Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-08
Ado broadcasting has add
ed a new phrase to the
idiom of the entertainment
I xryAplS TIoa YoIraeA US,a

nationally famous by broadcast
ing.
A few years ago personal ap-
pearanceS were considered minor
affairs by radio entertainers. Now
the work of arranging these ap-
pearances has become one of the
largest and most important Jobs
of the broadcasters. 1t also is
profitable.
The National Broadcasting Co.
first recognized the Importance of
the phrase in connection with
broadcaSting more than two years
ago when George EngleS, then a
nationally known concert mana
ger, was engaged to manage the
organizations concert bureau.
How is personal appearance
arranged, Is a question frequently
asked. The answer involves an
explanation of the complicated
machinery Of the artists service
bureau.
The first step is usually to keep
the artist in the public ear
through means of radio. In many
instances the demand for public
appearance is in direct ratio to
the number Of times the artist is
heard in one week. Thus Amos n
| Andy are in constant demand and
find it impossible to fill the en-
gagements offered them.
The artists bureau, therefore, is
not confronted so much with the
problem of securing engagements
for it's entertainers as it Is in OBJ
tanning best engagements, arrang-
ing routes, preparing publicity
and handling the dozens Of little
details that attend the personal
appearance.
Contracts for artists differ in
every State. These contracts must
be checked and approved. Rail-
road schedules must be watched,
for the first duty of a radio artist
is the broadcast and all other en-
gagementS are secondary.
Radio bands, for instance, fire.
quently go on tours and trained
workers arrange the itinerary,
planning it so that the maximum
number of engagements are
played in the minimum time
allowed away from the micro
phone.
Huge charts are in constant
use in the radio booking depart
ment. A glance at the chart re-
veals whether a certain artist is
available for a concert in a GER
tain city on a certain night or
whether an orchestra can play a
series of concerts in certain city
several months away.
The radio artists bureaus are
really clearing house Of enter
tainment talent. 1t is said they
can supply anything from SYM
phony orchestra to q teller of bed
time stories on two hours notice.
y 4
"SPOT broadcasting," or the
- local broadcasting of CEN
trally prepared radio programs, is
spreading apace with the growth
of cnain broadcasting.
Even the most vehement oppo-
nent of recorded programs, the
American Federation of Musicians,
has not been able to stay the
spread of the use of the so-called
electrical transcription" method
Of providing programs, unofficial
ly known as canned music"
And now film monograph con-
tinuitieS, containing one or two
hours Of programs on a strip of
film no more than 500 feet long,
promise to emerge from the lab
oratorieS momentarily to replace
disc recordings with a superior re-
producing system.
These and Syndicated continu-
ity scripts for the local staging Of
programs are becoming more and
more vogue. Added to such meth
DDS Of filling the broadcast peri
DDS, a new species of radio enter
tainer is cropping up in radio in
the form of the itinerant trouper,
who, like the vaudeville actor,
travels from station to station to
perform on one night stands or
longer.
Such sources of broadcast ma
terial have obvious advantages in
economy and ready supply for the
station operator, though some of
Vic lCdNlllS SbclOlO1lo StA1A AOOh
askance at the canned" type of
feature and the broadcasting in
duStry's code of ethics foresWears
the use of photograph records
during the evening hours.
Although the best stations in
New York and Chicago have con-
sistently refused, like the chains,
to present recorded programs to
their audiences, other stations.
especially in places where talent
is not readily available, are &C
cepting them more and more. Be-
cause recorded programs often
offer features equal or superior to
those of the networks, they rest
confident in the belief that ad-
verse listener reaction is a mere
bugaboo.
HARRY EDISON of the National
= Broadcasting Co. forces added
an unintentional touch of realism
to the sound effects for recent
Empire Builders program. The
script called for a waterfall and
Edison attached a hose and spray
to a faucet. At rehearSalS the
water Splashed merrily in tub.
Niagara itself never sounded more
like q waterfall.
Then came the broadcast.
Either the water pressure was
greater, or the time was not esti-
mated accurately, since the tub
was filled before the program was
half completed. Before the cue
came to stop the flow of water the
studio was inundated. The next
time a script calls for a waterfall,
Edison says he will add rubber
boots to the equipment.