New Britain herald., 1927-06-20
PAYING THE PIPER FOR
 BROADCASTING

pany aspires to be the Associated Press of the air-not in a news sense, but from the standpoint of universality. It is owned by the General Electric. tho Westinghouse, and the Radio Corporation of Amer ica, concerns which are vitally in- terested in radio manufacturing. The deficit of the National Broad casting Company at the end of 1927 Is expected to be in the neighbor- hood of $soo,0oo.
 It costs money to hook up a null titude of radio stations SO that the voice of the President of the United States, or | Lindbergh, may be heard by millions of listeners. Somebody must pay for the process. The contract with the American Telephone and Telegraph company calls for the payment of 31,50o. 900 for wires this year. The telephone octopus" is getting good share of the outlay
 M. H. Aylesworth, president of the National company, says the radio does not and cannot compete with the public press. either in news or advertising. He is frank about it, saying the money to operate radio in this country primarily must come from the concerns interested in the business. The radio manufacturing concerns interested in his company are but part of the concerns man. ufacturing receiving sets, and all directly share in the benefits of the big concern. If the General Elec- tric and the Westinghouse, not to mention the Radio Corporation, con- trol sufficient of the radio patents to enforce royalty payments from all other manufacturers for their use. the scheme would be quite simple. The public would pay for the radio entertainment indirectly, when they buy sets or paraphernalia: but such control of patents is at best incom- plete. perhaps non-existent. Of course, nobody doubts that the Gen. eral Electric and the Westinghouse people have an abundance of f.. nances to continue being the angels of the broadcasting business They'll get the money back somehow, and the public won't know it is furnish ing the financial sinews of broad casting.
 The British system Of government ownership and control of broadcast ing has much to commend 1t. No one can claim that the English are not making q good job of it. maintaining everything from symphony orches- tra for broadcasting purposes down to employing single performers and paying them. The British don't like the American system. and being somewhat more methodical. early lodged tke possibility of conner cializing radio reception. Conditions in England are radically different from 8 geographical standpoint however, the islands lacking in DIX or distance, SO that the dozen or SC governmental radio stations estab. lished enable everyone on the is- lands to tune to the government pro. grams with one or two-tube sets, fl not crystal sets. The British govern. ment also operates the telephone and telegraph wires, and everything is quite simplified for its radio en. terprise. In this country. 5000 miles wide. there are no compara ble con. ditions: there are still sections o1 the country where the nearest broadcasting station is hundreds o1 miles distant.
 It would be interesting to com. pare reception conditions in London either New York or Chicago. IT such comparison London has b, far the better of the argument-i1 simply has no such congestion.