Evening star., 1951-06-06
On the Air
TeIe Films
Top Others
In Volume
By Harry Macarthur

You keep hearing the predic-
Ition that Hollywood will see the
light some day and start CO.
Operating with television rather
i than deriding it. Hollywood, ir
this case, has meant the motion
picture industry as centered in a
few major studios, which have
held aloof from TV, have kept
their films from 1t and have gone
along only grudgingly with the
|lteSt of such a revolutionary
method of film distribution as
Phonevision.
Hollywood, meaning the entire
movie industry based in Southern
California, is surprisingly more in
volved In television than you
might think. however. In volume,
Hit in no other way, production of
films for television has moved
ahead of production of films for
theaters.
There now are 81 programs
filmed weekly in Hollywood for
Itelevision showing, total Of 10
lIhours. This adds up to a yearly
total of 988 hours of motion pic
lures for television, or 1873 more
than the 855 hours of feature
films made last year for the
theaters of the land. The figures
were obtained in. survey made in
May by Jerry Fairbanks, Inc.
The films forty field is ex-
pected to expand a great deal more
come fall, when many more pro-
grams than at present will be
coming to television via the movie
cameras. Hollywood is going to
be real boom town and it is
safe to predict that the big movie
studios will not let any upstart
newcomers make off with all the
loot.
You may see Daryl Zanuck's S
name glowing proudly on your
television screen before you know
lit.
Il \ %
Still Dissenting: That 90-day
Phonevision test in Chicago, Incl
|ldentally, was q notable success
lat least In the eyes of E. F. Nc
Donald. jr.. president Of Zenith
Radio and father Of the idea. The
average expenditure in the 300
family test group was $3.50 for
the period, an average Of $1.73 a
week. Looking forward to 40 mil
lion or so million TV set owners
lin a few years, Mr.. Mcdonald is
Optimistic. With an audience that
|size. he says, the 10 films which
did the best business in the
IPhonevision tests would have
averaged $2.983, 900 each for the
producer. The 10 pictures doing
the worst business would have
returned the producer $780, 900
leach.
Phonevision, in case it has es-
capped your attention, is a system
flor showing feature motion pic
Itures in the home by television.
The films are televised "scram-
Ibled" and when the viewer orders
one, at a cost Of ST., the un-
scrambling signal is sent to his
set by telephone. The FEC has
yet to hold hearings and act on
the advisability of allowing this
particular commercial use Of pub
lie television channels.
The motion picture producers,
too. have yet to agree with Mr..
Mcdonald that Phonevision is all
he says it is. They think his
dreams of the future are far too
optimistic. The fact that there
are 10 million sets, or 40 million
or so million, they say, does not
mean that all will be equipped for
Phonevision. They point out that
the top radio programs attract
the attention of only 20 per cent
of the radio receivers in the coun-
try. What this figure has to do
with showing movies by television
the producers don't say, but they
have brought it up.
X X x 4
Color at Price: The first mod
lels Of the color television sets to
be made by Air King, the new CHS
subsidiary, were demonstrated this
week at the company's Brooklyn
plant. There are two sets, both
consoles with 121a-inch screens.
The more elaborate, with doors. Is
priced at $499.95, and the other,
without doors, at $399.95. They
will go on sale this summer.
The 12l2-inch size is virtually
a discontinued model In black
and-White receivers and sets of
that size were being advertised
here few days ago as low as $79.
''in original factory cartons" I"
Three years ago, of course, the
purchase and installation of 10
inch table model would have cost
you nearly $400.
The new Air King receivers are
designed to receive both black
and-white telecast on present
standards and color televised by
the CHS method. The sets have q
basic 10-inch picture, magnified
to 1914 inches. They employ a
spinning color disc. but the COM
pany would switch to RCA's tri-
color tube, 1t was said. when 1t
proved practical. Mass produc-
ton of that tube, however, prob
ably cannot start for two years.
X 4
Increase Decreasing: The slump
in TV set sales. not offset any by
the color confusion, shows up now
in the new sets-in-use figure of
the Washington Television Circu-
Ilation Committee. An increase OF
I