NAEB Newsletter (Oct 1935)

- 6 - in a fight, precipitated here in which the University of Minnesota, Carleton college and St. Olaf college, the latter two at Northfield, are pitted against WRHM a com- mercial station at Minneapolis* "The educational institutions share the same channel with WRHM and complain that for purpose of education, they are barred from the air because YflRHM takes up all of the time in broadcasting commercial advertising. "The educational institutions desire the federal radio commission to assign WRHM to another channel and give them the full time now shared by the three institutions with the commercial station. "The matter has been presented to the radio commission by Representative-C. G. Selvig of the ninth Minnesota district, formerly head of the Crookston experimental station^ "Outlining the situtation and asking for the readjustment in the name of education in a letter to General Charles McK. Saltzman, chairman of the federal radio commission Representative Selvig says: ’Dear General Saltzman* A short time ago I received a letter from the comptroller of the University of Minnesota, in regard to the radio broadcasting situation at the university. He asked me to take this matter up with you in case I felt that the petition of the University of Minnesota, at Minneapolis, Carleton college and St. Olaf college of Northfield, Minn., was just and should be granted. ">As you are no doubt aware, the University of Minnesota station, WLB, shares the broadcasting channel with Carleton college and St. Olaf college. With these three educational stations is joined a commercial station in Minneapolis with the call letters WRHM. "’The three educational stations have always been able to agree as to the apportion¬ ment of time. They are now broadcasting about 20 hours a week while ViRHM broadcasts 104. You will understand that a commercial station that has sold its time will broad¬ cast anything’to fill that time. The educational institutions, if they have nothing worthy to say, keep silent at their hour. For years they have suffered constant en¬ croachment from this commercial station and are now pinned down so that they hove no elbow room for the development of their trulv educational program. "’Therefore the three educational stations have united in petitioning the federal radio commission to assign to them the full time of this channel, which means that they will have to occupy 72 hours a week. They are agreed to do this provided the station WRHM may be put off this channel and onto another channel. WRHM accuses WLB of not making full use of its time. This is obviously impossible under the pres¬ ent conditions because when anything worth while comes up to broadcast it is found that there is not time in which to do it, as WRHM has already sold that time to an advertiser. The University of Minnesota, St. Olaf and Carleton college officials believe that they can fill the full 72 hours, provided the radio commission will grant education its rights on the air.’", FROM DR. B. B. BRACKETT, DIRECTOR OF RADIO STATION KUSD, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION, DATED FEBRUARY 2s "I do not see how anyone could express a condition now existing more accurately and more forecfully than Professor Harding does when he says, ’These men (the Federal Radio Commission) .merely cut off the arms, legs and head of an educational station and then allow it to die a natural death.* They do not kill itl Oh nol If it cannot survive under all the restrictions imposed when placed next to a 50,000 watt station that is classified as a 5000 watt station and given all other possible advantages then the educational station ought to die, just as a kitten that is thrown under the feet of an elephant ought to die, if it cannot avoid being trampled'to death. "The broadcasting chains with their millions of investment and millions of profits are certainly using all possible means to pet every broadcasting privilege and ad¬ vantage ... for it is not at all probable that their present r.x or cot— n:r f:*.- ■ . i