NAEB Newsletter (Jan 1947)

THE SECRETARY’S PAGE Radio City New York, N.Y. From way up here it looks as if, for a great many reasons, there will be plenty of activity on the FM front in the year ahead. There are many reasons, but it seems to me the three most important are; 1. The continuous issuance of FM grants by the Commission ... the continuous encouragement to FM by the Commission ... and the fact that the Commission is adher¬ ing to its hearing schedule although the manufacturers didn’t live up t'O their production schedule. 2. The forthright speech of Chairman Charles Denny at the recent NAB convention which left no room for doubt in the minds of anyone that the interest in FM is not limited to just one or a few Commissioners, but it is the unanimous opiniopi of all the Commissioners. Many an eyebrow lifted when he said, ^ "The Commission has expressly authorized me to say to you again that it is our opinion that FL'I is the finest aural broadcast system attainable in the present state of the radio art. FM is not coming; it’s here. And it is growing fast. Already there are 66 stations in operation and 564 more authorized (counting both construction permits and conditional grants). In addition, there are 307 applications pending. Our long-range plans for FM. look forward to the day when every square inch of every state from the Atlantic Ocean west to the middle of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas will be covered - night and day - with satisfactory FT.': signals. Similarly, FM signals solidly will blanket the Pacific Coast states. The area in between these two sections is what is now the poorest served portion of our country. FM will serve large parts of it but cannot reasonably be expected to serve it all. Here our long-range plans look for a revamped AM service to fill in t'he gaps." 3. The non-production of receivers was the real stumbling block to FM audience development; but I have a hunch the solid front of manufacturers has been cracked. A great many small manufacturers and sub-contractors would have switched to AM-FM in recent months, were it not for the pressure by big manufacturers to hold to their production schedule of cheap AM sets. The margin of profit v/as greater and by just holding the line, of course no risk was involved. But the bottom has been hit. I predict that many a retailer will have plenty of inexpensive sets left on his shelves after the holidays, and when that happens the big fellows will be forced to change their production schedules and bring out something new. A popular-priced AM-FM set, while higher than the low-priced AM set, will nevertheless be less expensive than television or good radio-phonograph combinations, , . « r ./?— Our job then is clear. Every station ought to increase its FM schedule and improve the program service. Chairman Denny hit the nail on the head— "In a sentence, the way to get FM moving still faster is for you to get stations on the air and -the public will demand receivers, I know it’s hard to convince yourself that you should spend money to put on a program that nobody can hear. But it’s even harder to convince the public that it should buy sets when there is nothing to listen to. It’s your next move. Give this new superior broadcast service to the people as soon as possible." It’s our next move - It’s our great chance. Morris S. Novik Executive Secretary