Office of the Historian

160. Report of Meeting1

Washington, August 19, 1964.

REPORT OF MEETING WITH RCA ON EXPORT OF COLOR TELEVISION APPARATUS

PARTICIPANTS

  • Commerce:
    • F.D. Hockersmith, Director
      Office of Export Control
    • Edward P. Walinsky, Director
      Policy Planning Division, OEC
    • John R. Collins, Director
      Scientific & Electronic Equipment Division, OEC
  • RCA:
    • Mr. Charles Odorizzi
      Group Executive Vice President
      New York
    • Mr. Carleton D. Smith
      Staff Vice President
      Washington, D.C.
    • Mr. C.H. Colledge
      Division Vice President & General Manager
      Broadcasting & Communication Products Div.
      Camden, N.J.
    • Mr. Romney Wheeler
      Public Affairs Department
      New York
    • Mr. James Toney

The meeting was arranged at the request of Mr. Carleton Smith to permit RCA an opportunity to present to the Office of Export Control its plans with respect to color television in Europe. The RCA representatives said that Europe will soon adopt color television standards which will be observed throughout the continent, including Soviet Bloc countries. The system to be used will be determined by vote of the participating [Page 465] countries at a meeting in March 1965. Through the use of uniform standards, color programs could readily be exchanged.

The United States has already adopted the NTSC system, as has Canada and Japan, and the U.K. is inclined in that direction. If the same system is adopted by Europe, RCA believes there will be opportunities in coming years not only to exchange program material but also to sell U.S. equipment for color television. A very rough estimate of sales potential running from $50 to $100 million was mentioned.

Although several systems are in existence, the chief competitor of NTSC is the French SECAM system. French industry, with active government support, is presently making a concerted drive to have the SECAM system adopted throughout Europe. To this end, it is presenting demonstrations in both Eastern and Western Europe.

To counteract the French drive, RCA is planning (at an estimated cost of $1 million) to equip a van with color television demonstration equipment, including cameras, television sets, monitors, studio and test equipment, and video tape recorders. This outfit will be sent first to England and from there may be reexported for demonstration purposes in various other countries. In particular, RCA has been approached by the USSR for a demonstration of color television and, since Bloc countries will participate in the vote on the system to be adopted, RCA would like to exhibit NTSC apparatus in several Eastern European countries.

RCA representatives said they were aware from earlier discussions with OEC officials that there would probably be no objection to the demonstration and sale of color television apparatus in the Bloc with the exception of the video tape recorder, and that permission would probably be granted under certain conditions to use the recorder for demonstration purposes, but not sale, in the Bloc. They said, however, that the restrictions which OEC would impose on the recorder would invalidate their entire campaign to win support of the Bloc countries. It would be necessary, they said, to permit Bloc personnel unrestricted use of the demonstration equipment so that Bloc broadcasters might assure themselves that it could be operated and maintained by their own people. It would also be necessary to convince them that they could buy U.S. equipment if they should support the adoption of the NTSC standards. The RCA representatives emphasized that the video tape recorder is a key element in the NTSC system, more so than in the French system for technical reasons, and that it would be next to useless to try to promote U.S. color television equipment sales without the recorder.

A Commerce participant pointed out that video tape recorders are considered strategic items and that they are embargoed to the Soviet Bloc not only by the United States but by all other COCOM countries, including Japan. Accordingly, any application to sell them to a Soviet Bloc country would normally be perfunctorily denied.

[Page 466]

An RCA official responded that much has transpired in the past five years, and that it is the opinion of his company that video recorders, while admittedly complicated devices with some possible strategic applications, no longer represent very advanced technology. He pointed out that after Ampex originally developed them RCA independently designed and built its own video recorder, and that several Japanese manufacturers are also in production of models of Japanese design. He said the technology has been fully divulged in the literature, and that Russian engineers have had ample opportunity to examine the recorders in various countries in the Western world. He said RCA believes the Russians would have no great difficulty in producing video tape recorders and are, in fact, reported to be in production on them, although he had no information on their quality. He repeated the contention that the United States would be excluded from the color television market in all of Europe unless the NTSC standards are adopted.

Mr. Hockersmith stated that Commerce has never altered its position with respect to denying strategic materials to the Soviet Bloc because of commercial considerations. He suggested, however, that RCA submit an application covering the export of its equipment, including the video recorder, to the Soviet Bloc for demonstration and possible sale, pointing out the objective of getting Europe to adopt the NTSC system and the further sales which would follow success. He assured the RCA representatives that the matter would receive a very thorough review. The RCA officials agreed to act on Mr. Hockersmith’s recommendation.

John R. Collins
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 40, Secretary of Commerce Files: FRC 69 A 6828, Balance of Payments. No classification marking. Drafted by John R. Collins on August 20. The meeting was held at 1201 E Street, N.W. A handwritten note on the first page of the source text from T. W. (not further identified) to Jack N. Behrman, August 25, reads: “I think this should be most thoroughly studied.” Attached to the source text is an August 25 handwritten note, from Behrman to Secretary Hodges, that reads: “This one you will want to read and follow.”↩