Evening star., 1924-04-20
BY ROBERT Il. SMALL.

NEW YORK, April ls.-No sooner
In the fight in the air settled in one
direction that it breaks out in an
other. The threatened patent suits
over broadcasting apparatus have
been abandoned because the stations
which were to be sued have agreed
to certain royalties or rentals.
This settlement has had an unex-
pected result here in New York. AL
most Immediately there have come
applications for the erection Of at
least half dozen additional power
full broadcasting plants. The appli-
cations range all the way from the
city of New York itself down to a
small department store.
"Does Broad sting Pay."
These applications would seem in
themselves 10 dispose. at least tenn
porarily, of the question Does
broadcasting pay?" 1t certainly must
pay in some manner o: why would
additional concerns be willing to go
to the great expense of erecting and
maintaining the sending stations?
The problem has arisen of provid-
ing practical wave lengths for all of
the proposed new stations. The rep
resentative here of the Department
of Commerce at Washington, which
regulates the ether side of the radio,
wants at least four of the new broad
casting stations to take the same
wave length, despite the fact that all
are to be in the same radio zone.
This would mean, of course, that the
four stations would have to arrange
division because
no two of them could operate sue
cessfully at the same hour
Fight Over Wave Length.
The suggestion that the city OF
New York should share a wave
length with three other stations mas
aroused the city fathers. In the hrst
place they object to such low wave
measure as 316 meters. They want
at least 1872, and as this happens to
be the wave assigned TO the teie-
phone trust" there are static noWls
in all directions. The teiepnone mon con-, I'M
field, and it thinks 1T ought TO nave
its own wave length exclusively. The
city says il is willing TO share tsz
on a fifty-fifty basis with the teie,
seent has retorted by asking if the
city had the wave first, would 1t
agree to share it with some one eise.
Theoretically. it would seem there
60 around, even II every station had
q different one. Some radio work is
carried on UP in the $4,000. And there
are only about 500 real broadcasting
stations in the United States
Receiving Set Limited.
Asa matter of fact, however, in the
nresent state of radio development,
there are only between ten ano
twelve practicable wave lengths
available in each radio zone. This is
entirely due to the limited effective
ness of the average receiving set 1t
is necessary to leave wide gaps be-
tween the broadcasting waves so as
TO permit of the tuning out OF un-
wanted stations:
AS the receiving sets grow in per.
lection. the wave length problem Will
solve itself, but at the moment 1t is
an acute one in the thickly settled
sections of the country where the
broadcasting stations are likely to
multiply rather than diminish. 1t
would be an easy matter for the De-
partment of Commerce to solve the
problem by assigning different
lengths to each station, but the re-
suit would be tumble in the air and
despair in the radio audience. 1t is
to protect the audience. the radio
public that the department. has TO
proceed with so much caution and
discretion.
Copyrights Also Problem.
In addition to the wavc-length
problem, there is renewed agitation
over the question as, to whether or
not copyrighted music and songs can
be broadcast over the radio without
the formal consent of the composers
and publishers.
Some of the comDosers. notably