ROYAL WEDDING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26540, 15 August 1947, Page 2

ROYAL WEDDING

CEREMONY MAY BE TELEVISED \ . Special Correspondent LONDON, Aug. 8. If the King gives his permission, the 8.8. C. intends to try to televise Princess Elizabeth’s wedding, and H satisfactory reciprocal arrangements can be made With Mr J. Arthur Rank, the film magnate, London cinema audiences will see the ceremony simultaneously on the screen. The technicians at Alexandra Palace, home of British television, are c o " dd ® , ? t that if allowed to install special floodlights and cameras in Westminster Abbey, they could satisfactorily televise toe wedding with their present pre-war equipment. It the wedding is later than October, however. they will have more modern equipment in operation, and be able to br° ad " cast the ceremony with sharper images and better definition. , nn For the benefit of people at work on that dav the 8.8. C will make a film, and thi/ will be televised in the evening sessionbefore being stored in the archives at Alexandra Palace. By October Mr Rank expects to have his first six te e_ cinemas operating in the West End 01 London. These cinemas have been allotted a snecial beam by the Post Office, and Mr Rank plans to televise big and social .events direct to l ’ is C ‘^ audiences, without waiting tor th em to be first recorded on newsreel him • Since high definition picture broadcasts began in 1936 the 8.8. C. has had a television monopoly, but Mr Rank s organisation Cinema Television, is working on the assumption that this monopoly applies only to transmissions for h ° l J ie , r . ec( If the 8.8. C. decides to fight this interpretation, Mr Rank hopes to reach an arrangement with it for public exhibiton o, TE,fßlc Pr °S"nd to ...» . deal in any such arrangement, for one of its greatest obstacles in the ment of programmes has been copyright Drotection of film and stage entertain ment There is little doubt now that if the 8.8. C. is allowed to televise the royal wedding and decides to allow Mr Rank to reproduce it in his tele-cinemas, Mr Rank will be willing to m ake c< ?|‘ cessions and allow a proportion of his films to be used by the 8.8. C.