Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

PROGRAM NOTES WMAZ, Macon, Ga., suggests as novel program stunt for a department store the broadcasting each morning of births during the past 24 hours and each evening of marriage licenses issued during the day. KSL, Salt Lake City, on Oct. 6 inaugurated a series of 25 half hour weekly lectures by radio, supplemented by printed study guide and a final examination and requiring formal registration and fee, to be conducted by the University of Utah, which will give full senior college credit to those who qualify. KFI, Los Angeles, has announced a series of three mystery dramas to run 13 weeks each in the form of a half hour weekly. Titles will be "The Commissioner's Daughter," "Marco Polo's Joss House" and "The Inner Circle." King Grayson and Winifred Rosser are announced as authors of all three series and the cast will continue through the year. They will be known as "The Shadow Hour Players." HELD IN conjunction with the KMOX County Fair, a Saturday night feature of the St. Louis station, a Little Theater has been opened to present two shows each Saturday night in costume. A theater with seating capacity for 500 has been constructed in full view of one of the studios of the station. It is hoped that this method of personal appearances will allow for closer interest between the listener and the performers of the staff, according to Walter (Hank) Richards, programproduction manager. "I LOVE a Parade" will caption a new weekly sustaining program at KHJ, Los Angeles. One of the new sound effects will be the rhythmic approach of one band as another passes in the distance. Raymond Paige, music director, will conduct the feature. WMBD, Peoria, is devoting a quarterhour once a week to public interviews of public officials. A member of the local Rotary Club, which sponsors the program, conducts the interviews. City, county and state officials are invited to the studio and asked questions concerning the offices they hold. Questions are being solicited from the audience. A NOVEL stunt to win listener-goodwill, was accomplished by WLS, Chicago, when announcements were made, by radio alone, of a tour of the city to be conducted by that station, for the benefit of feminine listeners. Two hundred forty-five women met at the station's studios, were served tea and cakes, and later were conducted on a tour of the 1933 World's Fair grounds and other points of interest in Chicago. "THE RED DAWN," story of the Russian revolution, was put on by KTM, Los Angeles, the last week in September. Written by Edward Lynn, of the production staff, it marked the radio drama debut of Mrs. Wallace Reid, who took the female lead part. NBC, San Francisco, is doing a Willard Hall dramatization of Victor Hugo's "The Man Who Laughs" in serial form, with Cameron Prud'homme playing the lead. "ENTERTAINING Our Guests" titles a twice weekly series of talks on hotel management and operation being given over WLW, Cincinnati, by Mrs. Lutye M. Sohngen, social director of the Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati. A SERIES of talks on everyday law by professors of the Southwestern University Law School is a new feature just introduced on WMAL, Washington. KYA, San Francisco, has begun a series of half-hour weekly programs by the Slavonic Alliance of California. Members of the society do the show. WORKS of Texas composers, including David Guion, Oscar Fox, Annie Katherine Lively and Laurence Bolton the latter staff arranger, are being featured in a weekly program entitled "Our Texas Composers," over WFAA, Dallas. AS A TIE-IN for its "Lone Indian" nightly serial, KFWB, Hollywood, has begun to distribute an Indian "Good Luck Charm" to listeners. It is a small beaded affair. Homer Grunn, composer of Indian music, was guest artist at a performance early in October. Robert Callahan, author of "The Heart of an Indian," announces the series which is sponsored by Walkers, a Los Angeles department store. WBBM, Chicago, is carrying an unusual musical program from the main dining room of the Medinah Athletic Club, Chicago. An arabic theme predominates in the music and continuity, the latter being prepared by the R. W. Sayre Co., Chicago, Medinah's advertising agency. The program also features the Theremin, unique radio instrument, played by Elena Moneak, who directs the Medinah Concert Ensemble. EQUIPMENT THE NEW velocity microphone, known as the "ribbon" microphone, will be introduced by NBC at the first Metropolitan Grand Opera broadcast late in November. Developed by RCAVictor Co., the microphone is said to be far ahead of the present standard mike in fidelity of sound production. The new instrument utilizes a sensitive ribbon of duralumin, instead of the diaphragm of the present types, according to 0. B. Hanson, NBC manager of technical operations. This ribbon, two ten thousandths of an inch thick, vibrates exactly wi+h the minute variations of air particles set in motion by the sound waves. Six of the microphones have been ordered by WGN, Chicago, according to Carl Meyers, chief engineer. UNIVERSAL Microphone Co., Inglewood, Cal., has issued its 1933 catalog in the form of a 29-page booklet well illustrated with blueprints, charts and diagrams. The firm is said to be the largest organization in the world devoted solely to the manufacture of microphone products. A BOOKLET explaining the "Frequency Measuring Service by RCA" has just been issued by RCA Communications, Inc. Cantor is Back AFTER an absence of nine months from the radio, during which he was largely occupied in Hollywood filming his latest picture, "The Kid from Spain," Eddie Cantor will return to the Chase & Sanborn Hour on NBC for an indefinite Sunday night schedule, beginning Oct. 30 at 8 p.m., EST. Georgie Price, who with George Jessel and Harry Richman, has been taking Cantor's place, will continue on the Chase & Sanborn tea program over CBS. For Medical Advertising ALTHOUGH adhering to the code that refuses to allow individual doctors to advertise, the Illinois State Medical Society has gone on record as favoring paid advertising by state or county medical societies. It is endorsed not only as being entirely ethical but as a means of educating the public on medical problems. 46,925 re p I i e \\A 385 minutes of broadcasting on WLS produced 46,925 requests for a free seed catalog. This remarkable showing for a seed company is still another proof of the responsiveness of the WLS audience. This is why WLS should be most carefully considered in the preparation or contemplation of any merchandising and advertising plan designed to reach the rich mid-west agricultural trade area. 50,000 WATTS 870 KILOCYCLES WLS THE PRAIRIE FARMER STATION BURRIDGE D. BUTLER, President GLENN SNYDER, Marker Main Studios and Offices: 1 230 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago October 15, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 23