Evening star., 1928-11-23
NEW RADIO GIANT
! VIEWED IN MERGER
Holster and Wired Radio Ex-
peCted to Absorb De
Forest interests.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

DI N1hhLAN GODLA
Prospects of the rise of another giant
In the radio field, preSaged by the con-
tracts Just completed between the Kol-
Ster Radio Corporation and Wired Ra-
: dio, Inc, are strengthened by the like
1ihood of a merger between the holster
and the DR. Lee De Forest radio in
terests. Both in the production of radio
apparatus and in the distribution Of en-
tertainment programs, this comblna-
ton of patent strength promises to
rival the great Radio Corporation OF
America.
That wired radio, or the transmits
' sion of programs into homes VIA elec-
trio light wires, is entering It's neW!y
created field in earnest is further 1ndl-
Gated by unconfirmed reports that the
Wired Radio interests are arranging
with the Western Union for irterclty
wire lines. along which to send pro-
grams from the great master studio"
to be established by Wired Radio. Inc.
holster acquired title to about 600
patents in the wire and wireless nelo,
:. Including some covering electric pho
nographs, television and talking moves,
under its contract with Wired Radio,
Inc, which is a subsidiary OF the
North American Co.. one Of the leading
public utility holding companies in the
United States Under the contracts the
holster company will not only use
these patents in the radio and COM
munication field, in which it Is already
q strong factor, but it will produce a
minimum of one-third of the total ap-
paratlis needed by Wired Radio, Inc.
Get Feedback Rights.
The proposed merger with the De
Forest interests will fortify this great
patent aggregation further by adding
to it the all-important feedback cir
cult, rights to which DR.. De Forest
obtained under the recent decision OF
the Supreme Court cf the United States
IN the celebrated Armstrong-De Forest
litigation.
Moreover. holster will control the
vacuum tube production of the present
De Forest Radio Co. Samuel A. Darby,
ir.. counsel for De Forest in the famous
lawsuit, is authority for the statement
that negotiations are now under way
with holster
1t is a practical certainty that the
sending of wired radio programs Ito
homes over power lines will be an ac-
complishment of the next year. The
Wired Radio interests are now making
an experimental installation in SubSta-
tions of the North American Co. In
Cleveland The special receiving sets
that will be installed and maintained
at a. moderate monthly fee In homes
served by power companies will soon go
into manufacture in the holster fac
tories in this country and in Canada:
Just where the master studio" Tor
originating the programs will be located
has not been announced, but 1t is eX-
pected that the Wired Radio programs
will first be offered to people served by
the five main groups of electric light
and power companies controlled by the
North American Co. Each group forms
an interconnected power system.
Serves Washington.
These groups are located in Central
California, centering in San Francisco, |
Oakland, Sacramento and Fresno; in
Ohio, centering in Cleveland; in Mis-
souri,, Illinois and Iowa, centering in
st. Louis and East st. Louis; in Wis |
eonsin and the upper peninsula OF Mich |
sgan. centering in Milwaukee. Racine, |
Kenosha and Appleton, and in Wash |
ington, D. c., extending into adjacent !
sections of Virginia and Maryland. The
North American system serves ]. 100000
customers in more than 300 communl-
ties.
That the service will not be confined
to those areas, however, is indicated by |
the plan to use Western Union land |
lines. These would connect the differ |
ent groups to the master studio" the |
old plan of utilizing short waves for the |
relays having apparently been aban-
<ioned. Western Unions wires into |
practically every city in the United
States would make it possible for any
other power company to take the serv-
Ice and offer it to its customers.
The sets to be installed in homes on
d rental basis will be adaptable for the
reception of space" as well as wired
radio. The wired radio circuits viii
permit of the selection of three wired
programs on the set, one being classical
music, another popular entertainment,
and the third lectures and education
features The advantage claimed for
wired radio Is that it eliminates static,
fading and station interference; makes
Summer reception as good as Winter,
and precludes the absorption Of radio
waves by steel-frame buildings.
The Wired Radio interests IRE re-
peatedly giving assurances that they
have no. hope of diSplacing present
broadcaSting on the air.
Wired radio in the future will sup
plement but not displace broadcaSting,
Frank L. Dame president of the North
American Co.. declared when the Kol-
Ster contracts were announced.
(Copyright, 1928, By North American
Aliiance1