Radio and television today (Jan-Dec 1940)

RADIO TODAY Business Remains at High Level Radio and appliances, in company with automobiles, hardware and furniture, continued to furnish the bright spots in a nationally spotty retail sales picture for March and April. Automobile production and sales are near boom levels, with some companies reporting the largest first quarter in their experience. Retail radio inventories continue heavy, but sales are holding up, some 25 per cent over last year, and eating into this inventory. The outlook for May radio sales is good, and there appears to be no threat of any more serious liquidation than has already occurred. With new models and the political conventions drawing close, radio sales will run contra to general business, and' the June quarter should see radio sales up about 30 per cent as compared with 1939. Refrigeration sales and production are currently over 40 per cent greater than last year, with several manufacturers unable to keep production pace with the demand for the lower priced units. May looks bright for the radio-refrigerator dealer. "Frequency-Modulation" Expects FCC Go-Ahead More than 110 applications for frequency-modulation stations are now before the Federal Communications Commission at Washington. A number of these seek permits for 50-kw FM transmitters, assuming that the Commission will grant the FM broadcasters' request for an increase of the limiting power from 1 kw to 50 kw, in order to render better service to FM listeners and reach a wider radius with this noise-free, high-fidelity reception. Among the present broadcasters which have asked for 50-kw FM stations are WTMJ, Milwaukee; WDRC, Hartford,; WTIO Hartford; two Detroit stations, and two Chicago stations. RCA-NBC has recently joined the ranks of applicants for FM licenses, and has filed for FM stations at Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. Favorable reaction from the Commission is expected to the testimony presented during the eight days of hearings at Washington during the third week of March. Major E. H. Armstrong, inventor of the new system (as well as of important milestones in present amplitude-modulation broadcasting), proposed that the 42 to 44 megacycle band be divided into ten FM channels, and he also advocated taking one of the television channels (6 megacycles wide) and turning it into thirty FM channels. If the No. 1 television channel is converted to this purpose, it would give a continuous FM band of 40 FM channels, which the FM advocates declare will be necessary to accommodate the large number of station applicants. On the other hand, use of Television Channel No. 1 would mean shifting the present NBC transmitter on the Empire State tower at New York, involving an estimated expense of $100,000 to convert the antenna to the next lower television channel, and involving further shifts of both CBS and Philco from Channel No. 2 to No. 3. Representatives of the leading FM groups, broadcast engineers, station owners, receiver manufacturers and laboratory scientists all collaborated Indian chief radio dealer reports heap big sales in his area of Sweet Hall, Va. Chief Custalow is shown with J. H. Carmine, center, and J. M. McKillop, Philco officials. Major E. H. Armstrong, left, the industry's No. 1 frequency modulation expert, is shown with FCC chairman James L. Fly, at the FCC hearings on FM status. between March 18 and 25 in an effort to present a complete and clear picture of the advantages and potentialities of this new type of radio transmission invented by Major Armstrong. Definite action by the Commission is not expected until after its hearing on television which started April 8, and the decision will probably not be forthcoming until about May 1. A so-called "green light for FM" by the FCC would set aside a definite FM band with sufficient channels to take care of the development of the new broadcasters ; would permit commercial status ; establish a standard 200-kilocycle channel width ; and allow higher powered stations up to 50,000 watts. Little opposition to these proposals, except in the matter of frequency allocations, was experienced at the Washington hearings. Meanwhile, the increasing tide of applications for FM stations being filed each week from all over the nation is expected to exert a strong influence on the Commission's ultimate answer. Radio receiver manufacturers are requesting the earliest possible action by the Commission on the FM channel allocations, in order to provide sufficient FM band-width on their new receivers shortly to be announced. It is expected that a large number of standard console radios intended for sale on the Eastern seaboard, will be offered this season with FM bands. In order to include these announcements TO RADIO TODAY