NBC transmitter (Oct-Dec 1944)

4 NBC Transmitter RETAILERS RALLY ’ROUND RADIO Crowd gathers in front of Root Store to hear the “Nevjs Reporter' featuring Ferrall Rippetoe. TERRE HAUTE, IND.-Following the trend of other advertisers in using radio, the three department stores of Terre Haute have signed with WBOW for 15-minute programs. All are of an entirely different nature. The first store to contract for a program was Herz. They have not only taken a full year’s contract for “Calling All Girls”, but have also opened a special department for teen-agers as a direct tie-in. Quite unusual in nature for this city is the program carried by the Root Store. Called “News Reporter”, it features Ferrall Rippetoe, who broadcasts the news six days a week at four in the afternoon. The unusual feature is that the broadcasts are made from a display window of the Echo Chamber 16 Stories High Utilized by WTAM CLEVELAND. NBC Station WTAM boasts what is believed to be the largest “musical echo chamber” in the world. It’s six feet square and 16-stories high. Engineer-in-Charge S. E. Leonard, discovered an unused ventilating shaft in the NBC building which could be sealed off completely. With the assistance of Music Director Lee Gordon, Leonard converted the shaft into an unusual echo chamber that emphasizes musical quality and makes an ordinary pipe organ sound like a cathedral instrument. A high quality program speaker was placed at the top of the 200-foot shaft and a drop microphone at the bottom to catch different modes of reflection. The chamber sets up automatically from any studio. Root Store. In the window there is the AP news machine and from time to time throughout the day, news spots are posted to attract passersby. Rippetoe also is news announcer for Champagne Velvet and is assistant manager and local sales manager of WBOW. The third program, which started in September, is sponsored by the Meis Store. A direct tie-in with “Parents Magazine on the Air” appeals to young mothers. A specialty shop in Terre Haute has also gone over to radio in a big way. Joseph's, The Man's Store, has opened a department for boys. To further sales in this department it is now sponsoring the program, “This is Magic.” And it’s winning just the right sort of audiences. Denver, Cleveland and N. Y. Pool Clergy Transcriptions NEW YORK. — Morning and evening prayers that open and close the broadcast day of Station WEAF will be expanded in scope, it was announced by Dr. Max Jordan, NBC director of religious broadcasts. Starting on October 18, WEAF will broadcast prayers offered by clergymen in the Denver area, and later by clergymen in and near Cleveland. When daily prayers were instituted on WEAF July 4, Stations KOA in Denver and WTAM in Cleveland also started the same practice. Recordings of local prayers are to be exchanged by the stations. The first offering on WEAF will be the Right Reverend Fred Ingle, Episcopal Bishop of Colorado. Various denominations will participate in the programs. Dr. Frigon Named General Manager of Canadian Network MONTREAL. CANADA. — Dr. Augustin Frigon has been appointed to the position of general manager of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has been active in Canadian radio circles since the earliest days of the CBC and it is felt that his new position is recognition of his knowledge and understanding of the unique problems of Canada’s nationallyowned radio. Other appointments in the CBC announced by War Services Minister LaFleche were those of Donald Manson, chief executive assistant, to the post of assistant general manager and of Ernest Bushnell, general supervisor of programs, as director general of production. Dr. Frigon’s promotion hardly comes as a surprise to his associates. Since the position of general manager for the CBC was vacated last November — when Dr. James Thomson resigned to return to his position as president of the University of Saskatchewan— Dr. Frigon has served as acting general manager. Augustin Frigon was born in Montreal and received his education there and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, at l’Ecole Superieure d’Electricite in Paris and at the Sorbonne. His degrees include Civil Engineer, Electrical Engineer and Doctor of Science. He was appointed general director of technical studies for the Province of Quebec in 1924 and, the same year, was made president of the Electrical Services Commission of Montreal. In 1928 he was made a member of the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting. With the CBC since its earliest days, Dr. Frigon was appointed assistant general manager of that body in 1936. He is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Societe Franchise des Electriciens and the Royal Society of Arts and Manufactures of London. He has two children. Raymond and Marguerite, and lives in Montreal.