RCA's Opening Video Disc Catalog of 100 Titles Offers Consumers A Variety of Quality Programs

RCA Press Release for February 25, 1981

RCA's Opening Video Disc Catalog of 100 Titles Offers Consumers A Variety of Quality Programs

As the countdown to the launch of its VideoDisc system continued, RCA "SelectaVision" VideoDiscs today released its opening catalog of 100 titles.

RCA's VideoDisc system, which will be introduced nationally on March 22, will open up a magical new world of home entertainment for American consumers, said Herbert S. Schlosser, executive vice president, RCA.

The magic in RCA's catalog will include recent hit movies as well as classics; music discs; some of television's finest hours; children's programs from Walt Disney and other producers; ballet; Shakespeare; award-winning documentaries.; and instructional discs on such subjects as cooking, tennis, golf, and baby and child care.

"For the first time, most consumers will be able to afford a simple and reliable audio-visual playback system for use in the home, " Mr. Schlosser said.

Mr. Schlosser said RCA plans to announce 50 new titles for its catalog over the next six months -- 25 in May and 25 in August.

RCA's video discs, each with up to two hours of programming, can turn every living room into a screening room, a sports clinic or a classroom where the whole family can gather to be entertained and informed, he added.

With RCA's video discs, viewers can travel the heavens with the Starship Enterprise, or plumb the ocean depths with Jacques Cousteau, sing and dance with John Travolta, bob and weave with Rocky, take golf and tennis lessons from the pros, make a souffle with Julia Child, pirouette with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, outride a posse with Robert Redford and Paul Newman, share Hamlet's soliloquy with Lord Olivier, or tour the Louvre.

Seth Willenson, RCA staff vice president of programming and business affairs, said, "RCA's catalog is designed to appeal to a broad range of interests and tastes. Our programming efforts for video disc have been directed towards obtaining quality programs from many sources.

"In the future, as the number of video disc players in use increases, RCA will offer original programming developed specifically for the disc.

Mr. Schlosser said, "We have been aware from the beginning that program diversity, quality and availability would be as crucial to the success of the video disc as the player itself, and we have put great emphasis on amassing a large library that would maintain excitement and interest in this new home entertainment medium."

Mr. Schlosser said that RCA has tapped the resources of some 70 program companies in acquiring video disc titles. He stressed that RCA Is opening catalog is "merely the tip of the iceberg."

He said, "We will add to our catalog regularly in the months and years to come, and we are continuing our efforts both here and abroad to acquire new titles to create an ever-expanding library."

For example, Mr. Schlosser said, in recent months RCA acquired the rights to 11 James Bond movies, which United Artists estimates have grossed $1.5 billion at the box office; to such current Paramount Pictures' hits as "Airplane!," "Ordinary People," "Urban Cowboy," and "Elephant Man," all of which will be added to the catalog in 1981; to such popular television series as "The Fugitive," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and "Saturday Night Live;" and to such music concerts as Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac.

"The programs we have selected for our initial catalog and those we have scheduled for later availability include many Oscar and Emmy winners, plus recipients of other prestigious awards."

"They have had great successes at the box office and on television, and we firmly believe that these, as well as the more specialized programs we will offer, constitute the kind of programming that people will want to buy and keep," Mr. Schlosser added.

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