Evening star., 1948-11-28

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decisive yet, is being felt in sport
radio bros dcastine, an Associated p
The extent Of that impact is
existence no longer can be denied
Last year 10000 television sets
were produced; the first nine
months of this year the figure
climbed to 100000. Obviously, ii
more people are watching television
they are doing less of something
else.
In sports, the new medium def
nitely Is reviving wrestling and
hurting minor league baseball in
places where the cathode tube is
able to bring major league games
into the living room.
May Hurt Yankees
Bill Johnston, who promotes II
wrestling shows a week in the East
says television has increased his at.
tendance at least Is per cent. One
reason is that the new fans now in.
clude women attracted to it by tele.
vision.
Video's first baseball victim may
be the New York Yankees once
profitable International League
franchise at Newark. There's talk
of moving Newark out of the range
of TV cameras shooting major
league ball in NEARBY New York
In 1916, when Yankee, Giant anc
Dodger games were not televised
Newark drew 264,o00. This veal
the attendance fell to 165 900
Minor league clubs at Jersey City
and Baltimore also have been hare
hit.
However, you can't prove a thing
by major league baseball, which
set a new attendance record last
season. Certainly. television hasn't
hurt it. Maybe it's helped, if you
accept the theory that the attend
ance record was raided and abetued
by new fans attracted through
video.
Pro football promoters rapidly are
developing "telev;sion nerves" In
baseball bad weather may bring a
postponement. Other big time
sports are held indoors. But foot
ball is played in all weather.
Already" says an official of the
All-America Conference, we are
beginning to find that fans are stay
ing in front of their teleyision sets
when the weather turns cold or
wet"
Other Sports Hold Up
Boxing is something else. The
Zale-Cerdan fight, which wasn't
televised, failed to draw its expected
gate. The last Louis Walcott fight
which was televised, drew well. But
that the two fields are becoming
more and more allied is illustrated
in repeated reports that CHS was
buying into boxing's newest promo
tional group, the tournament Of
champions.
Hockey and basket ball, at Madi-
son Square Garden, are playing to
90 per cent of capacity night after
night, although these contests have
been televised for years. Explains
Ned Irish, Garden executive vice
president:
"Television may hurt a one-shot
promotion but those of us who are
in the business all year believe 1t
will bring us many new customers"
Movie theaters in New York re-
port a drop in attendance as a
result of television, but out in
Hollywood the major studios are
making no statements. However
Hollywood's awareness of the new
industry Is evident.
None of the big studios Is making
films for television; none will per-
init its old films to be televised
where the studios still control same.
Films being televised come from
other sources-quickie producers of
horse operas. small independents
foreign firms, reissue distributors,
or outfits making movies exclusively
for television.
Studios Guard Their Stars
AS a general rule, the studios
don't permit their stars to appear
on television, except for Paramount,
which grants permission for only
its own stations. The studios argue
that present video doesn't do their
stars justice. y
However, there has been con-
siderable talk of showing traiierS
of new motion pictures on Htelevi-
sion to advertise their showing ir
theaters. Actress Vera Ralston re.
Gently made personal appearance
on the Dumont station in New
York in connection with a showing
of excerpts from her latest pic
ture.
Paradoxically, Sizable segment