Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

732 Radio Broadcast they should have some station which should transmit to them regularly. More than forty thousand people petitioned. Well, the Post master General graciously permitted that such a station should be erected and operated for a quarter of an hour once a week ! Strangely enough, 1 was put in charge of this colossal undertaking, and broadcasting in England started in that way, in the year 1922. During that year we broadcast for a quarter of an hour a week, using _ Victrola records, and so on ; while the trans missions, which were later treated in a less serious manner, be cause I was in charge of them, might have raised the enthusiasm of the amateur to a fever pitch they did not quite fulfill the more cultivated tastes of the high-brows of the radio profession, and as far back as that year, 1922, peo ple began to realize that something must be done in England to put broadcasting on a firm basis. What they did was to have a conference which lasted exactly six months; and they finally came to a decision which was really a rather wise one, considering the nature of the problem. HVtRYONE IN ENGLAND WANTED TO BROADCAST Where the Crystal Set Rules the Radio Waves Britannia may rule the waves if one believe the anthem, but in English radio, it is the modest crystal set which marshals the radio wavelengths. The United States led the world in broadcasting, but England was really the second nation to follow. It is especially interesting to see along what lines British broadcasting has developed, because the two nations have a common bond of culture. Their method of payment for broadcasting is totally different from the American. And from some of the things Captain Eckersley says, in his decidedly humorous fashion, the English listener is quite different from our listener who uses "tubes" instead of "valves." This story is taken from an address made by Captain Eckersley at the Department of Commerce Radio Conference in Washington, early last October. — THE EDITOR. ^PHEY said they all wanted to broadcast. * The first idea was each one wanted to broadcast — newspapers, etc., and twentyfive applications came in to broadcast in London alone; and it was felt that would not work. So finally the scheme arrived at was that the six big manufacturers we have over there, who are called "the big six," all came together and said, "We will put ten thousand pounds into the capitalization of the company, and this company will be responsible for nothing but the broadcasting. It will not be a profit-making concern in any sense whatsoever. It is simply and solely to send out the best programs possible." They put in that money and they said, "If this thing makes a profit, we will limit our profit to seven and one-half per cent, on our original investment. Nobody can take any shares in the company unless he is a bona fide British manufacturer." Then, of course, the question was — The capital was sixty thousand pounds to start. Where would the revenue come from? The idea was that every person who made, bought, borrowed, stole, or otherwise got a receiver, would take out a license, because it was the rule of the country that he had to take out a license. And of course everyone obeyed the law. In this lawabiding nation you all know about that! This license would cost ten shillings, of which the Government would have five shillings, and the company five shillings. And so we should have our revenue. I will not tell of our various vicissitudes, or the troubles that resulted, or of the few licenses taken out, first of all, and the total inadequacy of the service, according to the press. At any rate, at the present day the scheme has worked out very well. The first achievement was, we got 7/6 (about $1.75) from the Government, and they only took 2/6 (about S.6o) The second achievement was that the original rather hide-bound regulations were done away with, and one uniform license was issued, of which we got 7/6. In 1922 there were ten thousand licenses. When I left Eng-' land we were getting up a special program to commemorate the buying of the millionth license. So the progress has been extraordinary, and our income about two million dollars a year. At any rate, we are spending every penny on the service, and we hope that, being able to spend all that money on theservice, the programs can be made excellent, because you can afford to buy the very best talent, and you can afford to paypeople just as if they were performing on a concert platform, and you are also able with this money to put up a tine technical scheme, having regard for the English temperament.