Evening star., 1929-01-04
CITY Of NEW YORK
FILES RADIO SUIT
WNYC Claims Vested Rights
on Air in Case Entered
in D. c. Courts.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

A vexing problem in radio broadcast
ing Is brought into sharp relief IN New
York CityS suit against the Federal
Radio Commission, filed in the Court of
Appeals of the District of Columbia.
For the first time the legal issue Is
raised between public ncn-profit making
stations and those operated by private
enterprise for direct or indirect gain.
Broadcasting at best is not highly
profitable at this stage in its develop
ment Few stations in the country are
showing favorable balance sheets. most
of them depending upon various forms
of private subsidy for Sustenance. II is
distinctly an American policy. however.
that private initiative shall hold sway
over the ether after the needs of the
Federal Government have been met.
Comes now the City of New York
with a claim of prior rights for station
WNYC. largely by ,.irtiie 0f 80 govern
mental and municipal character. The
station was required by an order of the
Federal Radio Commission last month
TO share operating hours equally on one
of New York States allocated region
at wave lengths with WMCA, a COM
mercial station.
Backed by Mayor Walker ard the city
authorities of New York, WNYC is car
rying its demand for full time on the
wave length to the courts after an
Intellectual effort to get what it wanted
at a hearing before the commission.
The case would be purely local in inn
portance except for the city's grounds
for claiming prior rights for the munich
pal station and the public ownership
issue that inevitably arises.
Claim Abuse of Power.
Th &c ou~cod A.. +ha anoooI 49, tho
commission abused its discretion in
compelling a municipal station to share
a wave length with a station operated
for private profit. The order is de-
clared to be void for the further reason
that it hinders New York City from
exercising its governmental and NUM-
cipal function, to wit, the broadcaSting
of orders, directions. news and infor-
nation respecting the health. safety,
education. convenience and wellbeing
of the City of New York"
The question Immediately arises
whether the operation of radio sta
tion in virtual competition with private
enterprise is a necessary ard proper
function of municipality. New York
City spent about $50.000 for the sta
tion, which has been in use since July,
1924, and Is expending more than $50,-
600 annually in its maintenance.
The contention of the city'S counsel
Is that the commissions order of time
division is illegal because, in effect, it
destroys the license of the City of
New York D operate broadcaSting
station, one of the purposes of which
is to make available for use any time
of day or night an agency for the
broadcasting of police, fire and other
emergency messages and alarms" as
well as news of missing persons. crimi-
mails, stolen automobiles epidemicS, Sc
rious accidents and catastrophies, APT
TO happen at any time in the teeming
and complex life city of 5000, 600
inhabitants"
The Radio Commissions counSelors
are withholding comment pending the
preparation of a reply brief. They
revealed an interest in the case, how
ever. because of the precedentS it will
involve. If New York City has prior
rights, will it mean that other munich
palitieS can go into broadcastino and
claim the same priority? Municipal
stations are virtual competitors of COM
mercial stations because of the scarcity
Of wave lengths.
Vested Rights Claimed.
This is only one OF the legal PROPOSE
tions. In this connection the testimony
New York at the WNYC hearing is re-
called. He maintained that city and
State governments and their subsidiary
public welfare divisions. such as police
departments or colleges, have just
claims to vested rights on the air.
Such a view is wholly untested in
law, but it is known to be unpopular
with the commission. Because of the
superior, all-around service the COM
mercial stations render and their inva-
riably greater popularity with the audi
ence. the commission has been disposed
to assign them the better wave lengths
and powers, with the idea that their
facilities can be called into use in times
of stress or for public needs. Fear has
always been felt, too, that publicly
owned stations would be used for the
aggrandizement of the political group
in power, although no such point is
believed to be involved in the New York
situation.
Several members of the commission
are known to be opposed to the owner
ship of stations bv municipal or State
governments, in the belief that their
audiences are too limited and wave
lengths all too few, as well as on the
public ownership theory. Carried %
Its logical extreme, public ownership
and operation on priority basis would
leave room not only for no commercial
stations at all but for relatively few
municipal or State stations, in view of
the capacity of wave lengths.
On .he other hand, public ownership
might be accepted as a principle and
all programs might be made to emanate
from publicly-owned stations That is
the way most foreign countries handle
radio broadcasting 1t Is one of the
considerations now before the Canadian
commission recently appointed to inVes-
tigate the Dominion's broadcasting
woes.
(Copyright. 1929. by North American
Newspaper Alliance)