Radio today (Sept 1935-Dec 1936)

Radio in next election * The Republican National Committee started something when it chose a radio director in the person of Thomas G. Sabin, to organize political broadcasts for the presidential campaign, 1936. Plans at the studios for the party ballyhoo are not complete, although indications are that when the broadcasts get under way, both the Republicans and Democrats will present regular programs on announced times and stations through the period, rather than spotting the material at random. Educational programs and band music, besides the regular verbal attack, have been suggested. High-poiver abroad — Cohan * High-power broadcasting is more common-place in Europe than in the United States, reports Edward K. Cohan, technical director of the Columbia Broadcasting System, who has just returned from a summer inspection tour of a dozen countries over there. Besides the 500 kw. Moscow transmitter, 100 kw. stations are plentiful. Droitwich has 150 kw. ; Luxembourg 250 kw. ; Vienna 120 kw. ; Rome 100 kw. Russia now has thirty-three broadcasting stations of all sizes. Much of the time these are operated as a network, with wire or radio links between Moscow-central and the outlying transmitters. Short-wave connections have been used; in some cases the local outlet merely picks up and rebroadcasts the 500 kw. broadcast signal from Moscow. Mr. Cohan was greatly impressed with the engineering refinements of broadcasting operations in England. The British Broadcasting Company has 2,000 employes, more than 40 per cent of whom are engineers. Average price, $76; 7 tubes * A survey of Radio Today's listing of home receivers on following pages of this issue brings some interesting figures to light. The average price of receivers is $76. The radios included range from $9.95 in price for a table compact to $985 for a 16-tube deluxe console. About 12 per cent of the models are equipped exclusively with metal tubes and 19 per cent are supplied with a combination of metal tubes and glass tubes. Approximately 65 per cent employ the old-type glass tubes while the balance of 4 per cent represents the use of metal-glass tubes. Somewhat less than seven tubes is the average number found in the new model What chance has a parts manufacturer between two set makers? George Scoville (left) vice-president, Stromberg Carlson, and Jim Skinner (right) president, Philco, look ready to take the victim over the hurdles. Victim (center) is Fred Williams, general manager. International Resistance. radios. A comparison of four outstanding manufacturers shows that the average number of tubes employed in their receivers is practically the same. Leo J. Fitzpatrick, general manager of WJR, Detroit, is the new prexy of National Association of Broadcasters. Known as a guy who "stands no nonsense," he is expected to make NAB's new year a lively one. The all-wave and skip-band trend is being adhered to again this year, more than 85 per cent of the receivers having coverage on two or more bands. A few of the higher-priced models provide a band in the vicinity of 150 to 400 kilocycles, the percentage being slightly more than fifteen. International plot * European ether is by no means sacred to the American manufacturers of radios, and since last June the RMA has been considering a serious invasion. The Export Committee of the Association, guided so far by Arthur T. Murray, Springfield, Mass., finds itself all mixed up amid the lofty and slow-moving negotiations by the State Department, involving new reciprocal trade agreements with continental neighbors, especially France. Farewell to EAT * EAT, radio station at Addis Ababa, will probably be much in the news before this Ethiopian business is over. It is Emperor Haile Selassie's link with the outside world, and ordinarily works with London. Probably the first effort of the attacking forces will be to bomb EAT and blow it to bits, thus shutting off communication with Europe. And EAT is a brand-new job, too — in operation hardly a year! September, 1935