Is Your Set Obsolete?

For the last two weeks, scrappy, self-assured ex-Navy Commander Eugene F. McDonald Jr., president of Zenith Radio, has been happily harpooning his competitors. Full-page ads in 30 newspapers have trumpeted the warning that all TV sets (except Zenith's) are in danger of becoming obsolete. Zenith's reasoning: any day now, the Federal Communications Commission may license Ultra High Frequencies* for TV transmission. McDonald claimed that Zenith is the only television receiver equipped with "a specially designed, built-in turret tuner" with "provision" for picking up UHF.

The angriest reaction came from trigger-tempered Ross Siragusa of Admiral Radio, who got wind that the ad was to run and fired a volley of telegrams to newspapers warning them to check with the FCC before running it. Eleven of the 41 newspapers in Zenith's schedule canceled the ad. The TV-station-owning Detroit News ran it, but also published an answer. Gist of the News''s retort: "Anyone . . . who denies himself . . . the thrill of television because of 'frequency changes' could grow old and grey waiting for the change that may never come."

Siragusa also blasted the Zenith claim as "very poor advertising, about the poorest taste I ever saw . . . Nobody knows how or where or when the proposed new bands will fall." Admiral's Adman Seymour Mintz cried indignantly: "The public doesn't even know what a turret tuner is. All you have to do is put in some new condenser strips for higher frequencies. Just take out the old and put in the new. Why throw a scare into people before you need to do it?"

How much truth there was behind Zenith's cry of changing frequency could only be answered by the FCC in Washington. At week's end, the FCC protested that Chairman Wayne Coy had already discussed the situation in a letter. And so he had, without giving a jot of information. With masterly ambiguity and in pure Federalese, Coy had written: "New developments cannot be scheduled, and therefore it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to determine when any piece of radio receiving equipment may become obsolete. We are unable, therefore, to make any recommendation regarding the obsolescence of equipment now being manufactured and sold . . ."

Beneath the charges and counter-charges one fact seemed clear: if TV transmission should change tomorrow to UHF, all sets (including Zenith's) would require conversion to the higher frequencies. Zenith's point apparently was that its set could be converted more quickly and inexpensively than the others.

* In electronics, the radio spectrum has three main communications divisions: Medium Frequency, used for standard radio; Very High Frequency, used for television; Ultra High Frequency, now used for radar and airplane communication.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.