtelecast over WNBT, visual andaural will be cued out and the Good-year commercial substituted in itsplace. Deal was arranged by N. W.Ayer whereby WPTZ is also carry-ing the Army -Notre Dame gamesponsored by Goodyear.

30 Television

Gimbals weekly feature overWPTZ, "All Eyes on Gimbels,"uses an integrated commercial for-mat. That program is interestinglybuilt and subtly angled is provedby the amazingly high returns di-rectly traced to the television show.Program featuring Gimbels' collec-tion of fall millinery was a good

example of demonstration tech-nique and straight fashion model-ing. After the usual opening re-marks by Mrs. Richardson, Gim-bels' director of public relationswho cues the viewers for what's tofollow, camera picked up a modelseated at a dressing table. Off -

screen narration very briefly statedthat hats must be related to facetypes and pointed out the perfectoval features of the model. Twohats were tried on her to demon-strate the wrong lines for her facetype. Particularly interesting wasthe "right" way, with a hat bodyplaced on the model and a millinerdraping it with a piece of material.Full use of video - in letting thepictures tell the story was madehere with very little narrationgiven. And there was the normalfascination in watching a "crea-tion" created before your eyes.

In the second part of show, hats

One Man's Reflections (Continued from page 27)

Further advanced technical meth-ods such as sound dubbing, electric-al injection of power current andthe like are usually quite unknownto those who issue said statementsconcerning television productioncosts. The fact is the ingenuity ofthe writer, the producer, the direc-tor, and the engineer will combineto confound those who regard tele-vision programming as economical-ly out of the reach of advertisers.

Viewing Audience5. The television audience, it is

stated, will be too small to justifyproper rates for the sale of stationtime. Accordingly the stations willnot be financially solvent.

This within line of reason neg-lects all the pertinent factors. To besure the present television audienceis small, although on some occasionsit has run into 100,000 and above.But it is certain that the televisionaudience will run into the millionsbefore many seasons have passed.

In addition, it is not only theviewing audience that counts, butalso there is another factor. It isfutile to address a program, with acommercial slant, to buyers whocannot purchase the advertisedproduct. And it is quite definitelyknown that the television audiencewill, to a great extent, be an audi-ence well able to pay for even themost expensive products that maybe advertised in the television com-mercial.

Another factor neglected by thosepromulgating the mentioned falla-cies is that the sales impact of tele-vision is so great, that if even asmall audience is reached, a rela-tively large proportion of that audi-ence will be purchasers and cause

November, 1946

the actual receipts to be dispropor-tionately large.

6. The advertisers of Americahave only a limited amount to spend-and cannot afford to provide tele-vision entertainment to the public.

The number of television stationsin the average city or town willlikely be less for many years, thanthe number of broadcasting sta-tions now operating in the samelocalities. Thus the television -ad-vertisers' time does not need to bedivided between smaller stations.

Again, any good businessman,with available funds will gladlyspend $100 on advertising his prod-ucts or service, if he is sure thathis net profit from sales resultingdirectly from advertising, will be,say, an added $1,000.

The crux of the situation: Howmany added dollars are brought infor every advertising dollar that isspent. We can confidently anticipatethat television will be an outstand-ing medium in this regard. For thefirst time the three greatest attrac-tions have united entertainmentand instruction, namely, sight,sound, and motion.

In any analysis of the future oftelevision, whether on a humanbasis or otherwise, it is necessaryto assume that our country willprogress without major catastrophebrought about by governmental in-eptitude, errors made by industrialmanagement, or mistaken efforts bythe leaders of labor and their fol-lowers. Many causes can upset eventhe best -laid plans.

But if our country progresseswisely and prosperously toward thefuture we will survive the prejudiceof distrust. The future of tele-vision is as bright as that ofAmerica!

were modeled to off -screen descrip-tion. About five were discussed andshown to best advantage. Wind-upfeatured Mrs. Richardson trying ahat on one of the models, and con-cluding with an invitation to theviewers to visit Gimbels' millinerydepartment. Ernie Walling directedthe show for WPTZ.

RCA Victor's "The World inYour Home" uses educational filmsas the format for their program.Same commercial-showing a fam-ily group around the televisionscreen-is used each week at thebeginning and end of the program.Agency is J. Walter Thompson.

Bristol-Myers Minit-Rub andTrushay commercials continue touse the ideograph or simple linecartoon idea in the "GeographicallySpeaking" program over WNBT.Commercials tell a problem story,with either Trushay or Minit-Ruboffering the solution to the prob-lem. Idea is clever, with cartoonsused to fill in the blanks on theannouncer's off -screen commentary.Cartoons of the products are shownwith commercial given before andafter the film format. Agency isYoung & Rubicam.

31

FILMS

BEST indication of the use offilm in television programming

can be gleaned from the formal ap-plications submitted to the FCC byprospective telecasters. In the NewYork hearings, where six companiesapplied for the four available chan-nels, the Thackrey application ledwith 50% devoted to film, followedby the News Syndicate with46.43%; Bremer with 32.14% ;Debs with 12%; Bamberger with10.1% and ABC with 8%. In LosAngeles, 7 of the 8 applicantsstacked up as follows: Thackrey,50%; Earle C. Anthony, 37.2%;Howard Hughes, 28.3%; Don Lee,20 to 30%; the Times Mirror,25.9%; Television Productions with21%; ABC, 17%. (NBC showedno program plans.) All of these per-centages are based on a 28 -hourprogramming week, with the ex-ception of Television Productionswho predicated their figures on a40 -hour weekly schedule.

Quite a few of these film periodsare scheduled specifically for thechildren's hour (cartoons), or foreducational programs in daytimespots for beaming to in -schoolclasses.

Current ReleasesSo much for the future. As for

what's available today, many or-ganizations are making an effort tosecure the distribution of film de-picting some side or other in apropaganda struggle. With care, awell-balanced program can beachieved which will present bothsides of a question to the viewers.A recent release by the United Elec-trical, Radio and Machine Workers,an affiliate of the CIO is called"Deadline for Action." It is a 40-minute film with political and eco-nomic overtones. Use of these filmsnaturally will call for a rebuttal toprotect the station against accusa-tions of favoritism.

The War Department's orienta-tion film, "Teamwork" which is arecord of the Negro soldier's par-ticipation in the war, and "Man -One Family," a British Informa-tion Service film, have also beenrecent releases of Awards Films.

With most of the present operat-ing stations almost scraping thebottom of the barrel, as to featurefilms, news that 156 new films willbe made by the State Department's

State Department to make 156 new films . . . BBC -

NBC -ABC mix-up ... current releases ... station news.

Office of International Informationand Cultural Affairs is welcome.Film fare from government officesis favored by many of the operat-ing stations on the grounds thatthe production is better technicallythan many old releases and the costis merely the shipping charge.

Educational films are being madeavailable in increasing quantities.The Encyclopaedia Britannica is asource from which the U. S. Rub-ber Company is drawing their cur-rent series, "Serving ThroughScience," over WABD. (For audi-ence reaction to educational filmssee "TELEVISION AudiencePanel" on page 25).Libraries

Some stations are building theirown library of stock shots and in-clude a stockpile of amputated actsfrom feature films. These are usual-ly sorted according to running timein order to fill in when programsdo not go off on the nose. WPTZ,in their pick-up of the "HourGlass" from WNBT, also have spe-cial films ready to use if the showgoes off before 8:55. WCBW, forexample, in their pick-up of therodeo from Madison Square Gardenhad to skip the Gene Autry act (be-cause of the Petrillo ban, ofcourse). Blank was filled in withwestern film from the studio.

Good trick to freshen up old filmis live commentary rather than theold sound track. Examples of thistechnique are the Alexander Smith"Magic Carpet" show (producedby Bud Gamble through Anderson,Davis & Platte) and the Bristol-Myers "Geographically Speaking"(through Young & Rubicam). Inthe "Magic Carpet," comments ofthe youngster as she supposedlyflies over the scenes gives a freshapproach to the travelogue. In"Geographically Speaking," Mrs.Carveth Wells' commentary, whichaccompanies the travelogue filmsshe shot herself, also gives an up-to-dateness to old film, when sheties in present-day happenings inthat land.Hero and There

BBC, NBC, ABC mix-up-whenJohn Royal was in Europe one ofthe things he arranged was for anexchange of film between NBC andBBC. While this was being con-summated the New York office of

BBC and ABC were tying up thesame kind of deal. Both networksnow lay claim to film exchangerights and it remains for negotia-tion to determine over which waves(ABC or NBC) Britannia will rule.

WCBW showed "The HannibalVictory," a film released by theU. S. Maritime Commission, a one -hour feature film which was madeavailable for free television. Theyare planning to present featurefilms at least once a week. Therewas a lay-off during the summer,but now it is planned to increasethe showing of celluloid. Two of themore interesting 15 -minute shortswere "Cover to Cover" which wasabout books, and "Letter FromParis" which is a report on thestate of the French capital.

NBC tied up the neatest filmpackage of the month with itsnewsreel on the departure and ar-rival of the Queen Elizabeth. Filmsshowing the giant liner leavingEngland were flown here, arrivedat six a.m. and were shown thatnight, with the audio furnished bya radio hook-up from the liner atsea. Her dawn arrival in New Yorkwas also filmed and, together witha re-edited version of the first film,was shown over WNBT that night.

ABC continues expending bigdough for film junkets. This timethey sent two camera crews to re-cord the American Legion Conven-tion for which they have exclusivetelevision rights. Film will beshown over ABC's five outlets(WABD, New York; WBKB, Chi-cago; WPTZ, Philadelphia; WTTG,Washington; and WRGB, Sche-nectady) and in addition will beturned over to the American Legionfor later showing in its numerousposts through the country.

According to Paul Mowrey thisfilm costs in excess of $10,000. Thefigure seems quite high, but thestation expects possible sponsorshipto help partially defray the cost.The documentary will also returnpromotional dividends from the na-tion-wide Legion showing. Printswill be on 16 mm.

Shooting was done on 35 mm.film, and sound added later. Finallength of film was 2,000 feet whichrepresents about 1/5 of the totaloriginally shot. ABC special eventdirector Bud Pearse directed thecoverage.

32Television

PROGRAMMING

public serviceWCBW's recently announced

program, "All -New York JuniorHigh School Quiz," produced inconjunction with the Board of Edu-cation, will be a weekly featureover the station from November 7thto May 1st. Tournament is dividedinto two ten weeks segments, withthe semi-finalists in each, compet-ing in the finals. Series is a cul-mination of the close cooperationbetween CBS and the Board ofEducation. Station prepared a"Faculty Advisers Manual" lastJune which contains specific infor-mation on visualizing quiz problemsfor distribution to the faculty ad-visers of the student teams whichwill participate. In addition,WCBW staffers have been holdingweekly meetings to train the edu-cators in video techniques.

Forty junior high schools in NewYork will participate in the pro-grams, with ten -student teams se-lected from each school. Teams willprepare the quiz posers from thesyllabus for the 7th to 9th junior

WCBW-New York Board of Education to startweekly quiz series . . . reviews of current formats.

grades and visualize the problemsfor the opposition to guess. Suchsubjects as history, geography,code of behavior, literature, gram-mar, spelling, arithmetic, currentaffairs, art and music appreciationwill be covered. Series was hailedby both CBS and the Board of Edu-cation as a concrete step in testingthe value of television as an educa-tional medium.

WBKB's latest public service fea-ture tied in with the CommunityFund Drive. Large screen receiverwas installed in the windows ofthe Fair Department Store by theFair and Cutter Cravat, and sectionroped off so that the passers-bycould collect and watch the pro-gram. Set owners in the area wereasked to have television parties andto invite their friends in for a galaopening show.

Opener featured night club andstage talent headed by GracieFields, interspersed with civic lead-ers speaking for the fund. Showwas produced by Beulah Zachary,WBKB staffer. In addition to theteeing off program, announcements

of the fund were substituted forcommercials on the other programsthroughout the week.

WBKB also launched the annualBoy Scouts drive with the presen-tation of "Boy Scout Revue."Dramatization theme was used toshow such skills as woodcraft, firstaid and signalling by having ayoungster start out on the programas a cub and through learning thevarious crafts graduate to fullfledged membership. Jack Gibney,WBKB sports editor, handled theshow.

dramaWNBT brought Uta Hagen and

Bramwell Fletcher to television in"The Curtain Rises," and provedthat despite the difference in screensize the television receiver can pro-ject acting or over -acting with asmuch clarity as the cinema screen.In this particular play by BenjaminKaye the characters had to actwithin their acting, since plot

"Your Town," regular weekly feature at W6XYZ, won the TBA prize for the best public service program for KlausLandsberg, west coast television director for Television Productions. Scenes below were taken during a three way forumon "Do we or don't we want-The Hollywood Freeway?" Scale model in close-up at left was used for visualization.

"WE 00" "YES DT--" WE NWT"

-CIT -winos 1111 -CITIZENS

November, 19461946 33

evolved about members of the thea-tre, and central character (UtaHagen) aspired to a theatrical ca-reer. This situation made everyoneparticipating quite safe from real-ity . . . or criticism.

Plot evolved around the desire ofa rich young woman to play a lovescene with the matinee idol of Vien-na. She hired a studio for that pur-pose, but was momentarily frus-trated when Bramwell Fletcher(the matinee idol) refused and as-signed his understudy the task ofteaching this gauche, plain jane thebusiness of acting. Special desireof the amour -seeking female wasto learn to play love -scenes. Whenthe understudy turned out to besincere, gentlemanly and handsomethe result was a foregone conclu-sion. But it took many love scenes,parodied, and otherwise, to arriveat the final expected fadeout.

Camera usage was fair, but therewere many long intervals when thecharacters were revealed from thewaist up. Too much over -long ex-posure of the upper regions makesa restive audience feel that theare watching semi -formed beings.As it was the drama did not havetoo much to stand on . . . it neededmore footwork, camera and drama -wise.

WCBW's bi-monthly "Judge forYourself" program combines a dra-matic situation with audience par-ticipation. Adapted from past lawsuits usually involving some littleknown legal point, dialogue andsituations are brought up to dateand the case dramatized beforethree judges and a jury -1111 ama-teurs selected for participation.Adapted and written by EdwardStasheff, keynote is set with hisopening address to the viewers ex-plaining the program and pointingout that the judge who comes clos-est to the original decision handeddown by the courts receives a bond.Cast includes a judge, attorneysfor the plaintiff and defendants,and the witnesses who testify.Courtroom setting and procedureare used, with the people involvedtestifying, being cross examined,etc. Because of the unusual anglesinvolved, viewer interest is heldthroughout. Brief summations ofthe case are given by each attorney,after which Mr. Stasheff comesback to invite the viewers to judgethe case, and then calls on the threeamateur judges to give their opin-ions. Courtroom judge then readsthe original decision handed downby the courts. Idea is good, involv-

ing as it does the suspense appealof the popular whodunits-but on amuch higher level of good taste.Program was directed by SteveMarvin for CBS.

varietyWABD's presentation of "Under

the Wing," was an American Thea-tre Wing package, produced by BobLoewi. Idea of the show was topoint up the courses which theATW are offering to returning GIswith thespian leanings. Openingwith film shots of marching sol-diers, cut was made to a man sit-ting next to a radio. Off -screen com-mentary tied in the film clips withthe ex -GI who was now looking fora job. Radio commercial told of the

.it

discussed the program. The inter-ested GI arrived to register andwas conducted on a tour of the dif-ferent classes. Fencing, dancing,dialectian and dramatic sessionswere shown, with an attempt atcomedy injected by the antics ofthe would-be student in each of theclasses. Cut back to switchboard fordirections on reaching each roomwas made between each act. Thisadded nothing to the program andwere added interruptions. Comedyroutine would have been better ifleft out entirely for it got to theembarrassingly silly stage wherethe viewers were squirming.

Camera action marred the entireshow however. As frequently hap-pens at DuMont there is neverenough headroom to allow for aperson standing up, or a dancer

"Stump The Authors," ABC video version of their radio show, is a weekly fea-ture over WBKB. Cast consists of three authors and an emcee editor, withauthor required to spin a four minute yarn about the object he withdraws fromthe box-frankfurters in this case. Reaction of studio audience is picked up.

courses offered to GIs by the ATW,at which point the young manperked up his ears and got ready toinvestigate for himself. Cameradollied into the radio, supposedlytaking the viewers to the studioand next shot was the girl singing.This was obviously thrown in as aspecialty act, although attempt wasmade to tie it in with the time lagwhile the vet was dressing to goover to ATW. Next shot was theswitchboard at ATW, with theoperator giving some of the detailsof the courses. Camera then pannedover to two representatives who

leaping into the air. In group shotssomeone is usually cut in half.Often a camera doesn't pick up theperson talking; a dancer's feet aremissing. Today's programs may beexperimental but "experimental"needn't be synonymous with care-lessness.

WRGB presented "PersonalityPreviews," a package show pro-duced by Video Associates. Themeof the series is to present and buildup talented but mostly unknownperformers. Opening with a filmclip showing the American scene

34 Television

with the emphasis on the entertain-ment world, a pop-up cartoon ideawas used as a teaser for the audi-ence to guess the name of the per-former. Eight to ten cartoons, de-picting the background of the per-former, a previous show he was in,etc., are used to introduce each seg-ment. These cartoons are mountedon frames and pop up to give move-ment and to visualize the audioclues which the off -screen com-mentator gave. Name was given atthe end and then a dissolve wasmade to the performer. Three spotswere used in the half-hour show,with the opening and closing onedevoted to entertainment and themiddle one illustrating a graphicart, fashion, furnishings, etc.

Dancer Eva Desca was in the

dollied in for a close-up of themodel house, idea being that a per-son was about to step out of thedoor. Quick change to a long shotshowed the model, and the impor-tant features of it were discussed.This segment would lend itself wellto commercial possibilities.

As is usual with shows broughtup to WRGB, scripts, floor plans,technical requirements, prop lists,etc., were sent ahead of time. Showreceived three hours of camera re-hearsal in the studio. Clark Jonesproduced it for WRGB.

participationWCBW's "See What You Know,"

regularly scheduled audience parti-cipation show, suffers badly every

WCBW's bi-monthly "Judge for Yourself.' program dramatizes law cases witha peculiar legal twist. Courtroom setting is used and three amateur judges areselected. Their decision is given at the end of the program, with person comingclosest to the original verdict winning a prize. Because of the unusual casesselected for dramatization, audience interest is sustained throughout the show.

first spot and did two specialtynumbers. "Lucky Looie," a satire onthe black market and the fellowswho slid away from war duties wasperformed without musical accom-paniment. Narrator asked a seriesof questions and she danced out theanswers. Second, "Guerilla inSpain," was danced to recordings.

Lorenzo Fuller sang and accom-panied himself by means of a home-made musical contraption that Pe-trillo never heard of. Second spot,on prefabricated housing, got thesame build up as the others, withthe viewer led to believe that itwas another personality. Camera

now and then from stunts that aremore radio than video, from badgrouping of the contestants andpoor camera shooting in picking upthe action or the people involved.Watching three people sing a dif-ferent song at the same time wasn'thalf as funny as it often is on theradio-and looking at them didn'tmake it any funnier. Only goodvisual stunt used in this particularprogram had the three contestantstrim a hat on their heads fromdecoration and pin laden tray ontheir laps. And even here the pacedragged a bit.

While it's alright with us if tele-

Major film

company

executive

Completely

sold on

television

Will give up present

executive position to get

into television now.

Twenty years experience

in all phases of motion

picture industry -

production, distribution,

sales, newsreel, talent,

etc. Have closely studied

television industry for

some years now. Fully

acquainted with its many

problems.

Feel completely qualified

for station managership

or heading up of special

events department.

Box 66,

TELEVISION,

600 Madison Ave.,

New York 22

November, 1946 35

Members of the Philadelphia Fencing school demonstrated their techniques in"Sports in Review" over WPTZ. A regular weekly program, this sustainer fea-tures star athletes as guests, as well as gym classes from Philadelphia schools.

Ruth McGinnis, world's champion woman pocket billiard player, displayed hetechnique of trick shots in a series of demonstration games over WRGB.

casters wish to tell a little whitelie to the viewers, they should re-member not to trip themselves up.Repeatedly on the show, which issupposed to be unrehearsed eachcontestant gets up to act out a char-acter for the others to guess-andwithout any instruction as to whothey're supposed to be, go right intotheir stunt. Let's not endow videoviewers with that radio IQ of a 12-year -old.

ABC presented the FentonAgency's package, "Detect and Col-lect," over WABD, which featuredthe horse -laughing monkey -manLew Lehr as MC. True to type Lewdemonstrated on this audience par-ticipation show that "peoples is thecraziest monkeys." Zany programillustrated Darwin in reverse, butdespite the assault on the IQ every-one seemed to be having more funthan a barrel of simians.

Idea of the program was to makethe audience participant guess whatwas concealed behind the curtain byoffering contestant a series of clues.Rewards ranged from $10 to $5,$2.50 and 5 cents depending on thespeed with which the person cere-brated in answering one of thefour clues. Most obtuse clue wasnaturally the first which carried theten buck reward, down to the mostobvious which was usually the $2.50mark in the performance.

Behind that curtain, four itemswere unveiled in the half-hourshow.

1. Kiddie Kars . . . Lehr and con-testant raced.

2. "A tasty dish" . . . which turnedout to be an attractive blonde.Soldier and sailor who partici-pated in this stunt each won$2.50 and were told to take the"dish" out and have a good timeat no expense at the Latin Quar-ter . . . to which a wag added. . . "they won $2.50 and a Latinquarter."

3. Steam cabinet . . . woman con-testant saw her husband reducedin this cabinet. Door opened andout came a midget.

4. Wardrobe of old fashionedclothes . . . two women contest-ants raced to see who could puton most clothes in a short time.After piling on the most out-landish rigs they did a statelytake -off on fashion models. Thiswas funniest proof of the factthat monkeys are not the craziestpeople.

WRGB's "The Jury of PublicOpinion," new bi-monthly seriesover the station, features the newG -E opinion meter which electrical-ly registers the composite opinionof a group.

Jury of twelve is chosen, with anme putting a question of nationalinterest to the group. Each memberholds a small dial instrument in hishand on which he registers hisopinion. A six foot dial then re-cords the mass pro and con reactionof the group, in degrees from zeroto 100.

After this first test of opinion,the same question is submitted to apanel of our experts who discussboth sides of the subject. At theconclusion of this debate, the juryagain registers their opinion-anda glance at the dial shows the tele-viewers whether the experts' dis-cussion has changed any opinions.

36 Television

EQUIPMENT

STATING that programming willbenefit from the adaptability of

the new postwar streamlined equip-ment, James D. McLean, managerof sales, transmitter division, elec-tronics department of G -E, listedthe following general improvementsincorporated in the new models: Studio cameras will be smaller,lighter and easier to handle becauseof circuit developments and cameratube improvements. Smaller cameratubes, the removal of power sup-plies, and the reduction of sweepcircuit components all contribute tothe new lightweight designs. Master control equipment will beextremely flexible and capable ofhandling programs from manysources. Field pick-ups, inter -cityprograms, films, slides and live tal-ent can be cued, switched and moreeasily controlled with this new ap-paratus. The image orthicon has resultedin the development of new, highlysensitive cameras for field pick-upuse.

Television transmitter design hasbeen simplified due to new vacuumtubes capable of generating consid-erable amounts of radio frequencyenergy at television frequencies.Tubes are available in limited quan-tities for at least 5000 watts outputover all of the thirteen assignedtelevision channels. New transmit-ters will employ fewer circuits,components and tubes than prewarunits. They will be easy to install,adjust and operate. Vacuum tubes now available willallow the construction of transmit-ters with power outputs of 15 kw ormore in the lower group of tele-vision broadcast channels. New de-velopments in the manufacture ofpower amplifier tubes will eventual-ly lead to the production of highpowered transmitters-perhaps ofthe order of 50 kw for all of thetelevision channels. Techniques resulting from thedesign of wartime radar antennasare contributing materially to thedesign of new television broadcast-ing antennas with higher powergains and broader band operation.

With FCC frequencies set forstudio to transmitter and point-to-point relays for television broad -

New features incorporated in. . . current developments

casting and common carrier opera-tion, designs can be completed forthis type of equipment and micro-wave technique can be perfected. Asto the future, sensitive cameratubes with better definition andhigher resolution; smaller cameras;and improvement in theatre tele-vision service, as well as develop-mental work in the higher frequen-cies for both color and black -and -white transmission can be antici-pated.

postwar equipmentrecent patent grants.

ture should save time on the as-sembly line, and will obviate varia-tions resulting in the use of threeseparate parts.

AntennaKing Electronics presented what,

according to the company, is a rev-olutionary type of Dipole antennafor television and FM reception.Efficiency is considerably higherthan other conventional dipoles orreflectors, the company claims, be -

General Electric's new lightweight television camera has two sets of turret -mounted lenses, and is equipped with finger-tip controls. A silent electrichydraulic system, foot -operated, gives flexibility of elevation controls. Lensesare focused by twisting the rotating grip on the right handle, as illustrated.

VideocouplerP. IL Mallory & Company, Inc. of

Indianapolis announce the additionof another electronic component totheir line, the Mallory Videocoupler.It is a three terminal network de-signed to couple the video amplifierto the picture tube in television re-ceivers. Unique feature claimed forthe product is combination of twopeaking inductances and the loadresistor in one assembly. This fea-

cause of the adjustable arm featureof the new product.

This feature makes it possible toharmonize the wave lengths ofweak stations and eliminates ghostson some stations in low areas. Ad-justment is made through an UHFelement which is calibrated from1.0 to 21.5 in half -steps. The an-tenna comes complete with hard-ware, straps, and guy wires forready installation.

November, 1946 37

Professional DirectoryRING & CLARK

Consulting Radio Engineers

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Munsey Bldg. Republic 2347

JANSKY & BAILEYAn Organization of

Qualified Radio EngineersDEDICATED TO THE

Service of BroadcastingNational Press Bldg., Wash., D. C.

Consulting Radio Engineers

JOHN J. KEELEarle Bldg., Washington, D. C.

NATIONAL 6513

WELDON & CARRConsulting Radio Engineers

WASHINGTON, D. C.1605 CONNECTICUT AVENUE

Phone-Michigan 4151

GARO W. RAYConsulting Radio Engineers

991 Broad Street Bridgeport, Conn.

Phone 5.2055

FRANK H. McINTOSH

Consulting Radio Engineers710 14th ST., N. W. ME. 4477

WASHINGTON, D. C.

cDCOMMERCIAL RADIOEQUIPMENT CO.

Radio Engineering ConsultantComplete engineering services !,applicant. owners. and operators of

AM-FM-and TelevisionBroadcasting Stations

International Building. Washington, D. C.321 E. Gregory Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo.Cross Roads of the World. Hollywood, Calif.

GEORGE C. DAVISConsulting Radio Engineer

Munsey Bldg. District 8456

WASHINGTON, D. C.

DIXIE B. McKEYROBERT C. SHAW

Consulting Radio Engineers1730 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.

Washington 9, D. C. Adams 3711

HOYLAND BETTINGER

Te/erision Consultant

Studio Design, Lighting,Personnel Training

595 Fifth Avenue PLaza 8.2000

McNARY & WRATHALL

Consulting Radio Engineers

National Press Bldg. DI. 1205

WASHINGTON, D. C.

WORTHINGTON C. LENT

Consulting EngineersInternational Bldg. Wash., D. C.

1319 F Street, N. W. District 4127

JOHN CREUTZ

Consulting Radio Engineer319 Bond Bldg. REpublic 2151

WASHINGTON, D. C.

JOHN BARRONConsulting Radio Engineers

Specializing in Broadcast andAllocation Engineering

Earle Building, Washington 4, D. C.Telephone NAtional 7757

BROADCASTING STUDIOSDesign and Construction

Television, also F.M. and A.M.THE AUSTIN COMPANY

Cleveland

A Nation -Wide Organization

patentsPermanent Records

Alan M. Carmel, Forest Hills, N.Y., won No. 2,408,293 on a methodof making permanent records oftelevision signals for future repro-duction (two claims allowed, appli-cation for patent Oct. 14, 1944,patent not assigned).

It is known that many more tele-vision signals than sound signalsare required per unit of time.Sound signals long have been re-corded on motion picture film, butthe high frequency of televisionsignals has been regarded generally

as a prohibitive drawback to theirrecording. This invention is basedon the fact that while sound sig-nals must have distinguishablyvarying intervals, video signals maybe recorded at uniform intervalsrequiring only the minimum lengthpermitted by microscopic and pho-tographic methods. Thus, in thisdevice, the record carrier is movedjust fast enough for such minimumintervals.

The condensed television signalsare conducted to the recording de-vice by wires, and then are trans-formed into light signals by acathode ray tube. During the re-cording operation, the 35 -millimeter

film moves longitudinally across thelight beam of the camera rapidlyenough to record the signals in arow, one after another, at a speedof about 10 yards per second. Oncethe film has been developed, itshows rows of a transparency var-ied or modulated according to theintensity of the signals. And theserecorded signals may be used forsending or broadcasting in thesame manner as original signals.The width and the small height ofthe microscopic signals make it pos-sible to divide the recording areainto perhaps 20 rows of signals,half of them for television and theother half for sound.

38 Television

Electron Scanning BeamsNo. 2,407,485 was granted to

Sanford F. Essig, Fort Wayne,Ind., on automatic control meansdesigned to prevent the orthiconfrom becoming "paralyzed" (sevenclaims allowed, application for pat-ent June 1, 1944, assigned to Farns-worth Television & Radio Corpora-tion). Nos. 2,407,905 and 2,407,906were awarded Albert Rose, EastOrange, N. J., on means for pre-venting helical motion of the beamand for providing more uniformsecondary amplification (20 claimsallowed on the former, 10 on thelatter; both patents applied for in1942 and assigned to RCA).

In the Essig patent, the inventorpoints to one serious drawback oflow velocity type tubes. When themosaic screen is flooded with light,the electrons supplied to an indi-vidual photosensitive island fromthe electron scanning beam normal-ly will not be sufficient to restorethe electron charges to the islandand to bring the mosaic potentialback to normal. The effect is thatthe orthicon becomes paralyzed, andit may take several scansions to re-store the electron deficiency.

The Essig patent covers auto-matic means for controlling the in-tensity of the low velocity electronscanning beam. This is held to pre-vent paralysis because the numberof electrons of the scanning beamwill automatically be kept equal toor larger than the largest numberof photoelectrons freed from anyof the photosensitive islands.

Rose points out in 2,407,905 onedifficulty in construction of lowvelocity tubes - the fact that forideal operation, the electron beammust be directed longitudinally ofthe magnetic field to prevent im-parting to the beam a radical com-ponent of velocity which producesa helical beam motion and conse-quent distortion and loss of resolu-tion in the recreated televisionimage.

In the patented tube, difficultiesarising from this inaccuracy ofelectrode alignment are held to beminimized, and helical motion isneutralized by developing a mag-

TELEVISION ENGINEERTelevision position desired. 10 yearsto -date with major network plustraining abroad. 20 years commer-cial radio experience. All phasestechnical operation, production anddirection of television programs.Lieutenant Commander with demon-strated executive ability. Box 64,TELEVISION.

The Mallory Videocoupler couples thevideo amplifier to the picture tube.

netic field acting upon the beam toproduce a second radial or normalcomponent of velocity opposite indirection and equal in amount tothe original radial component ofbeam velocity.

In the second Rose patent, dis-tortion produced by non -uniformityof secondary electron emitting sur-faces is minimized and the process-ing of multiplier electrodes is madeeasier. Under this system, an elec-trostatic image is formed on aphoto -sensitive mosaic target whichis scanned in two mutually perpen-dicular directions by wholly mag-netic means. The electrons of thebeam are incident upon the targetin accordance with the electrostaticcharges, so that electrons not reach-ing the target are returned alongsubstantially the same paths as thescanning beam to an electron multi-plier.

Long Shots & Close Ups(Continued from page 26)another. There is a subject for sep-arate discussion . . . but one thingis sure-they cost enough.

Anyhow, this gave me a subjectfor another article. One on the timefactors for each phase of the vari-ous types of production. How longit does take for casting, designing,building, painting, decorating anddressing sets, rehearsals, shooting,cutting and editing, music andsound effects scoring, and all lab-oratory processing. It's the timeand labor required to do thesethings that determine your costs. . . so a general knowledge of themshould be helpful in deciding theefficiency of your producer and hisorganization.

As a student who paid histwenty-five bucks entrance fee toattend this TBA "College of Tele-vision Knowledge," I can't help butsay that-as they sing in the musi-cal hit "Carousel," . . . "it was areal nice clambake" ... and a lot ofnice people were there. Period.

EXPERIENCED

Television

Program

Producer

Available

Young executive with

seven years experience in

all phases of television

programming-including

studio, remote, motion

picture and relay

telecasts.

Ability and practical

knowledge to handle

key post for television

broadcaster or to

head advertising agency

television department.

Box 65,

TELEVISION,

600 Madison Ave.,

New York 22

November, 1946 39

TBA's Future

WHAT with the absorption of the FM broadcasters by the National Associa-tion of Broadcasters it would seem that in the natural order of events TBA

would eventually share a similar fate. But the chances are that this will not takeplace-particularly with the recent NAB convention not scheduling as much asone talk on television in its four -day agenda.

On the other hand TBA will have to become much stronger. True, they did wina major battle on frequency allocation, but there is much more to be done. TBAmust be of more service to its members. Noticeable at the convention was a lackof enthusiasm on the part of many. This should not be. The industry needs TBA.It needs an organization which cannot only represent and fight for its interests,but an organization that can get and supply necessary information to its members.TBA has progressed along these lines up to the point of naming committees-Commercial Operations, Television Station Operations, Publicity & Promotion,Programming, Education and Membership. Naming committees is one thing,making them function is another. For example:

There is a vital need now for audience research. TELEVISION magazinethrough its continuous audience panels has done some work in this direction, butit has only scratched the surface. Manufacturers plan to get names and addressesof every purchaser of a television receiver. This information should be standard-ized and if possible be more complete as to income bracket, size of family andeducational background. If this material were turned over to TBA for audienceresearch purposes, TBA would be performing an invaluable service to the tele-vision broadcaster, advertiser and the public. There are many other projects whichneed immediate attention.

But there is a limit to the amount of work that can be contributed by industrymembers. Experience has shown time and time again that the bulk of the workin any organization can only be done by paid executives. Will Baltin, TBA's solepaid executive, has been doing a heroic job. TBA needs more Will Baltins. Ifpresent income won't allow this additional expense, dues should be doubled. Ifmembers are now willing to pay $1000 a year, the added service they would re-ceive should certainly make it worth their while to pay an additional $1000. Andas soon as TBA gives real service, every licensee and holder of a CP will want tojoin up. It is up to TBA to make them want to be members.

40 Television

"I look forward to receivingTELEVISION magazine every month."

-Perhaps what I like about it most is that itcontains a wealth of information concerning thetelevision industry boiled down into concise form.thus making ii possible to obtain a maximum ofinformation with o minimum of reading time.

-I particularly like the manner in which the

pertinent information concerning the television out-look in various cities is presented.

-1 feel that TELE! TSION magazine is renderingthe industry a great service in supplying it with suchworthrwlile information...

When a publication can be of such service to its readers it

becomes a strong publishing force, and a strong publishingforce is a powerful sales force. Whether you are selling equip-

ment, station time, programs, film production, in fact, whatever

you are selling in television, you'll find TELEVISION magazine,

THE INDUSTRY'S ONLY MONTHLY BUSINESS PUBLICA-TION, the most effective medium to reach the men who buy.

TELEVISION magazine, 600 Madison Avenue, New York 22.

Mr. George Shupert is television execu-tive for Paramount Pictures aul presi-dent of the lmerican Television Society.

The tuning "test pat-tern" that will soon befamiliar to Teleset*owners in and aroundDetroit.

Detroit-fourth in sales rank in the nation's cities-has added the salespower of

television to its media of distribution.

Pioneering enterprise thrives in the great city of Detroit. And especially noteworthy

is the fact that the founder of Michigan's first television station is the Detroit News,

the same progressive newspaper which launched (August 20, 1920) and still oper-

ates WWJ-America's first commercial radio station!

Television Station WWDT broadcasts from a specially designed antenna com-

manding the Detroit skyline from atop the Penobscot Building, the city's tallest

office structure. Antenna, transmitter and station facilities were designed and built

by DU MONT, builder of more television stations than any other company. When

you choose Du Mont television broadcasting equipment, you choose tested, trouble -

free designs. May we tell you more about them?

If you have not read "THE ECONOMICS OF DU MONT TELEVISION," Write for a copy.Cott, richt 1946. Allen II. Du Moot Laboratories. Inc.

00 MONT ta-littoid tieeitth

AWN B DO MONT IARORAIORMS. INC GENERAL IIIEPISION SAILS OWNS A SIAIION WAND, SIS MADISON APINUI f IW YORK 2/. N. Y.DU MONT'S IOHN WANAMAKER THIVISION STUDIOS WANAMAKER PLACE. WY, YORK 3. N. Y. NOME OFFICES A PI ANTS. PASSAIC. N. I