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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY J. 196!
MEDFOHft MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
Pav-As-Yoy-See Television Inleod IFovoired
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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
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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."
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14 N. Central
773-7434