Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

DR. LEE DeFOREST ( Continued From Page S J sources of the laboratories of the General Electric Company in Schenectady, N. Y., are available and are being used in the interests of this newer science. The Jenkins-DeForest Company is producing a television set and is striving for constant improvement of that set. Without doubt, the first practical, work-a-day sets will be found in our motion picture theatres. After all, it is the practical outlet for television — those vast and gaudy halls of entertainment where thousands can sit and enjoy a single picture. When television does come, it is bound to be an expensive proposition. If the machinery for a really first class talking picture projector costs several thousand dollars, it is not taking a biased view to point out that the machinery for a really first class television set should be on a comparative ground of cost. So far the big theatre men have hardly considered television from either the standpoint of serious competition or that of combination. Their attitude is the same as the one they took in regard to talking pictures. They waited until some one group had proved them a success; then they threw themselves into it body and soul. They shall probably do the same if and when television is made thoroughly practical. Television will probably have all the added problems of regular radio broadcasting to face. Problems such as the difficulties brought about by too much advertising, not enough first class talent and constant haggling over federal restrictions, and, even more, the lack of federal restrictions. It is a well known fact that there are far too many radio broadcasting stations in the United States today. That is, too many small, unimportant stations and not enough really first class ones. The largest station in America has a power of only 50,000 kilowatts. In Eurasia there is a station of ten times this power — 500,000 kilowatts! Were the stations in the United States to be consolidated, the number to be visibly lessened, it would result in the use of fewer popular wave channels and the concentration of first class talent. There are far too many stations at present which reach merely a few miles down the line, bore their few listeners with extremely mediocre programs and pollute the air with a flood of cheap advertising. From an economical and social standpoint, there is no real reason for their existence. The further disadvantage is the unbelievable sum being paid for toll lines by the hundreds of stations. NBC and CBS alone pay a figure yearly on toll lines that is staggering. The cost of installing a powerful station, which would eliminate the necessity of toll line charges, is small in comparison. Although this may seem to have little to do with television, in truth it is one of the outstanding features of importance in relation to the practical broadcasting of talking pictures. The reduction of the number of stations would mean the opening of new wave channels for television. And television, to be at all practical, needs more freedom and wider channels than the regular broadcast of sound. In conclusion I might remark, that if you are waiting for television before you purchase that new radio, you are only cheating yourself. For if television does come, especially for the home, it will be several years. Six months may, or may not, see television used in a purely commercial sense; it will more likely be six years before it is used for purposes of pure entertainment. K F A C 1000 Watts 1300 Kilocycles (Formerly KTBI) GLANDULAR VIGOR BOTH men and women will find VSM a quick remedy for sterility, debility, loss of vital powers, and glandular weakness. VSM is not a medicine, but is a food derived from vegetable sources. It is rich in those vitamins and essential salts necessary for the relief of debility, sterility, and loss of vital powers. VSM is the great rejuvenator . . . and remember, it is not a drug. Write for booklet and literature. Learn what this remarkable remedy is doing for others and what it can do for you. Or, don't delay, but send $2 for bottle of IOO tablets. Your money back in ten days if you are not absolutely convinced that VSM is all that we recommend it to be. STANDARD CHEMICALCO. Dep. 15, P.O. Box 5, South Pasadena, Cat. OWNED BY THE L. A. Broadcasting Co. Ready to Serve You Commercially KFAC is the big companion station to popular KFVD, the biggest little radio station in the Southland For Either Station Call EMpire 1171 JOHN W. SWALLOW Manager KFVD Page Thirty-Nine