What's on the air (Mar-June 1931)

Page 72 WHAT'S ON THE AIR June, 1931 =3Si WESTERN UNION Albany, N Y. What's ON THE Air: Your supposition correct, tribution gratis. Dedicate Russell Frazer. J Use to P. conHugh M. RIDING THE RADIO WAVES. To me the radio is a magician of great skill; He takes me from my somber self, transports me at will; He makes me forget trials I face, troubles that I know; I find a whole new, glorious world, through the magic of radio. I like to feel I leave this earth, when I turn my dial; I seem to float on different waves coming all the while. I hear great stars, great music; feel historic things; I feel greater sitting here, than all those oldtime kings. At my elbow I control the greatest of earth's men; I hear and feel great events, conceived and felt by them. I conquer at once past and present, the future I can see; I know that the coming age is a great one for you and me. I recommend that if you find your friends no longer true, That if your daily contacts appeal no more to you, Just turn your dial and embark on the best the world e'er gave, And you will be a gay and exultant soul, riding the radio waves. Albany, N. Y. J. P. M. "DAYLIGHT SAVING IS BAD" Daylight Saving is bad for us, as it is impossible for us to get out to WLW, KMOX, WTAM, etc., until about 8 p. m. or later, C. S. T., and it will be worse as the weather grows warmer. This means that we can't get anything before 9 p. m., Eastern Daylight, and are missing Barbasol, Lowell Thomas, over the Columbia, and other favorite features, which grieves me. It was all we could do to reach these programs in winter, and now it is impossible. Would like to see CBS hook up with the KGFK, Moorhead, Minn., as our closest CBS station is WCCO, Minneapolis, and we can't reach them until about 9 p. M., C. S. T. Lead, N. D. G. B. "BURIED TREASURE" You could greatly increase the popularity of your magazine if you would offer prizes for errors discovered in it. You might make a game of it. Such a game would be very easy to play, and might some day become the leading indoor sport. You evidently work on the theory that a mistake, once made, must go uncorrected, unless a couple of new errors are used for replacement. Those of your readers who object to the sarcasm written about Lowell Thomas would very likely not object to similar sarcasm directed toward some "pet radio grudge" of theirs. I enjoy listening to this gentleman, but I do not place him on a pedestal. However, there must be a great many people who do not care whether Lowell Thomas broadcasts or not; and these people certainly have a right to express their feeling. Your columnist who got out the N. Y. C. News for the April issue, must be complimented for being so wide awake. In his first paragraph he uses the call letters of two stations — namely, WALK and WEAR— both long deleted. If he really wants to search for descriptive call letters, I would be glad to loan him a call-book published in 1924. I can picture him tearing through such a book with all the gusto of one searching for buried treasure. Though there is a great deal wrong with What's on the Air, I get a great deal of pleasure out of it, and have bought it regularly since it first appeared on the neighborhood news-stand. Philadelphia, Pa. P. W. If with yourself you would be fair, Buy a copy of What's on the Air, Then look for the programs you love best, And What's on the Air will do the rest. So just draw up your easy chair And glance o'er the pages of What's on the Air, And when you've given it a trial You'll find to own one is worth while. You'll find your favorites listed there, From here and there and everywhere; And when you've tried it, you won't doubt it, And never more will you do without it. Girard, Pa. M. M. THE ADVERTISING CREMATORY "Canned programs" will in time reduce radio broadcasting to the present level of the once popular vaudeville stage. Every time I hear, "This is an electrical transcription," I turn my dial elsewhere, and if, in doing so, I unwittingly tune in to another phonograph reproduction, I feel as though I had been gypped. As an illustration as to how radio broadcasting can in some cases drive away trade, I wish to cite my own experience. The advertiser does not use "transcriptions," so far as I know, but he does something infinitely worse in "hogging the dial." By this I mean using so many powerful chain stations that their broadcasting will overlap on the dial to the exclusion of other programs. It is like buying the entire issue of a newspaper and using even the front page for bold-face advertising. For nearly twenty years I smoked a certain brand of cigaret which was introduced about 1909, buying them, not on account of advertisements, but strictly upon their merit. In fact, the past two years I bought them in spite of advertising which was an insult to the intelligence of the average man. What did I care if they were indorsed by 52,648 physicians, or if, according to the announcer, they are kind to your throat? Haven't you noticed how much stronger power is used by certain stations comprising the red network of NBC on a certain hour three nights a week than is used in the programs preceding and following the one to which I refer? Isn't it silly for the blue network of NBC to put on a good, non-commercial program and at the same time kill it with their red network? Just try to get a good program like the Cuckoo Hour on Saturday night, and, instead, you will hear fifty thousand watts of B. S. Woof and his Paralytic Stroke Dance Orchestra all over the dial. Toasting may purify, but in this case it burns me up. Munciu, Ind. R. P. M. BECAUSE OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME During the past few days I have been missing several good programs because of Daylight Saving Time. They were both chain and non-chain programs. This was because some stations use that time and others don't, which causes me much confusion. Charleston, W. Va. C. A. G. MORE "ABIES" In your column, "I. Windy City Sidelights," in the March (1931) issue of What's on the Air, noticed an item there about running into Anthony Stanford, the Abie of "Abie's Irish Rose." This is just to let you know that, like the merchant next door, we have "the original Abie" of the same play, Hal Shubert, now studio manager of KOIL at Council Bluffs and Omaha. This is not written to disparage Mr. Stanford, for in the years the play has been going there surely must have been more Abies, but KOIL claims the distinction of having the "original Abie" in its midst. Council Bluffs, la. B. A. F. JUST CREATE A LITTLE ENERGY This letter is in answer to the complaint of R. J. D. against electrical transcriptions in the April issue of your magazine. He stated that many of his friends disliked electrical transcriptions, but he failed to take into consideration the fact that there are thousands and thousands of fans who derive considerable enjoyment from this type of program. Recordings present to us orchestras which we would otherwise be unable to hear. They enable us to enjoy the efforts of artists who can not make personal appearances at the broadcasting station. I am in favor of a certain amount of electrical transcriptions and I suggest that R. J. D. and any one else who does not like this type of entertainment just create a little energy and tune their set in on another station. St. Louis, Mo. T. K. H. "So just draw up your o'er the pages SUPERFLUOUS $? Undoubtedly you receive all sorts of strange letters, but after you read this one I am sure you will think it the strangest you have ever read; but strange things happen in this day and age, as you most probably have found out. Although you are a total stranger to me, I am going to ask of you a favor. "Caramba!" I am only twenty -one years old, but intensely interested and schooled in music. It has been •" my entire lifework, as I ever expect it to be, but lack of money, "mazuma," kale, or whatever you may call it, stands in my way. I own one of orchestras in Missouri. statement easy chair ami glance of WOTA." I can recall a number of instances where visitors in my home have expressed surprise at the easy way with which I was able to locate any program, and, upon being shown how it was done by What's on the Air method, there have been many expressions of approval. Wilmington, Del. D. R. R. the most sensationa (Perhaps you have heard such thousands of times, but maybe you haven't; that is a chance I have to take.) Perhaps you know of some one with superfluous money who would like to do mankind a favor, would be willing to back us up until we get a start on the air. I can promise you the surprise of your life when you hear my band; they will be a seansation. They are naturalborn clowns as well as exceptional musicians. St. Louis, Mo. W. H. T. RADIO ADVERTISING Radio listeners are acquiring what might be called "radio advertising" ear. It is simply a habit to listen through radio advertising. Occasionally an especially badly managed advertisement rouses us sufficiently to feel irritated about it. We tamely listen to a ham advertisement after hearing some of the greatest music ever written — that occurs in the Armour Hour. But I am not making a specific attack on any one program. Every person can name many such cases. If one went to a recital, a ham advertisement in the middle of the program would most decidedly be out of place. We hive thickened our mental hide so that the incongruity is passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, the evil is there. When a business man sets up a series of posters or ads, it is always conspicuous that he puts in a large catch title. He knows that the average man will not read the entire ad, especially in periodicals, and so he places something that the reader will be sure of seeing. But in radio the listener is forced to hear whatever is spoken; there is no skipping a page with a cursory glance. Therefore a business man should not make his radio advertisement much longer than his catch line in his ads. Sponsors seem to work on the time-old principle of giving the people what they want. As if the people are always sure of what they want! The whole process of education consists of giving people a chance to get hold of better things and to form habits in their favor. Again it must be restated that radio is so great an influence that its value must be exploited to the full as regards education. And if its value can not be brought out by business-paid radio, then another way must be found — otherwise the radio loses half its use to the world. Some say, "Look at the good programs offered at the present time." In fact, in the May number of WOTA is a letter listing a whole day's worth of them. Chicago, 111. B. L. TAKING THE JOY OUT OF HIS KOKE. After Wednesday, the 18th of March, Coco Cola pulled Leonard Joy and his all-string orchestra off their program, due to a cut in appropriations. To my mind, they might just as well discontinue their radio advertising altogether, because Mr. Joy and his splendid orchestra have made Coco Cola Hour what it is to-day — one of the truly great programs of the air. I am sure that I am speaking the minds of the entire radio audience, when I say that we will all be terribly disappointed that such action has been taken, as we have all learned to look forward to Coco Cola Hour each week, with the wonderful music that we have been given through the efforts of Mr. Joy, as it is something outstanding; out of the ordinary, and not just another orchestra to be listened to a minute or so and then switch on to something else, for Mr. Joy has held his audience through every second of the program from start to finish — like Maxwell House Coffee — "good to the last note." St. Petersburg, Fla. F. H. L. GREAT ADMIRATION It was my privilege to witness one of Phil Cook's broadcasts from the studibs of WRC during his recent visit to Washington, D. C. If most radio performers are as courteous and modest as he is, well, it must be a joy to studio officials to have them broadcast. One incident especially showed what a thoughtful person he is. A little chap came to the studio all alone just to hear Phil Cook. When we were assembling in the studio this little fellow placed his chair almost directly beside Mr. Cook. The latter said, just before he went on the air: "Sonny, you are rather close to this microphone, so don't forget and say something while I am broadcasting. This is supposed to be a one-man show and you could ruin me." There was no annoyance or temperament; no request that this chap, who was getting the (Continued on page 14)