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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1963)
in k THURSDAY. FEBRUARY J. 196! MEDFOHft MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON Pav-As-Yoy-See Television Inleod IFovoired X.jJ(v:.,.. ... . . -. ... . MHHMBBBbJ W M r':.fLmli I .11 I 111 1 I RECEIVE PAY-TV LESSON Mrs. Richard Booth and children, Brcnda and Dcnnic, of West Hartford, Conn., re ceive instruction on use of pay-TV decoder from installer Ed Yost. Now, seven months after the first programs were Rircd, such fare as firsl-run movies, professional sports, opera, and concerts has become nightly entertainment for some 300 families in the Hartford area. (UPI) By RONALD E. COHEN United Press International Hartford, Conn. -UPD- One night seven months ago, 300 families sat in front of their television sets to view a new airways phenomenon, pay-as-you-see television. Now, as a routine evening entertainment, 2,000 Hartford area families can or cannot, as they wish, twist a couple of knobs and view first-run movies, professional sporting events, ballet, opera and con certs. And Charles O. Wood is beaming. Wood, general manager of WHCT, the first and presently only subscription television station in the nation, feels the first seven months of a three year experiment have been "encouraging." A typical evening of pay television has included such programs as: Reorganization Plan for the State Land Board Announced By ZAN STARK United Press International Salem (UPD A sweeping re organization plan for the State Land Board was an nounced today. All three members of the board Rave their enthusiastic endorsement to the plan, the most completo modernization of the board in the stale's history, The program calls for shift ing tile work load of the board to slate agencies which are expert in the various fields. Adminislrativcly the board would continue to function as at present. The program will be pre sented to the legislature for approval. The board, established by the Oregon Constitution, is made up of Gov. Mark Hatfield, Secretary of Slate Howell Ap pling Jr., and Slate Treasurer Howard Belton. Transfers Du Some members o the pres ent board staff would be transferred to other agencies as the work load shifted, Hal iield explained. The governor stressed the hoard would continue to func tion as it now does at the ad minislralive level, and thai only the specialized work load would be shifted. Appling said such a reor ganization plan had been "much discussed" In recent years. He termed the proposal a "marvelous kind of reor ganization," and said he was completely in accord and enthusiastic in support" of the plan. Beltnn said the plan would lead to "belter administration and possible savings."' The governor said the J 967 Oratorial Contest Starts Tonight The 2(ith annual national High School Oratorical con test sponsored by the Ameri. can Legion will get under way at 8 o'clock tonight at the American Legion Memorial building, 404 Waluut si. Med ford. The two speakers tonight will be Miss Lindsay Dar neille, Medford High school, and Todd Dole, Phoenix school. They will speak on some phase of the Constitu tion of the United States, em phasizing the duties and ob ligations of a citizen to the government. Following the prepared talks, each contestant will give an extemporaneous talk between 4 and six minutes in length. The district contest will be held March 2 with winners from Jackson, Josephine, Kla math and Lake counties participating. Cash awards, scholarships and citations will be present ed the winners on each level. First place winner in the na tional competition receives a $4.0110 scholarship. The stale contest will be held March fl in Portland with the national finals in Eau Claire, Wise, May 2. The contest tonight is open 10 the public, according to DeVere Taylor, contest dis trict chairman. reorganization of the Forest Management activities of the board set the precedent for the present proposal. Example Citad Hatfield cited these ex amples of what was planned: Duties relating to mining would be shifted to the De partment of Geology and Min eral Industries; veterans' loan activities would be shifted to the Department of Veterans' Affairs; forest land duties would be shifted to the For estry Department; Invest mcnts would be handled by the state treasurer, as would duties relating to escheated property. Hatfield said the present nine-member land board staff operates "miniature depart ments" to handle these func tions. He said the major ad vantage of the proposal would be that these specialized func tions would be shifted In state departments which spe cialize in those activities. Hatfield, Appling and Bri ton all said they believed the legislature would approve the plan. fire Damages House In Ashland Wednesday Ashland - Fire caused con sincraoie damage to a resi dence al 220 Hargadine st here yesterday, Ashland fire men reported. The fire started In a trash Burner in the kitchen and ex tended to the attic of the house, the George Rose resi dence. It was reported at 10:26 a.m. "Murder She said," a mys tery running 90 minutes, $1.00. "Barabbas," costing $1.50 for 135 minutes. Or: "A Summer To Remem ber," costing $1.00 for 85 minutes. "Gypsy," costing $1.50 for 150 minutes. When "Music Man" was televised for $1.25 it was play ing at local theaters for a comparable price. Wood, emphasizing that "experiment means just that," said the RKO - Zenith-Phone-vision system his channel uses is geared to be a "supplemen tal service" to implement en tertainment needs and desires of the viewing public. Aim To Pleas He said the aim was not Just to make money, but to iron out the wrinkles in tech nical matters, try to guess what human nature will most desire in the way of program ming, and untie the knotty problems in the expectalions that someday in the not-too-distant future pay television will be a nationwide reality. "We're not in a hurry to make the subscription list grow," Wood said. "Of course we're gratified at results so far, which are very encourag ing but we feel that we're going to make plenty of mis takes at the start, and they might just as well be mistakes made before a limited view ing audience." Scraen Applicants Consequently, applicants are carefully screened before the decoder is installed. Offi cials want reception to be satisfactory, since if the pic lure comes in bad on regular channels, it will be received the same way on the subscrip tion station. Indoor antennas are shun ned, and applicants who real ly want the decoder installed are usually asked to put up an inexpensive roof antenna. Applicants are also care fully screened so they are in the 25 mile viewing radius. The drawback:! are explained, as are the selling points, and the final decision is purely up to the family. Subscription N, More The lets oe, the mora (Unary now that (hion loven the .vid open pcel Till tr midheels creila enationi with your wsrdrobi . . . black patent leather upper $14 99 TV sales, at least during the experimental period, definite ly are not "high-pressure." One of the greatest prob lems facing officials of the neophyte venture is gauging exposure. Most of the pro grams are rerun, some several times, particularly movies. Just what is the saturation point? Wood said that this was one area which could be only found through experiment. Difficult Problem "Of course, if we put the same movie on every night of the week, we're bound to get the maximum viewing audi ence," he said. "But what is the optimum point? Could we get more yicwers for more dif ferent programs by repeating twice, then switching In an other program? It's a difficult problem." Wood said he thought the apparent success of subscrip tion television depended al most as much on the con venience as upon the program ming. He said the convenience of a monthly bill, rather than dropping quarters into a pay box, was one feature. Another convenience is the "theatre in the living-room" concept, whereby families can merely switch on the set and see first run movies without having to call in a baby sitter, worry about parking prob lems, and getting home early. How about pay TV replac ing movies in neighborhood theatres? "We're trying to replace ab solutely nothing," Wood said. "We are trying to pour some new life into some dead media." He felt the neighborhood theatre was "dead in many areas" and said that as long as "the producers know the film is being seen in some one's living room, and they're getting the same revenue, they'd rather show it in the home than in empty theatres." Right now, Wood said, the majority of subscribers are of the higher income bracket, and subscription television is more of "a luxury." "But we expect that to change. More and more mid dle and lower income families are becoming interested," he said. "And, how long ago was the automobile a luxury? Everything we have must be a luxury before.it becomes a necessity." 2 Points To Prove "We're trying to prove two things with this experiment. First, we have to convince ourselves that what we're doing will be profitable, and make good business sense. "Second, we have to con vince eveeryone else that we have a marketable product that is in the public interest." Wood envisions a network of many different pay tele vision stations across the na tion, regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, much as light and power com panies are regulated by Public Utilities Commissions. With out overlapping, and with the great number of potential ul tra high frequency channels, Wood thinks the entire coun try someday will be able to pick up a pay-TV station. Decoder Used The Hartford experiment works through a decoder. The device is installed for $10. Programs cost between 25 cents and $3, with billing at the end of the month. Su b scribers get a bi - monthly magazine with code numbers for different programs. By twisting a few dials, they can dial in the coded program, and the picture is unscram bled. Wood said that the average amount spent by subscribers each month was "classified' right now. However, he said that "we are very happy with the subscriber spending and the subscribers also appear happy with what it is costing them to see good shows." Wood saic If each family viewed two programs per week, the operation would be successful. "Best of all," Wood said, "the programs are uninter rupted by commercials." white as well as green, blue, coral or beige. . . in the coat of frothy, textured wool that's feather-light... finished with especially careful detail ... the side, pockets, the ring collar, self button, flatterer for town, resort, travel ... 8 to 16 . . . second floor . . . just one of a beautiful collection at lor, mm -- b ?, vV I FROSTED PASTELS 14 N. Central 773-7434
