Radio Broadcast (May 1929-Apr 1930)

NEWS New Merchandising and Other Services by R.M.A. Several new services to radio manufacturers and expansion of other services to R.M.A. members and the industry generally have been ordered by the Board of Directors of the Radio Manufacturers Association. The R.M.A. Board provided for new and comprehensive merchandising service, and enlargement of its engineering, traffic, legislative information, patent, and other services. The Merchandising Department, in charge of Major H. H. Frost of New York, chairman of the R.M.A. Merchandising Committee, and William Alley, merchandising manager, was authorized by the Board of Directors to launch at once the new merchandising service for manufacturers, and approved an extensive program recommended by the Committee. Efforts will be made immediately to guard against any possible prospect of overproduction of radio products, particularly during the next few months. Strictly within the limitations and in observance of the law, the Merchandising Department will recommend to manufacturers that their production schedules be checked against the present and prospective future orders, to guard against undue expansion. The R.M.A. Engineering Service, under the direction of Walter E. Holland, new Director of Engineering, also will be extended and reorganized. For the public and in support of broadcasting also, the Board of Directors decided to undertake to present another series of special B.M.A. programs this fall, to be contributed by various manufacturers, and broadcast on national chains. This enterprise will be in charge of B. G. Erskine, of Emporium, Pa., Chairman of the R.M.A. Broadcasting Committee. It follows the successful series of nearly a score of R.M.A. programs presented last spring. Research at Temple A visit to the new Temple factory in the Chicago Clearing district disclosed, under the guidance of Paul Andres, chief engineer and vice-president, the amazing fact that complete laboratories are established and working at full steam for all the major departments of radio engineering. Such departments, each under the guidance of an expert, are audio frequency design, radio frequency design, loud speaker design, production tests methods, over-all receiver measurements, mathematical research, research into raw products, etc. In each of these laboratories was a group of men measuring everything that entered — or which would ever enter — a Temple product. In the words of "Prof" Andres, Temple is building heavily on future security, and security does not lie in following whal someone has already done. 3 3 I! • New Jensen Plant Built in Record-Breaking Time The picture above shows the Jensen Radio Manufacturing Company's plant in the Clearing Industrial district at Chicago as it appears with the completion of the new unit which was built in record-breaking time. Less than a month elapsed from the time ground was broken for the foundations until the installation of machinery and equipment was started. The Jensen plant is now a city block long and measures 140 feet deep, providing over 60,000 square feet of manufacturing floor space. It is said to be the largest single factory in the world devoted exclusively to the manufactur of loud speakers and reproducers. In the foreground of the picture is the Jensen day shift numbering approximately 600 employees. Switch tracks of the Chicago Belt Railroad which run directly into the building for the loading and unloading of factory output and materials enter at the rear of the structure. Less Income for R. C. A. The recent quarterly financial statement of the Radio Corporation of America shows a smaller income than that reported for the previous quarter. For the first half year, earnings are estimated at 35.2 cents per share on 6,526,000 common shares and amounted to $4,996,487 available for dividends. In the past, the first half has been the least profitable for the R. C. A. The second quarter of 1929 is the most unfavorable for some years. Net earnings for the June quarter were .$1,409,299 against $3,587,188 earned in the March quarter. Accurate comparisons with former years cannot be made because the two quarterly reports of this year include operations of the Victor Talking Machine Company which was merged with R. C. A. at the start of the year. A tabulation of earnings follows: 2nd qtr. 1st half 1929 1929 Gross income . . . $28,796,766 $60,439,593 Expenses, etc. . . 27,387,467 55,443,106 1,409,299 4,996,187 The balance remaining, after preferred dividend requirements are met, for the second quarter is $58,896, and $2,295,682 or 35.2 cents a share on the common shares outstanding. • O C T O B E R 1 9 2 9 • Kolster In Germany Ellery W. Stone, president of the Kolster Radio Corporation, announced recently that an agreement had been signed in Berlin between Kolster-Brandes Limited and Telephonfabrik Berliner Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin, for the manufacture and sale of Kolster and Brandes models in Germany. Under the proposed plan the radio division of Telephonfabrik Berliner Aktiengesellschaft, one of the oldest telephone and radio companies in Germany, will be merged with Kolster-Brandes' German operations. In the future, the KolsterBrandes receivers will be manufactured in the factories of Telephonfabrik Berliner Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin and Hanover, and will be sold in Germany by a company to be known as Kolster-Brandes Tefag. Control of the latter company will be held by Kolster-Brandes Limited, but there will be no public offering of the minority stock, since it will be subscribed for by Telephonfabrik Berliner Aktiengesellschaft. "The arrangements with Telephonfabrik Berliner, " said Mr. Stone, "will permit Kolster-Brandes Limited to avoid the German duties on Kolster-Brandes models imported from our British plants. In addition, Kolster-Brandes Limited will secure the benefit of the strong radio patent situation which Telephonfabrik Berliner now holds in Germany.