Boxoffice-Febuary.14.1948

: February
TAKE THE LEAD IN TELEVISION.
TOA'S ADVICE TO EXHIBITORS
Theatre Owners of America's
television report urges exhibitors
to get into the swim immediately.
The National Broadcasting Co.
halts an RKO large-screen demonstration,
challenging the right
of theatre pickups for paid audience.
Exhibitors discuss possible effects
of television newsreels on
theatrical newsreels; 20th Century-Fox
television new^sreel to
bow February 16.
Large-screen television plays
Cleveland and Los Angeles, to
exhibitor applause.
NEW YORK—Developments in television
moved swiftly across the country this week.
Theatre Owners of America issued its
comprehensive study of television and
urged exhibitors to finance theatre television
research, to keep abreast of all new
phases of theatre television and to install
television receivers in their theatre lounges
as video stations open in their communities.
TOA's bulletin, the first of its projected
Theatre Business Review, went to the association's
10,000 members. It is entitled "A
Challenge to the Motion Picture Industry,"
and was prepared under the supervision of
TOA's television committee which is headed
by E. v. Richards Jr., of New Orleans.
The bulletin points out that television may
enrich the exhibition industry, or "presage
the extinction of exhibition as it stands
today."
STUDY TELECAST EXCLUSIVES
The TOA will investigate the po.ssibility
arranging exclusive theatre telecasts on
of
.sports events and other happenings of public
interest. The report quotes Ralph B. Austrian,
former president of RKO Television
CoiTJ., that a group of theatres can outbid
any commercial advertising sponsor for exclusive
television rights to important events.
Austrian visualized the creation of booking
offices which would have the dual purpose
of purchasing video rights from promoters
of such events as prize fights, football games,
horse races, etc., and selling them to motion
picture theatres on either a "per theatre" or
"per seat" basis for an exclusive theatre
broadcast.
Austrian also is quoted as saying that
"all that theatre television needs to become
a reality, other than the theatre equipment
itself, is a means of interconnecting a chain
of theatres with a camera or cameras located
TOA Conclusions on Television
•THE SHARPNESS of the challenge offers no alternative other than it be met head
on. The course is clear:
1. Complete information concerning the new phenomenon must be every theatreman's
stock in trade.
2. Theatremen, recognizing television's close kinship to the theatre, should join
and, ideally, lead in the development of television facilities throughout the nation.
3. Television loimges should be established in theatres in concert with the expansion
of television channels.
4. The theatre industry should encourage and finance, if necessary, accelerated
research in the field of theatre screen television to narrow the gap now evident between
theatre and home television.
5. Independent study by TOA must test the possibility of theatre exclusives on
sporting events and other happenings of great public interest.
at the scene of the subject matter desired
to be exhibited on the theatre screen."
TOA raises the question, however, of
whether the FCC would permit the use of the
air waves for telecasting of important news
events to theatres exclusively and mentions
the possibility that exclusive theatre telecasts
might run afoul of the antitrust laws.
The report reviews the two systems of
theatre television now available— (1) direct
cathode ray tube projection onto a screen
using the Schmidt optical system or other
high speed production lens system; I2) reproduction
of the television image on film,
with the film quickly processed and run
through a regular theatre projector. The
TOA contends that while the first system
has a time advantage, the second permits
repeat perfoi-mances and enables the exhibitor
to fit a special event into the regular
theatre program.
The report lists two drawbacks to direct
television projection: (1) equipment designed
for a specific screen throw may have to be
installed in an inconvenient location; (2)
direct projection equipment may necessitate
enlarging the projection booth to accommodate
the equipment. It points out that with
the film recording system, the projectionist
would be required to learn film processing
and film recording, but would not have to
learn a new projection method. The film recording
system permits editing of the film,
it adds.
"Both systems are perfectly feasible aijd
will find their respective place in the future.
The factor of selection probably will depend
upon which system can best meet showmanship
and commercial requirements," the report
states.
Discussing television as competition to motion
pictures, the TOA reports that the present
quality of television broadcasting in the
opinion of experts is adequate for sports and
spot news coverage, but is inferior to most
theatrical newsreeLs and that there is no
assurance sufficient light is available for
large-screen theatre television projection. The
TOA adds: "With theatres apparently waiting
for perfected equipment and the large
manufacturers—RCA and the Bell system
waiting for theatres to decide whether they
are interested and, if so, what they want,
a stalemate seems to have developed."
On the use of television in bars and restaurants
the report speculates on the number
of persons who would have gone to theatres
to see the Louis-Walcott heavyweight championship
fight if it had been shown on largescreen
theatre television. NBC estimated that
1,000,000 persons saw the telecast of the fight
and other millions heard it over the radio.
Nearly 20 per cent of the television receivers
manufactured up to the first of October went
into bars, restaurants and other public places.
The report points out that on January
of this year 19 television stations were on
1
the air and that a total of 54 cities in 29
states was involved in current television
broadcasting authorizations and applications.
It also was revealed that upwards of 90,000
television sets were in operation in the New
York area on January 1, with 15,000 to 18,000
in Philadelphia and about 11,500 in Chicago;
12,000 in Los Angeles; 4.000 in Detroit; 3,700
in Baltimore and from 1.000 to 3.000 in Cincinnati,
Milwaukee and Schenectady.
SET AS LOW AS $169
Seats will be available for as low as $169
plus installation chai'ges which run about
$50, the report said. The committee predicts
that by 1950 there will be a nationwide network
of television stations.
Statistics on television receiver manufactiue
are given along with figures on the high i
cost of constructing stations, wtiich is one
of the chief barriers to the growth of television
in smaller cities. The report touches
on the importance of film in television. It
mentions the new 16mm. Eastman Kodak
camera for recording television programs
from the face of the monitoring "picture
tube" in the television broadcasting station.
The TOA concludes: "It ( television i is a
theatre problem. 'Production' by all odds will
find a logical and lucrative role in the television
scheme. The theatre role will be de-
12
BOXOFFICE
:
14, 1948