Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

WOW Appeal Raises Question Of Education Station's Rights Interference and Quotas Argued in WFI Appeal ; New Issue in Third Appeal on WLOE Case THE FIRST appeal to raise the issue of whether the facilities of j an educational station should be : forfeited upon application of a commercial station of proved merit has been argued before the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia and now awaits decision. Involving the application of WOW, Omaha, operated by the Woodmen of the World, for the one-seventh time now used by WCAJ, Lincoln, Neb., on the 590 kc. channel, operated by Nebraska Wesleyan University, the case was argued before the court Feb. 1. Paul M. Segal, former assistant general counsel of the Commission, appeared for WOW, while Duke M. Patrick, assistant general counsel, argued in defense of the Commission's denial of the Omaha station's application. On the same day the court heard arguments on the appeal of WFI, Philadelphia, operated on 560 kc. with one-half time by Strawbridge and Clothier, which was denied an increase in power from 500 watts to 1 kw., both day and night. Mr. Patrick also argued this case for the Commission, and was opposed by B. M. Webster, Jr., former Commission general counsel. In the WOW case Mr. Segal fjj brought out that the station now operates six-sevenths time on 590 kc, with the university station using the remaining one-seventh. Examiner Elmer W. Pratt had recommended granting of the application, but the Commission reversed him. Mr. Segal said there was no contradiction of the service rendered by WOW and that full-time was desired to permit program flexibility. Furthermore, he asserted that WCAJ has not maintained its equipment consistent with engineering standards and that it recently was forced to reduce its power from 500 to 250 watts to conform with Commission regulations. Mr. Patrick pointed out that the granting of the WOW application would mean deletion of the college station. Should the Commission heed the suggestion of Mr. Segal and assign WCAJ to another frequency, it would violate quota regulations, he declared, since Nebraska is overquota. He said it was debatable whether WOW had made such a case to require, as a matter of law, that WCAJ be deleted. The Commission, continued counsel, found that the WCAJ was giving good service and should not be deleted — -a decision which it regarded as a question of fact which . should not be disturbed by the court. Interference Issue IN THE WFI case, Mr. Patrick declared, the Commission sustained in part and denied in part the recommendation of Chief Examiner Ellis A. Yost that the station be permitted to increase its day power to 1 kw. but that its night power remain at 500 watts. The Commission held, Mr. Patrick argued, that Philadelphia now has adequate service and that interference on 560 kc. would be increased by the requested power boost in that the proposal conflicted with the Commission's mileage separation tables as well as with engineering testimony given at the hearing. Interference also would be caused with stations on the adjacent frequency of 570 kc, he said. Mr. Webster, however, contended that there was no showing that interference would be caused and added that both Pennsylvania and the second zone are underquota in radio facilities. The fact that WFI did not apply for facilities in an overquota state or zone, he held, did not alter the quota situation, and if interference would be caused by the power increase, it is the Commission's function to reduce power of other stations affected in overquota states and zones. Moreover, Mr. Webster argued, interference naturally is to be expected on regional channels. A third appeal growing out of the Commission's decision of Jan. 18 deleting WLOE, Boston, was filed by Louis G. Caldwell and Arthur W. Scharfeld in behalf of William S. Pote, original owner of the station. Previously, the Boston Broadcasting Co., licensee, had been granted a stay order by the court. Fred H. Goss, also financially interested in the station, who sought authority to obtain assignment of a new station to use the WLOE facilities on 1,500 kc, with 100 watts night and 250 watts day, also appealed from the decision denying his application. The New England Broadcasting Co., controlled by Mr. Pote, had filed a petition for intervention along with the Boston company appeal, which the Commission opposed. Other Court Decisions THE NEW appeal for Pote was based on the Commission's denial of involuntary assignment of the license from the Boston to the New England Company. It is the first time such an appeal has been filed under Section 16 of the Radio Act, which relates to license assignments. The Commission on Feb. 9 filed with the court a motion to dismiss this appeal on the ground that Section 16 does not permit such procedure. In an opinion on Feb. 1 the court affirmed the decision of the Commission denying the request of WHB, Kansas City, for increased power from 500 watts to 1 kw. on its daytime assignment on 860 kc. When oral arguments were presented in this case, the court declined to hear Commission counsel, indicating that it would not disturb the Commission decisions denying applications involving increase in quotas of overquota areas. Dismissal of the appeal of the Whole Range Studies RESULTS of studies of distance ranges over which practicable radio communication is possible throughout the whole range of radio frequencies are published in a circular (Letter Circular No. 317) now being distributed by the Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce. Attached to the circular are two blueprints, one showing the approximate distance ranges during the day, and the other covering the same field at night. Copies of the circular may be procured by addressing the Bureau. Most Fan Letters Addressed to Net SIXTY per cent of all fan mail received by CBS, including the mail received by local stations on network features and forwarded to New York headquarters, is addressed directly to the network at New York and not to the station over which the program is heard. This information is contained in a brochure on "What Does a 'Network' Mean to the Audiences of Local Network Outlets?" and is based on a survey made by the audience mail division of CBS. Offering the La Palint. program, which features Kate Smith, as an example, the brochure points out that 12,495 of 22,730 requests for Miss Smith's picture one week were addressed directly to CBS, New York. When the mail addressed to the CBS stations in New York and Chicago is excluded, the percentage of mail received by the network addressed to CBS averages 80 per cent, the analysis adds. Ozark Radio Corporation, Carterville, Mo., involving an experimental station license, was ordered by the court on Feb. 2 for nonpayment of printing fees. At the request of the appellant, WKBO, Jersey City, N. J., operated by the Camith Corporation, the court dismissed its appeal from the Commission decision ordering its deletion, along with WNJ, Newark, N. J., to make way for WHOM of Jersey City, operated by Harry F. O'Melia, on the 1460 kc. channel, which they shared also with WBMS, Hackensack, on a fourway split. The Commission subsequently authorized WHOM to use one-half time on the frequency, but the WNJ appeal is still pending, and the station is operating under a stay order. Notice of its intention to intervene in the appeal of WOQ, Kansas City, from the Commission's decision deleting the station, was filed by KFH, Wichita, Kan. The Commission had gi-anted KFH full time on 1300 kc. with 1 kw., and had refused renewal of WOQ'S license for failure to serve public interest. The appeal of WFBR, Baltimore, from the Commission's decision granting WCBM, Baltimore, authority to operate on a frequency 60 kc. from the former's 1270 kc. assignment, was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia on Feb. 2 on an order entered by the plaintiff. Dominion Control Of Radio Is Upheld Privy Council Rejects Appeal of Province of Quebec FEDERAL control over radio communication in Canada was upheld by the Juridical Committee of the British Privy Council in London Feb. 9, when it dismissed the appeal of the Province of Quebec from the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada holding that the Dominion rather than the Provinces has regulatory power over radio broadcasting. The Privy Council being the court of last resort, this decision is final, and the Parliament at Ottawa now finds itself with complete jurisdiction over radio. The decision follows closely the theory held in the United States, that radio regulation is a federal function outside the powers of the states. Where interstate commerce is the basis for such regulation here, the British court apparently rendered its decision on the international character of the wave lengths. Canada, it was pointed out, was represented at the International Radiotelegraph Conference in Washington in 1927, ratifying the convention later. "The result is clear," the British judgment states. "Canada as a whole is amenable to other powers for carrying out the convention. To prevent individuals in Canada infringing the convention stipulations, it is necessary that the Dominion should pass legislation applying to all dwellers in Canada." Upon the outcome of this case, it is understood, rests the determination whether to proceed with the Canadian Royal Commission's plan to erect a series of seven high power stations, one in each Province, to operate under government control along British lines. Present broadcasters seriously oppose this proposal, preferring the American system of advertising support now in vogue in Canada. Economic conditions in Canada, as elsewhere, have precluded more attention to the Royal Commission proposals of late. WORC Requires Truth In Claims of Sponsors ANNOUNCING on the air that it has included a new clause in its commercial contracts, stipulating that products advertised on the station must be strictly bona fide as advertised, WORC, Worcester, reports that "letters and telephone calls to the station indicate that the public is enthusiastically in accord with our efforts and will support WORC advertisers to the fullest extent." The station's contracts have been amended thus: "The purchaser [of time] agrees that any merchandise or service offered to the listeners of the station shall be absolutely bona fide with respect to its announced merits, description, quality, prices or discounts from the price thereof, and further, to deliver said merchandise or service to each and every customer, in exact accordance with the statements set forth in the broadcast." February 15, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 15