NBC Transmitter (Jan-Dec 1937)

4 NBC TRANSMITTER THE NBC PRESIDENTIAL TEAM CARLETON SMITH, NBC’s Presidential Announcer, and A. E. JOHNSON, Chief Engineer of NBC’s Washington Division testing equipment. CLEARING MUSIC A TICKLISH BUSINESS "Mr. Belviso? Miss Brainard calling. The opera scheduled for next Saturday’s broadcast from the Met is 'Tales of Hoffman’! In addition to the American, Canadian, Brazilian and Argentinian listening audience, we are sending the broadcast to Uruguay. Will you check through and clear the music rights in each country?” And so begins a careful investigation, typical of the painstaking thoroughness with which every bar of music heard over our networks is checked and rechecked for hidden obstacles. In the case of the opera, however, there are foreign rights involved which add further complications. Using the above conditions as an example, it is interesting to follow Mr. Belviso through the procedure of checking, getting meanwhile an intimate glimpse into the business life of a Music Division head. First, a quick check shows that the "Tales of Hoffman” is a French opera, copyrighted in France and protected for fifty years after the death of the authors. After determining the country of the opera’s origin and the conditions of its copyright, research is begun into the copyright situation of this particular opera in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to make sure that the proper permission is secured to broadcast the program. A slip-up here may mean costly law suits. With all the copyright facts straight in his mind, Mr. Belviso then opens negotiations with copyright agents in all countries concerned, for a fee must be paid by NBC to the guardians of the copyright privileges for the right to broadcast the opera to the vast intercontinental listening audience. Only after every agent contacted has confirmed the deal does Mr. Belviso notify the Program Department that the rights to send the program to the desired audience have been cleared. NBC clears the rights to approximately 90,000 pieces of music each month. However, a single mistake which results in the infringement of music rights is regarded by the company as a very serious error. Engineers Alvin MacMahon and Frank E. Whittam of WTAM, Cleveland, supplied police broadcasting service with NBC mobile unit number five when flood waters crippled police radio equipment at Portsmouth, Ohio. MacMahon and Whittam maintained communication in the flooded area with State police and Portsmouth Scout cars. Ill Don't forget to send in your entries for the next Photo Contest before February 12. fSpeciaJ lo the NBC TBANSMITTER) When Carleton Smith jumped off the President’s special train on the morning of November 6th, he drew a deep sigh of relief . . . He was home to stay, or so he thought. Carleton has been Presidential announcer since President Roosevelt entered the White House four years ago. During last summer he made all the trips with the President, traveling over 26,000 miles "covering” him constantly throughout the political campaign. The Presidential Announcer shouldn’t have spoken so loudly as he detrained early in November— it was only the beginning. A few days later President Roosevelt announced his intention to go to Buenos Aires to participate in the GLENN MORRIS WINS SULLIVAN TROPHY A tribunal composed of six hundred outstanding leaders of sport in all parts of the United States recently awarded the annual Sullivan Memorial Trophy to Glenn Morris of our Special Events Department. The trophy is a small bronze statue awarded annually by the Amateur Athletic Union to the outstanding amateur athlete of the year. In granting the trophy the tribunal took into consideration acts of sportsmanship, excellence of performance, strength of character, qualities of leadership, force of personality and high ideals of amateurism. Jesse Owens was named in second place, with Joe Medica, University of Washington swimmer, coming third. Inter-American Peace Conference. Where the President goes, there also goes NBC. Carleton Smith and Albert Johnson, NBC Chief Engineer in Washington, packed their bags and were off to Miami. They boarded a big 4 motored Pan American Clipper ship and began their 7,400 mile flight to South America. This famous NBC Presidential team was responsible for ten broadcasts in connection with President Roosevelt’s visit in South America. Outstanding were the speeches by the President before the joint session of the Brazilian Congress; his famous address to the delegates at the opening of the Conference in Buenos Aires; and the address at the luncheon given by the President of Uruguay at Montevideo. Carleton enjoyed hearing from the President himself the fact that members of his family had all told him how well his voice came over the great distances from the South American Republics to the United States. "The biggest thrill and the most spectacular sight was 'covering’ the President at Rio de Janeiro.” Smith says, "At ten o’clock November 27th, everything seemed to happen at once. The rain which had been falling for more than twelve hours cleared away ... I "got the air” just as the big cruiser Indianapolis pulled into the docks at Praca Maua. President Roosevelt stood at the rail on the quarter-deck. The sun burst forth and simultaneously 5,000 Brazilian school children, waving Brazilian and American flags, sang the 'Star Spangled Banner’ in English.” —Marian P. Gale