Radio daily (Feb-Mar 1937)

6 RADIO DAILY Wednesday, February 17. 1937 EVERY added potential listener adds to the responsibility which always follows the broadcaster — the responsibility of seeing that the program is worthy of its audience. The measure of the success or failure of a broadcaster in rendering a public service must be not how many people he reaches but the character of the program he offers to those whom he reaches." — FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. "Being personal, I'm sure that Neighbor Fitzgerald will audition lor not less than a dozen sponsors, all of whom will agree he is 'not exactly what they had in mind.' He will be the principal commuter between Newark and New York. He will play approximately 125 benefits and will be on the carpet in the front office for something he said, or might have said. And through it all will still be hopeful for that elusive willo-the-wisp, a break."— ED FITZGERALD. "After a bit of calculating I found that between five and seven p.m. during the week, Monday thru Friday, there are 162 major programs on the air. Of this number only thirty-nine are musical and one hundred twentythree are speeches, interviews, children's stories, wild west yarns and news bulletins. Of the thirty-nine musical items, there are only five orchestras, one of which is a classical ensemble. On Saturdays and Sundays, however, the programs are more evenly balanced . . . Why not less talk and more music during the dinner hours."— JACK ARTHUR. "I've been all over the world. I've lived in Algeria, Sydney, the South Seas and Europe, yet the most thrilling, enthralling, romantic thing to do is act before the microphone." — DONALD DUDLEY. Coming Events Feb. 17-25: National Education Association Convention, Civic Auditorium, New Orleans. Feb. 25: Associated Radio Technicians of Connecticut annual banquet, Hotel Bond, Hartford, Conn. Feb. 28-March 8: Spring Fair of radio and television, Leipzig. April 9: Press Photographers' Ass'n of New York Eighth Annual Dance and Entertainment, Hotel Commodore, New York. April 9: Press Photographers Ass'n Eighth Annual Dance and Entertainment, Hotel Commodore, New York. June 1-10: Radio-television exposition, Moscow. RACIC PERSONALITIES • No. 4 in the Scries of Who's Who in the Industry • LENOX RILEY LOHR. President of National Broadcasting Co. An •ngi■ neer of parts, he has distinguished himself also in military and journalistic fields. Born in Washington, D. C, August 15, 1891. he wa» NBC prez at 44, when appointed in January, 1936. Graduated in 1916 with honors from Cornell University with degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and later attended Claire College at Cambridge University, England. During the World War he attained the rank of Major in the U. S. Army and was cited for meritorious service in action. For seven years he was a member of the board of directors, executive secretary and editor of the journal of the Society of American Military Engineers. Also was a member of the Advisory Council of the Federal Board of Surveys and Maps. A Sigma Phi Sigma, he belongs lo numerous clubs and societies and is the author of many technical papers, ecent highlight of career was selection as General Manager of the "Century of Salute for Major Who Progress" in Chicago. Final score on the staR Kirs NBC lion relations angle at NBC appears to be tops. Varied Viewpoints Peerce Craves Audience I Visual Radio Reception Cinch To Add Ardor to Singing] For Next Year, Litt's Forecast VERY often radio and agency executives ask me if I think studio audiences are a necessary part of a broadcast. Well, as the old maid said when she kissed the cow, it's all a matter of one's own tastes. I'm all for studio audiences. It's easier for a singer to put his heart into a song when he has a visible audience than when he has just a cold, impassive (relentless is even the word) microphone. I like studio audiences because they give a program more warmth. Without them, broadcasts seem as uncertain and dubious as the dress rehearsal of a musical show, performed to an empty house. There's no way of telling whether things are going over or just going. Comedians whom I know tell me the same thing. Unless they can draw rich, fullblooded laughs, their lines pale and their gags go limp. I don't know why it's a surprise to them. Just as much as a comedian, a singer has to strive to create a mood and wield a sort of spell over his listeners so that they fall into the same mood. He can judge their interest and reactions by studying their faces as he sings. When he notices a subtle ardor and response prevailing, he can sing all the better for it. On the other hand, there isn't much of a thrill in singing over the air if the only people around are the orchestra musicians, the announcer, the production manager, etc., all of whom are more interested in their own performance than in the artist's. I hate a studio to be cold in atmosphere. If I had my way, every one of them would be decorated with drapes, easy chairs and soft couches. . . . JAN PEERCE, SHAFER'S COLUMN, Newark Ledger. IT is my opinion that television will be declared open for commercial exploitation in 1938, and programs of film and live talent will be received over a distance of twenty miles to those owning sight-sound sets — costing from $250 to $500— in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and a number of other large cities of the United States. Quality, brilliancy, and color of pictures will be on a par with homemovies. Without projecting pictures from a television receiver to a wall screen or to a screen set in a separate cabinet which will house a loudspeaker at its base — unlikely to happen within the next year or two — it is assumed that the present IV2 by 10-inch image will be increased in size somewhat by experimenters in this country. Snort waves of but twenty feet long will carry both sight and sound. Static is not present in the realm of these tiny waves and little trouble is evidenced from fading. It appears to me as if the two transmitting systems of the Radio Corporation and the Farnsworth Co., both electronic systems — cathode ray —will be accepted in this country, with of course the other experimenters receiving licenses from the government to construct stations and transmitters of their own. As long as a sight-sound receiver is produced that will receive programs of all the experimenters, that is all that is wanted by the Federal Communication Commission and the public. It seems to me that the Philco Radio & Television Company, having access to the patents of both the Farnsworth and Radio Corporation of America concerns, will be able to "DADIO listeners the world over are -IV very much alike. A letter was received at WCAU, Philadelphia, from Capetown, South Africa, commentating on the reception of W3XAU, station's short-waver. Postscript asked for tickets to visit the. studios when he comes to America this summer. Daily broadcast of RAN, Moscow,, has been extended from 7 to 9: 15 p. m. EST. It formerly ran only an hour. Columbia Broadcasting System, with the cooperation of the British Broadcasting Company and Oxford University, will broadcast a special transatlantic show on Saturday from 2 to 2:30 p. m. Viscount Halifax will be the featured speaker with three college glee clubs supplying the musical background. produce a better sight-sound receiver. A demonstration of the coaxial television cable will soon be made between New York City and Philadelphia. If the sight-sound stations of the future guarantee a sufficient revenue to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the use of the cable for linkage of cities is assured. In a few years when color gains headway in the motion picture industry, and third dimension television is successfully demonstrated, followed shortly afterward by a similar adaptation of third dimension to motion pictures, then the television industry will take a further step forward and add color to sight-sound. Visualize for the future a new five-billion dollar industry and not far in the future, if I can judge the future by the past. . . . LEON L. LITT. Television No Bugaboo, Philco Engineer Thinks WHEN commercial television eventually reaches the home it will in no way supplant regular sound broadcasting. The next year will find television continuing in its field tests; ultrahigh frequency waves will be further explored and their service areas more definitely determined. It is expected that leading experimenters will change their transmitting equipment to conform with the new standard 441 lines. Experimental receivers will be improved and simplified. Improvements in picture size and brilliancy may be expected, and research will continue in various laboratories with unabated vigor. As a result, an entirely new method of flashing pictures into the home might come . about, but in the meantime, engineers and physicists will plod along the conventional lines. . . . ALBERT F. MURRAY, Television Engineer, Philco Radio.