NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1944)

agement and Audience,” by Irvin Abeloff, Program Service Manager of WRVA, Committee member. Harold Fair, as Committee Chairman, invites the re¬ action of station managers and program managers to this series. The project was authorized by the Committee early this year and articles have been in preparation since that time under the direction of Abeloff and George Sutherland, WFCI. INCREASED PRODUCTION EXCLUDES RADIO NAB investigated the situation following radio and press reports of early resumption of civilian goods pro¬ duction. Inquiry was limited to facts concerning turn¬ tables, transmitters and microphones. Findings follow: 1. New transmitters will be unavailable for domestic use at least until 1945. 2. New turntables, same. 3. New microphones are believed to be in sufficient sup¬ ply so as to eliminate any “hardship.” Supply will be used for replacement, not to increase the number of “mikes” in use. PANEL 4 ALLOCATION MEETING The second meeting of the Allocation Committee P4a was held on July 11 at the Hotel Statler in Washington. This Committee is the allocation group of Panel 4 on Standard Broadcasting. Present at the meeting were the Chairman, A. D. Ring; Vice Chairman, Stuart L. Bailey; Secretary, Clyde M. Hunt. Approximately 35 committee members, alternates and observers from several governments attended the meeting. Howard S. Frazier, Panel 4 chairman, was also present. The session opened shortly after 10:00 a. m. and ad¬ journed at 6:00 p. m., with a brief recess for lunch. The following reports were recommended by the Committee for approval by the panel: 1. “Proposed Standards for Determining Areas and Populations Receiving Primary Service from Broadcast Stations,” by George P. Adair. 2. “The Use of Ultra High Frequency Relays to Con¬ trol Standard Broadcast Satellite Transmitters,” by Grant R. Wrathall. 3. “Standards of Measurement in Connection with Proof of Performance Data on Directional Antennas to be Submitted to FCC,” by Stuart L. Bailey. 4. “Operation of Compressor Amplifiers,” by Italo A. Martino. 5. “Recommendation for a Flat Transmitter Audio Fre¬ quency Response Characteristic.” (This proposal already adopted by the Panel 4 Transmitter and Receiver Com¬ mittees.) Other subjects discussed by the Committee were as follows: The Use of Inter-city Program Radio Relays, Blanketing Interference Standards, the Use of Frequencies from 200 to 400 KC and 3 to 17 MC for Rural Coverage, A Proposal for a Standard Frequency Control Station of Sufficient Power to Serve the North American Continent, Horizontal Power Increases for Standard Broadcast Sta¬ tions of All Classes, and Methods of Establishing Inter¬ ference .Standards When such Interference Results from Two or More Stations. Although no date was set for the next meeting, the com¬ mittee is now endeavoring to complete work on all re¬ maining agenda items. It is probable the next meeting will be held early in September. SPEEDY ACTION FOLLOWS APPEAL TO STRIKERS OVER 5 PITTSBURGH STATIONS Editor’s Note: How broadcasting delivered in a Pittsburgh emergency and saved several thousand tons of invasion steel is told in the following story . . . all of which proves that “Radio Reaches People.” On Thursday, June 14, at 8 o’clock PM, there occurred a flash one-day strike of about 60 men in three crews of the “C” soaking pits at the Pittsburgh Works of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. The “soaking pits” are the heating furnaces where steel ingots are heated to exact temperature for rolling (about 2400°F.) Since all steel to be rolled must pass through these furnaces the strike immediately resulted in slowing down other operations. If it had continued through a second day, the entire works might have been shut down, throwing 10,000 persons out of work and losing 6,000 tons a day of steel for the invasion. After a Friday forenoon meeting of government con¬ ciliators and Navy officers with union local officials, it was believed that the sixty men in the 3 soaking pit crews might be induced to start back to work on the 4 PM turn, that day, and thus avert the disaster of closing an entire big steel works in this critical hour. Some of the men could be reached by telephone or tele¬ graph but the idea of turning to radio as the quickest method of getting word to the 60 men on strike occurred to Commissioner Charles R. Ward, United States Con¬ ciliation Service. Accordingly, he prepared the following brief spot announcement: “A meeting is called by the Government officials for the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation “C” Pits crew at A.O.H. Hall, 2715 Sarah Street, at 2 o’clock this after¬ noon.” The Publicity Department of Jones & Laughlin, with less than an half-hour time-margin, before the noon news broadcasts, immediately got in touch with the station managers of KDKA, WJAS, WCAE, KQV, and WWSW. Sensing an opportunity to be of immediate practical service to the war effort, the 5 Pittsburgh radio stations each had the notice broadcast between noon and 1:30 p. m., in some instances, more than once. Here are the interesting results. Of the 60 men the notice was intended for — 60 individuals in a possible 1,000,000 listening audience — exactly 54 showed up. Each man stated he either heard or was told of the radio call. The strikers listened to Commissioner Ward, Lieu¬ tenant Charles Dunlop, USN, and their local officials and voted to go back to work. The first crew was on the job at 4 o’clock, the regular hour for going to work. The soaking pits resumed their functions and the great steel works, 100% on war produc¬ tion, was saved from a complete shut down. The officials of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation credit radio with doing a remarkable and patriotic job of making it possible to end a work shut down that would have lost several thousands more tons of invasion steel. As it was about 1,000 tons of steel production were lost by the one-day walk out. WHAS HAS FULL-TIME RELIGIOUS COORDINATOR On the first of August C. E. Burns becomes the full¬ time Religious Coordinator of station WHAS, Louisville. His appointment by Manager W. Lee Coulson is in line with the station’s determination to improve devotional programs on the air. For the past two years WHAS has been endeavoring to better the quality of its daily devotional programs with July 14, 1944 — 233