New Britain herald., 1930-02-22

ddN, me country VIII nave 10 worry along without a complete commis. sion. The work will have 10 be car- ried on by the commissions per manent officials. who lack power 10 grant broadcasting licenses or to make changes. Without radio com- mission the secretary Of commerce will have authority Of any special radio emergency which may arise.
 The Radio Commission has not satisfied everybody, least Of all some senators and some congressmen. When the Radio Commission has tried 10 exercise complete power over the big fellows, as in the WGT case, court action resulted. The radio act of 1927 gave to broadcast ers the right Of appeal to the Dis. trict of Columbia Court Of Appeals against decisions Of the Radio Com mission, put it was not until last month that the Supreme Court ruled that this power oo the District ot Columbia court is admlnistra tive, not judicial, and hence is not sub- ject 10 review by the Supreme Court. This decision made Of the District oi Columbia Court Of Appeals species of super Radio Commission.
 The radio map is rapidly chang ing. Whereas a few years ago the strongest Of stations were no more than 15,000 watts power, today there arc more than haI9 a dozen with 5000D watts, and another half dozen or SO have received building permits 10 construct such stations in place Of their present lower vatta5e transmitters. The result is that horde of smaller stations arc be- coming relatively less important. It often happens in thousands of towns that the nearest small station is not heard to a.. a good advantage as oO.0O0-watt stations hundreds Of miles distant. This, indeed, is what the big broadcasters desire. In broadcastng, as in many another i,,rJ ,,ct,, +i, C n p those with the most money.
 This increase in broa dcasting power, however, has not necessarily resulted in 8 greater diversity or programs, They have been able to obtain b2.tcr reception through the medium of these high-powered sta tions, but this means little in the way Of diversity if many high pow cred stations arc hooked Up with chain programs. Especially is this likely to be the case in the early evening hours, admittedly the best hours from the standpoint Of list en- CTS. It doesn't matter much, as q practical proposition. how many programs high powered station originates during the afternoon or late at night, when the minimum o. listeners are interested, Such locally originated programs count in the total but cannot figure greatly Hi the relative appeal to the maximum numbcr of listeners, who tuno in ;t niaht, It i. for this rcasoiL tn or der 10 obtain the biggest "circuia- tion," that the hours between 5 ard to:30 D. m. have the largest number of commercial chain pro- grams. At such times listener in locality not bedeyiled by nearby electrical interference, can listen to the same chain program from half 4 dozen stations; and usually he has three chain programs 10 choose from. If he wants something differ ent and turns 10 some independent station he is likely 10 get something not so good and accompanied with considerably moro static noises. Only one Independent in the East WOE at NeTarl-appears 10 DC an exception. WOR has been wei! able 10 compete with the chains,
 such is the radio situation IT, respective of whether the Radio Commission is to be temporal rlly nonexistent or whether the Sena1a acts quickly. Tho big boys have the situation well under control. The chains usually, though not always, snrpass the program ms of the aHcra g. small local station, and the system oe using more and more high-poU cred stations to broadcast them Nir- +uallv enables the chain progra ms 10 blanket tac country, 10 the injury of inc little fellows who have trouble ta comp etins in the struggle for listeners. This may be merely anoth~ CT instance Of the survival of the ftfos,; but all inc same it tic1}cs th> average radio ian when he by accl- dent runs into some small station which happens to be coming III eood' for a night. He usually sucN2 regardless.