NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1945)

f June 1945 I KDYL Newspaper V-E Tie-Ins Resulted in Tnp Broadcasts SALT LAKE CITY. Station KDYL cancelled all commercial programs for 10 hours and went all out with its V-E Day coverage for which it had made elaborate preparations under the direction of George A. Provol. It originated a mid-afternoon program to the NBC network featuring interviews ' with men and women working on a Thunderbolt repair line at Hill Field 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. These men and women repairing battle-damaged P-47’s told the network audience something about their work and added a footnote that they were taking no holiday. In cooperation with The Salt Lake Tribune-Telegram, KDYL presented a series of programs to reflect local reaction to V-E Day and tell tbe radio audience what Utahans were thinking on the historical occasion. The radio-newspaper tiein was effective in handling the story. : There was a remote from the editorial rooms of the newspapers in which editors and staff men discussed how the shift of ' the war emphasis to the Pacific would quicken the tempo of Utah’s many war ini dustries. Emerson Smith emceed the program, interviewing among others. H. F. Kretchman, editor of The Telegram, and 0. N. Malmquist, political writer and analyst for The Tribune. One of the forenoon highlights was a I religious service featuring rej)resentative ; church leaders of the city. WOAI Records V-E Program For Retransmission by BBC ’ SAN ANTONIO, TEX.-On V-E Day a \ gesture unique in the maintenance of mili■ tary morale w-as made by WOAI here. The Overseas Service of the British j Broadcasting Corporation offered to retransmit worthwhile material regarding American civilian reaction in Europe; so the WOAI news staff, headed by Ken McClure, set up a wire recorder on one of San Antonio’s downtown streets to conduct the most successful impromptu broadcast in the annals of the station. The recording, made for overseas, was so fine in sentiment that WOAI first played it over its own frequency winning applause from many listeners. Shawn Is New Menser Aide; Wheeler WRC Program Head WASIIINTiTON. — Appointment of a new program manager, George Wheeler, and creation of a new public service division, effective April 9, was announced by Carleton D. Smith, WRC general manager. Wheeler, former NBC war correspondent and assistant to Smith, succeeds Fred Shaun who moved to New York as assistant to Clarence L. Menser, NBC vice-president in charge of programs. Gene Juster, continuity editor, becomes Wheeler’s assistant in charge of public service. Smith, in making the announce m e n t , pointed out that creation of the public service division is the result of WRC s increasing emj)hasis on p r o g r a m m i n g slanted to jjromote civic and educational activities for both war and peacetime Washington. George Y . W heeler Wheeler, with a background of eight years in radio programming and reporting, has served for three years as assistant to General Manager Smith. A graduate of Princeton University, Wheeler, after extensive studv and travel in Europe and South America, joined WRC as an announcer in 1937. After two years on the air he became 1 production manager for the station, writing and producing many special events programs. Shortly after the outbreak ■li Fred Shau n of the war he was made assistant to the general manager. Juster takes over the public service programming with an extensive record of radio and educational work behind him. Shawn, who reported to New York April 9, is considered one of Washington’s radio pioneers. He was in charge of programming for WRC 12 years. Michigan Students Star In WSAM Programs From Schools SA(;iNAW, MICIL-Each Friday morning during the school year Dale Remington, the “Minute Reporter,” introduces the Sciginaw School Radio Broadcast, given by students of this area via WSAM. In these broadcasts from school buildings, the boys and girls have been the entertainers. 'I'hey have chosen their own topics, written their own scrij)ts, provided their own M.(k, assembled their own materials, and, with the aid of the W.SAM control man, they have put their program on the air. In these programs, fellow pupils and teachers have been the watching audience while both pupils and the people of the community have been the listeners. The students are fast becoming radio enthusiasts; they have learned many things about radio since the broadcasts be gati. They have been interested in taking the actual work of the schoolroom to the people of our community. They have become interested in the mechanics of how broadcasts are transmitted from school, to station, to community; and they have disjdayed a vital interest in the preparation and quality of programs. These student experiences gained are hai led as educationally soimd. Public, parochial and Lutheran schools all |)articipated in this program: even the one-room country school was included. Many of the broadcasts involved all ages and grades, beginning with the kindergarten. The pupils have produced a variety of programs, including spelling bees, holiday shows, biographies, patriotic programs, safety talks and many schoolroom discussions of lessons and projects vital to the life of the community. The students and school authorities paid tribute to the work of the entire WSAM staff in making the broadcasts possible, and a similar program will be repeated when the new school vear begins. WEAF Star in OWI-OPA Film NEW AORK.— .An estimated audience of 88,000, 000 individuals, in motion picture theaters all over the United States, will see W’E.AF’s Mary Margaret McBride in a newsreel presented as a public service by the OW I, in cooperation with the OP.A, to prevent rising prices and help in checking inflation.