Evening star., 1932-07-03
LUXEMBOURG PLANS
COMMERCIAL RADIO
Broadcasting in U. S. Man.
ner to Be introduced
in Europe.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

~ ROADCASTING after the Amer
- ican manner, with sponsors
Offering the programs and foot
- ing the bill. will be introduced
to the European continent on
grand scale this month. Everything IS
in readiness for Europes newest ana
most powerful station, the 2O0,O0O
waiter at Junglinster, Luxembourg, to
go on the air Several European coun-
tries that bar radio advertising have
indicated that they are not a little per-
turbed over this advent Of an outright
commercial broadcaster into their
midst. for the station is to be operated
by private French, German and Belgian
interests exactly like any American
high-power station.
Operating on the long wave OF 240
kilocycles q $50 meters), it is expected
that the station will be heard by radio
listeners more or less consistently in
most of continental Europe, including
countries where advertising by radio is
otherwise barred. The station has been
constructed so that its power can be
boosted to 400, 900 watts If needed-the
highest broadcast power ever used regu-
larly anywhere and equaled only by the
past-midnight experimental broad
casts now being conducted by KDKA,
Pittsburgh.
British Bar Advertising.
Luxembourg is a tiny independent
Grand Drtchy bounded by France,
Belgium and Germany Only Belgium
among these countries strictly bars
commercielism from the radio, but not
many miles away are the British Isles,
where the British governments radio
monopoly absolutely rejects advertising
in any form From British industrial
concerns which have already broadcast
from French stations In order TO cir
cumvent the British restrictions, as well
as from companies in practically all
other countries of Europe, the owners
of the Luxembourg station expect to
derive their revenues.
Long-wave broadcasting Is particu-
larly effective for long distance trans
mission and can be employed with
higher powers than are used by sta
tions operating on ordinary broadcast
waves in the so-called intermediate
channel bands used in Europe and
North America. European listeners tune
the long-waye stations, of which there
are quite a few on the Continent, by
switching over from one set of coils in
| their receivers to another. Proposals
have been made to open up the long
wave band for North American use also.
so that similar powerful stations can be
| erected here and in Canada, but these
| proposals await action at the interna-
| tional radio conference at Madrid next
Fall
The Luxemburg station, according to
scattered reports from abroad, is pow
| cred by two 800-h.p. Diesel motors, and
its aerials are supported by three 500
| foot masts. For the last few months 1t
has been testing for about half hour
daily, and its engineers are reported to
| be fairly we'll satisfied with the results.
Announcements will be made in Eng
| lish, French and German. One of its
announcers is to be a 24-year- Ger
man girl who speaks all three Ian
| guages fluently.
May Relay U. S. Programs.
The possibility that American-spon-
| sored programs will be relayed to Eu-
rope via Luxembourg is frequently men,
! toned as the reason for the erection of
| an auxiliary short-wave transmitter,
also at Junglinster So far as can be
learned, no arrangements have yet been
made with the American networks or
stations having short-wave auxiliaries
to send their sponsored programs to
! Europe, although many American radio
/ sponsors have widespread distribution
| of their products in Europe.
The international complications that
| may arise as a result of Luxembourg s
! grant OF authority to such a station are
only conlectural at this time. Great
| Britain's radio chieftains have already
| expressed their resentment against the
use OF French radio stations for adver-
tiSing by British concerns. On the other
hand, each country has the right to es-
tablish and operate any kind Of radio
system 1t pleases. The fact that radio
waves know no man-made boundaries
is usually Subordinated to sovereign
rights OF independent nations. Only
1 about half the countries of Europe,
T. where radio is largely operated as gov
ernmental monopolies, permit some form
OF advertising at the present
On 240 kllocycles, the Luxembourg
station NAV possibly cause interference
with a 4ooOwatt station in Novosi-
birsk, Russia operating on 238 hlo-
cycles, and with the 600-watt station
at Boden, Sweden. on 244 kilocycles.
There is also an experimental station in
| Vienna on 242.5 kilocycles The other
long-WaVe stations nearest Luxembourg s
frequency are the 100 ,oo0-watt Trades
Union" at Moscow, on 230 kilocycles,
and the 5,000-watt station at Istanbul,
Turkey, on $50 kilocycles. Whether
these will suffer interference from Lux
empurg time alone will tell.
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