By Lyle 0. Keys, President, TeleMation, Inc.
My talk today involves developments that will affect the other two economic factors mentioned, equipment costs and operating costs. The recent development and introduction of the Sony U-Matic videocassette equipment is the key factor in reducing these costs. At $995, the video cassette player is less costly than any previously available color videotape equipment, while in terms of picture quality it is more nearly comparable to open-reel machines in the $4,000 to $8,000 price range. These cost and quality considerations plus the very enthusiastic acceptance that this format has received to date tell me that the 3/4 11 cassette will substantially replace 16 mm film as the principal duplication and distribution medium for entertainment software in our industry. This means that instead of tying up a $20,000 film chain running a $400 print that becomes unusable after 15 showings to program a single channel, the cable operator will be able to offer multiple channel programming using $995 decks with per-run print costs measured in pennies rather than dollars.