Evening star., 1928-09-13
RADIO HEARINGS
NEXT IN ORDER
Substantial Reduction in
Number of Stations Effect
of Drastic Ruling.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

kral Radio Commission and its engi-
neers that better reception conditions
will result from its radio reallocation,
what will be the effect upon the broad
casters at large and in the several radio
zones?
Hearings are next in order on the
commissions program, and these viii
undoubtedly bring forth multitude OF
Sndivdual station plants to add to the
calumny and praise that have been
heaped upon that bod in about equal
proportion since the new assignments
were made public several days ago. The
first of the public hearings for broad
casting stations will not be held until
early in October.
Meanwhile, reviewing the situation
as a whole and in respective zones.
some salient features of the broadcast
Reorganization should be pointed out.
One of the most notable facts about the
new station assignment list IS that a
substantial reduction has been brought
about in the number of broadcaSting
stations.
From a total of 1888, when the COM
mission took hold of the radio problem
q year and half ago. the number has
been reduced to GIG. There are l08 in
the first zone, of New England and Mid
die Atlantic States; 106 in the second
zone, of Northeastern States; lis in the
third zone, of Southern States: 155 in
the fourth zone, Of Middle Western
States, and 1872 in the fifth zone, of
Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast
States.
Some Die Natural Death.
Some stations died a natural death
In the struggle to survive the trying
ordeal the industry has undergone
these Nancy months. Others were Or
dered to quit the air as unfit. Others
consolidated for economic reasons.
The bulk of these stations, Of course,
comprises the local community broad
casters of low power. The reduction in
number of these and stations of higher
power is not so important, however, as
the fact that the reallocation provides
that no more than 165 stations Of SUBJ
stantial power can go on the air at any
one moment during the evening hours.
Nearly all can broadcast freely during
the daylight hours, and it will be pos
sible to add even more community STA
lions of 10, so and 100 watts later
The equalization process did not ap-
NV to the number of station licenses,
for the obvious reason that the dis
parity between the number OF existing
stations within the respective zones was
too great to be pruned down to COM
mon denominator. Where it did apply
and very stringently in many in
stances-was to the assignment of
channels and powers to the stations
within the zones.
The drastic terms of the Davis
equalization amendment operated
harshly upon many stations and upon
many communities. Any conceivable
reallocation under the terms of that
law would have done the same thing.
It Is obvious that the present upheaval,
meritoriouS as may be the principle OF
an equalization of facilities among the
several zones, was necessitated by the
act that required dividing up such
intangibles as wave lengths and powers
on basis of geography and population.
Fourth Zone Cut Hardest.
In the equalization of radio facilities,
the fourth zone, with Chicago as its
broadcast focal point, will suffer the
greatest reductions from present facili-
ties. With eight wave lengths allotted
each zone for broadcasting with power
Of 5000 watts or more, Commissioner
Pickard was faced with the task Of
placing % existing 5000-watters on
them. This will be required to share
time, and to nearly all Of them the
reallocation means a substantial cur
tailment in their operating hours.
Chicago alone has Is such stations,
but under the wave length quota OF
Illinois, based on population, only three
channels could be allotted those sta
tons.
The first zone has many time divi-
eions among the high-powered stations,
but their huge population will save
such States as New York, New Jersey
and Massachusetts, from suffering as
severely as the fourth zone. In the
Southern zone, because of overbuild-
ing of high-power stations in recent
months. time divisions are necessitated
on most Of its eight high-poWer
channels.
Fitting the high-power stations on
the eight channels in the second zone
was not serious problem because there
were relatively few built for such
power, though there are many appli-
cations on file for construction permits.
In the far Western zone the problem
was mainly in picking the best of about
dozen high-powered stations for the
eight channels, and time division was
necessitated only on one.
These facts give some idea OF the
drastic changes in operating time he
ScooICdtcu oI1 lhc CIlolCtSL Ol lIle ~
available wave lengths. On the 35 re-
gional channels even more time divi-
eions were required among stations of
$50 to 1000 watts
The serious economic problem In
volved among the high-powered sta
tons in the hard-hit Middle Western
and Southern zones is realized when it
Is pointed out that it costs about $780,
600 to build a 5,000-watt transmitter,
and its normal operating expenses are
seldom below $l50,000 year.
(Copyrisht, 1928. by North American News
paper Alliance1
AnWHN/ nNnHaRnH - FF