New Britain herald., 1927-12-03
RADIO ANNOUNCING
 CHATTER PREPARED
Continuity Writers Provide Manuscript for Broadcasters

One of the most difficult and try
 ing features of broadcasting is the
 making of the 'cOntinuity" or series
 of announcements connecting the
 individual numbers of a program,
 according to one of the workers in
 this department at WEAF' who vis-
 itod New Britain this week. Several
 writers are employed by this station
 and hy WJT 10 prepare the cOntinui-
 tics ol the features which are to be hrCa1nast over the networks radiat-
 ing fem these, stations, and their tii;- L. nrc many.
 \ l3@@. number. probably a ma
 i"r.r@ of people, believe that a ra- Jto s.aNaunccr speaks extemporane- ..-'.. &nd hes 10 make up his brief :.r,-ANs aS he goes along. While tt:s .i of course true in the broad e. iir, of events like football games and also flor minor programs more careful ilea Sures are taken with the "dour>,~ which 20 out through the r"jWerii.5 to, large numbers of sta tons Every Qnnonncemcnt--in fact. very NpIN VII llSL bt. 'Ndtlls tHN right one. and in the fight 10 guard against any failure of inspiration rho continuity writer has his excuse fer existence.
 This little known and unthanked person is usually responsible for the .aiips which bring the favor of the audience to the announcer. He i, given q program and list Of per fornicrs. together with the names of aivdrtScl products of the concern sponsoring the feature, and he pro- roctis 10 weave these into coherent ;rAnid plciSing whole. Every word must be approved by the program director of the station, and rewrit- , ings are Frequent. Then every once in q while one of the artists on the program will change a number and the continuity writer must find a new inspiration to cover the revision.
 Frequently. too, the sponsoring company objects to some feature of the continuity. usually on the ground that it's product is not mentioned enough. Considering that the use of the network costs some $3,000 a l half-hour, the wishes of these con- i ccrns must be respected, so changes are ordered and made. Some firms, |. even those with many products and slogans which take much time to re- [ peat, insist upon frequent repetition . of the excellent qualities of their . wares, while others apply the soft i pedal to direct advertising and use it only as the climax to a program. Naturally, the continuity writer pre- fors the latter type.
 The government edict that all stations in the network must give their own call letters every 15 min utos causes further worry and work. Before each program list of cues, telling when to cut in, is tele- graphcd to each station on the chain. The proper announcements gre also included, in order that the effect built up in the program may not he destroyed by laundering an- nounccr at a local station. Once WEAF neglected to include two stations in these to which telegrams regarding a program were sent, and it cost sSO to send last-minute tele- grams back and forth to rectify the omission.
 The hours of work in a broadcast ing studio are irregular, the radio visitor said, but the work Is ex- ccptionally pleasant, as are the per- sogu"l and general atmosphere of th studio. WEAF and WIZ are r, II nome in their new studio, l order 70 match the lavish ap-