Television Booms In Great Britain

Chronicle (Levin), 25 November 1949, Page 5

Television Booms In Great Britain

Received Thursday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 24. The boom in British television continues. While the B.B.C. has announced the name of the man who is to design the first "Television City" in the world, the first half of which will eost between £2,000,000 and £3,000,000 and take six years to complete, it is also stated that with the extension of television to the Midlands shortly, receivers are being bought at the record rate of 5000 and 0000 weekly. Reports from Ameriea state that de monstrations of British televisidn equipment there have impressed experts. The man who will design Television City is Graliam Dawbarn, The city is to be developed in two stages and the first stage will absorb seven acres. Studios, administration buildings and a canteen will be erect'ed and completed about the same time as the greater part of Britain will have television. The second half of six acres will be com|)leted while the B.B.C. is using the first half. AP B.B.C. spokesman has stated the city will be a complete unit for television production and the first television eity in the world. . It is now estimated that with viewers in the Alidlands, a'bout 1,000,00U people will see the B.B.C. 's Christmas television programmes. The'number of reeeivers now in use, including licensed and unlicensed sets, is estimated • at about 200,000 and it is thought ,that by the end of December the figure wiljl be nearly 250,000. Only three years ago there were fewer than 10,000 reeeivers in use. The nnmber sold last month equalled the total sold in all the years before the war and was only 6000 fewer than the saies figure for the whole of 1947, Reports from Ameriea state that the "picture" given by British equipment was regarded as a good deal better than anything produeed by most of the current American reeeivers. Eight British technieians "invaded" Americp, to sell British equipment and are o'ffering to equip a small station for less than £18,000 and a large station for about £214,000, which is 10 to 15 per cent. less than American apparatus would cost.