The Washington times., 1924-04-08
CLAIMS
SERVICES Of
100000
Duties of Announcers Are
Widely Diverse-Some of
the Requirements.

This is the siTth of q series OF
articles Gbout Gra1touncers from the
big broGdcasting stations of tho
country. The linen behind the
guns"
Radio, the newest industry and
science now claims the labor Of
100000 people and the leisure and
rest Of countless more. In the
bfoadcasting branch OF the science
a new vocation, has developed. that
OF the radio announcer.
| To be a successful announcer
| something more than a pleasing
voice and clear enunciation are re.
quired. The ideal announcer is a
musician with knowledge Of com.
| posers and their work; he should
be linguist familiar with French,
Italian and German; he should be
| able in an emergency to make an
announcement in English without
confusion and free from grammati.
| cal errors.
He must be tactful in receMfng
artists and instructing them in
proper position before the micro
| PuOAlC" Ckn6CIS anu Speakers
accustomed to public appearance
very often develop microphone
fright, not because the studio sur.
roundings are overpowering but
because they miss the stimulating
presence Of an audience; it is diff.
cult to visualize the vast radio
audience. headphones on head or
grounded about loud speakers.
Duties Are Not Limited.
The announcer's duties are not
limited to his appearance before the
microphone. At WGY, the popular
station Of the General Electric Com.
pany at Schenectady, rehearsals ere
conducted before an artist is
scheduled on program. These re-
hearsals are conducted by one of
the group of six announcers at
WGY.
BY means of the try-out poor
singers are saved the embarrass-
ment of failure before the micro.
phone. The rehearsal also serves
to demonstrate that certain voices
have not the quality for radio
transmission. Sometimes the fin.
ished and successful singer is found
to have voice unsuited for radio
transmission and on the other hand
a singer whose voice is too weak
for public hall or theater, sometimes
possesses quality and tone which
win instantaneous popularity with
the radio audience.
Four of the six announcers at
WGY are vocal soloistS and may.
in the event Of an emergency, such
as the failure Of scheduled artists to
arrive, step before the microphone
and give a creditable performance.
Kolin Hager, the chief announcer
has been associated with WGY since
the station opened. He is a train
4 ed musician, linguist and public
speaker. When a boy, he was so
prano soloist in an Albany cathe
dral and is now barytone SOLOS,
in a Schenectady church.
Has Musical Education.
Carl Jester is tenor with a
thorough musical education, and
for the past year he has directed
the WGY Light Opera Company
in it's various appearances. Asa o
Coggeshall, also q tenor, a third
announcer, is director of boy
choir in an Amsterdam, N. z
church.
William Fay, the last to join tho
announcer force at WGY is a barry
tone and his voice has brought
him many fan letters. The othe,
announcers at Schenectady station
are Robert Weidaw who give,
much of his time to the executiv.
work of the studio and Edward H
Smith, who is director and lead
ing man Of the players, and as
sists in planning feature programs
such as Uncle Josh's golden wed
ding, and the minstrel shows. Al
entire evenings program may b,
put on by the announcers withou
the aid of outside talent.