Evening star., 1927-11-17
An Unpopular Request


The Federal Radio Commission is to
request Station WRC to quit broad
casting at II o'clock at night, so that
Eastern listeners will have chance to
pick up KFI in Los Angeles, which
operates on the same wave length, and
other distant stations in the Midwest
and the West. WRC, therefore, will
be expected to arrange its program 80
that it can be ended one hour before
midnight.
In issuing this order, the Radio Com
mission must be exceedingly optimistic
regarding the character of radio sets
owned by Washingtonians. The com.
mission must believe that every one of
the thousands Of sets here is an eight
tube affair. with batteries and tubes in
perfect condition, and the radio owner
keen on fishing for static-clouded mu-
sic. AS matter of fact, there are
perhaps less than a hundred Wash
ingtonians who have ever had the
thrill of picking up West rN-t sta
tions. There may be mortss Nd It is
doubted il authentic instances OR this
kind will exceed that number.
1t is almost as ridiculous for the ma
jority of Washingtonians to try to
reach Los Angeles after WRC has
shut down as it was for the happy and
confident owner of two.tube set last
year to lose sleep in an attempt to
bring in European stations at a time
when every American broadeaster was
silent and the ether was absolutely
clear. A few with powerful sets and
keen ears undoubtedly succeeded in
their quest, but the music that was
received was as unsatisfactory as it
was feeble. It is the same with Wash
ingtonians attempting to bring in
p'Sst Coast stations. A few will do it.,
ID the majority will turn off their
t5ets disgustedly after straining their
ears to pierce the weird noise that
characterizes present-day radio in a
vain search for entertainment.
Besides the fact that only few out
of the thousands of radio listeners
here succeed in spanning the three
thousand miles of air between the
East and the West-and some of these
few make extravagant claims of sue
cess when success has not been theirs
the great majority Of local fans do
not care in the slightest whether kFI
of Los Angeles, KoA at Denver, or
even webb at Chicago are operating
or not. WRC furnishes good enter
tainment free from static, and if WRC
does not suit them they can flip the
dial to WIZ, which is powerful enough
to be heard in Washington at all
times. They have their choice of two
stations and possibly more that they
can pick up without difficulty, that do
not fade, and that wear on the nerves
the least because Of the absence of
huns and suueals and other Irritating
noises.
Compared to the number or listeners
to local music, the distance radio bug
is decidedly in the minority. The en-
thusiasn, however, of the long dis
tance fan is so great that two or three
o'clock in the morning Is his average
bedtime on good radio nights, and he
will stay up at his set in the wee small
hours regardless of whether WRC
broadcasts late or not. So, inasmuch
as it makes little difference to the
long distance fan if he starts fishing at
eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and
it does make a vast difference to the
majority of fans who enjoy local pro-
grams If their music is turned off too
early, it appears that the Federal
Commission viii find small support for
its request of Station WRC.