NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

as an electric eye, which is sensitive not only to the visible spectrum but also to the infra-red and ultra-violet region. The iconoscope apparently brings us closer to the corner around which television is supposed to be hiding. For the first time, satis¬ factory television appears, technically possible, inasmuch as the iconoscope may scan any scene that may be photographed, such as a football game, a parade, or other events. NEWS BROADCASTS BANNED BY COURT Following the decision rendered in the AP-KSOO case, Judge Walter L. Gleason of the Civil District Court of New Orleans, has ruled that Station WDSU, New Orleans, is prohibited from taking news from the columns of newspapers. The ruling prevents the station from using any news from newspapers for broadcasting purposes for 24 hours following first publication. The court an¬ nounced that a written opinion will be filed later. ASCAP AND “THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER” Thanks to the research of S. H. Steinhauser, radio editor of the Pittsburgh Press, and of the initiative of J. F. Taggart of Mt. Washington, Pa., the mystery of the authorship of “The StarSpangled Banner” has been solved. “The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers always knew,” says Mr. Steinhauser, “that John Stafford Smith wrote the music of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ ” This is the an¬ swer to the mystery propounded in a news bulletin issued by Oswald F. Schuette as director of copyright of the National Association of Broadcasters which revealed the fact that ASCAP was trying to discover, among its members, the author, composer, or publisher of the National Anthem. To give it circulation, the letter which ASCAP sent to Mr. Tag¬ gart and which Mr. Steinhauser reprinted in the Pittsburgh Press is also published here: “Dear Mr. Taggart: “Thanks for your letter regarding ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ “I presume your letter was written with a desire to help us out in connection with a bit of propaganda which the publicity de¬ partment of the National Association of Broadcasters recently disseminated to the effect that we did not know who had written this composition. “Of course we knew, but one of our clerks made a routine mis¬ take and listed it among some ‘unidentified compositions.’ It was simply a clerical error in connection with the handling of hundreds of thousands of titles, but the broadcasters thought they might embarrass us by giving some publicity to the incident. “We do not mind a little good-natured ‘spoofing’ and probably that is the way this should be considered. In any event, I want you to know that we thank you sincerely for having been inter¬ ested enough to send us the information contained in your letter. Sincerely yours, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, E. C. Mills.” RMA BUSY WITH NIRA CODE The Radio Manufacturers Association is busy with the task of formulating a code of fair competition for the set manufacturing industry which it expects to present soon to the National Indus¬ trial Recovery Administration. Bond Geddes, Executive Vice Presi¬ dent of the RMA, proposes to submit the code, when in final draft, to all RMA members before filing it with the Johnson adminis¬ tration. RECORDINGS OF RICORDI MUSIC Lists of records of the music contained in the Ricordi catalogue and which are available for broadcasting purposes are being com¬ piled by the Radio Program Foundation. Oswald F. Schuette, president of the Foundation, hopes to be able to send a list of several hundred such records to all stations. Sublicenses are being sent by return mail to all stations whose checks accompany their application authorizing the immediate use of this music. Sublicense charge to non-member stations is twice the charge to member stations and no application blanks were sent to stations that are not members of the National Association of Broadcasters. Inquiries, however, are being received daily from these non-member broadcasters, and blanks for them are available upon request. WOQ AGAIN FILES APPEAL Station WOQ, Kansas City, Mo., this week filed an appeal in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia in connection with a recent decision of the Radio Commission giving Station KFH, Wichita, Kans., WOQ’s time on the frequency of 1300 kilo¬ cycles. WOQ also asked for a stay order. This station (WOQ) originally filed an appeal in the Court in connection with a similar decision of the Radio Commission on the ground that the Commission had not granted the station a hear¬ ing. The Court remanded the case to the Commission for hearing. Hearing was held and the Commission a second time gave WOQ’s frequency to KFH. The station has again appealed to the Court. FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION MOVES The Federal Radio Commission is now housed in the Architects Building, 1800 E Street Northwest, one block south of its old offices in the Interior Department Building. The move was com¬ pleted yesterday. The new telephone number is District 8388. Due to the holiday this week and the moving of the offices of the Commission, almost all of the routine work of the Commission was at a standstill. U. S. POPULATION 125,693,000 The Department of Commerce announces an estimate of the population of the United States made by the Bureau of the Census. This gives a total estimated population of 125,693,000 on July 1, 1933, as compared with 122,775,046 on April 1, 1930. The total is arrived at by estimating the increase since 1930 upon the basis of the available data regarding births, deaths, immigration and emigration. The population of the several states is then esti¬ mated by distributing the increase in the United States population to the various states according to the per cent which each state increase was of the United States increase between 1920 and 1930, except that where there was a decrease between 1920 and 1930 the 1930 census figure is retained, and no estimate is made. Federal Census Estimated Population April 1, 1930 July 1,1933 United States . . 122,775,046 125,693,000 Alabama . . 2,646,248 . 435,573 2,697,000 Arizona . 453,000 Arkansas . . 1,854,482 1,872,000 California . . 5,677,251 6,062,000 1,052,000 Colorado . . 1,035,791 Connecticut . . 1,606,903 1,646,000 Delaware . . 238,380 241,000 District of Columbia . . 486,869 495,000 Florida . . 1,468,211 . 2,908,506 1,554,000 Georgia . 2,911,000 447,000 Idaho . . 445,032 Illinois . . 7,630,654 . 3,238,503 7,826,000 Indiana . 3,291,000 Iowa . . 2,470,939 2,482,000 Kansas . . 1,880,999 1,900,000 Kentucky . . 2,614,589 2,648,000 Louisiana . . 2,101,593 2,153,000 Maine . . 797,423 802,000 Maryland . . 1,631,526 1,663,000 Massachusetts . . 4,249,614 4,313,000 Michigan . . 4,842,325 5,043,000 Minnesota . . 2,563,953 2,594,000 Mississippi . . 2,009,821 2,047,000 Missouri . . 3,629,367 3,668,000 Montana . . 537,606 *537,606 Nebraska . . 1,377,963 1,392,000 Nevada . . 91,058 93,000 New Hampshire . . 465,293 469,000 New J ersey . . 4,041,334 4,193,000 New Mexico . . 423,317 434,000 • Page 83 •