[78-L] Dragnet Xmas Album (Was: Re: Rochester)

[Michael Biel]

I disagree with all of the contentions that "CBS found itself with a
white elephant with their color system" or "CBS used the outbreak of the
Korean War to ask the government to declare color TV a war materiel
product so they could exit the market and save face."  CBS was actively
pushing their series of daily colorcasts and had expanded their plans
when they were cut off.  It is not true that "customers balked at buying
CBS's spinning-filter-wheel color TVs".  EVERY SET planned for the
initial production had been pre-ordered by the few stores allocated to
sell the limited production, and refunds had to be given. It might seem
that "few manufacturers wanted to produce more expensive dual-format
sets because there was little demand for them when there was almost
nothing being broadcast in color." but the specs for the scanning were
released only weeks before the first shows were aired, and there had not
been time for designs to be implemented which would require maybe $5 in
parts to add a switch to a B&W set to enable seeing the color programs
in B&W on the sets.  Given six months we would have seen all new models
with that switch and retrofit kits available to dealers and repairmen.  

What you are describing here is what happened when the NTSC color system
was approved in 1953.  THAT was when not only were "Consumers ... still
buying their first monochrome TV sets", there were millions and millions
MORE sets that had been sold than had been back in 1951.  It would have
been a much simpler situation to install a simple modification switch on
the small amount of sets already sold by 1951 than it would be to
convince 1954 buyers to buy a whole new set.  As for the contention:
"with the licensing freeze in effect, the only station in the world
broadcasting the CBS system was the CBS station in New York, which was
broadcasting a few hours a week with now viewers", by the end of the
month of CBS color broadcasts eleven stations were carrying them,
although six of them were added at the end.  Ed Reitan includes the list
at the bottom of his page.  I am not sure of the date of this, but he
includes: Quoting testimony by Frank Stanton [8]: “Plans were under
way for further expansion of the broadcasting of color programs;
additional programs were sponsored; our sales force was engaged in
vigorous efforts to interest other advertisers and there were several
promising prospects; and in order to increase broadcasting by stations
not owned by CBS, we had completed plans to purchase and pay for time on
some 10 affiliates along the eastern seaboard during which they would
carry our color broadcasts.” 

Looking thru the newspapers and trade press at the time, the CBS color
system was rushed in and out without much breathing space.  If you look
at the beginning weeks of NTSC color you would not see it developing any
faster as far as programs, stations, and sets made and sold.  How was it
faring in Feb 1954???  The existing CBS color wheel sets show them to be
not all that much more cumbersome but much less complicated as some of
the first NTSC sets.  DuMont was trying to push his giant 30-inch set
which is why he wanted high-def, but that would have required a similar
modification to all the sets on the market and in the home much like the
CBS color system -- and the move up to color was much more exciting than
the move to hi-def would have been.  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [78-L] Dragnet Xmas Album (Was: Re: Rochester)
From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
Date: Sat, May 26, 2012 3:49 pm
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>

And in other corporate benevolence, that sonofabitch Sarnoff was trying
to 
screw Farnsworth out of everything, or at least wait till his patents
expired.

dl

On 5/26/2012 3:43 PM, David Breneman wrote:
>
> From: J. E. Knox<rojoknox at metroeast.org>
>
>
>> Hmmm. My understanding of this is that David Sarnoff of RCA was
>> behind efforts to "declare color TV a war materiel product" -- in
>> order to stymie the sequential system and stick it to CBS. Not sure
>> where I read this though.
>
> RCA did have an interest in delaying the adoption of the
> CBS system so that they could develop their all-electronic
> system. They certainly welcomed CBS' withdrawal from the
> market, but CBS found itself with a white elephant with
> their color system. Consumers were still buying their first
> monochrome TV sets, and few manufacturers wanted to produce
> more expensive dual-format sets because there was little
> demand for them when there was almost nothing being broadcast
> in color. And with the licensing freeze in effect, the only
> station in the world broadcasting the CBS system was the CBS
> station in New York, which was broadcasting a few hours a week
> with now viewers. On top of that, DuMont was agitating for an HD
> system (~800 lines) with the argument that B&W TV should be
> "perfected" before there was talk of color. DuMont didn't
> have any color patents of their own, but they did have some
> HDTV patents. Everybody was jockeying for a patent advantage.