The radio dealer (Oct 1922-Mar 1923)

December, 1922 THE RADIO DEALER 47 Stations Improving Their Radio Programs Survey Shows them Offering Bills of More Variety, Greater Interest and Better Talent The steady improvement in broadcasting programs points to advancement for the industry. Broadcasting stations are giving more attention to the quality of their programs, the owners realizing the necessity for better programs to hold the public interest. This is no longer the day when mediocre programs attract the listeners-in because of the mere novelty of the thing. The directors of the great stations are quick to realize this and it is with considerable pride in the advancement they have made that the head of one of the largest corporations managing broadcasting stations announced a week's program with over twenty nationally famous characters in the list of those to appear. While radio's greatest boost has been in the broadcasting of sporting events, the heavyweight championship last year, the world's series, which held crowds all over the country in front of loud speakers, the foot ball games broadcast play by play, etc., the directors of the broadcasting stations and those high in the industry have begun to realize the danger of too much of any one thing, even of interesting sports, and more and more effort is being made for varied programs. One of the most important uses to which radio programs have been put is the broadcasting of election returns. Never in the history of this country have the election results all over the country been so quickly learned and disseminated as during the November elections this year. Within half an hour after the first results were compiled at election booths, those in tune with broadcasting stations throughout the country saw the tendencies of the political battle and a continuous running recital of results enabled the whole country to see which way the political wind was blowing. Radio broadcasters took advantage of the dramatic interest in the election results. Radio chapel services have received national publicity in newspapers and magazines, and more and more of the better class stations have added one or two special Sunday church services to their regular schedules. Between the two extremes lies a vast middle ground of broadcasting By L. N. ALLEN possibilities that only of recent months have been utilized. The possibilities of carrying music to listeners-in who seldom have opportunities of hearing the truly great singers who more and more are broadcasting their efforts, appealed to publicity men managing the great musicians and, one by one the stars of the music world are being numbered " This is no longer the day when mediocre programs attract the listeners-in because of the mere novelty of the thing. The directors of the great stations are quick to realise this and it is with considerable pride in the advancement they have made that the head of one of the largest corporations managing broadcasting stations announced a week's programme with over twenty nationally famous characters in the list of those to appear." among those who have performed through the air. Grand opera and local light opera companies in several cities have gladly consented to their numbers and even entire programs being transmitted, while it is expected that considerable progress will be made in handling events of this kind in the metropolitan territory in a short time. Symphony orchestras and other great musical organizations are also joining the programs. One eastern station has its own opera company. Prominent men, national and even international figures, are beginning to take advantage of radio to reach thousands who are unable to attend the various meetings they address from time to time. Showing the wide variety of programs now being given, we quote from the schedule of a central state station. News of the day, health talks, fashion talks furnished by one of the leading fashion magazines of the country, bedtime story followed by an address by a prominent banker in the city on the Federal Reserve system. A short se ries of dance numbers and two acts from a famous opera constituted the musical end of the program, while a well known comedian and a local impersonator of note gave a touch of comedy to the day's entertainment. Surely broadcasting programs are becoming more and more varied, for in this way, and only in this way, will radio become of interest to the great mass of the public who are yet to be converted into fans. In surveying the programs furnished by the active stations of the country it was pleasing to note that out of several hundred sample programs submitted nearly seventy per cent, carried sufficient variety to appeal to the vast number of " home people " who would refuse to listen to sporting events or phonograph music which once made up the large proportion of the programs of the day. Some of the programs presented by the smaller broadcasting stations are not pretentious, but they are nevertheless interesting and varied. A small station in Texas, for instance, recently had this program to offer : 1— Violin Quartette, The Lar^o (Handel), Misses Minnie B. Justice, Edna Brooks, Nellie Howland and Libbie Feinberg. 2— Song (selected), Miss Lillian Richards. 3— Saxaphone Solo, Miss Velma Pittman. 4 — Reading, Miss Emily Baggarry. 5 — Song, Dissi D'Arte Dissi, from Tosca (Puccini), Mrs. Charles Chinski. 6— Whistling Selection, Mr. Bob Tate. 7 — Popular Musical Selections, Victor Novelty Orchestra. 8 — Reading, Mrs. Charles J. Rupp. 9 — Interpretations, Sung and played by Mr. Lawrence Humason. A program does not have to come from a great station to be interesting. The day of the " radio program " which consists largely of phonograph reproductions of jazz and xylophone selections, is past. The discovery has been made that rather than listen to these, the radio public prefers the reporting of actual events, such as football games or political speeches. Radio is developing a distinctive program of its own, with advantages offered by no other mode of entertainment and with an educational value that cannot be over-emphasized.