Evening star., 1932-04-17
NETWORK STATIONS.
RACE CONTINUES.
Columbia and N. B. c. Both
Make Gains in New
Acquisitions.
BY ROBERT MACK.

BY ROBERT MACK.
TINE unrelenting race between the
two Nationwide networks to
win listener favor is going on
i behind the scenes In broadcast
ing today with greater rigor
than ever before.
On the heels Of the announcement
that Columbia Broadcasting System has
acquired Station WHAS of Louisville
as an outlet for its programs, inveigling
that important station away from Ma
tional Broadcasting Co., comes word
that the same network will use a new
Canadian station of high power for the
avowed purpose of covering the city of
Detroit and its environs from across the
international border. In broadcastinp
circles these two moves are regarded as
coups for Columbia.
Or equal significance, however, was
the election Wednesday of Merlin Hall
AylesWorth, president of N. B. c.. to the
presidency Of Radio-Keith- -Orpheum. a
sister organization These two enter-
tainment media thus are brought under
common direction, although they re-
main separate corporately, and can he
expected to make greater use of the
talent available to the vaudeyille-mo-
ton picture unit for radio.
Power to Be Increased.
WHAS, which within the next few
months will increase its power to so 0OO
Watts-the highest used by any station
in this country-is Kentucky's leading
station. Owned and operated bv the
Courter-Journal and Louisville Times
1t has been on the air since 1922. If
will join Columbia's network on Nav
Is, and will carry full schedule" of
the chain programs.
The Canadian move, however. Is IN
precedented and most novel. At present
Columbia uses Station WXYZ at Detroit
as its outlet In that area. The contract
with that station expires June l and IT
VII! not be renewed. The new Canadian
station Is now under construction at
windsor, just across the Detroit River
from Detroit, and will replace WXYZ as
the Columbia outlet. With 5.OOO-watts
power as against 1,000-watts used bv
WXYZ, the new station will operate on
the 540-kilocycle channel one of the
three new clear channels in the So
called long-wave band recently taken
over by the Canadian government as
the first move toward opening that
band for broadcasting. The recognized
extremity OF the broadcast band is $50
kilocycles, and there may be interna-
tional complications as a result of the
use Of those waves for broadcast instead
Of ship communication and other code
services as provided by the interna-
tional treaty on radio In Europe, how
ever, long waves already are being used
for broadcasting
Built by American.
The Windsor station is being built BY
George Storer, formerly connected with
WXYZ. While he is an American, his
wife is Canadian citizen, thus ap-
parently making her eligible to be the
icensee of the station
Mr.. Aylesworth's ascension to the
presidency of R-K-O will not interfere
with his duties as executive head Of N.
B. c., for the present at least. He sue
ceeds Hiram S. Brown, who will remain
as a director and adviser to Mr. Ayles-
worth.
David Sarnoff president Of r. C. A.,
parent company of both N. B. c. and
R-K-O, was reelected chairman Of the
board of R-K-O. Owen D. Young and
Gerard Swope, both Of General Electric
as well as r. C. A., were elected new
members of the R-K-O Executive Com
mittee, along with A. w. Robertson Of
Westinghouse.
Copyright, 1882, by the Consolidated Press)