In the age of streaming and on-demand TV, the idea of having to insert coins into a coin machine to watch a movie or sporting event on your television may seem absurd.
Yet, 70 years ago, this was exactly what the Telemeter, an ambitious pay-TV experiment that, while not as successful as hoped, laid the foundation for many of the innovations we take for granted in the world of television entertainment today.
An on-demand TV in the 50s
The idea behind the Telemeter was born in the early post-war years. in 1951, Paramount acquired 50 percent of International Telemeter Corporation, the company that had developed the coding technology needed for the service. in 1952, the technology was briefly tested over the air in Los Angeles. But it was in 1953 that the Telemeter saw its first real implementation in Palm Springs, California.
The Telemeter looked like a sort of radio that was positioned above the television. It offered three additional pay channels, broadcast via cable from a dedicated studio. Inside the device were a coin acceptor and, (unbelievable, to me) a tape recorder or card punch.
How did it work?
To access the on-demand programs, the user first had to listen to an audio description of the three available programs, selectable via a control called “Program Information”. Once you had chosen the desired program, all you had to do was insert the coins into the appropriate coin acceptor. The device didn't give change, but kept track of excess credit for future purchases.
And what was the tape recorder or card punch inside the Telemeter for? This is nice. It was used to take into account the programs purchased by the user. Every month or two, an employee would come by to empty the coin machine and change the ribbon or cards. The data was used to verify that the coins corresponded to the purchases and to generate statistics on viewing habits. Other than current cookies, and data processing.
The Palm Springs test
In Palm Springs, the Telemeter managed to connect 70 homes. The first film broadcast was “Forever Female”, starring Ginger Rogers and William Holden, at a cost of 1 dollar. Among the illustrious subscribers was also the famous actor Bob Hope. in 1954, the service had reached 148 users, with an average spend of $10 per month per subscriber. But opposition from drive-in owners, who filed a lawsuit, and the difficulty in finding films to broadcast led to the closure of the service in the same year.
If you are wondering what the content of the messages was, here is one of the commercials for the media campaign they launched against pay-TV.
Canadian on-demand TV went on a little longer
in 1959, the Telemeter was reborn in Canada, where it remained active for another 6 years, until 1965. in 1960, the service had connected 1.000 subscribers in the Toronto area. Despite the addition of sporting events and original films, the on-demand service with coin-operated TV failed to take off there either.
At its peak, in 1965, had 5.800 subscribers, but when it ceased operations there were less than half of them left, 2.500.
The costs of the service
Connecting to the Telemeter wasn't cheap. In the Palm Springs version, the installation of the box cost almost 22 dollars (about 200 euros today). The films cost between 1 and 1,25 dollars (9-11,50 euros today).
In the Canadian version, the connection cost was 5 dollars (about 50 euros today). A service for the middle class, in short. Maybe a little more. Certainly, considered a luxury for the time.
Competing systems
The Telemeter, however, was not the only on-demand TV experiment of the 50s and 60s. Zenith proposed the Phonevision, which used telephone lines to decrypt the signal. RCA e Skiatron they developed Subscriber-Vision, which used punched cards. in 1957, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, a system more similar to modern cable TV was tested. All "experiments" that would then lead to the next technology.
On-demand, the legacy
Despite its commercial failure, the Telemeter anticipated many of the trends that would revolutionize on-demand TV decades later. The idea of paying for exclusive content, tracking viewing habits and offering a personalized experience are all elements that we find today in streaming and pay TV.
In a certain sense, the Telemeter paved the way for a new way of conceiving television, no longer as a simple free medium, but as a value-added experience.
Today, as we enjoy the convenience of on-demand TV, it's worth remembering pioneers like the Telemeter (or like the Master Voice, voice assistant 40 years ahead of its time). Projects that had the courage to challenge the status quo and propose new business models. Their legacy reminds us that innovation is an ongoing process of trial, error and unexpected success.
