(2 of 2)
Almost without exception, the major TV manufacturers denounced the FCC decision in favor of CBS. Board Chairman David Sarnoff of RCA labeled it "scientifically unsound and against the public interest." TV Pioneer Allen B. Du Mont snorted: "The decision just says to hell with the people who already own television sets." Pilot Radio Corp. threatened federal court action against FCC because it had "exceeded its jurisdiction." The Radio-Television Manufacturers Association called a special closed meeting on color TV, refused admittance to a CBS representative.
Body Blow. On the air at week's end, CBS President Frank Stanton protested: "We do not want the future of color television to fall into the hands of any self-appointed group meeting in secret behind closed doors. We intend to do everything we can to prevent anyone .. . from blocking color television and keeping it from the American public."
Announcing that CBS was eager to license every TV manufacturer in the U.S. to make equipment based on "CBS color inventions," Stanton struck a body blow at the recalcitrant manufacturers. He suggested that his listeners may want to wait six months before buying a new TV set. By waiting, said Stanton, "you may save some money and you will have a self-contained set with built-in compatibility and built-in color. On the other hand, if you buy an ordinary black & white set now, you will be able to enjoy the black & white programs being broadcast. But, if you do buy such a set, buy only from a manufacturer who will give you positive assurance that there will soon be adapters and converters which will enable you to get color."
*Some viewers of the CBS system complain of "color flash" when they look away from the screen. CBS officials point out that the eye quickly becomes adjusted and that color flash (caused by the persistence in the eye of the last one-color picture seen) soon disappears.