Broadcasting Telecasting (July - Sept 1951)

Respects (Continued from page 54) Dick Rice of CFRN, into the advertising agency field. With advent of war, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. Even with that little experience in broadcasting, Mr. Blick realized listeners want entertainment and news. With that idea in mind, he built the largest and most up-todate record library possible when he opened CJOB. He subscribed to five library services and two news services. CJOB now has two librarians working full time merely cataloguing, selecting and filing recordings. The station has a staff of special editors, reporters and newscasters. The slogan of CJOB is "Working for Winnipeg" and it backs its slogan with deeds. It was the station's public service record that won the John J. Gillin Memorial Award. From the first day of the operation, public service featured the station's schedule. The first full week of operation was non-commercial. Instead of spot announcements and sponsored shows, tribute was paid by the staff of war veterans to the service clubs and to those who had worked to better the lot of the men and women in uniform. Over $4,000 in air time was spent on this gesture of appreciation by the staff of war veterans. Wide Scope of Service Since then public service has embraced every type of operation from the Red River flood of 1950 to helping a little boy locate his lost puppy. It has included raising money for a service club through amateur hour broadcasts, as well as the purchase and maintenance of two mobile X-ray units. Every evening after 7:30 lost dog and cat announcements are made free on station breaks and sustaining programs. John Blick's persistence in staying on the air at all hours to give service to his community also has won for his station two annual awards of the Canadian General Electric Co. The first was in 1947 for having the highest percentage of program hours on the air in his first year of operation. The station was off the air only 69 seconds, on a 24-hour-day operation. This was possible because CJOB has alternate circuits, spare lines, spare controls, duplicate transmitters, auxiliary power supplies and similar precautionary facilities. The second award was for the 1950 Winnipeg flood broadcasts. The station broadcast for three weeks under a tent on the roof of the transmitter building which had been flooded to a depth of five feet. The transmitter was hoisted to the roof to continue to give uninterrupted service. John Blick was born at Edmon1 ton on Aug. 9, 1915. He was graduated from the University of Al 8ROADCASTING • Telecasting berta as a teacher and began teaching in a rural school in 1933 at a salary of $50 a month of which half went for board and a janitor. Teaching at $1 a day began to pall on 18-year-old John and after a year, he tried selling everything from jewelry to insurance. He supplemented his earnings by playing the piano at dances. Then he tried a government job in the Alberta Treasury Dept., but decided there was not enough money in the treasury to attract him for long. He got into broadcasting by accident when he was asked to write continuity for CFRN Edmonton. He recalls he did not even know what continuity writing entailed, but tackled his first assignment and was accepted after writing the copy on a borrowed typewriter. He stayed for a year because he liked the work. Term in Agency Field Attracted by the 15% commission which advertising agencies get for selling and writing copy, he went into that field and remained in it until he joined the RCAF. He wanted to be a pilot but his teacher's certificate made him an instructor. However, he later had a chance to gather 2,000 hours of flying time in his RCAF career. During the war, in 1943, he married Mary Elizabeth Hughes of Edmonton. They have twin sons, Barry John and Brian Robert, born in November 1945, and a daughter, Barbara Elizabeth, born in May 1950. At one time Johnny Blick had many hobbies, but now he has only time for golf and fishing, his growing family, CJOB and practically every public service club in Winnipeg. These include the Boy Scouts, St. John's Ambulance, Winnipeg Ballet, Kiwanis, Empire Club, Winnipeg Executive Club, Sales and Advertising Club, Canadian Club, National Federation of Sales Executives and a few golf and social clubs. N.J. RADIO INSTITUTE Scheduled Sept. 27-28 FOURTH Annual Radio Institute, sponsored jointly by Rutgers U., State U. of New Jersey and the New Jersey Broadcasters Assn., will be held in Bridgeton, N. J., Sept. 27-28. "Management Problems in Today's Radio Operation" will be subject for a Rutgers Forum, one of the institute highlights. Panel members for the off-the-record discussion, moderated by Wally Duquet of Rutgers, will include Harry Goodwin of WNJR Newark, Fred Bernstein of WTTM Trenton, and Thomas Tighe of WJLK Asbury Park. Discussion will cover personnel problems of small stations, what state broadcasters are doing in the field of human relations, short-term contracts and radio rate "chiseling." jpeciax CERAMIC COIL FORMS In the Continental 315 Transmitter... all tuning inductances are wound on special ceramic coil forms. These forms are unaffected by temperature or humidity ... are proof against arc-overs ... and have an extremely low power loss characteristic. This type of tuning inductance complemented by our vacuum type capacitors results in the highest degree of circuit efficiency possible at the present state of the art. 1 f New home of CONTINENTAL ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING COMPANY MANUFACTURING CO. 4212 S. BUCKNER BLVD DALLAS 10, TEXAS PHONE EVergreen 1137 September 24, 1951 • Page 59