Tomorrow Television (1945)

what's tomorrow going to be like what kind of world are we going to live in when we get our permanent furlows super speed highways plastic Packards streamlined cities what does the future hold in store for us to get a glimpse of that future Army Navy screen magazine presents a new Department tomorrow previewing our post-war world the job opportunities the new Fields ahead for the first in our tomorrow series let's look into a brand new development television here's an expert with a Lowdown on the inside facts Dr Orest calwell editor of electronic Industries and former member of the Federal Communications Commission I'm glad to have this opportunity to speak to you men and women in the service of America I believe in this world to come I think it's going to be a pretty good world but I've been asked to tell you about television so I'll trim the philosophizing television is most certainly here to stay it's going to brighten the world of your home but more important to many of you it's going to create a lot of new jobs now none of us like Crystal gazing so let's take a look at what is actually happening now nine experimental telecasting studios are already operating with pre-war equipment and skeleton staffs while the electronic industry is busy finishing its War job a handful of people girls ex vets older men are keeping the television field alive experimenting ironing out Kinks but proving that television will definitely be part of American life when the goad comes sight teamed up with sound to bring the world to your easy chair [Music] telecasting Studios will be a combination of Broadway and Hollywood and you'll get the best of both for the price of your television set and a few cents worth of electricity and outside the studios mobile televising units portable stations on wheels are now experimenting with remote pickups getting primed to bring you on the spot news and history in the making when television networks are formed you will have a direct wire to every place a television camera can be set up a World of Sports at your fingertips they're off that's interpreter number two right in front and the field races past the stand with interpreter on Top low man in second place moving up on the outside mer LaGuardia pitches the first ball red ruffing is taking his time and it's a hit there's a capacity crowd here at Madison Square Garden tonight to witness the semifinal of the Golden Glove telecasting is done on a limited schedule now but tomorrow you will have a permanent ringside seat everywhere from Madison Square Garden to the house of Congress you'll see transmitted by television news reels and super Hollywood Productions plays and musicals command performances in your own living these men at howerin General Hospital where there are a 100 sets can tell you television is here to stay even now without the technical improvements that will come after the war the television picture has the quality of a good home movie the pre-war models in use today have a small screen but here's a practical working model with a 16x 22in screen that goes into production just about the time you're being measured for civvies this is NBC The National Broadcasting [Music] Company wnbt New York well that gives you a pretty general idea of what's happening now let's see how television Works you're going to find a new type of aerial against the skyline of America when you return it will be up high because television waves like light rays don't bend and are stopped by the Horizon so the higher the aerial the farther the waves travel but first what is a television wave as you know all objects reflect light some more some less depending on their color the white jacket of these fencers is reflecting more light than their dark trousers the television camera lens like an ordinary camera picks up these differences in light and Shadow only instead of film behind the lens we have the iconoscope familiarly known as Ike the camera plate of the iconoscope is made up of millions of sensitive electric eyes these are eyes pick up electric impulses from the object being televised and form a picture which is then transmitted as separate electric impulses from the camera plate to the receiver screen there the impulses are converted back to pinpoints of light and Shadow to reform the picture on the [Music] screen here the process is slowed down for you actually the impulses travel from the camera to the receiving set at the rate of 4 million impulses a second forming the picture in motion fantastic but our children will grow up with this miracle enriching their lives and giving them a new understanding of the whole world gosh by harnessing electrons and vacuum tubes our research scientists backed by American industry and Manufacturing skill have developed this new means of communication to the point where it promises to become a post-war billion doll industry which can serve our nation and the world in new and wonderful ways let's listen to a man who knows he is one of the great leaders in the world of electronics Brigadier General saroff president of the radio Corporation of America when the first world war ended it was my good fortune and privilege to play a part in the launching and subsequent development of a new industry called broadcasting there were some who said it had great promise there were others who said that it was a noisy sputtering Gadget a passing fancy the rest you know now let us see what possibilities exist for Television Once the war ends here are the possibilities in the manufacturing field 60,000 men and women will be needed to make the first sets which will retail for about $200 with18 million Americans ready to buy them Help Wanted electronic experts assemblers wiremen machinists finishers testing Personnel Sheet Metal Workers drill press operators spot welders television is just made to order for GIS with radio and radar experience 85,000 maintenance men are going to needed to install and service the 30 million sets expected to be sold within the first 10 years of fullscale production and in the distribution end of the business 135,000 jobs are going to open up in the new shops and sales organizations that will supply the huge consumer demand all in all 300,000 well-paying jobs are expected to be created by television within 5 years after the new industry really gets rolling well that's a comprehensive view of the industrial picture now what about television production here's a man who qualifies as an expert on that subject meet Mr Gilbert seldis head of production of the Columbia broadcasting system they tell me that great many of you may be interested in jobs and television production but I think you're entitled to the Hard Solid facts in the case as of spring 1945 we are employing 60 two people they work the full week to put on 4 hours of programs on the air that doesn't mean 4 hours a day it means 4 hours a week if we were on the air 8 hours a day 7 days a week we'd need at least seven times as many people in the neighborhood of 500 and we are only one Studio there are 900 radio broadcasting stations in the United States today and it's anybody's guess how many television stations are going to spring up we can just be sure that the faster we deliver good entertainment and good pictures the more jobs we're going to create and there will be a lot of jobs you compare television with radio for instance here is a radio newscaster on the air one man in the studio one in the control room and here is a television newscast and a lot of work went into it before it got this far now as for the movies here is just a medium colossal production underway yes it takes a lot of people and many months to make one yet commercial television will probably use more material in one week and all the Studios in Hollywood turn out in a year finally in the theater you produce a show it may run for years in television every night is opening night and closing night too now let's look at some specific television charts some of them you'll see come from Radio movies in the theater some are new here are two men doing a job never heard of before they are riding the ike shaders and switchers in the control room see that the pictures come outright at the transmitter they see that they get out in the air and electronic experts keep it all functioning new men with radio and radar training are only a hop skip and jump from the industry's needs then there will be modifications of established professions writers directors producers senic designers and just to show you wax waves and spars that this isn't exclusively a man's world there'll be custom designing and Stage management then behind the scenes makeup props electricians and almost everything else from Carpenters to model makers but the great thing to remember is that we've just begun to discover the possibilities of television and these are only a few of the jobs that already exist many more are bound to develop as we go on that's it television and some interesting jobs which some of you may be qualified for but more than that television can be the window to the whole world a medium through which the United Nations can better understand each other and live together in the World of Tomorrow