Broadcasters’ news bulletin (June-Dec 1931)

August 8, 1931 BAH COMdlT'XEE OPPOSES HESS BILL Legislation proposing the reservation of 15 per cent of all broadcasting fre¬ quencies for educational purposes is vigorously opposed in the report of the Ameri¬ can Bar Association's Standing Committee on Communications, which was filed with the Cormnission this week. A review of the past twelve months from the legal stand¬ point is made in this report which will be submitted for consideration to the an¬ nual convention of the Bar Association at Atlantic City in September. The report was signed by Louis G. Caldwell of T/ashington , former General Coun¬ sel of the Commission; Cassius E. Gates, Seattle, Wash.; William C. Green, St. Paul, Minn, special counsel of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce, and John C. Kendall, Portland, Oregon. The Committee opposes all plans to "reform" American broadcasting or to make any substitution of the existing structure by adoption of a system of government ownership v/ith the public paying the maintenance costs through taxes on radio re¬ ceivers. Of the three measures introdniced in the last Congress the adoption of which would require the Commission to set aside certain sections of the broadcast spec¬ trum for particular groups or interests, the report of the Committee discusses in greatest detail the Fess bill, the enactment of which would reserve 15 per cent of all broadcast facilities, or 13.5 of the 90 channels now available, for educational purposes. The minimum consequences of making the Fess Bill law, it is stated, would mean the putting out of existence about 30 stations now operating with high power assignments on cleared channels, since the frequencies sought would have to be cleared of present licensees to make way for the educational services proposed. At the other extreme, the report finds there might be an elimination of 240 local stations and 50 regional stations by the enactment of the provisions of the Fess bill "Between the two extremes," the report continues, "a large number of variations would, of course, be possible. It is difficult to calculate the loss both finan¬ cially to the station owners and in terms of broadcasting to the listening public. Many communities that now receive only one program would find themselves without any service (except possibly one of continuous educational matter). Other communities that now have a choice of two or three programs (e.g. one from, either of the net¬ work systems and a local program) would find themselves exceedingly reduced. "Strangely the sponsors of the Fess bill have no plan or program for putting the proposal into effect, for avoiding or mitigating the havoc it would cause, or for using the 13.5 channels ao as to give country-wide distribution for the material they v/ish to broadcast. Yet they seem willing that the finest broadcasting system in the world should be wrecked on the strength of plausible utterances, which, if carefully studied would be declared unsound by the department of physics in every one of the educational institutions in behalf of which they profess to speak:." Commenting on the development of bro-'dcasting by private interests in the United States, the Committee says: "In the United States broadcasting has resulted from private initiative which has had to look to the advertiser for support. It is unfortunately true that there has been an attendant evil (which, however, is frequently exaggerated) in