Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-26
EQUALIzING PLAN
LAID FOR STATIONS
Gradual CurtaiIment of FaciI-
tiles in cover Quota" Areas
to Be Result.

Gradual curtailment of broadcasting
facilities in areas which now are "over-
quota" is planned by the Federal Radio
Commission as a means of equalizing
the distribution of stations, power and
hours of operation as required by law.
A new method of evaluating broad
casting stations as means of more eff
fectively calculating the distribution of
facilities has been adopted by the COM
mission as a forerunner Of this gradual
transition, which, if effected, will hit
hard such localities as Chicago, New
York and Los Angeles.
Under this unit system it was calcu-
lated that there now are 423 broadcast
ing units" distributed throughout the
Nation. The commission has deSignat-
ed the arbitrary figure of 400 units as
the maximum that should be allowed,
and its plan is to prune down to that
total.
New Plan Mathematical.
Heretofore the commission has had no
standard for determining the compar-
alive value of broadcasting facilities,
and consequently there was no clear
cut way of showing just how stations,
power and hours of operation were dis
tributed. The Davis amendment to the
radio law, the target of widespread crit
icism. specifies that broadcasting facili-
tisS rs nearly as possible be allocated
among the States and the five radio
zones into which the Nation is divided,
according to population.
With the new unit "yardstick" the
distribution is obtained by simple
mathematics. A station of 1000 watts
operating on channel with other sta
tions constitutes a full unit. A cleared
channel station, using 5000 watts or
more, is credited as 5 units. The
formula covers in unit value all other
classes of stations, on graduated scale,
with the one unit as the base.
The arbitrary 400-unit maximum
adopted provides that each of the five
zones have an aggregate of 80 units.
1t so happens now that only two of the
zones, the Eastern and East Central, are
under their quotas, while the three
others are from 9 to nearly 20 units
over. Each zone, it is provided, shall
be entitled to At units on cleared
channels" to 26 units on regional or
intermediate channels with stations
having power from $50 to 1000 watts,
low-powered stations with power UP to
$50 watts.
East Below Quota.
The Eastern zone, despite the location
of New York within its borders, is 6.42
units below its rightful quota of 80.
The East Central is minus 11.59 units,
while the Southern zone is 9.43 units
over. The Middle Western zone, 1854
units over, and the Western zone, 1882
units over, or a total for the country
of 1888 units over the 400 maximum
Broken down to the units distributed
among the States, as against the num-
Der to which they are entitled under
the Davis amendment, the tabulation
shows that Illinois leads the pack with
11.78 units in excess, directly attributable
to the fact that Chicago, with its pre-
ponderance of stations, is the most
thickly populated broadcasting area in
the world. Texas is more than seven
units over California more than six
units, Iowa more than five units,
Tennessee nearly six units, New York
nearly five units and Florida more than
four units.
In the States of New York, Illinois
and California the excuses are found
in the metropolises. To effect the con-
templated curtailment, the commission
would have to strike with most force at
the large cities with their overabund-
ance of stations.
t(Copyright, 1900