Variety radio directory (1938)

FEDERAL RADIO REGULATION— Continued by the United States Court of Appeals in reviewing decisions of the Commission. In one of these cases the Court, in holding that the finding was not supported by the evidence, stated that lack of financial qualification is not shown merely by the fact that the applicant proposes to use borrowed money for the purpose of construction and operation, even though the loan is not covered by sufficient collateral or other security to insure the station against lien, foreclosure or seizure. The Court said : "In answering this question we look first for some measure of financial qualification to guide us. We are referred to no rule or regulation of the Commission suggesting such a rigid standard. On such an important question Ave think the public is entitled to have the statute implemented by a regulation setting out clearly and concisely just what the Commission regards as a minimum standard of financial responsibility. Evidently Congress had the same intent.***" NEED FOR SERVICE AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF STATIONS. Repeatedly over the years the Commission's examiners have made recommendations, and the Commission has made decisions, granting or denying an application, based in part or in whole upon findings as to whether a need for the proposed service existed. A reading of the Examiner's reports and Commission decisions indicates that the word "need" has been used in a variety of senses. Sometimes it has referred to the lack of sufficient broadcasting service in a physical sense, that is, in terms of number of stations delivering a satisfactory signal strength to the community. Sometimes it has been in a relative sense, depending on comparison of the community with others of like population or wealth. On still other occasions the word "need" has seemed to depend on a variety of other factors, including whether or not there exists sufficient advertisingsupport or commercial demand tor the station, whether the civic, philanthropic, educational and other institutions of the community have had their needs and demands sufficiently met by existing stations whether the existing stations adequately respond to the program needs of the community with respect either to network programs, local programs, educational programs or other types of program, and whether the proposed new station will offer some program service not already available. There has been a tendency to base a denial of an application for a new station on a finding that the applicant does not propose a program service different from the sort already provided the community by existing stations. Just what this means is impossible to say since nearly all stations follow somewhat the same pattern of program service and there are cities in which 12, 15 or 18 stations are now in licensed operation, most of them differing only in details rather than in the general character of service. The reports and decisions may be searched in vain for anyr indication of rules or principles susceptible of uniform application. Page after page is devoted to an unadorned recital of facts shown by the record, without any attempt to interpret or to measure the facts by any standard or criterion. No effort has been made, for example, to determine what is an adequate or reasonable choice of programs to provide for the listening public, either generally or in proportion to population density or any other factor. Since the repeal of the Davis Amendment in 1936 there have been no rules fol 537