Radio Broadcast (May-Oct 1922)

4 RADIO BROADCAST and the board of managers would have an unenviable task. In certain communities it would undoubtedly work just as do the societies for upholding property restrictions in various localities; voluntary subscriptions support the legal talent required to maintain the restrictions, but all who live in the community obtain equal benefits whether they contribute or not. A third way, and probably the most reasonable way, to operate the transmitting station is by municipal financing. A weird scheme this will undoubtedly appear to many, but upon analysis it will be found not so strange, even to those who have no socialistic tendencies. In New York City, for example, large sums of money are spent annually in maintaining free public lectures, given on various topics of interest; the attendance at one of these lectures may average two or three hundred people. The same lecture delivered from a broadcasting station would be heard by several thousand people. Because of the diverse interests of such a large city as New York it would probably be necessary to operate two or three stations from each of which different forms of amusement or educational lectures would be sent out. The cost of such a project would probably be less than that for the scheme at present used and the number of people who would benefit might be immeasurably greater. Of course it has been assumed in the foregoing discussion that the speech or music as delivered by the radio receiving set is practically as good as that delivered by the performers or lecturer at the transmitting station. At present this is certainly not so; the small crystal sets, requiring head telephone sets, do give fairly good reproduction provided that the transmitting station is functioning properly, but the wearing of a head set is not a pleasant way of spending an evening. When vacuum tube receiving sets are used, attached to amplifiers and loud speaking horns, there is generally a good deal of distortion. In such a case the listener would evidently prefer to listen to the lecturer directly. The end is not yet, however — loud speaking receivers are at present very crude devices compared with what they may be; they nearly all give fair reproduction of music, but for speech they are somewhat lacking in performance. This is not an insuperable difficulty and a good loud speaker is almost sure soon to appear. Then the speech will be clearer than would be the case if the lecturer were in a hall and the listener were one of the audience; the lecture may be enjoyed by the whole family seated in easy chairs and if the lecturer prove to be tiresome the set will be re-tuned to some other station ofi'ering a more attractive programme. As has been stated several times in the foregoing discussion, the day of radio reception is just beginning; as it grows in scope and importance it will be necessary for some of the receivers to see the issue clearly and lead in the movement for better and more diversified broadcasting stations. Troubles from interference between difl^erent transmitting stations, government control of licensing, etc., will be necessarily an important part of the scheme of development, but to one understanding the fundamentals of the art these do not offer appreciable difficulties to carrying out the programme suggested above. J. H. M. EDITOR'S NOTE It is of the utmost importance to the radio public who are receiving broadcasting that this business develop to its maximum service and effectiveness. The Editors of Radio Broadcast would be glad to hear the opinion of its readers on such questions as: What voice should the receiving public have in selecting broadcasting programmes? Should the public get broadcasting free or should it pay for it, and if so how? If the public should get it free who should pay for it and how are they to be reimbursed?