Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

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ilR©AP€ASTD The NEWS MAGAZINE 1, NO. 5 WASHINGTON, D. C. THE FIFTH ESTATE CEMBER 15, 1931 $3.00 PER YEAR — 15c A COPY ommission Orders Drastic Rule Revisions By SOL TAISHOFF ar Licenses Proposed as Robinson Urges Longer Terms; ition Break and Transcription Rules Are Relaxed THE MOST comprehensive regulatory program it has undertaken the Federal Radio nission this week ordered ;ic revision of existing reguas, designed to alleviate hardon broadcasters, and simul>usly it recommended to Consweeping amendments to the Act of 1927, which, if ;ed, might seriously hamper roadcast industry, strict one-year limitation on »n licenses, as against the -year provision in the law, is lost important of the series of lmendations made in a sepamemorandum submitted to the te and House radio commitAn anti-lottery law that hamstring broadcasters, stations and networks alike, legree that was not hoped for by radio's most ardent eneis a second recommendation, ight to suspend broadcast lis for 30 days— the same recndation made last year — is a important Commission sug>n. (See page 7 for full text immission's legislative recomations to Congress.) its new rules and regulations, ;come effective Feb. 1, the lission, however, rectified of the present severe limitaupon broadcasters. The strict sions of the transcription and 'graph regulation, formerly •al Order 78, were relaxed, so ;he language used in describuch productions is left op, provided it is "clear." Stabreaks no longer landatory each 15 ;es by the revision General Order 8. etters may be an■ed as frequently racticable during ours of operation, at least each 30 ces, but this rement is waived a single consecuspeech would be •upted. ler salient charges lied in the new and regulations, i are a codificaDf all general orare the slight ication of General * 102 on quota BROADCASTERS and advertisers alike will view with interest the sweeping changes effected by the Radio Commission in its new rules and regulations. Liberalization of the transcription and station break regulations, as well as the compliment paid broadcasters by Chairman Saltzman in the Commission's annual report, will please all. But in the Commission's proposals to Congress for amendment of the Radio Act there is reason for concern. This article, while pointing out that the Commission has mixed the bitter with the sweet in its comprehensive changes, ordered and proposed, holds that the acrid predominates. distribution; a change in General Order 105 covering the broadcast day to make it apply to half-time stations ; changes in the unit values of certain classes of stations; important changes in legal procedure whereby applications can be granted without hearings under certain conditions; elimination of affidavits as evidence at hearings and liberalization of provisions for taking of depositions. The new code is honeycombed with modifications of the old general orders and the Commission's rules of practice and procedure. The Commission mixed the bit ter with the sweet in its overhauling program, but the acrid predominates. The new rules and regulations, the confidential recommendations to Congress and the Commission's annual report are the documents in which these matters are covered. Robinson Proposal: COINCIDENT with the Commission's recommendations, Commissioner Ira E. Robinson made a plea for longer licenses for broadcast stations. "I believe that the time is near at hand when broadcasting Station Breaks "Each licensee of a broadcast station shall announce the call letters and location as frequently as practicable during the hours of operation, and in any event before or after each program being broadcast. In no event shall more than 30 minutes elapse between such announcements, and in so far as practicable these announcements shall be made on the hour and half hour. These requirements are waived when such announcements would interrupt a single consecutive speech; and in such cases the announcement of the call letters and location shall be made as soon as possible." Transcriptions "A mechanical reproduction shall be announced as such just before it is broadcast, except when its use is merely incidental, as for an identification or background. The exact form of announcement is not prescribed, but the language shall be clear and in terms commonly used and understood. The following are~examples of statements sufficient for the purpose: (a) "This is a mechanical reproduction." (b) "This is a player-piano record." — From new rules and regulations of Federal Radio Commission, effective Feb. 1, 1932. licenses should be issued for a longer period than six months," he said. "There are good reasons for this in behalf of the public and the industry, which I need not now set forth. Besides a longer license will stabilize the industry. Of course, the remedy of revocation is always at hand when we find a license is not being used in the public interest. "Maybe it would be well to award a reasonably long license to the stations which have proved their worth in the public interest and a shorter license to those about which we are not so sure in that particular. Anyhow, broadcasting is on a better public basis than formerly." The Commission proposes, in its Congressional recommendations, that "no license granted for the operation of a radio station shall be for a longer term than one year, and any license granted may be revoked as hereinafter provided." It suggests further that upon the expiration of any license, a renewal may be granted from time to time for a term not to exceed one year, but that the Commission action "shall be limited to and governed by the same considerations and practice which affect the granting of original applications." The necessity for longer licenses, to safeguard the investments of broadcasters, was also emphasized by Philip G. Loucks, managing director of the National Association of Broadcasters, in commenting on the Commission and the Robinson recommendations. The NAB executive committee, at a meeting last month, approved three-year licenses such as the law provides. "The Commission is demanding that broadcast stations spend large sums of money for new and more efficient equipment and at the same time is demanding that program standards be elevated," Mr. Loucks said. "In setting up standards for equipment and service, the Commission is treating broadcasting, now carried on under six-month licenses, as a stabilized business. No business, of course, can enjoy any satisfactory degree of stability as long as its legal life is limited to six month periods. "Many of the legislative, legal, economic and program difficulties ember 15. 1931 • BROADCASTING Page 5