Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

IT WAS just about five years ago that a little group of four men congregated in Washington at the behest of President Coolidge to bring "order out of chaos" in broadcasting. In the absence of Admiral W. H. G. Bullard, designated to be chairman, Judge Eugene Octave Sykes, of Jackson, Miss., pounded the gavel that called to order the first meeting of the Federal Radio Commission — then a nondescript agency which even had been forgotten by Congress in its appropriations, and which acquired desk-space for its personnel only by the grace of the then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover. Judge Sykes was elected vice-chairman. Today Judge Sykes is still vicechairman of the Commission, now grown to sizable and powerful proportions. He is the only member who can look back over five years of uninterrupted service as a Radio Commissioner. All told, he has served with ten different commissioner colleagues. Judge Sykes was appointed to the Commission Feb. 23, 1927. On March 15 he called to order the first meeting, pursuant to radioed instructions from Chairman Bullard, who was en route from China. After the organization meeting, the Commission called on President Coolidge. "I hope you know," said Judge Sykes to the President, "that I'm just a lawyer and don't know a thing about radio." To which the President replied: "I am aware of that. I have appointed the other four (Admiral Bullard, 0. H. Caldwell, Henry A. Bellows and Col. John F. Dillon) because of their radio knowledge. You have been appointed to see that the Commission keeps within the law." PERSONAL NOTES DR. J. H. DELLINGER, radio chief of the U. S. Bureau of Standards, was awarded the honorary degree of Doc Judge Sykes came to the Commission with a legal background which served that agency in good stead during the turbulent days following the so-called break-down of the law. Mild-mannered and of pleasant disposition, Judge Sykes is a prototype of Southern culture. But his apparently easy ways belie a fighting spirit and unflinching courage which on occasion reach high pitch. On the rare occasions, when he enters debates in open hearings, his eloquence and forcefulness are such as to make an indelible impression on those present. The dignity and reserve of the bench are nowhere in evidence, however, when Judge Sykes indulges in his hobbies — outdoor sports. In the summer he is an ardent baseball fan, who yells for a "homer" or "razzes" the umpire. This winter he developed a taste for heavyweight wrestling, and he is a ringside spectator at the regular performances in Washington. Born in Aberdeen, Miss., July 16, 1876, Judge Sykes now is in his 56th year. After attending preparatory school in Tennessee he went to St. Johns College at Annapolis, Md., to prepare for the Naval Academy examinations. He entered the Academy in 1893, remaining for two and one-half years. From there he went to the University of Mississippi and was graduated in 1897 from the law school. Returning to Aberdeen, young Sykes practiced law until he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi in 1916. He served on that tribunal for nine years, retiring voluntarily to reenter the practice of law at Jackson, Miss. He was called back to public life with his appointment to the Commission two years later. His present term on the Radio Commission expires Feb. 23, 1933. tor of Science by his alma mater, George Washington University, at special Bicentennial ceremonies held in Washington Feb. 22. Dr. Dellinger was graduated from that institution in 1908, securing his Ph.D. degree in 1913 from Princeton. HAROLD SMITH, vice-president of Westinghouse, has been elected a member of the board of RCA to fill the vacancy caused by the recent death of H. P. Davis. DR. FRANK W. ELLIOTT, of Davenport, la., and a former president of the National Association of Broadcasters, has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Congress from the second Iowa district. Running on a "moist" platform, Dr. Elliott will oppose Rep. Cyrenus Cole, Republican dry of Cedar Rapids. MAJ. JOHN S. COHEN, president of the Atlanta Journal and WSB, is reported recovered from his operation of several months ago. OLIVER MORTON has been transferred from the Chicago Office of the Westinghouse stations to WBZ-WBZA, Boston, with the rank of general manager. PAUL MYERS, commercial manager of KFAC, Los Angeles, and KFVD, Culver City, has resigned from the latter post. W. Fehr Gardner succeeds him. M. J. KLEIN, founder of Newsdom, has been named advertising director of Radio Guide, New York. B. Harrison Cassel, formerly with the New York Daily Mirror, has been appointed national advertising manager. HAROLD G. HIGGINS has resigned as commercial manager of WBAL, Baltimore. He came to that station last autumn from WBZ, Boston. ROY THOMPSON, director of WFBG, Altoona, Pa., announces the appointment to his commercial staff of Willard W. Fraker, formerly sports editor of the Greensburg (Pa.) Dispatch; Michael Corbin, recent graduate of the University of California, and Albert Friedman, recent local high school graduate. T. A. D. HILDENBERGER has been made sales manager of the Adams Broadcasting Service, New York. He joined the concern only two months ago but has had many years of experience in the advertising and sales fields. RALPH CLARKE, formerly radio editor of the Sacramento Bee, and more recently in similar position with the San Francisco News, has become publicity director for KFRC, San Francisco. HARRY CHARLOT, creator of "The Shadow" and other novel dramatic ideas in broadcasting, has joined the scenario department of the Adams Broadcasting Service. SENATOR WALLACE WHITE, Jr., who is president of the American Section, International Radio Committee, has appointed a committee to nominate officers for the ensuing year. Louis G. Caldwell, attorney, is chairman, with L. E. Whittemore, A. T. & T., and Lynne M. Lamm, Washington radio correspondent for the New York Times, as members. LLOYD C. THOMAS, general commercial manager of the Westinghouse broadcasting stations, on Feb. 1 rounded out five years' service as head of this group. He began his radio career at KFKX, Hastings, Neb., directing that station from 1924 to 1927, when he was transferred to Pittsburgh to assume general direction of the program and commercial departments of the Westinghouse stations. DEL LYON, associated with the V. G. Freitag organization, Los Angeles, handling all broadcast time of KMTR, Hollywood, KRKD, Los Angeles, and KMPC, Beverly Hills, has been appointed commercial manager for the three stations. He continues with the Freitag office. DON GILMAN, NBC vice-president on the Pacific Coast, left for the northwest the middle of February for a six weeks tour. It will be his first visit to the two recently added NBC outlets at Butte and Billings, Mont. JACK PLUMELET, lately of the sales staff at KGB, San Diego, and with the Tia Juana, Mexico, station, has joined the commercial division of KTM, Los Angeles. He had also been chief announcer at KYA, San Francisco, in earlier years. J. H. Alexander, former Kansas newspaperman, has also joined the sales staff of KTM. BEHIND THE MICROPHONE TWO MEMBERS of the CBS dramatic staff in New York have been given parts in metropolitan stage productions. Wright Kennedy has a role in the new play, "Monkey," which opened Feb. 11. Malcolm Dunn, of WABC and CBS, who is heard in the dramatized history scripts of the American School of the Air, will enter the cast of "The Devil Passes." RECENT acquisition at WLW, Cincinnati, is the "Threesome," composed of Grace Brandt, Herb Nelson and Eddy Heimberger, who came directly from KMOX, St. Louis. DOUG MONTELL, sports announcer of KLX, Oakland, Cal., is handling the California University basketball games by remote control from Berkeley this winter. KLX will also soon carry all California track and field meets. WINS, New York, has Jack Reid, veteran announcer of KDKA, Pittsburgh, on its staff. John McCormick, baritone, formerly on WMAQ, Chicago, is the program director. JOHN McINTIRE, announcer of KMPC, Beverly Hills, Cal., has resigned to join KTM, Los Angeles. Dick Licence, formerly of KTM, will join KMPC as announcer and master of ceremonies for the "Top o' the Morning Club." MRS. JANE DOBERT, accompanist in the studios of WOR, Newark, has resigned. TED OSTENKAMP has joined the announcing staff of WOL, Washington. He was formerly program director and chief announcer at WLVA, Lynchburg, Va. JOE DuMOND, program director of WMT, has returned to Waterloo, la., after an extended vacation trip during which he sang over the CBS network from WABC, New York, and over WLW, Cincinnati, KMBC, Kansas City, and KMOX, St. Louis. FRANCIS J. OWEN, formerly chief announcer at WCAE, Pittsburgh, has joined the staff of WWSW, of the same city, as continuity writer and announcer. MISS PATTIE FIELD, a member of the statistical department of NBC, on Feb. 6 was married to Edmund O'Brien of New York. DON DOUGLAS, "The Voice of Warner Brothers," has joined the staff of announcers at WMCA, New York. JOSEF PASTERNACK, head of the music department of the Adams Broadcasting Service, has moved with his entire staff to another floor of the Chanin Building, New York, to provide more room for the dramatic and production departments. FERDE GROFE, arranger and composer, the premiere of whose "Grand Canyon Suite" was recently heard oyer CBS, is now writing another musical picture. It is to be called "Tabloid" and will portray the average 24 hours of a newspaper. THE BEVERLY HILL BILLIES, nightly feature at KTM, Los Angeles, late in February divided into two groups. One will go to KTAB, San Francisco, and the other stays at KTM. The groups will alternate for three months between the two stations. March I, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 17