Broadcasting (Jan - June 1936)

^mlal Housing Administrator, James till Molfett, of Standard Oil fame, *^t|jiit out to sell the housing idea to e public just as he would sell or cosmetics or any other ;andard product. In a radio adess on the NBC-WEAF radio rm conducted by the Washington ■.ar, Mr. Moffett started the ball lling. '«fi;i Both momentum and size deijiloped as the program got under Piy and within a few months arly 600 stations were cheerfulplacing their time and facilities |; the disposal of the FHA, which ^d assigned its radio activity to eorge T. Van der Hoef, Chief of 3 Radio Section. Sponsors interested directly, in||rectly or not at all in the housig subject were persuaded to in}rt FHA promotion in their net f)rk programs. Local stations had eir building, loan and service ponsors provide free FHA anpuncements. General Electric Co. bnated 26 Sunday programs on a '^tionwide NBC network. Straight Ijjjljjmmercials were written and dis■j-ibuted by FHA, soon developing ^jlito a thriving spot announcement j;ript service. Among network feabres is the Master Builder proram on an NBC-WJZ network, j! Emulating the Treasury, FHA Ij! [Bcorded a series of 15-minute ranscription programs with U. S. ^rvice bands providing musical inrludes for talks on housing. The iscs were sent to stations on a ptating basis. m yj oa if yt )' ? u! m Hi Post Office Department jj^j j,HE Post Office Department has lad its inning for some years on jie NBC Farm and Home Hour, jibing assigned a five-minute niche very Thursday. Department offi. .Aals handle the broadcasts, the ^, jbstom being for them to read a Kre-minute script describing some [ranch of postal activity, with iaybe a few mild plugs on the elegance of the service or some gentle Itrods at listeners to mail early and ftener. Occasionally the Postmaser General appears for the five jiinutes. Along about Christmas time the department suggests to local postmasters that they get their local iSations to slip in announcements [(sustaining) about getting parcels Fe 3|i the mails in plenty of time to IffJivoid the last-minute crush. John A. Brennan, Director of arcel Post, is in charge of radio *tetivity for the Department. Children's Bureau TRICTLY for the enlightenment f mothers is the Your Child series f the Children's Bureau, Department of Labor, broadcast Tueshys, 11:30-11:45 a. m., on an »BC-WEAF network. It is an inbrmation program and no frills Ire used to dramatize it or sugarbat the facts presented. Dr. Ella Oppenheimer, specialist k maternal and child health, usually delivers the Bureau's talk, with Irs. Elizabeth Shirley Enochs, pecial writer, frequently taking tie microphone. The discussions bnsist of information on child lealth and upbringing, with no laedical advice included. Occasion I' lly social aspects of child welfare aovements are reviewed. ^The program has been on the iir nearly eight years. Some years bo the Bureau broadcast a CBS yoman's Hour series. Prior to that he Bureau was on the air at a But It Was True AFTER giving a true and faithful account of how thousands of persons waded into Boyne River, Northern Michigan, to scoop up smelts with buckets and baskets, Duncan Moore and John Eccles, WJR announcers, received Liar's Licenses from a listener in Winston Salem, N. C. Right after the broadcast Eccles inadvertently dropped an eight-ball microphone into the stream and spent a wet quarter-hour hunting for it. From Life "Washington says to clear both the Red and Blue networks for 9:15 — the President has a confidential message to deliver to Congress." time when talks were delivered into a Bureau telephone, this being in the early days of broadcasting, of course. Officials at the Bureau recall an occasion when the talk was made at a pay telephone, with an assistant dropping nickels into the phone when necessary. No propaganda is introduced into its broadcasts. Bureau officials insist, the material being designed solely to help mothers raise their children. No one person is in charge of Bureau radio activities. Dr. Oppenheimer and Mrs. Enochs assuming most of the responsibility for the preparation and delivery of continuities. Department of Commerce THE Department of Commerce is quite pleased with the quantity and quality of fan mail received on its major radio appearance, a recently concluded 15-week series on a CBS network, Mondays 4-4:30 p. m., titled Commercial Comment. Determined not to load an afternoon audience with dull accumulations of figures on how much tung oil was imported from China last year, or how many tons of scrap iron were exported to Japan, the Department combined music by U. S. service bands with tenminute miscellaneous information done up in attractive style and five-minute talks on current news of business and commerce. Edward Gibbons, of the Division of Public Information, was in charge of the programs for the Department. The 67-station network provided an extensive audience which sent as many as sev ENCORE! BENNY GOODMAN — ^you and your orchestra would be pleased with the applause your music wins from the more than 150,000 Carolina homes served by WPTF. Let us send you Folder and other data about WPTF. Represented Nationally by F. J. & F. eral hundred requests a week for copies of the radio talks. Lighthouse, Fisheries, Standards and other branches of the Department contributed to the program. Effort was made by the Department to keep the series free of political propaganda. A recent return to network broadcasting was made by the National Park Service of the Interior Department. The Service on Feb. 15 started Treasure Trails on an NBC WJZ network, Saturdays, 5:30-5:45 p. m. The series began Feb. 15, skipped Feb. 22 and is scheduled for 13 weeks in all. Dramatic presentation is used to lure the public to National Parks. Paid talent is employed on the unpaid time, including Lansing Hatfield and Helen Ault, vocalists. Isabelle F. Story, editor-in-chief of the Service, is in charge of its radio activity. In other years the Service was on the air with historical programs but this year the series gives the public colorful information about national parks. As usual, the program is a spring feature, designed to plant a wanderlust among potential tourists as the travel season gets under way. WIBA, Madison, Wis., on April 7 was authorized by the FCC to increase its daytime power to 5,000 watts. LET THESE ONE f GO TO MARKET FOR YOU ! , STATIONS ; MAKKETS LOW KATE \ These three stations go to market every day for numerous advertisers — and those who have used the "Missouri Triangle" know that their messages, going into these markets, bring home the bacon. A test program will prove profitable to you. FOR RATES AND COVERAGE DATA WRITE TO ANY STATION BELOW KWTO-KGBX • KWKC • WTMV SPRINGFIELD, MO. . KANSAS CITY, MO. • E.ST. LOUIS JLL (^Ifpril 15, 1936 • BROADCASTING Page 57