NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director Vol. 1 No. 15 ***** JUNE 10, 1933 NAB REPORTS Copyright, 1933, The National Association of Broadcasters MEXICO CITY DELEGATES NAMED The State Department this week announced the delegates to the North American Radio Conference to be held in Mexico City, Mexico, beginning July 10. They are: Judge Eugene O. Sykes, chairman of the Federal Radio Commission, chairman of the dele¬ gation ; Representative Schuyler O. Bland, of Virginia, chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio and Fisheries; and Roy T. Davis, American Minister to Panama. The Department announced that “these delegates will be accompanied by a small staff whose names will be announced later.” In its announcements the State Department said that “the Amer¬ ican Embassy at Mexico City today has been instructed formally to accept an invitation extended by the Mexican Government to attend a Radio Conference which will be held in Mexico City beginning Julv 10, 1933.” Prior to the announcement of the delegates the State Department made the following statement: “The International Radio Convention of Washington (1927) and the International Telecommunication Convention of Madrid (1932) leave to regional conferences the solution of problems affecting two or more countries in a single region, but not affecting the entire world. There is no definition in either convention of the limits of regions outside of Europe. Those limits are left to be determined by the interested governments in the light of probable interference caused by the operation of stations. In extending the invitation to the North and Central American Regional Conference, the Mexican Government naturally included all neighboring governments which might license stations capable of interfering with stations in Mexico. As the problem of interference must be considered as a unit which can be solved only by taking into account all stations likely to cause interference, the United States is glad to participate in a con¬ ference representing the governments of North and Central America at the request of the Mexican Government.” EDITORS URGE RIGID RADIO CONTROL More rigid control of radio broadcasting by the Government was advocated in a resolution adopted by the National Editorial Asso¬ ciation at the organization’s annual meeting in Indianapolis this week. At the opening session of the convention E. H. Harris, chairman of the Radio Committee of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, delivered an address on the radio subject. Self-government, he said, rests upon the right of the individual to an unhampered and unrestricted opportunity for an expression of his opinion, spoken or printed or uttered over the radio. Foreign governments, he said, had found the solution in government owner¬ ship or control, although he pointed out that he was not recom¬ mending government ownership for the United States. “It is barely possible,” he added, “that newspapers needed a challenge such as is offered by radio, to make them recognize anew their duty as defenders of the liberties of the people. No matter how strong our zeal may be, an outside opposing force often is required to bring us together as a unit and make us produce our best.” COMMISSION TO RECESS JULY 1 The Federal Radio Commission will begin its summer recess on or about July 1 until September 1. The Commission no longer ad¬ journs for the summer as it used to. Hearings will continue during this summer before Examiners and it is planned to have at least two members of the Commission in Washington during the entire sum¬ mer. They will be clothed with authority to handle routine and emergency matters. RADIO COMMISSION APPROPRIATION The Independent Office Appropriation Bill, in which the appro¬ priation for the Radio Commission for the coming fiscal year, begin¬ ning July 1, passed the Senate this week. It has already passed the House and the bill is now is conference. As the bill passed the Senate the Radio Commission’s appropria¬ tion is left as it passed the House, that is, $640,000. This is $140,000 less than the Commission is using for the present fiscal year but no changes at all were made in the Radio Commission section of the bill as it passed the Upper House. The Senate failed to include the amendment which would have allowed Judge Sykes, chairman of the Commission, pay for the time he lost while his name was being confirmed bv the Senate. This will undoubtedly be taken care of by a separate bill later. It is expected that a compromise will be effected on the veteran dispute and that the bill will become law in due course. SENATE REJECTS REPORT ON POWER TAX The Senate this week by a record vote rejected the conference report on the so-called gasoline -electrical energy tax bill which would have transferred the payment of the tax from commercial and domestic users of electrical energy to the public utilities. Objec¬ tion was made because the report would have placed a tax upon municipally-owned power companies. OFFICES FOR RADIO PROGRAM FOUNDATION Oswald F. Schuette, president of the Radio Program Foundation, has established the offices of the Foundation in the National Press Building, Washington, D. C., on the same floor with the offices of the National Association of Broadcasters. The Radio Program Foundation has been incorporated by the National Association of Broadcasters to extend the fields from which music may be obtained for broadcasting stations of the United States. » Page 63 •