Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-06
RADIO HEAD GIVES
TELEWS|ON VIEWS
William S. PaIey of Columbia
System Sees No Threat to
Theater in Invention.
BY MARTIN CODEL.
Copyright, 1929. by North American News
paper Alliance)


Copyright, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance
Does the prospect Of television carry
with it a threat against theater at
tendance and the economic structure OF
the entertainment business?
William S. Paley, president of the
Columbia Broadcasting System. asks
tive in an article in the october issue
OF the magazine Nations Business.
When television comes, whether via
wires or radio. the theater will survive
and continue to flourish in the opinion
Of the 27-year-old head of one Of the
two great chain broadcaSting organlza-
tions.
The theater, particularly the movies,
has found a natural affinity rather than
a potential rival in radio. Hence the
recent joining of Columbia's hands with
the Paramount amous-LaS Corpora
ton. Though the gantic entertain
ment industry is subject to many ca
prices, not even the prospect OF nome
television can shake it from its eco
nomic foundations, according to Mr..
Paley.
Gather for Entertainment.
people" he says. have assembled
to be entertained and instructed for
thousands of years. They will, I be-
lieve, continue to gather for these pur-
poses for many generations to come.
The theater is as natural an institute
as the school room.
Man. being a social creature, likes
to rub shoulders with his fellows. Emo
tional response in an audience Is in
fictitious. Laughs en9ender laughs,
thrills sweep like electric currents
through multitudes. Scenes of dramatic
pojgnancy on stage, or screen, or plat
form, affect group mind that exists
at the moment as one, though 1t may
be composed OF thousands OF lndl-
viduals."
Sociclogists and industrialists. &C
cording to Mr.. Paley, asked whether a
clash is not imminent between the par
venu radio and the established theater,
especially since the advent of the
talkies demonstrated how the motion
picture industry is creature OF the
laboratory.
Will not television, when it is accom-
plished. keep people at home for their
entertainment?
The coming of radio broadcasting,
Mr. Paley replies, brought fears to the
minds of some that the public would
prefer to stay at home to listen to radio
programs and that the motion picture
business would suffer as result.
"The groundlessness of those fears is
proved by the fact that attendance at
film houses has increased year by year.
New and larger theaters. are con-
stantly being built. Radio gave the
screen voice, music and the multitu-
dinouS sounds of natural activity. The
progress of science was not destructive
to the entertainment industry. 1t SIM
ply gave the public the right to demand
more for its money"
Television will probably find its first
outlet in established theaters, where
ProupS may view the wonder, but tele-
vision will have to come up to the
standards set by the screen and stage
to keep people away from the theater,
according to Mr.. Paley.
THE home" he concludes, "can
hardly be expected to be transformed
into a theater having all the perfect
devices and appurtenanceS available to
the theater. A glimpse at few OF
these devices, some not yet exploited,
suffices to illustrate.
The SUPERSEDED screen, one that oc-
cupies a full stage, will soon be used,
especially for the musical shows that
are becoming regular offerings In the
talkieS. Experiments are being con-
Quoted with StereoScopic picturesque
lures having third, or depth, dimen-
sion. Increasing use OF color Is being
made in current film offerings.
1.-The combination of these elements
with spoken dialogue, music and nat
ural sounds will set a standard for
screen entertainment that audiences
will naturally expect and demand when
television becomes a commercial prac-
ticability. Moreover, some one will
have to foot this bill for home tele-
vision, and it is hard to conceive OF an
advertising sponsorship of the filmed
efforts of Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pick
ford and Douglas Fairbanks"
(Copyrisht, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance.)