NBC Transmitter (Jan-Dec 1938)

6 NBC TRANSMITTER LET S GET ACQUAINTED Alfred H. Saxton, Western Division Engineer, has never given a thought to any other profession but his own. In 1936 when NBC celebrated its tenth anniversary. the young executive. who now is still under forty of service also. Alfred H. Saxton chalked up a decade Born in Babylon. Long Island in 1899. Mr. Saxton was educated at the William L. Dickson High School in Jersey City where he studied electrical engineering. He had always lived in and around New York until NBC decided to expand to the Pacific Coast and he was appointed engineer in charge of the San Francisco studios and stations. When he was nineteen he joined the Navy. At twenty he entered the United States Radio Training School. There he learned much about the profession which was to lead him to success. From 1919 to 1921 he was with the engineering department of the Western Electric Company. Later he became an instructor for a New York radio school where he taught wireless theory and code. During the time Mr. Saxton worked for NBC in New York he held many posts in the Engineering Department, finally being assigned to the main control room as supervisor of operations. As Western Division Engineer. Mr. Saxton heads a staff of seventy, including Curtis D. Peck, engineer in charge in San Francisco, and Donald DeWolf. engineer in charge in Hollywood. Though his headquarters are in Hollywood, Mr. Saxton spends much of his time in San Francisco where NBC owns and operates Station KPO and operates the General Electric Station. KGO. Mr. Saxton and his wife have a home in West Los Angeles, half way between the studios and the ocean. They have one daughter, Dorothy Ann. eleven. Engineer Saxton's chief hobby is photography but when probed for further details on his diversions from radio, he admits to owning a set of golf clubs. NEW STUDIO FOR NEWS The News and Special Events Division in Radio City now has its own studio in Room 404. The new studio, designed for sports announcers and news commentators who require last minute news from the teletype machines, is located only a few feet from the News Desk. KDKA PITTSBURGH — — by Kay Barr Safety Program Dr. Ben Graham. Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, and Father Paul E. Campbell. Superintendent of Parish Schools, head a safety program which is heard over KDKA every Friday. The program is the first in the Junior Patrol series, which will be heard on successive Fridays under the direction of Bill Sutherland. KDKA announcer. With increasing attention being paid child safety work, the series aims at giving additional incentive to safety patrols operating in the schools. The program will not be offered for commercial sponsorship but will be presented in the interest of civic and community progress. KDKA Heralds Post-Gazette KDKA reached the climax of a series of thirty special broadcasts dedicated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on March 8. It was a series conceived and arranged by Station Manager A. E. Nelson in connection with the opening of the newspaper's modern new $1,500,000 home. So it was also a climax for the PostGazette as well as a step forward in cementing a friendly and co-operative relationship between radio and newspapers. As the final broadcast was on the air. the presses were rolling on the first official edition from the new plant. New KDKA — Press Studio Special programs were broadcast on the week of March 21 to celebrate the opening of a KDKA studio in the editorial department of The Pittsburgh Press. The idea was developed jointly by Edward Leech, editor-in-chief of The Press and Manager A. E. Nelson of KDKA. By having a studio ready for instant use just off the news room of the newspaper. it will be possible for The Press to present many special broadcasts that have been physically inconvenient if not impossible in the past. Frequently the society editor, the sports editor, the dra Kay Barr, KDKA Press Chief, inspects The Daily Gleaner in Kingston, Jamaica, during his vacation cruise to the West Indies. The picture was air-mailed to Radio City. matic editor and other department heads will have interesting stories to tell and Radio Editor Si Steinhauser also plans to present interviews from time to time with celebrities who visit T he Press. From the KDKA viewpoint it will give the station’s listeners a new service to news and feature stories, it will enable Dale McFeatters. the Press newsreeler, to include more up-to-the-minute news in his twice-a-day broadcasts and it will give the invisible audience close touch with many happenings almost as they occur. Introducing Announcer Garroway David Garroway was added to the KDKA announcing staff on March 3 and will be heard in his regular turn on station programs. Dave comes from NBC New York where he was page, guide and guide trainer for several months. He has had announcer training under the skilled Dan Russell and was approved for the KDKA staff by the station manager, A. E. Nelson. following an audition. Garroway is a native of Schenectady, N. Y., a graduate of Washington University. St. Louis. Missouri, and has taken extension courses from Harvard. At present his family resides in Boston. He is the author of a book on pronunciation and sounds much like the well-known Ford Bond over the air. Here and There Senior Announcer Glenn Riggs used red ink in his date book when he was invited to emcee a show way out in Fort Wayne, Indiana. March 24. The entertainment was in connection with the annual meeting of the Fort Wayne Transportation Club. Delegations from Chicago, Detroit. Cleveland. Indianapolis and numerous other mid-western cities were present. / * <■ Bob Saudek. scriptwriter, recently made a speech before the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Pen Women. It was such a hit they have asked him to repeat the oration at the Radio National Forum of the National League of American Pen Women, in the Willard Hotel. Washington. D. C. at 10 P.M., April 25. iii Personnel changes in Press Department, KDKA; Gertrude Schaming resigned to get married. Francis Fitzsimmons is now at the copy desk, editing the news broadcasts. David Garroway