CED Digest Vol. 6 No. 44

CED Digest Vol. 6 No. 44 • 11/3/2001
20 Years Ago In CED History:

November 4, 1981:
* The second planned flight of the space shuttle Columbia is canceled
with 31 seconds remaining in the countdown.

November 5, 1981:
* Buckingham Palace announces that the Princess of Wales is expecting a
baby in June.

* RCA PRESS RELEASE:
RCA Reaches Major VideoDisc Milestone with Shipment of its Two Millionth
Disc

Indianapolis, November 5 -- RCA has reached a major milestone in its
VideoDisc introduction with the production and shipment of the company's
two millionth "CED" video disc. Dr. Jay J. Brandinger, division vice
president and general manager, "SelectaVision" VideoDisc Operations,
announced today.

RCA is presently expanding the manufacturing capacity for video discs
due to strong demand for discs from both RCA and others supporting the
company's "CED" system, Dr. Brandinger said.

A production goal of 10 million discs has been established for 1982 at
RCA's video disc manufacturing facility here, he said. "The progress of
the major expansion of disc production capacity announced in June has
encouraged RCA to aim for production of three million discs this year,
compared with an earlier goal of two million discs," Dr. Brandinger
said.

Jack K. Sauter, group vice president and general manager of the RCA
Consumer Electronics Division, said RCA will expand its VideoDisc player
line in 1982 to include a new stereo model that will be introduced to
distributors and dealers next May. A new version of the current monaural
model, SFT100, will also be introduced next year. Formal production of
the new models will begin in the first quarter at RCA's Bloomington,
Ind., plant.

As of October 20, RCA reported total sales to RCA distributors had
amounted to 107,300 players in advance of the Holiday sales season. Mr.
Sauter noted that the coming 11 weeks are normally very strong retail
sales weeks which should result in significant increases in sales to
dealers.

"With more than 5,000 dealers selling the RCA VideoDisc players, the
sale of only a small number of units each week by those retailers should
produce some exceptional weekly totals," Mr. Sauter said.

"To date, RCA has produced 174 video disc titles under the RCA and
MGM/CBS labels at its Rockville Road pressing plant in Indianapolis,"
Dr. Brandinger said. "It is clear that video disc player owners are
buying discs at a much faster rate than RCA had originally anticipated,"
he added.

The two millionth disc pressed by RCA, "Ordinary People," received four
Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in April of this year. The movie
starred Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton as a
family coping with tragedy.

The expansion of the videodisc plant includes an increase in the number
of video disc presses that will allow a further rise in disc production
in 1982, Dr. Brandinger said. He reported that the building of a
separate compounding facility to the present plant is proceeding on
schedule. This facility will have the capability of supplying the
critical compound material to disc manufacturers worldwide.

A new power plant at the Rockville Road facility is also under
construction with a planned capability of handling energy requirements
for 60 presses. 

November 6, 1981:
* The Labor Department announces that the U.S. unemployment rate reached
8 percent in October, the highest level since 1975.
* The Swedish government releases a Soviet submarine that ran aground
inside Swedish territorial water the prior month. Sweden revealed that
radiation had been detected near the front of the submarine, an
indication that it was probably armed with nuclear weapons.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: Time Bandits.

November 7, 1981:
* "Private Eyes" (CED) by Darly Hall and John Oates becomes No. 1 U.S.
single.

November 8, 1981:
* In a televised address before the Egyptian Parliament, President Hosni
Mubarek asserted that Egypt was "an African State" that was "neither
East nor West" and would consequently, never be within the orbit of this
or that country, or this or that bloc." 

November 9, 1981:
* U.S. troops begin arriving in Egypt for a three-week Rapid Deployment
Force exercise that also includes Somalia, Sudan, and Oman.
* The International Monetary Fund approves a record $5.8 billion loan to
India.

November 10, 1981:
* Richard Burt, director of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of
Politico-military Affairs, informs a Senate foreign relations
subcommittee that the government now has clear evidence that the
U.S.S.R. has engaged in chemical warfare in Asia.
Previous Digest | Next Digest | Volume 6 Index | CED Magic Home