Evening star., 1934-12-30
BY THE RADIO EDITOR.

" UROPE'S example is at last
l. being followed by one major
American network with the
IL appointment of the inimitable
Elsie Janis, noted comedienne
of the stage, to the regular announc-
ing staff of the National Broadcasting
Co. Thus the old cry against woman
announcers, repeatedly said to be un-
popular with the American audience,
has been answered by at least one
practical broadcasting organization.
European radio stations have long
employed woman announcers reg
ularly
The N. B. c. also is reported. in
dispatches from Europe to be bring
ing over Miss Marcelle Luzzatto OF
Vienna. an accomplished linquist, to
add to its announcing staff. She has
been employed for some time by
Ravag, the Austrian broadcasting
system. She was first heard here on
one of the programs relayed from
Vienna, and made such good i'm
preston that a contract was offered
her.
Miss Janis made her debut as an
announcer in a sprightly program over
the network the night of December 10,
during which she was interviewed"
on her qualifications by such an
nouncerial luminaries as Milton Gross,
AloiS HaVrilla, Graham McNamee,
John S. Young, Alwyn Bach and
James Wellington.
Mr. Wellington. incidentally, is this
years winner of the annual dictlon
award for the best network announc-
ing. The award was made by Radio
Stars Magazine and it is the second
consecutive time it was won by Wal
iington. Formerly the award was
made by the American Academy OF
Arts and Letters, which abandoned
the field this year in favor Of the
magazine; the latter made the award
on the basis of vote among radio
editors of the country.
DY BEING chosen the fourth most
- outstanding radio program on the
air, in a poll conducted among
prominent radio critics by the Radio
Stars Magazine. the Sunday Evening
Hour seems to have broken all records
for the speed with which it has eStab-
lished itself as one Of the leading pro-
grams in radio.
At the time the poll was taken, the
Sunday Evening Hour, which is broad
cast over a coaSt-to-coast Columbia
network, had been on the air only a
few weeks Ordinarily. radio experts
consider three months the shortest
possible time in which radio pro-
gram can reach even satisfactory
popularity The program which ranked
first in the poll has been on the air
nine years, and almost every program
in the first 20 has been familiar
entertainment for at least two or
three.
Credit for the sensational start the
program seems to have made is gen.
orally given to the unusual cast.
which consists of the 70-piece SYM
phony orchestra and a mixed chorus
of A voices, under the direction of
Victor Kolar. and to the brilliance of
the guest artists, among whom Maria
Jeritza, Giovanni Martinelli, Grace
Moore, Ossip Gabrilowitsch. Jascha
Heifetz and Efrem ZimbaIst have
been presented.
Other reasons mentioned to explain
the unusual preference for such a
new program on the part of critics
and listeners are the almost total lack
of advertising matter included in the
program and the fact that the broad
cast is heard over the largest network
in commercial radio history-95 sta
tions in the United States and Can
ada and short-wave stations ca
pable of transmitting the entertain
ment to Europe, South America and
even more distant parts of the world.
WANT to know the specifications of
w radio receivers and tubes, that
is, what they should do in the
way of picking up stations? Well,
here they are, direct from the Radio
Manufacturers Association, the Or
ganization of radio equipment manu-
facturers:
A standard" broadcast receiver is
one which will respond to the entire
broadcast frequency range of $40
kilocycles 1882 meters) to 1000
kilocycles Q87 meters. The earlier
sets would only tune from $50 to
1.5OO, but during the last two years
the broadcast band has been enlarged
to these new limits.
An "all-wave" receiver is one
whose tuning ranges will respond to
all frequencies between $40 kilo-
cycles 1852 meters) and $4,000 kilo-
cycles Q66 meters). These sets are
capable of picking up, direct, lead
ing, medium and short wave broad
casting stations throughout the world.
The new tube standards adopted
provide for designation of types of re-
ceiving tubes by system of three
digitS, the first being a letter, indicat-
ing the size and type of base shells,
the second digit being a figure indi-
eating the number of pins or prongs,
and the third digit letter indicating
the pin arrangements.