Radio Broadcast (Nov 1926-Apr 1927)

NOVEMBER, 1926 WILL THERE BE A KU KLUX KLAN BROADCASTER? 27 SIR HARRY LAUDER I ■ ' 1 London— — • » • 1 From an article by the Scotch comedian in the Radio Times, London: "Let us (the concert and radio program managers) work smoothly together. The importance of maintaining British prestige demands it, because, in the days to come, if broadcasting maintains its present rate of development, other nations will judge us by what they hear as well as by what they see. IV e must, therefore, take care that what is sent out from our broadcast stations is the very best we have to offer. I think the time has already arrived when we should be making plans with this end in view. The time is coming when Paris, Rome, New York, and other parts of the world will regularly listen to the radio programs of London and Daventry. When that time comes, the London station should have the finest orchestra in the British Isles, no matter what the cost. "Time will prove the accuracy of my vision. Henceforth, British prestige among the nations will depend largely on how we develop our radio. Let us now make certain that the foundation shall be built on harmony among ourI selves." IN THE second issue of the Lightning Jerker, *■ a new publication devoted to the interests of the commercial radio operator, an article describes the activities of the Chicago Federation of Labor in attempting to unionize the technical personnel of broadcasting stations in that city. Considering the fact that engineers and technical men are of an order of skill which does not lend itself readily to standardization of laboring conditions and wage scales, it is unlikely that the result will be successful. It would be unfortunate to force commercial operators on ships to obey the dictates of labor unionism because the temptation to use their essential service as a strike weapon would not long be resisted. It is against the law for an oceangoing ship with a personnel of more than fifty to sail without its proper quota of radio operators. By calling out a few hundred radio men, a complete tie-up of shipping could be effected. A radio operators' union would soon find itself concerned in the bickerings of every class of marine worker, to the discredit of the former and for the benefit of the latter. That enviable prestige for loyalty and self-sacrifice, which heroic radio operators have built up for the profession, would eventually be clouded, were it to become an accessory to union labor embroilments. ABOUT 100 broadcasting stations are cooperating with the Department of Agriculture's radio service, according to an announcement by Sam Pickard, its head. The dissemination of farm information by radio has frequently resulted in great profit to farmers. It is interesting to note that several questionnaires on what the farmer most prefers in radio programs place musical entertainment first and information pertaining to his trade second or third. Shop talk is just as tiresome to the farmer as it is to any other kind of worker. By selecting suitable hours for broadcasting farm information, however, so that it does not interfere with entertainment programs, an interested and appreciative audience is assured. FROM time to time, rumors reach us that various class organizations, such as the American Federation of Labor and the Ku Klux Klan, are considering the erection of broadcasting stations in order to address their members by radio and to disseminate their propaganda. Sooner or later we will recognize that the ether is a universal medium which should be used primarily for broadcasting to the whole public and not for the special interests of any particular group. p _________ , * 1 Interesting Things Said Interestingly DAVID SARNOFF (New York; Vicepresident, general manager, Radio Corporation of America): "The development of radio sets which dispense with batteries and use house lighting current, together with the fact that radio keeps people at home, is resulting in larger consumption of electricity. "The types of broadcast receivers which now operate completely from the lighting circuit require up to 200 watts for their operation. The numerous power accessories on the market require from seven to fifty watts. It is reasonable to assume that within the next three to five years, by far the larger percentage of broadcast receivers will draw their local source of energy from the lighting socket. It is estimated that the average of such receivers will consume energy at the rate of eight kilowatt hours per month." E. H. ANDERSON (New York; director, the New York Public Library): "It is sometimes asserted that the movies, the radio, the automobile, and other diversions, have lessened the reading habit. "The exact opposite is the truth; the desire for books is constantly increasing in New York. There are many libraries other than the public libraries and many sources of book supply beside the libraries in this city. There is a very large use of books within the buildings of the public libraries, that is to say, a reference use. Over and above all this, the public libraries of Greater New York lent for home use last year 16,781,679 books. The New York Public Library lent 9,018,339; the Brooklyh Public Library, 5,786,774, and the Queens Borough Public Library, 1,976,566 books. This does not wholly represent the demand for books; it merely in J. RAMSAY MACDONALD, M. P. j"1 1 1 «■'» » "» ' -London-' -■« •»»■»«" «■« I I n a statement he made after listening to the I broadcasting of speeches of the Assembly of the League of Nations: I "/ doubt if any discovery of our time is I more marvelous in its effects, or is destined to J have more influence on the human mind than I wireless. The broadcasting of Geneva has I brought this mighty assembly of the world I States into the homes of thousands of our peo| pie and of millions like them in other parts I of the world. It could not have meant so much to them as it did to me because I have been there, and, consequently, my ears awakened a responsive vision. But to be behind a curtain and to hear, even if seeing be forbidden, the business of such a ^gathering must enliven interest and quicken intelligence. The League of Nations must be more real to every listener after that morning than ever it was before. "How appropriate it has been that a land' mark has been set in this marvelous development in human contact by the broadcasting of speeches delivered at an Assembly of the League of Nations. I see in it not only a promotion of peace and enlightenment, but a vast extension of the rare opportunities which the mass of mankind have of judging the qualities and the capacities of those set to rule over them. "Something like a new sense has been added to the citizens of the world." dicates how far the public libraries were able to satisfy the demand." A RTHUR BURROWS (Geneva; manager of the International Radiophone Bureau writing in Popular Wireless, London): "Broadcasting is actually changing the outlook in the lives of many persons. Its value to the blind is already so freely recognized that the German Government has not hesitated to pay for 2000 sets of receiving apparatus for the afflicted within its frontiers, and the recent British Governmental Committee has recommended exemption from license fees for the sightless living in the British Isles. I hope that this proposal may be carried a stage further and that all blind persons in Britain without the necessary means will sooner or later be given a suitable receiving set."