Enter Telemeter

Paramount Pictures Corp., which has invested more in television than any other moviemaker, last week invested another estimated $250,000. It bought a half interest in International Telemeter Corp., which thinks it has a method to make televiewers pay for current movies or any other special program.

A Telemeter is a small (8 in. by 4 in.) box which can be attached to a TV set. When a coin is deposited in the Telemeter, according to the company's officials, it unscrambles a TV signal allowing the customer to see a special program which would otherwise be merely a blur on his set. Unlike Phonevision (TiME, Jan. 8), which requires a signal from the telephone company and a charge on the customer's phone bill, Telemeters do all their own work. Once a month a Telemeter serviceman would empty the coin box, replace the electronic tape in the Telemeter that records the programs paid for by the owner. The money would be split up among Telemeter and the sponsors of the programs. Within two months, Telemeter expects to run public tests of its system.

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