Radio Broadcast (May 1928-Apr 1929)

A WellBalanced Federal Radio Commission THE nomination of Arthur BatcheUer, Radio Supervisor for the Second Zone, to succeed O. H. Caldwell as Federal Radio Commissioner for the First Zone, and of Cyril M. Jansky, Jr., to the Fourth Zone Commissionership, both of whom probably will receive recess appointments from President Hoover before this issue is off the press, is one of the most encouraging indications of better federal regulation of radio which has occurred during the last few months. Both of these men possess high technical qualifications and long and intimate experience with allocation problems. Their addition to the Commission will make it a well-balanced body, both from the technical and legal standpoints. We look forward to greater progress from now on and regret that these men inherit a situation so complex that it prevents them from exerting their fullest effectiveness. The testimony before the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries on the radio bill extending the life of the Federal Radio Commission as an administrative body brought forward little that is new to those well informed on radio broadcasting. With respect to the continuance of the Commission, only Commissioner Caldwell, who has already left the body, effective February 23, raised a voice in protest against the commission form of regulation. The remaining members of the Commission are convinced that so many of their problems are unsolved that the present tenure of the Commission should be continued. Broadcasting interests, in general, were indifferent as to whether the machinery of regulation functioned through the Commission or through the Department of Commerce. As this issue goes to press, Congress passed a bill continuing the Commission until December 31, 1929. There is every hope that President Hoover will seek competent men, who have some understanding of broadcasting problems, to fill any future vacancies. HIGH-CALIBRE MEN NEEDED While broadcasting is paramoimt in public attention, the allocation of high frequencies presents even more difficult technicalities which make it all the more necessary to appoint Commissioners with considerable specialized knowledge, as is the custom with other commissions like the Interstate Commerce Commission. Congress has shown a disposition to meddle with the details of radio regulation and the past record of the Commission, of failure to tackle its problems actively and aggressively, makes it difficult to secure men familiar with the situation and competent to deal with it. The recent nominations, however, indicate that men of high calibre can still be attracted to the onerous duties of Federal Radio Commissioner. The loss of Commissioner Caldwell, whose firm adherence to principle often led him into difficulties, is one which will be felt most seriously by those who regard broadcast allocation in its broad national aspects rather than from the viewpoint of individual stations -or political districts. Caldwell has a better understanding of broadcast allocation as a national and engineering problem than any other member of the Commission, past or present, and he has done more to educate the Adolph F. Linden, president of the American Broadcasting Company which operates the ABC Western Network public and the politicians in the actual difficulties with which the Commission is faced than any other Commissioner. May his shoes be filled by an equally nationally minded commissioner with an equally good engineering background and fully possessed of the diplomatic ability to make that knowledge effective. We hope that Mr. Batcheller will waive his natural reluctance to accepting this appointment. Sam Pickard, Commissioner for the Fourth Zone, submitted his resignation to the Commission in order to become Vice-President of the Columbia system. He has risen rapidly from chief of the radio service of the Department of Agriculture to Secretary of the Commission, to Commissioner, and finally to his present position. The congested conditions of the Fourth Zone made his position as Commissioner especially difficult and frequently necessitated reversals of policy, invariably bringing him new difficulties. He faithfully represented the interests of his zone and succeeded in making himself liked by the broadcasters in spite of the problems which his duties entailed. Congress Considers the Commission s Record THE allocation of forty high-frequency channels to the Universal Wireless Communication Company was quite severely criticised before one of the committees in these same hearings. Judging from the testimony, little evidence was obtained by the Commission as to the competence of the company in making good use of the vast allocation made to it. If the Universal people ever do get under way with actual commercial communications, they have at least had the benefit of nationwide publicity which should attract business to their channels. The broad question of whether radio competition with established wire systems of communication is desirable or not is a delicate one to discuss. It has been established quite definitely as a general principle that communication systems are most efficient as monopolies but, as such, shoidd conduct their operations strictly in the public interest without discrimination and at a carefully regulated rate of profit. The Radio Corporation of America is desirous of establishing a nationwide radiotelegraph network for the distribution and collection of its foreign trans-oceanic message business. The Universal Wireless Communication Company is seeking to compete directly with the telegraph companies. RADIO VS. WIRE AND CABLE Radio is equipped to handle such a small proportion of the total wire message business that all the fussing, about competition with wire communication is still considered a matter of insufficiently significant importance to the wire companies to be worth opposing actively. Radio is, however, a severe competitor to the transoceanic cable systems and has been effective in substantially cutting cable rates. It is for this reason that the overland wire services, with their extensive cable affiliations, have not particularly welcomed the Radio Corporation and have rebuffed its overland message business, making it almost imperative for the R. C. A. to establish a competitive radio distribution service. Single radio links over long distances can be maintained at lower cost than corresponding wire links. Therefore, a small independent communications company could readily compete with a telegraph system between a few particular points. But the small total volume of traffic and the comparatively few cities which could be taken care of under present conditions would not warrant the scrapping of telegraph systems in part or in whole, while any channels which might be so used would ultimately be required for greatly increased foreign communications. The technicalities and economics of the high-frequency allocation problem and the relation of independent radio and wire systems is altogether too complex for brief annual consideration by Congress. The more competent the men who serve on the Commission, the sooner such problems will be left to it. IN HIS appearances before the House Committee on Marine and Fisheries, Henry A. Bellows, former Federal Radio Commissioner, now Manager of wcco and Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters' Legislative Committee, testified that the Association favored a gradual rather than a drastic re-allocation of frequencies. In such reports of the Association's deliberations as were circulated officially, there was no evidence of any formal declaration to this effect by the membership of the Association, but Bellows, undoubtedly, in his position as Chairman of its Legislative Committee, must have spoken with authority. A BILL, seeking to appropriate $50,000 fo' the erection of a standard-frequency station somewhere in the center of the United States, has been placed before the House. Such a station would be extremely valuable • april, 1929 page 372 S