U. S. Radio (Oct 1957-Dec 1958)

HOMETOWN U.S.A. station log KOIL Omaha Installs Storm Warning Device KOIL Omaha, Neb., has come up with an automatic storm warning system in its area that requires only the installation of a simple device to radio sets. KOIL has supplied Omaha and Council Bluffs radio repair and service shops with plans for the unit which, when attached to a radio, will automatically turn on the muted speaker as an alert signal is broadcast by the station. Peacetime Use This, in effect, is a peacetime utilization of the COXELRAD alerting system. It also will help to offset telephone line jamming which inevitably occurs during tornados or violent storms. KOIL reports that it has the cooperation of the FCC, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Weather Bureau in the project. In cases of extreme seriousness, the population can be warned to take cover at any time, as the station operates around-the-clock. RADIO ACTIVITY • When ilic 10th ainiiversary of \VATO Oak Ridge, Tenn., was marked with a day-long celebration recently, the station reported that it was most gratified by the fact that W.ATO's first advertiser, the Norris Creamery, was still with the station on a continual basis. • Operation Outer Space, a WCAU Philadelphia, Pa., program devoted to alerting the public on the current missile and satellite situation, has been praised in the Philadelphia .Astronautical Society newsletter as "informative and interesting, even to old 'space buffs.' " The show, aired six times weekly, attempts to put technical subjects into layman's language and presents as guests nationally known scientists and space experts. • .\ disc jockey for KIOA Des -Moines, la., walked 40 miles in a snowstorm — trom .\mes to Des .\roincs — to raise money lor the Nfarch of Dimes. Frosty Mitchell Dick Driscoll, center, timebuyer at William Esty & Co., New York, receives travel bags and a two-week trip to Brussels' World's Fair at the New York party of WINZ Miami, Fla. With him are Rex Rand, WINZ president, and model Charlene Holt. Trip was the top door prize. Taking part in the annual New York party of WPEN-AM-FM Philadelphia, Pa., attended by almost 700 agency people, are (left to right): Erv Rosner, general sales manager; singer Patti Page, and Art Pardoll, F.C.&B., New York. IkkI jjioinised to walk one mile for each 1 100 pledged by his listeners. While mobile units covered his hike through four and one-hall inches of snow, more than .8,000 persons wailed by the highway to contribute. W^hen he crossed the finish line 12 hours lati>. Frosty had raised .S.S,997 and a lO.S-degree lever. • Radio is paying extra dividends to listeners through continuing developments in hi-fidelity broadcasting. KI)K.\-AM-FM Pittsburgh, Pa., and WFIL-AM-FM Philadelphia, Pa., have installed stereophonic sound play-back ecpiipmcnt and are progranuning "good music" from stereo tapes. By using an am and an fm receiver, the home listener is able to enjoy concert hall realism through these binaural broadcasts, the stations report. "Good nuisic" is experiencing a boom in Portland, Ore., according to KEX-.^M-FM. Sales of fill and hi-fidelity equipment in the Portland area are way up, says KEX, and attendance at the Portland symphony concerts is at an all-time high. Fm set sales show a 25 percent rise over 1957 and sales of hi-fidelity equipment are up 30 percent. • • • 42 U. S. RADIO March 1958