NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS * * * * * Copyright, 1933, The National Association of Broadcasters Supreme Court of the United States Nos. 657, 658, 659, and 660 — October Term 1932 (657) FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION, PETITIONER, V. NELSON BROS. BOND & MORTGAGE CO. (STATION WIBO). (658) FEDERAL RADIO COMMIS¬ SION, PETITIONER, V. NORTH SHORE CHURCH (STATION WPPC). (659) FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION AND JOHNSON-KENNEDY RADIO COR¬ PORATION (STATION WJKS), PETITIONERS, V. NELSON BROS. BOND & MORTGAGE CO. (STATION WIBO) . (660) FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION AND JOHNSON-KENNEDY RADIO CORPORATION (STATION WJKS), PETI¬ TIONERS, V. NORTH SHORE CHURCH (STATION WPCC). ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mr. Chief Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the Court. The Johnson-Kennedy Radio Corporation, owning station WJKS at Gary, Ind., applied to the Federal Radio Commission for modifi¬ cation of license so as to permit operation, with unlimited time, on the frequency of 560 kilocycles, then assigned for the use of station WIBO, owned by Nelson Bros. Bond & Mortgage Co., and station WPCC, owned by the North Shore Church, both at Chicago, Ill. These owners appeared before the chief examiner who, after taking voluminous testimony, recommended that the application be denied. The applicant filed exceptions and, on consideration of the evidence, the Commission granted the application and directed a modified license to issue to the applicant authorizing the operation of station WJKS on the frequency of 560 kilocycles and terminating the exist¬ ing licenses theretofore issued for stations WIBO and WPCC. On appeal, the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia reversed the Commission’s decision upon the ground that it was “in a legal sense arbitrary and capricious” (62 F. (2d) 854). This Court granted certiorari (288 U. S. — ). The action of the Commission was taken under section 9 of the Radio Act of 1927 (c. 169, 44 Stat. 1166), as amended by section 5 of the act of March 28, 1928 (ch. 263, 45 Stat. 373; 47 U. S. C. 89). 1 2 The findings of fact upon which the Commission based its order included the following: “Gary, Ind., about 30 miles from Chicago, is the largest steel center in the world. It has a population of approximately 110,000 and is located in what is known as the Calumet region which has a population of about 800,000, 60 percent of whom are foregn born and represent over 50 nationalities. Station WJKS is the only radio station in Gary, and the programs it broadcasts are well designed to meet the needs of the foreign population. These programs in¬ clude ‘broadcasts for Hungarian, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, German, 1 Section 5 of the act of March 28, 1928 (45 Stat. 373), is as follows: “Sec. 5. The second paragraph of section 9 of the Radio Act of 1927 is amended to read as follows : “It is hereby declared that the people of all the zones established by section 2 of this act are entitled to equality of radio broadcasting service, both of transmission and of reception, and in order to provide said equality the licensing authority shall as nearly as possible make and maintain an equal allocation of broadcasting licenses, of bands of frequency or wave lengths, of periods of time for operation, and of station power, to each of said zones when and insofar as there are applications therefor; and shall make a fair and equitable allocation of licenses, wave lengths, time for operation, and station power to each of the States, the District of Columbia, the Territories, and possessions of the United States within each zone, according to population. The licensing authority shall carry into effect the equality of broadcasting service hereinbefore directed, when¬ ever necessary or proper, by granting or refusing licenses or renewals of licenses, by changing periods of time for operation, and by increasing or decreasing sta¬ tion power, when applications are made for licenses or renewals of licenses: Provided, That if and when there is a lack of applications from any zone for the proportionate share of licenses, wave lengths, time of operation, or station power to which such zone is entitled, the licensing authority may issue licenses for the balance of the proportion not applied for from any zone, to applicants from other zones for a temporary period of 90 days each, and shall specifically designate that said apportionment is only for said temporary period. Allocations shall be charged to the State, District. Territory, or possession wherein the studio of the station is located and not where the transmitter is located.” Russian, Polish, Croatian, Lithuanian, Scotch, and Irish people’, and ‘are musical, educational, and instructive in their nature and stress loyalty to the community and the Nation.’ Programs are arranged and supervised ‘to stimulate community and racial origin pride and rivalry and to instruct in citizenship and American ideals and re¬ sponsibilities.’ ‘Special safety prevention talks’ are given for work¬ ingmen, explaining the application of new safeguards of various types of machinery used in the steel mills. The children’s hour utilizes selections from various schools. There are ‘good citizenship talks’ weekly by civic leaders. The facilities of the station are made available to the local police department and to all fraternal, charitable, and religious organizations in the Calumet region, with¬ out charge. Sunday programs consist mainly ‘of church service broadcasts’ including all churches and denominations desiring to par¬ ticipate. Although the Calumet area is served by a station at Fort Wayne and by several stations in Chicago, station WJKS ‘is the only station which serves a substantial portion of the area with excellent or even good service.’ While station WJKS ‘delivers a signal of sufficient strength to give good reception in its normal service area if not interfered with, heterodyne and cross-talk inter¬ ference exist to within 3 miles of the transmitter and constant ob¬ jection to interference is found in the good service area of the station, particularly to the south, southeast, and east.’ This interference has increased during the past 2 years. “Station WIBO is operated by Nelson Bros. Bond & Mortgage Co. separately from its mortgage and real-estate business. It employs 55 persons, and its total monthly expenses average $17,000. In March 1931 it earned a net profit of $9,000. It represents a total cost of $346,362.99, less a reserve for depreciation of $54,627.36, and has been operated since April 1925. Station WIBO was licensed to share time with station WPCC, the latter being authorized to op¬ erate on Sundays during stated hours and by agreement has operated on certain week days in exchange for Sunday hours. “The licenses for stations WIBO and WPCC, effective from Sep¬ tember 1, 1931, to March 1, 1932, were issued upon the following condition: ‘This license is issued on a temporary basis and subject to such action as the Commission may take after hearing on the application filed by station WJKS, Gary, Ind., for the frequency 560 kilocycles. No authority contained herein shall be construed as a finding by the Federal Radio Commission that the operation of this station is or will be in the public interest beyond the term hereof.’ “The programs broadcast by station WIBO include a large number of chain programs originating in the National Broadcasting Network, and are almost entirely commercial in their nature. The same general type of programs broadcast by WIBO, including Na¬ tional Broadcasting Chain programs, are received in the service area of WIBO from many other stations located in the Chicago district. “Station WPCC, owned by the North Shore Church, has pro¬ grams made up entirely of sermons, religious music, and talks relat¬ ing to the work and interests of the church. Contributions are solicited for the use of the church and to advance the matters in which it is interested; it is not used by other denominations or societies. ‘Other stations in Chicago, including WMBI, owned by the Moody Bible Institute, devoting more time to programs of a religious nature than WPCC, are received in the service area of that station.’ “ ‘The State of Indiana is 2.08 units, or 22 percent, under quota in station assignments, and the State of Illinois is 12.49 units, or 55 percent over quota in such assignments. The fourth zone, in which both States are located, is 21 units, or 26 percent, over quota in station assignments. The granting of this application and dele¬ tion of WIBO and WPCC would reduce the over-quota status of the State of Illinois and the fourth zone by 0.88 unit and 0.45 unit, respectively, and would increase the quota of Indiana by 0.43 unit.’ ” • Page 3© •