Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07
SCHOOL STATIONS
FIND ROAD ROUGH
So Have Been Stricken From
List, 20 Transferring to.
Commercial Enterprises.
BY ROBERT MACK.

Educational radio stations are find
ing the road to radio fame tortuouJ
one, with many shifting their licenses
to commercial enterprises.
In the face of~the demand Of one
educational group for Is per cent of all
broadcasting channels to be employed
in bringing education into the home,
many educational stations have been
forced out of the radio picture. Unsta-
BILE financial situations and inability to
meet the rigorous competition Of COM
mercial stations largely are held re-
sponsibla for the condition, together
with the recent regulations promulgated
by the Federal Radio Commission re-
curing drastic Improvements in sta
ton apparatus.
A survey of official records Of the
Federal Radio Commission made recent
ly discloses that SO educational stations
have abandoned their enterprises since
the commissions establishment in 1927.
Now approximately SO such ST. tons are
licensed.
% Now Commercial Projects.
OF the So stations stricken from the
lists as affiliated with institutions OF
learning. % were transferred by the
schools themselves to commercial en-
terpriseS, which now are operating the
stations as business rather tran purely
educational enterprises. Ten OF the
total were deleted by the commission in
August, 1923. as a part of its general
reallocation in which it sought to i'm
prove radio conditions. The other score.
for sundry reasons, either were dropped
by the commission or forfeited their
licenses
A half dozen applications now are be-
fore the commission from educational
stations seeking transfer of their
licenses to commercial enterprises.
With the broadcast spectrum crammed
full, station licenses Of any character
are at a premium. The sentiment is
prevalent that many educational sta
tons feel it is futile to compete with
commercial outlets and that educa-
tional programs can be given the pub
lie more effectively over these CONNER
cial stations. most OF which have been
eager to obtain educational features.
provided they are properly arranged
and not dull and uninteresting.
Middle West Suffers Most.
During the commissions four-year
tenure. the Middle West has suffered
losses. In the fourth radio zone %
such stations have relinquished their
licenses. while in the Western States
and the East-Central States the educa-
tional station losses have been 10 each.
The South lost nine and the Eastern
tier of States only two.
A survey made last March by Federal
Radio Commissioner Harold A. Lafount
showed that minutes out of every 60
on the air are devoted to educational
programs. The surprising part of the
survey. broadcast by stations operated
by educational institutions actually was
educational.
OF 81 stations then licensed to educa-
| tional institutions, ~ responded to the
commissioners QUESTIONABLE These
devoted 2S6 hours and 9 minutes to
what they described as educational pro-
grams, while they were on the air DUR
ing the week under survey for a total
Of 1927 hours and 10 minutes. The
same survey showed that those educa-
tional stations were silent during many
Of the hours assigned them for regular
operation.
(CoOyriRht 1921