Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

1R©APCASTDINI€ THE NEWS MAGAZINE of THE FIFTH ESTATE MARTIN CODEL, Editor SOL TAISHOFF, Managing Editor F. GAITHER TAYLOR, Advertising Manager Published Semi Monthly by BROADCASTING PUBLICATIONS, Inc. • National Press Building Washington, D. C. Metropolitan 1022 Executive and Editorial Offices: National Press Building, Washington, D. C. Subscription Price: $3.00 a Year 15c a Copy Copyright, 1932, by Broadcasting Publications, Inc. Practical Or Political? ONCE AGAIN the task of selecting a new member of the Radio Commission confronts President Hoover. Although it may be too much to expect in a campaign year, we fervently hope the appointment will not be purely political. There are many aspirants for the job, both among men of practical radio experience and men with only political backing and background. In these lean days, when good jobs are at a premium, the politicians are in position to strike real bargains in bringing home the votes. If the appointment goes to some politician or to an individual unknown to radio, it will be because the campaign managers figure he can help line up a doubtful territory next November. Broadcasters would like to see a practical radio man fill the vacancy created by General Saltzman's resignation. If not one of their own, they would prefer the job to go to some outstanding individual in some way identified or acquainted with radio. At least a half dozen candidates meet these qualifications. The fourth zone commissionership is a most important one. Despite the claims of the Commission that zones do not come into the picture when the Commission functions and that each commissioner represents the country at large rather than the zone from which he was appointed, the fact remains that each commissioner takes a sort of paternal interest in "his zone." The middle west is the most congested and overquota of the country. It boasts the greatest number of radio-minded members of Congress if not the greatest amount of political wire-pulling. What the fourth zone needs is a man with courage enough to say "no" to the ever insistent entreaties of individual Senators and Representatives. It needs some one who will turn a deaf ear to the commands that established engineering principles be broken under the guise of "experimental" or "temporary" grants, to appease political appetities. Little, if any, improvement has been effected in the fourth zone in the last three years. True, the general improvement in organization of the Commission and the enforcement of strict engineering regulations have brought about nation-wide betterment of service. But the fourth zone remains the sorespot of radio. General Saltzman's resignation was not surprising. For more than a year it had been expected, but his persistent half denials of these reports had even his colleagues perplexed. In announcing his resignation, the White House said he resigned because of ill-health on advice of his physician. In radio circles it is generally believed he lefl because the economy bill which would have reduced his government income from $16,000 to $9,000 a year had he remained with the Commission. As a retired Major General he will continue to draw his retirement pay of $6,000 a year. General Saltzman's resignation, coupled with the economy bill which abolished the Radio Division of the Department of Commerce and transferred its duties to the Commission, necessitated sweeping changes in the Commission's organization. Employees will be transferred, others released under the drastic economies ordered by Congress. Happily, William D. Terrell, radio's first government official, remains as chief of the newly created Division of Field Operations of the Commission. The Radio Division has been a most efficient organization, even during the days when it had complete control over radio, broadcasting included. The Commission, in realigning that organization, should exercise utmost care, lest it impair its value and its fine record of service. Thou Shalt Not Covet FOUND, a satisfied broadcaster! His station has 1,000 watts power on a regional channel. It covers its immediate marketing area, by no means the richest marketing area on the map. It is seldom if ever involved in litigation before the Radio Commission. This operator asks for no more than to be let alone, and he usually is. He is one the few broadcasters we know who does not envy his neighbor's clear channel or higher power. His station, above all, has been consistently profitable even through the depression, plainly because of good service and good management. In the merry scramble for better wave lengths, higher power and more time — anything the station can get — there's evidence that many station operators are overlooking the fact that money is to be made, trouble avoided and service to the community given by the station that secures wave, power and time sufficient to cover its home market — and then curbs its ambition there. As this broadcaster says, to the local advertiser any listener outside the area from which buyers come to purchase is wasted. Local advertising rates must be based on how well the station covers the local area, not how far it reaches. In selling spot advertising, the solicitor will find that the national account expects coverage only of the local market area. He doesn't care whether station BLANK can be heard in Timbuctoo on a clear day. Nor do the chains expect their outlets to go beyond the home area. So, except in the cases of the stations assigned to channels intended to provide rural and remote service, there really is nothing to be gained by kicking a program half way across the continent, except perhaps satisfied vanity. The same holds true as to serving the non The RADIO BOOK SHELF THE EYES that are some day to be given radio are treated with all the tender care of a pathologist in Orrin E. Dunlap, Jr.'s newest book, "The Outlook for Television" (Harper & Bros., New York, $4). Nor are the sociological aspects of the visual art overlooked in this compendium of television data, largely derived from the files of The New York Times, of which Mr. Dunlap is radio editor. We are told what the developments in television up to date have been and what to expect from it later, technically and otherwise. The author has not only drawn freely from his own previous newspaper writings on the subject, but he has included the expressed and contributed views of such men as Bruce Barton on television in advertising. Dr. Lee DeForest on television in home and theater, Col. Theodore Roosevelt on television in politics, S. L. (Roxy) Rothafel on television in stage and screen, and Maj. Gen. James G. Harbord on television in war. Some of the contributed predictions, notably one definitely opining that commercial television would be here in 1932, are obviously farfetched for 1932 is half gone and television, it seems, is far from a commercial reality. One lays this book down feeling that television certainly will be realized on an ample scale within the present generation, yet wondering when and how it will come — so diverse are the paths of experimentation being pursued by various laboratories and so theoretical are most of the viewpoints. Nevertheless, this book offers perhaps the first handy chronology of the development of radio from the year 640 B.C., when Thales of Miletus noticed that amber after being rubbed attracts straws and other light objects, to Marconi's ultra-short wave experiments in Italy early this year, that it is an exceedingly valuable reference work. Its chapter on "tiny waves that see," the ultra-high frequencies to which most engineers look for the ethereal pathways of television, is informative and comprehensive. There is an index to the book that renders it invaluable for quick reference. THE RUDY VALLEE of the British Isles takes his pen in hand (or maybe it's a typewriter) and bares every detail of his life and career for his horde of eager admirers in "This is Jack Payne," written "By Himself" (Sampson Low, 100 So. Newark St., London). Presumably the idol of thousands, Mr. Payne is a featured popular orchestra conductor heard over the British Broadcasting System and on the stage. The biography is of the Horatio Alger type but done with less modesty and .restraint. commercial needs of the community. The com 1 munity, of course, is just the home area. If an attempt is made to serve its interests, there is nothing usually to interest the outer fringe 1 of listeners. Community interest programs | are not the programs of great areas and cer | tainly should not be neglected for the sake of distant coverage. The least expensive station to operate is the | one covering no wasted area. Its income can be as great as if it were reaching into Alaska. » The national advertiser and the agency are If erring grievously if they overlook quality of service and reputation of stations, however small, when it comes to placing accounts designed for home areas. Its the immediate V service range of a station and the listener j interest it commands that counts. Page 16 BROADCASTING • August 1, 1932