Evening star., 1926-04-04
HOOVER POLICIES
TO Be UNCHANGED
Passage of Pending Bill
Would Give Him Legal
Power, However.
BY CARL ii. BUTMAN.

BY CARL ii. BUTMAN.
Secretary Hoover contemplates no
radical change in his method of ad-
mniStcrinG iadiQ even if increased
authority. such as is contemplated In
the pending legislation, is granted the
Department OF Commerce. He would,
however. have legal authority to en-
force his regulations and decisions. in
stead OF the mere voluntary backing
of the industry and the public. Con-
sequently there would be no pirating
of wave lengths. usurping of time on
the air and barter in broadc sta
tions, and their operating licenses,
which ordinarily are not transferable.
Those who fear an upheaVal in the
whole broadcaSting industry have only
to study the situation to see the nm
practiCabilty of such a move. There
would be no wholesale slaughter OF
either small or large stations, no
general reaSSignment of wave lengths,
unless science should show better
distribution plan, presenting mutual
benefits and certainly no faVorltlSm
\ general relicensing would follow the
enactment of legislation. as it is one
Of the provisions to be carried out
within a certain time, but it is doubt
full if many of the present broad
casters would be refused licenses, un-
less they could not qualify under the
act or where guilty of definite wrong
doing Some few offenders who are
already classified as pirates or fail
TO maintain service of value to the
public listeners might be refused
right-of-way in the either.
Many Stations Will Lose.
One thing is certain: Few of the 45O
hGA
without good reason. Admittedly "a
stations in the vicinity of Chicago are
TOO many, but Secretary Hoover would
hardly attempt the work of
modern Solomon in an effort to de
eide which stations should be closed
and which should carry on, nor would
he be apt to ask an advisory commit
tee of five men to determine such To-
cal question. If such problems have
solutions, it remains for the respective
communities to answer them. How
ever. the old doctrine of the survival
of the fitteSt will aid materially In
working out such municipal problems.
Everything now points to decrease
in the NUMBER of stations in large
community centers, due TO their in
reference with each other; many
high-powered stations are moving
their transmitting plants 10 OF 20
miles outside these cities. They re
tain their studios in town, where the
talent is available. This tendency
will make for less local blanketlng ana
leave the fans more latitude in select
ing stations. This movement must
not be mistaken for a general exodus
of broadcasterS from urban TO rural
districts, for this will never be the
case. Transmitters must be located
n, 70 n
ulation so that large numbers may be
served besides which munlclpdi 10
calities furnish more facilities, includ-
ing cheaper power. than would De
found in the country. Studios ana
pickup stations or extensions VIII be
maintained at public places and cen
ters where the talent is readily Sc
cured.
Some States Handicapped.
Here is the answer to the question.
why not have broadcasters in
every State?" Some States do not
need them; others could not support
high-powered stations nor supply the
necessary orchestraS and artists;
their population is not sufficiently
great. And, after all. those residents
who have fairly good receivers can
get plenty OF outside stations. The
Federal and State representatives
might suffer without a state station,
since they would not be abba TO broad
east directly to their constituents.
Nevertheless, the Commerce Depart
ment officials will always be little
more willing to grant license in a
State or district without a station
than they will in the case of a well
supplied locality, provided of course
suitable backing is guaranteed.
1t is the general belief that the
broadcast situation will take care of
itself. That is, with few new stations
licensed in the future and the nat
ural decrease among the smaller
broadcasters, together with the pop
ular tendency to combine transmit
ing plants and share the time. the
list Of 532 active stations today will
gradually drop to around 300 reliable
and we'll located broadcaSters, which
will serve the whole country. In the
past three years, SIS broadcasters
have closed down, an average of 216
= year. This average will not be
maintained because a station in good
standing today has come to be val
liable asset, both to it's owners, local
business men and the community
itself
II only so stations drop out year.
and no new ones are licensed, we
would have only 282 active stations
at the end of five years, if/the situa-
Jion remains unchanged. Most eX
lIerts believe this would be the ideal
number, as the survivors would of
3Iecessity be the best and most pop
lIlar stations.
Methods of broadcast transmits
sion and reception may, of course,
change: engineers may show us how
more stations can be accommodated
on the available ether channels, or
they may open new and broader
bands for broadcasting. No one
dares predict as to future possibili-
ties. and as another administration
would have to handle the difficulties
prevailing at the end of five years,
those concerned at the Commerce
Department are not worrying; they
have plenty of work today.