Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

SEPTEMBER, 1927 WHERE BROADCASTING REIGNS SUPREME 287 the dynamic type, bubbling over with energy and talks with explosive loudness. Likes to squeeze little boys' wrists till they squeal. WEAF is a sanctimonious assembly of letters. It is tall and gaunt and affects loosely flapping black garments. Its cheeks are sunken, its mouth inexpressibly sad, and it wears horn rimmed glasses over a pair of weak watery blue eyes. De- lights in eighteen-carat Baptist Camp Meetings. wjz is a high sounding and celestial name. It wears purple robes and quite a high crown. Is preceded by two pages blowing trumpets and is followed by a processional of High Priests chanting its praises. Expects the populace to bend its knee before it and occasionally smites one down. Has a large Roman nose. CNRO is an ugly, snarling name; woe is bland, honest and open faced, belongs to the Rotary Club; WBBM is a nasty, nagging name, drums on the table with its finger tips while playing bridge; KFOO is boorish and stupid, given to belching at the dinner table and so on, and so forth, through the list. WHAM is breezy—a calliope-like individual. WGY is a deep- voiced soul with a sombrero and an educated Where Broadcasting Reigns Supreme THli making known of great national events, while they are actually taking place is, after all, radio's unique contri- bution, and the one field in which it reigns su- preme without competition from phonographs, theaters, churches, or newspapers. And it is greatly to radio's credit that it does this job so thoroughly and well. As an example of a national broadcast well done, may we be permitted to hearken back as far as last Mem- orial Day? The official ceremonies at the Arling- ton National Cemetery, as broadcast by the N. B. C. chain, we listened to from start to finish and found not only interesting but enter- taining. The ceremony began with an overture by the United States Marine Band, then a "Call to Order" by Major General John L. Clem. Following a soprano solo, the "Star- Spangled Banner," accompanied by the Marine Band, the original order establishing Memorial Day was read. Then two more musical inter- ludes: the solo "Out of the Night, a Bugle Blew," accompanied by buglers, an enormously effec- tive and dramatic work for such an occasion, and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" sung by the Imperial Male Quartet. Then the piece de resistance President Coolidge's address, which, agree with him or not, was an expert piece of speech construction. The program was con- cluded with the reading of an original "poem" by Clagett Proctor, which was bad verse and the only stupid moment of the entire ceremony, and a brief address by Commander-in-Chief Means of the United Spanish War Veterans. Each different feature of this varied program, the voices of the speakers, the distant notes of the bugles, the ensemble singing of the quar- tette, the vocal solos and the massed volume of the Marine Band, was "picked up" in perfect style and broadcast with such clarity that the radio listeners must have heard the program more effectively - 'en than those actually present at Arlington. The broadcasting of the hullabaloo incidental to Lindbergh's arrival was likewise thoroughly done—perhaps in spots too thoroughly for the MRS. ANNETTE R. BUSHMAN. PROGRAM DIRECTOR, WEAF interest of this particular listener. For instance at the banquet tendered Lindbergh in NewYork. We would have been quite content had all the speeches of eulogy been omitted and only that of the flyer broadcast. Never have we heard worse blah sprung at a banquet, and sprung by such eminent leaders, divines and statesmen! The supposedly tongue-tied airplane mechanic gave a valuable, though doubtless unheeded, lesson in public speaking to the much touted, so-called orators who shared his platform. But the nation as a whole was interested in every and any detail of the flyer's reception and credit must be given to the National Broadcasting Company for slipping up on no smallest part The N. B. C. established a number of new records in covering the event: Miles of Wire Line Used—14.000. Number of Engineers Involved—350. Pick-up Points—Washington. 5; New York, 7. Number of Stations—50. Estimated Audience—35,000,000. Number of "Radio Reporters"—Wash- ington, 4; New York, 6. Longest Continuous Program Devoted to One Subject—11^ hours. SUNDAY NIGHTS AT WPG WPG is offering a series of Sunday night concerts during the summer from the Steel Pier. Operatic arias, duets and concert selections make up the pro- grams which are arranged by Jules Falk. Among the artists scheduled for the series are: Julia Claussen, mezzo-soprano; Marie Sundelius, soprano; John Uppman, baritone; Berta Levina, contralto; Doris Doe, contralto; Arthur Kraft, lyric tenor; Elsa Alsen, soprano; Julian Oliver, tenor; Edwin Swain, baritone; Marie Tiffany, soprano and Paul Althouse, tenor. NOVELTY THAT IS GENUINE A COMMENDABLE move on the part of WBAL was the arranging of a program of "first-time" numbers— meaning selections that had never previously been heard over the air. Two of the numbers "Air de Ballet" and "An Irish Tune" were contributed by Gustav Klemm, WBAL'S program supervisor who is also a composer. Other selections were "Carioca" and "Batuque," Brazilian tangos by Ernesto Nazareth, "Indian Summer" by Sturkow-Ryder and "Barn Dance" by James Rogers. The re- cital was given by Sol Sax, pianist, during one of the WBAL Staff Concerts which are on the air Wednesday evenings from 9 to 10 o'clock East- ern Standard Time. NEW PROGRAM MATERIAL J_I. V. KALTENBORN, whose editorial dis- ^ * cussions of the outstanding happenings of the week constitute perhaps the best "one man show" of all radio's offerings, is to resume his talks from WOR on October 10. We are informed I THE CRYSTAL STAGE STUDIO OF WOW Many of the broadcasting stations have made use of this method of accommodating studio visitors without confusion or danger of interference with the program. The stage is insulated from the auditorium by plate glass across the entire stage. Visitors hear the artists via loudspeakers placed behind the grills at the upper left and right