Evening star., 1926-10-17
BROADCAST|NC JAM
:JUST|F|ES HOOVER
So-caIIed Experts, Who Pre-
dicted Little Chaos, Proved
in Error.
BY CARL III. BUTNIAN.

Secretary of Commerce Hoover pre-
dicted last July there would soon be
a chaos in the ether. But as the chaos
did not materialize at once, many "ex-
perts" denied there ever would be any.
The Summer passed without much
trouble from station interference.
Now, however, with the advent Of bet
ter reception weather, even the opti-
mists and those who knew better, but
wanted to bluff the public into believ-
ing that all stations could pick and
choose wave lengths as. they pleased.
without causing trouble, are oegin-
ming to admit that chaos or jam IN
the ether is on its way, if 1t is not
already here.
On July there were 528 stations ac-
lively broadcasting; now there are 584.
-Four quit, but so new stations joined
in making the welkin ring with Whls-
ties and interference screeches. IL
these newcomers had selected stand
ard ether channels which were not al
ready in use by from to Is other
broa adcasters, they might have avoided
congestion: but they took such chan
nels as they saw fit, disregarding the
prescribed 10-kilocycle separation, and
in several cases even created new
routes through the ether which inter
fered with stations on adjacent chan
nels. as we'll as the particular wave
lengths chosen.
Growth Is Rapid.
The growth Of radio brodcasting as
a. business is interesting. AS most OF
the fans know, it started late In 1871.
There were o8 stations licensed the
first wear, but by June 80, 1922, there
was a total of 382 stations operating.
The number increased steadily until
May, 1923, there were 591 broadcasters
active, a gain of 2O9 in IL months,
hut in the next month, June, 1923, the
figure fell off to 573 and a year later,
on June 80, 1924, it had decreased to
535. However, by June, 1925, the to-
tai of broadcasters had climbed back
to 571, only to drop again to 52S In
June, 1926.
Now there are 5s4 stations active.
only less than at the peak of broad
casting in May. 1923. On only three
occasions were there ever more sta.
tions on the air: in May, 1923; in April
the same year, when there were 1ss, Hso
in May 1924, when there were 5o9
again. Undoubtedly on those dates
there were some dead" or inactive
stations still listed, whereas during
the past two years, all inactive sta
tions have been Cancelled, ana only
active ones counted. There have al
ways been plenty of stations broad
casting: in fact, there never has been
less than 519 since September, 1874.
The situation will no doubt become
worse as to number of stations on the
air before it improves, since there are
still many potential broadcasters. Last
June 1t was estimated that 6OO sta
tions wanted to open. Due to various
reasons, so far only 10 per cent OF
them have started operating.
Others to Start Soon.
A large number of organizations and
individuals who can afford 1t and VINO
can find channels believed worth
while trying out. will certainly go on
the air soon. Many applications are on
file with the eight district supervisors
of radio: a number of them demand IL
censes to open stations in the most
coneested centers such as Chicago
and New York, and authority is lack
ing to deny them their right to do so.
Authority is equally lacking in the
Department of Commerce to refuse TO
license these stations on the channels
thev want, no matter how many other
stations are on those wave lengths.
Surely we need law and some one to
enforce it. The situation is becoming
intOlerable.