Evening star., 1933-07-02
i. s. RADIO PARTY
HASHUGE MISSION
Chairman Sykes to Lead
Delegates on Trip to
Mexico Tuesday.
BY MARTIN CODEL

v the North American Broad
casting Conference at Mex
leo City will depart from
Washington Tuesday on q mission Of
diplomacy that is almost as ramifed
in its complex elements as that of the
American delegation now attending the
London Economic Conference.
But the powers Of the United States
delegation, headed by Chairman Eugene
0. Sykes OF the Federal Radio Com
mission, are infinitely greater In their
field than are those Of our London
delegation In theirs. The simple rea-
son is that so few American officials
understand what the wave-length prob
lem Is all about, least Of all our in
ternational experts in the State De-
partment
What takes place at Mexico City, at
the conference opening July 10, may
affect the listening habits of each and
every radio fan on the North Ameri-
can continent. In a word, the dele
gates from the United States, Canada,
Newfoundland, Mexico, Cuba, Costa
duras, Nicaragua and Panama are to
divide anew the limited number Of
technically available wave lengths
among themselves.
New Lengths Needed.
When 1t Is understood that the
United States and Canada, awake to
the potentialities far earlier than their
southern neighbors, have already d.
vided all the 96 channels available ut
present through gentlemen's agree
ments, 1t becomes apparent that these
two nations 60 to the Mexico City
conference with the prospects of losing
something they already have-that is,
unless new wave lengths can be Sc
cured somehow for a new and more
equitable division.
To take away radio channels from
the United States and Canada and
give them to Mexico. Cupa and the
others, may mean one of two things.
Either certain American and Canadian
broadcastlng stations must be driven
of the air to make way for Latin
American stations on their channels, or
the existing wave lengths must be SO
shared with power ratings curtailed
as to preclude information interference
That such interference is now rampant.
particularly due to powerful broad
casting from Mexico on United States
Canadian channels, every radio listener
knows who likes to dial around for
distant stations.
When the shuttle at Mexico City is
done, and the cards Of the new deal"
IN wave lengths have been dealt and
played, the delegates must return to
their respective countries and reorgan-
ize their systems according to what
- rT1-
the United States and Canada, faced
with the almost inevitable prospect of
losing part OF what they now have, this
may mean a sweeping readjustment or
reallocatlon Of wave lengths; the elimi- |
nation Of some stations: the limitation
OF broadcast powers and consequent
listening ranges Of individual stations,
and the changing Of the dialing habits |
of the audience.
Problem Along Rio Grande.
The United States Canadian lace in
the hole" Is the fact that Mexico chief
claimant for better brcadcasting facili-
ties, may be charged with bad faith
in her practice of licensing Mexican
corporations, well known to be backed
by American capital. to operate super |
power stations along the Mexican bor- |
der. some of them using directional |
antennas designed to focus their energy |
northWard. 1t Is certainty that this !
will be the chief point Of argument at |
the conference, and it may even be one |
that will wreck the conference
DR.. John r. Brinkley's rs 900 watt |
XER, at Vulla Acuna, Mexico. Just |
across the river from Del Rio, Tex, is |
a case in point. DR.. Brinkley's radio |
station at Milford, Kans was taken of |
the air by the Radio Commission and |
the courts for allegedly operating con- |
trary to public interest by broadcasting |
questionable medical advice and ad- |
vertising. So he went to Mexico and |
built himself an even more powerful |
station. Now no less a parsonage than |
the former Vice President of the United |
States, Charles Curtis, is going to the |
Mexico City conference as an "ob-
server" for DR.. Brinkley, an old Kansas |
political friend.
Another example is Norman T.
Bakers 15oooo-watt KENT at Nuevo
Laredo, opposite Laredo, Tex. Baker
also lost his radio station in Iowa for i
practices not unlike those of DR..
Brinkley. Then there is the proposed |
and already licensed-500, ,oOO-watt
station at Matamoros. opposite Browns
vile, Tex, which, like the others, Is
bound to throw out such powerful |
radiations that they will inevitably in
terfere with United States and Cana
Clan broadcasting.
That some of the weak sister" sta
tions in the United States. large and |
small, will have to go, or else suffer such |
great power reductions as to be made |
local in their listening ranges, is almost
certain to be one of the outcomes of |
Mexico City. The man who will largely
determine how much We shall concede.
If anything, is Judge Sykes. The Radio
Commission chairman and head of our
delegation did such excellent service
as head of the American delegation to
the world radio conference at Madrid
last Winter that President Roosevelt
intrusted him with the present regional
ALLEGATION mission.