11 JULY 1958, Page 21

PAY AS YOU VIEW

SIR,—As. one of the speakers for the Popular Tele- vision Association (now renamed Popular Television Committee) during the campaign to introduce com- mercial television into Great Britain. I read with interest Mr. Mclvor's letter in your issue of July 4.

Without wishing to impair the arguments of Mr. Inglis and Mr. Mclvor, I would like to point out that the whole future of a healthy film industry in Great Britain hinges on the vital issue of whether a Pay- As-You-View television service is allowed to operate in this country.

An article by Mr. Erik Blakemore, Managing

Director of New Elstree Studios, in Kinematograph Weekly, May 29, puts it this way. 'My guess is that we are on the brink of a film boom through television. Already half the country's film technicians are em- ployed on TV productions. . . . If slot television gets a real hold on the public . . . for film producers it will mean big returns from the largest audience.' Closing cinemas and slashed contracts together with deathly attendance figures are terrifying film makers. Only PAYV can give the British film in- dustry the shot in the arm it so richly deserves.—

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