Radio age (Jan 1927-Jan 1928)

PRE-EMINENT in many other ways, the Chicago Tribune appears to have taken the lead in the radio broadcasting field. It probably was inevitable that the paper should have set the pace after it awoke from its long indifference to radio. The explanation for the excellent programs regularly offered by the Tribune lies in the fact that it has devoted intelligence and money to the effort — plenty of both. The Tribune does not copy other newspapers in any of their or its departments. It sets a policy, based on careful consideration of readers' wants and interests, and then adheres to that policy. Therefore, when it began broadcasting it did not fall into step with the unfortunately popular idea that all a radio station needs is a ukelele picker, a whiney tenor weeping for a lost pal o' his, a triple-action saxophone jazz outfit and an announcer who cracked jokes about hip liquor and baby dolls. The outstanding distinction of WGN is that its programs are sufficiently diversified to appeal to everybody. The radio features may be likened to the various religious beliefs. As the old negro expressed it "They may not touch all 'round, but they all touch somewha'ar." The Tribune, in short, made a decision which we devoutly wish all other broadcasters had made before they started operations. The newspaper decided that unless it was to put on programs that were better than the other fellow's programs, there was no use in broadcasting at all. A newspaper which spends great sums of money in developing programs of surpassing merit and which does not too obviously intrude upon the listener with advertisements of its own high quality as a newspaper is entitled to the generous support of radio fans everywhere. * * * * * SPEAKING of newspapers in the broadcasting fields, it would be positively unfair not to mention the Chicago Daily News. Miss Judith Waller, director of WMAQ, doesn't take a back seat for any man director when it comes to obtaining good features and putting them on with professional skill and spirit. She has won the gratitude of many thousands of listeners by her production of sport-news features and she has a sure sense of what the public wants in musical numbers. The American Bar Association suggests that the over-supply of broadcasting stations be remedied by eliminating the "non-essential" stations. We hope that when the authorities swing their snickersee, if they ever do, they will leave untouched such stations as WGN and WMAQ. ***** ROBERT Casey, writer extraordinary, is a member of the editorial staff of the Daily News. He is the author of those whimsical and delectable comments on everyday incidents known as the "Vest Pocket Anthology." He is also a radio experimenter and a widelyfollowed writer on experimental radio. Recently he wrote an article in the News in which he referred to a hookup which Fred Hill had described in Radio Age. Mr. Casey confessed that he at first paid little heed to the rumors heard about the "hokum corners" that the set actually worked. Mr. Casey says he doesn't have much faith in the general run of comment on new circuits. But he tried this one and it worked. If you want to see the set call on Lou Straus at the Newark Electric Co., Chicago, or write us about it. THE folks are turning more and more to super-hets. In that connection it is pleasant to be able to announce that the next few issues of Radio Age will have a generous supply of super-het material. Mr. Hill is working on various developments in this magazine's laboratories at Hinsdale. You will want to follow his descriptions and constructional articles. ***** THE Radio Manufacturers' Association will hold a show for jobbers and dealers in the new Stevens Hotel, Chicago, the week of June 13. Models for the 1927-1928 season will be on display and we believe the exhibition will do a great deal toward eliminating the seasonal aspect of the radio industry. THOSE stations which are trying to build up good will by reaching distant listeners would do well to remember that the announcer who assumes that the listener knows it is his station and himself announcing without having been told so between numbers is going to lose more good will than he accumulates. It does make a feller sore to wait for an orchestra to complete a number and then have the announcer glibly go on with another number without giving the station call letters. Why do they do it? Will some announcer please explain? Let's make the logging of distant stations a bit more satisfactory by cutting out the mystery. ***** ONE of our readers has solved the problem of what is to become of the vast array of miscellaneous radio parts which every experimenter accumulates in his quest for the world-beating circuit and set. In his own neighborhood this reader found a number of crystal fans who did not feel parts for a tube set were within the reach of their purse. Our reader, remembering the thrill he felt when changing over from crystal to tube, and especially when he brought in his first DX station, foraged around in the dusty collection of coils, condensers, sockets and the like until he had found enough material for three one tube receivers. These supplies were turned over to his neighbors who are now enjoying distant reception (compared to their crystal sets). Other readers may find a tip in the foregoing that will give them pleasure and swell the ranks of the experimenters.