NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS ★ NRA * W' * ★ Vol. 1 No. 45 NOV. 25, 1933 Copyright. 1933. The National Association of Broadcasters W1 BO «t*l AWAITING APPROVAL OF RADIO CODE As this issue of NAB Reports goes to press President Roosevelt has before him for signature at Warm Springs, Ga., the code of fair competition for the broadcasting industry. A special bulletin has been prepared and will be mailed just as soon as word of approval is received. DEBATE HANDBOOK SOON READY “Broadcasting in the United States,” a 200-page book presenting arguments in support of the system of broadcasting in the United States, will be available for distribution within a week. The book is being published by the NAB in order to meet thou¬ sands of requests from debaters and debate coaches for material for use in connection with the debate on the question of whether the United States should adopt the British system of operation and control of broadcast facilities. The debate question was decided upon by the National University Extension Association, and many thousands of debates will be held during the winter months. De¬ mands for material in support of the affirmative side soon depleted the NAB supply and the book now on the press is being published to meet new requests. The book will be distributed free to debaters and debate coaches upon request. CODE ADMINISTRATION EXPLAINED General Johnson, in a statement made this week with regard to Code Administration, said: “After a code has been approved, there remains the problem of Code Administration. The responsibility to see that codes are administered and the public protected lies with the Administrator, but the aim of the NRA is to give to the Code Authorities the widest possible range of self-government subject to the ultimate responsibility of the Administrator.” Practically all codes, he said, “provide that the Code Authority thereof is to administer the code,” and “it is the duty of the Deputy Administrator for that code to see that: a. Administrative provisions appropriate to the particular indus¬ try are included in each code. b. That the Code Authority is organized in such a way that it may promptly and efficiently administer the code. c. That the Code Authority does efficiently administer the code. d. That the Government moves promptly to administer the code where the Code Authority is unable to administer the code, or is abusing its authority.” General Johnson said “there are two aspects to Code Adminis¬ tration: one, Planning and Progress, and two, Compliance. It is fundamental,” he declared, “within both the letter and intent of NIRA, that as much as is possible and appropriate of both aspects of Code Administration be effected by industry itself. This should be done through its Code Authority. A trade association may be, or may select, or may be used by a Code Authority, as provided in the code. It is the policy of NRA to build up and strengthen trade associations throughout all commerce and industry. “It is equally fundamental, within both the letter and intent of NIRA, that the ultimate responsibility for efficient Code Adminis¬ tration lies with NRA. NRA will supervise Code Administration by Code Authorities. In addition it will directly administer the code itself, where an industry is unable to administer it, fails to administer it, or where there are certain functions of Code Ad¬ ministration which by their nature Government should perform directly. • Page “In an industry sufficiently organized to have agreed upon a code of fair competition, there usually will be no need for Govern¬ ment administration in the ‘Planning and Progress’ field. These functions industry is already performing for itself. “But the field of administration for Compliance is an entirely new one. No industries were organized with this function in view. Until an authorized Code Authority is actually set up and function¬ ing within an industry, NRA will have to perform such functions, but it is the policy to pass them on to Code Authorities as rapidly as they qualify to receive them.” In order to assist and advise both Deputy Administrators and existing Code Authorities on organization and procedure for com¬ pliance, a special Code Authority Organization Committee has been appointed in NRA. General Johnson has announced the appoint¬ ment of Colonel Robert W. Lea, Assistant Administrator, as chair¬ man of this new committee. COPELAND BILL HEARINGS DECEMBER 7 Hearings on the Copeland Bill, proposing a revision of the Food and Drugs Act, are scheduled to begin on December 7 before the Senate Committee. Some 250 applications for opportunity to be heard have already been received. The bill is being sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and was drafted in large part by Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Tugwell. The position of the NAB with respect to the measure is set forth in a resolution unanimously adopted at the White Sulphur Springs convention and which reads as follows: “RESOLVED, That while the National Association of Broad¬ casters is eager to cooperate in protecting the public against ex¬ ploitation through untruth or unscrupulous advertising, it believes that any legislation for this purpose must be reasonable and precise in definition, uniform in administration, and fair in application, and therefore this Association must record itself as definitely op¬ posed to the enactment, unless on the basis of many and far-reaching changes therein, of the bills to re-write the Pure Food and Drug Law now pending in both Houses of the Federal Congress.” C. C. I. R. MEETINGS TO BEGIN SOON Preparation for the third meeting of the C. C. I. R. (International Technical Consulting Committee on Radio Communications) at Lisbon in September, 1934, will probably begin shortly after the first of the year. The Federal Radio Commission will act as the co¬ ordinating agency in determining the United States policies, secur¬ ing information from various interested agencies. The National Association of Broadcasters will assist in compiling data on prob¬ lems concerning the broadcasting industry. A number of subjects of much importance to the broadcasting industry will receive attention at the forthcoming meetings. Among them are studies of wave propagation curves, single-side band trans¬ mission, anti-fading antennas, directional antennas, frequency sep¬ aration of broadcasting channels, synchronization of broadcasting transmitters, frequency allocations to various radio services, and methods of measurement of field intensities and noise. The C. C. I. R. acts in an advisory capacity to the international radio conferences which are held at five-year intervals. The next conference will be held at Cairo in 1937. STATION DEPRECIATION RATES STUDIED E. M. Elkin, KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa., chairman of the NAB Tax Committee, and Managing Director Loucks this week con¬ ferred with officials of the Internal Revenue Bureau, upon invita¬ tion of the latter, on the subject of depreciation rates of broadcast 229 •