Evening star., 1934-09-09
STATION PERMITS
ASKED BY SIXTY
Radio Commission Consider
ing Applications From
rs States.

A SMALL host of so applicants
" for new broadcasting stations,
~ which would be located in al
4 4 most as many cities and towns
in 26 States and which would
pour into the ether purely local pro-
grams, has come before the Federal
Communications Commission to i'm
perfume 1t to act favorably upon the
requests for new 100-watt outlets.
Taking advantage of the "open
sesame" order of Congress last June,
in so far as 100-watters are con-
cerned, these applicants have be-
sought the commission with requests
that they be permitted to establish
new stations. Prior to the action of
Congress opening the way for an un-
limited number Of new 100-watt sta
tions, it was next to impossible to
procure permission from the former
Radio Commission for authority to
build new stations Of any size. That
was because the broadcast band was
''crammed full' and also because the
old law carried a provision that ia
cilities had to be allocated according
to the respective broadcaSting quotas
Of States, based on their population.
In the communications act passed
this year, which abolished the Radio
Commission and established the
Communications Commission, pro-
vision was made that new 1OO-Watt
stations could be licensed without re-
gard to quota, if deemed needed in
their communities. The only restric-
ton was that such new stations would
not cause interference with other
stations on the same or adjacent
channels.
Slow on Applications.
The new commission, however, is
moving slowly in its consideration Of
these applications. 1t feels it has
other more important work to do be-
fore acting on them. Moreover, it
has taken the stand that it will not
act until it has detailed information
at hand, which may entail weeks and
even months Of study. Only within
the last fortnight it instructed its
legal and engineering departments to
study the local station applications
and make recommendations to it as
to their handling.
With general hearing on the
broadcasting industry scheduled to
begin october /, at which it will ad-
duce testimony as to whether the ex-
listing form of broadcaSting service
should be maintained or whether
blocks Of channels should be allocated
to so-called non-profit organizations,
nka nd pI1, he
missions broadcast division will have
its hands full for the next six weeks
or two months. After that it is en-
tirely possible that it will schedule a
blanket hearing for all of the 100-watt
applicants rather than consider each
application separately at regular hear
ings, as is the usual procedure.
Economic Feasibility.
In addition to the technical inter-
ference phase, it is evident that the
commission proposes to take into ac-
count the economic feasibility of the
new station applications. In other
words, it would prefer not to license a
new station in town in which the
existing station or stations are having
a struggle financially. Most of the ap-
plications are from small towns now
without their own stations, but some
are from already overcrowded cities.
Moreover, it will inquire searchingly
into the financial qualifications of
each applicant, as Is required by law,
to ascertain whether he is in a posi-
ton to operate the station and offer
programs that will meet the statutory
requirement Of serving public inter
est, convenience and necessity
A study of the list of applicants for
the new 100-watters reveals that in a
dozen cases the petitioners already
operate stations and are seeking addi-