Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

BANQUETEERS — About 300 delegates attended the NAB convention banquet to be entertained by network and station stars. SPEAKERS AND OFFICERS— Left to right, Henry A. Bellows, vice president, CBS, member of executive committee; Cesar Saerchmger, London representative, CBS; Edwin M. Spence, WPG, Atlantic City, vice president; William S. Hedges, WMAQ, Chicago, chairman of executive committee and past president; Walter J. Damm, WTMJ, Milwaukee, retiring president; U. S. Senator Wallace White, Jr., of Maine; Clyde P. Steen, American Radio Association, and John Benson, president, American Association of Advertising Agencies. said that agents have been watching the Crossley checking system, hoping that it might furnish the plan and machinery, and that his association may have something to present in the near future. The dual rate was called an evil with which the NAB cannot officially deal. Asking that the stations appreciate the inequity of two rates for the same thing and the handicap they impose upon the national advertiser's use of radio in competition with the local, Mr. Benson said this rate differential in newspapers has been so grave a source of trouble for several years that radio stations might well take a leaf out of their experience and avoid the same tribulations. Millions of advertising lines have drifted out of the press because of the rate differential and the confusion which it makes, he asserted. Talent questions, recordings and their steady progress and station representation were among the old problems discussed by Mr. Benson. In the latter connection he said it does not seem sound to have time brokers representing competing stations as loosely as they do, and that it is particularly unfair to the station. The proposal of NAB officers to create an "Open Time" bureau in New York, with possibly a companion office in Chicago, was commended by Mr. Benson, provided it went far enough. In such a bureau all needful data about stations, their programs and time units open could be collected and made available to advertising agents, he said, adding that it would be a great convenience to agencies, and would be helpful to all stations in that they no longer would have to rely on time brokers to relay this data. He estimated that the whole undertaking would not cost more than $25,000 a year at the start and would save the stations much more. Mr. Benson said his association would willingly assist in building such a bureau, and might sponsor it, but that it could not afford to have any hand in such a project unless a substantial number of stations engaged to support it over a period of time. As agencies learn more about radio technique, Mr. Benson said, broadcasters will notice the beneficial effects which will come as soon as business emerges from the present period of fierce competi ETHER TRAFFIC COPS— Arthur Batcheller, left, travelling radio supervisor, and William D. Terrell, director of radio, U. S. Department of Commerce. tion and resultant lowered standards. He declared that radio cannot help but suffer with all other media from the current relentless battle for business. Better days are coming and more restrained business methods, he concluded. Tells of Radio Abroad : IN A lighter vein, Cesar Saerchinger, manager of the London bureau of CBS, told of the trick of hauling celebrities before the mike. "The principle I go on," said he, "is that every man has a message. Some of us communicate that message by singing in our bath." It took two years for him to land George Bernard Shaw for CBS, he narrated, but he finally "got" his man. On the more serious side, Mr. Saerchinger said that international ft rebroadcasts sold the London naval conference to the three nations involved. He expressed the view that, had the radio medium been developed before the world war,, that struggle might have been averted. Rigid political censorship is employed in England and in other countries, Mr. Saerchinger said. Anything going over the air must be submitted to the government for approval. . The part the listener plays in radio was described by Clyde P. Steen, Executive Secretary of the American Radio Association, Inc. Although only a year old, he said this association has about 4,500 members without having conducted a campaign. Loucks Report s Progress : PRESIDENT Damm closed the first day's session with the designation of the nominating committee, to report at the closed session Wednesday. The committee was composed of A. J. McCosker, WOR, Newark chains; J. J. Storey, k WTAG, Worcester; Arthur B. * Church, KMBC, Kansas City; P. J. Meyer, KFYR, Bismarck, N. D., and M. A. Howlett, WHK, Cleveland. An increase in the active membership of the NAB of 65 per cent during the last year was reported by Philip G. Loucks, managing director, who has held office just a year. Membership now stands at 163. Last year there were 83 active members, of whom 52 were in good standing, and associate members numbered 35. On Oct. 19 the active membership ' Page 6 BROADCASTING • November 1, 1931