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RADIO DIGES T— Illustrated
LISTENERS VOTE MALE VOICES BEST
COMMISSION'S DEPARTMENT NOW IN ORDER
Lamm Finds Each Member
in His Own Private Office
for Local Work
All Mail Quickly Sorted
Each District Handles Its Own Problems — Regular Conferences Held to Determine General Policies
By L. M. Lamm
Staff Correspondent of Radio Digest
WASHINGTON, D. C. — As Radio fans, readers of Radio Digest ought to be interested in the new Federal Radio Commission which is now operating at increasing speed in this city, interested not only in its activities but also its routine. Incidently the momentum with which the work is progressing is highly interesting in view of the fact that in less than two months time the commission is able to keep abreast of its tremendous correspondence including a daily average of some 500 letters and 400 telegrams. This is all being handled by a corps of some fifteen workers, in spite of the fact that the commission started on a "shoe string," as congress adjourned without having made any appropriation for functioning.
In the first place it has been very generally concluded that the commission was a sort of Cinderella inasmuch as it had no money. This is far from the truth, for not only does each commissioner have his own office but in addition his own stenographer. This has been due, in most part, to the generosity of Secretary of Commerce Hoover, who has put almost an entire floor of the department of commerce at the disposal of the commission, when, as a matter of faet, it greatly inconvenienced his own department. Each Commissioner Has Office
Each of the commissioners has his own work room, well equipped with new desks and furniture and rugs, all of which has been done "without money and without price." ,
The paid employees of the commission are receiving their salaries out of the funds which are unexpended by the Radio division of the department of commerce up to July first. After that time the commission will have to create what is termed a "deficiency" until the next session of congress when a sufficient appropriation will be made.
Suppose you write a letter to the commission. That letter is first sent to a general mailing room where it is distributed to either the secretary of the commission, Sam Pickard, or to one of the commissioners depending upon what it contains. If the letter concerns a station in a certain zone, it is generally sent to the commissioner from that zone, for it must be remembered that in the Radio act of 1927, the five commissioners represent five different zones, which taken together include the entire United States.
If your letter is a question on which the commission has already taken a stand or set a precedent, the commissioner in whose zone the station is located, can take such action as he sees fit. All new policies are taken before the commission itself at one of the three meetings held by the full commission each week. Working: Out Allocations
At present the commission is putting all of its time on the one question of new policy allocation for the stations of the country which will probably be announced about the time this copy of the Radio Digest reaches you. That, of course, is the burning question of the day and the one on which the future policy of the commission will be based.
Several of the commissioners are literally working day and night. The work of the formation of the commission fell heaviest on Commissioners Orestes H. Caldwell, of New York, and Henry A. Bellows. At the time the commission organized it will be recalled that Rear Admiral W. H. G. Bullard, the chairman of the commission was not in the United States. The other commissioners include; John F. Dillon, of San Francisco and Eugene O. Sykes, of Memphis, Tenn. The latter was a judge and he admits that he knew
(Continued on Dage 19)
"NO WOMEN ALLOWED" NEW POLICY AT WTAS
CHICAGO. — Apropos of the Radio Digest ballot on the ideal program Jack Nelson, director of the revived WTAS broadcasting station, said: "Women are no longer to be heard from our station. Members of our staff are all happily married and have the highest regard for the fair sex, but when it comes to broadcasting our studios are reserved for men only. Television? Well, when the listeners are able to see the singers while they broadcast we may change our policy." The station is owned by Chas. Erbstein, known to Radio fans as "The Boss."
FIDDLERS AROUSE GREATEST INTEREST IN RADIO BALLOT
Sports and Religious Subjects Draw Larger
Total Than Jazz — Male Classical
and Sopranos Come Last
YES, SIR! A WOMAN BROADCASTER!
NOW don't you wish you hadn't said it! Here's a woman and she broadcasts and anybody who wouldn't listen to Miss Eunice Wynne (above) or who would dare to question her place before a microphone had better keep a safe distance from boys at KFWB, Warner Bros, studio, Hollywood.
Nine Prizes Valued at $3,000 Go
to "Whoziteers" in June 1 Awards
Kansas City Man With Family Receives $500 Just as He Loses Job —
Jacksonville Winner Finds Check in Time
for Stork's Arrival
PRIZE WINNERS
WMCA, McAlpin Hotel, New York, N. Y. First Prize, $500 Gold, £. C. and N. B. Johannessen, 815 Roger st., Grand
Rapids, Mich. Second Prize, $300, Freed-Eismann Radio Set, Mrs. Chas. Hensler, Ord
way, Colo. Third Prize, Trip to New York, Expenses Paid, Ferres A. Gordon, Mar
shalltown, la.
WLW, Crosley Radio Corp., Cincinnati, O. First Prize, $500 Gold, F. D. Palmer, Canova, South Dakota. Second Prize, A. C. 7 Crosley Console and $133.25 Cash, Sylvia M.
Murphy, Hamilton, O. Third Prize, Crosley A. C. 7 Table Model and $74 Cash, Margie E. Meyers,
Mapleton, Minn.
KPRC, Houston Post, Houston, Tex.
First Prize, $500 Gold, J. C. Southwick, 3400 Louise st., Houston, Tex.
Second Prize, $300 Radio Set, Ida May Riggs, 2195 Magnolia ave., Beaumont, Tex.
Third Prize, $200 Howard Radio Set, Mrs. Leon Y. Lassiter, 1702 Troost ave., Tulsa, Okla.
ANOTHER $3,000 in prizes goes to the nine successful Whoziteers whose names are listed above. Don't you wish you had followed through, you Whoziteers who started in and failed to keep it up? That was an important factor of the game — a lesson in persistence.
That the prizes are going into worthy homes is indicated by the letters of acknowledgment from those who have
already received their checks or other considerations.
A. J. Donnell, 3507 Askew ave., Kansas City, who received the $500 first prize check for the WHB, Kansas City, game of Whozit, received the check just at a time when his firm had sold out and he found himself out of a job with a family to support. Here is his letter. (Continued on page 4)
MORE than 8,000 readers of Radio Digest have marked ballots "Yes" or "No" on a list of items found on most of the Radio broadcasting station programs. The tabulation showing the results of that vote is shown below. It must be remembered that only actual votes on each item were counted. Where spaces were left blank no record was made. This was the result.
Order of Popularity Yes No Total
1. Male, popular songs 7,211 759 7,970
2. Male, blended 6,353 1,199 7,552
3. Tenor 6,347 1,987 8,334
4. Sports 5,972 2,359 8,331
5. Religious 5,572 2,528 8,100
6. Baritone 5,179 1,822 7,001
7. Orchestra, semi-classical. .5,067 2,306 7,373
8. Orchestra, popular dance. .4,916 2,178 7,094
9. Female, blended 4,691 2,425 7,116
10. Educational 4,687 1,889 6,576
11. Fiddlers 4,616 3,784 8,400
12. Public speeches 4,577 3,093 7,670
13. Female, popular songs 4,150 2,094 6,244
14. Contralto 3,799 3,550 7,349
15. Orchestra, classical 3,573 3,694 7,267
16. Orchestra, jazz 3,516 4,272 7,788
17. Female, classical 3,339 3,560 6,899
18. Male, classical 3,178 3,586 6,764
19. Soprano 2,758 4,073 6,831
There are the figures, Mr. Broadcaster.
On behalf of the readers of Radio Digest who voted give them such consideration as you choose. They come from every section of the United States and Canada. There are a few general conclusions that seem to be obvious.
Sopranos Picked On
It seems as though the sopranos are always being picked on. Almost everyone knows, however, that it is not generally the fault of the singer that the female voice fails to register entirely satisfactorily. The trouble is more often mechanical. Unless voice and microphone are most accurately attuned the soprano is a "flop" as one voter pronounced it.
That the listener has decided opinions on what he likes or does not like is indicated by the large registration under the choice of "No." Some even went so far as to divide the ballot into percentages and vote in figures how they rated the various items. These ballots, although they were interesting as an expression of the individual's point of view, could not be counted. Others were marked "Yes and No," and these could not be counted.
Many emphasized with red ink or big letters the degree of their favor or dislike of certain classifications.
Old Fiddlers Poll 8,400
In the totals it will surprise many to observe that more people voted on the old time fiddlers than any other single item. There were 8,400 votes cast on this feature, of which 4,616 were marked "Yes" and 3,784 were marked "No." The next highest total was for tenors; 8,334, with 6,347 "Yes" and 1,987 "No." Sports came next with 8,331; 5,972 "Yes" and 2,359 "No." Religious service, fourth in order, showed a total of 8,100; 5,572 "Yes" and 2,528 "No."
It is interesting also to note from the figures that, while the male voice seemed to carry away the greater majority of popularity votes— the "Male Classical" dropped clear down to the bottom of the list, as though to keep one shred of gallant regard for the unhappy sopranos.
The vote was very well balanced from various parts of the continent all the way from Saskatchewan to Key West. It is not by any means a sectional vote. (Continued on page 8)
KOA Australia Program Will "Travel" All Day
DENVER. — Radio Station KOA has arranged for an interesting Australian program from 12:45 p. m. Saturday May 28 until Sunday morning at 3:30. The complete program has been arranged by A. W. Watt, editor of the Wireless Weekly and director of Station 2FC, Sydney, Australia. Australian plays and music will be featured exclusively. The program will be received in Australia on Sunday night according to the calendar. This is believed to be the first time an American broadcast station ever dedicated a proI gram to Australia.