Evening star., 1936-11-15

radio interview is that started recently
by WOR, New York, which sends an
announcer and engineer right into
several living rooms every Sunday
evening. While the family is very
much at home, probably enjoying the
excellent programs which feature the
evening, a tactful microphone artist
appears entirely without warning and
questions the members of the family
circle about homelife, economics or
whatever strikes the fancy of the in
terrogator. This type of informal in
terview is refinement of the popular
man-in- street program, and ut1l-
lies mechanical procedure made pos
sible by advances in radio engineering.
Armed with a long wire hitched to the
microphone at one end and plugged
into an apartment building telephone
circuit at the other, the parlor invaders
can cover several floors above and be-
low the connection.
THE listeners seem to like the man
- in-the-street programs and now-a-
days microphones are to be found at
railway stations, airports, fire engine
houses, court rooms and police sta
tions, and most other places where
erist for the microphone mill is likely
to be available.
The effort to inject novelty has been
productive of interesting programming.
Maebelle Jennings, Washington news
paper woman. goes on c. B. S. air fire.
quently with sidewalk interviews,
usually selecting women as inter-
viewees. When she can get two OF
them arguing both sides of moot
question, being careful to keep in the
middle with her guard up and one eye
On the nearby engineer, both the
listening audience and adjoining spec
tators are likely to get quite show.
Rudy Valee. whose throbbing larynx
and commanding baton have brought
him to the top of the broadcast world,
Is a master at the art of radio inter-
viewing. Perhaps his greatest recent
achievement was microphone session
on his Thursday night N. B. c. pro-
gram with a burlesque strip-tease
dancer. Here was situation that
required delicate handling, and Rudy
Cid it with an innocent suaveness
that must have disappointed the
listening blue-noses who thought they
had something If there has been
any criticism, it hasn't yet reached
the surface.
LEW radio artists have perfected
their interviewing technique to
point that compares with Rudy's vel
vety methods. While lacking the glib
time filling chatter that marks the
Informal street sessions, his handling
of interviews creates an air of in
tormality that bellies the careful
preparation that has taken place at
-ehearsals and the fact that the ques-
tions and answers are all done from
scripts. Never a second lapses be-
tween question and answer, and a
Sou-and-me intimacy is always pre-
served.
popular form of informal inter
view is the conversational portion of
amateur hours Maj. Bowes always
probes into the human-interest, Sob
sister background of the embryo artist.
The sketches often drip with pathos
and he also is we'll prepared before
hand. Fred Allen, on the other hand,
searches for amusing background as
he questions his amateurs and tries
hard to put nervous neophites at ease.
Bing Crosby, master of the foghorn
ballad. has been coached during the
last year into one of the topnotch
interviewers. Thoroughly at ease, he
pops questions at musical celebrities |
Just as he greets the youngsters at |
home and the result is delightful. And |
he tops it off by eagerly asking Harold |
Bauer or whoever happens to be per-
forming to 60 ahead and swing it"
O type of banter which the notables |
seem to be accepting with pleasant |
grace.
TODAY marks the tenth anniversary |
- of the National Broadcasting Co.
and the beginning of network broad
casting in the United States-but far |
more significantly the week of birth |
day celebrations just ended by N. B. c. |
marked the lifting of the shroud of |
secrecy that its parent company, the
Radio Corporation of America, has
heretofore kept around its results in |
television development
Today, after half dozen or more
demonstration of actual field opera |
ton of television to the press, to radio |
executives and to foreign radio nota-
bles visiting America for N. B. C's |
birthday party, the ''lid is of tele-
vision" so far as the biggest American |
radio operating companies are con-
cerned. On all sides, tongues are
wagging about the marvels disclosed
marvels which only select few have
been able to view and report upon
until last week.
THERE really is no great difficulty
for the layman to understand
what r. c. A. has in television. If
you own home motion-picture pro-
jector, simply focus it against either
o yellow or a green screen so that it
will frame pictures of approximately
7xl0 or ski inches, respectively.
You will see sharply lighted and ex-
tremely clear pictures. Stand about
five or six feet away from your screen
ing, discount in your minds eye the
lighting and the clarity by slight
degree, imagine an occasional flicker
or blur-and you have your own ex-
ample of what r. G. AS televiSion
looks like.
Except for their relative smallness,
the television images r. c., A. is able
to project through its experimental
transmitter and receivers in New
York City today approach home
movies so closely in quality that it is
reasonable to expect the research SCI
entists will equal that quality within
Q relatively short time.
In any case, the consensus Of OBJ
servers was that televiSion is practi-
cally ready for the home even in its
rresent state though new exnerinpnts