The Washington herald., 1922-10-15
BRITISH ADVANCE
BY SLOW DEGREES
IN RADIO FIELD
Government Takes Con,
trol-Plan One Broad
casting Station.

1t may appear surprising to Amer
leans that radio broadcasting on a
large scale has not yet been bsgun
In Great Britain. The reason is that
British government authorities and
the radio manufacturers have been
making haste slowly in order to
avoid what tn. London Times calls
the endless confusion which ha.
occurred in the United States. where
broadcasting has been allowed 10
grow haphaxsrd." broadly. the Brit
ish scheme is to have all broadcast
ing done by a single organization.
which will b. sanctioned by the
government, operated by the manu-
facturers OF receiving sets and
financed jointly by both.
The six principal manufacturers
Of radio equipment in Great Britain
have incorporated a broadcasting
company, stock ownership in which
VIII be available to themselves and
to any other manufacturers Of radio
receiving equipment in the British
Isles" said Mr.. Frank Gill, of Lon
don, European chief engineer Of tn.
International Western Electric Com
pany and preside mt elect of the Brit
ish Institution of Electrical EnCi-
neers. who has just arrived in the
United States. The broadcastIng
company will have a capital OF fIO0.-
600, which has been guaranteed By
these six manufacturers.
Geinford President.
Any bona-fide British msnufac-
turer Of wireless apparatus may join
the company by subscribing to one
or more shares. The president Of
the broadcasting company will be
Lord Gainford. a well-known public
man who is not connected with any
of the radio companies. Present
plans call for the establishment of
stations. at London. Birmingham,
Manchester. Newcastle, Cardiff, GIas-
gov, Plymouth and Aberdeen.
The question which is beginning
to draw more and more attention
in America as to who shall pay the
very considerable expenses of oper-
ating broadcasting stations and fur
nishing satisfactory programs. has
been solved in Great Britain in an
ingenious way" said Mr.. Gill. Over
there. amateur receiving sets have
always required a license from the
post ONCE department. which has
supervision over all forms of COM
munication. This license fee is 10
shlllings per annum, or about $22O
The post ONCE has agreed to pay to
the boardcasting company half of
this annual fee. The postmaster
general believes IL Is to the real
interest of the country that the gov
eminent should assist in providing
first class broadcastins service.
Must Pay Fee.
While II 10, Of course. possible for
! an amateur to erect a receiving set
| surreptitiously,i IL is Mr.. GIL = opin-
ion that only a very small NUMBER
have or will take this method of
avoiding the payment of the license
| fee. Il notice that your motorists on
Fifth avenue, New York. invariably
malt their cars when the distant
signal lamp tells them to stop. even
though there may be no policeman
at hand to enforce II. Drivers real
lie that the Fifth avenue traffic
regulations are for their benefit, and
so they play fair under the rules.
Much the same spirit on the part o
our radio enthusiasts will keep them
from trying to avoid the small pay
ment which all are expected to
make"
In addition to its share OF the gov
ernment's license fee. the broadcast
ing company will receive from every
manufacturer who is member of
/ If fees hasAd h.g
receiving apparatus for amateur
use. 1t has been estimated that
each broadcasting station will cost
about $4,000 per annum for oper-
ating and program fees, and any
profits which remain after the pay
ment OF all charges will be divided
among the broadcasting company's
stockholders up to a maximum Of
"a per cent on their investment.
VIII Issue Licenses,
In order to protect the radio man.
ufacturers from foreign competition
the government has agreed not TO
license for use any receiving sta
tons equipped with other than ap-
paratus made by members of the
broadcastinS company. This will
be substantial protection TO the
public against inferior sets. because
the Postoffice Department will in
! spect all apparatus before giving
Its approval. American listeners-in
who are annoyed by bowling from
their neighbors' regenerative sets
Will be interested % know that the
British oostohice will not approve
of any sets containing this feature.
This naTind of Ezn
sets to those Of British manufacture
Will be for the period ending De-
cember u. 1924, but before that time
the government has agreed to re-
view the situation and consider the