Evening star., 1936-09-13

tending that by so doing q greater
amount of service can be rendered
all listeners.
The answer probably will not come
until late next year. Following the
hearings this Fall, the F. G. c. must
decide what its future policy will be.
After that it must accord full and
free hearings to all existing stations
on the desirability of that policy.
Then will come new ALLEGATIONS, If
decided upon, designed to improve
existing service.
A DID "photogenic features" to all
the other requisites of radio
artist or announcer and you still have
only part of the requirements that
television imposes. You can't be q
redhead, for example, though ordi-
nary blonds and brunettes will tele-
wise if properly made up. And the
makeup is entirely different-black
or blue lipsticks for deep ruddiness,
yellow lipsticks for ordinary redness
and greenish tints for eyelids.
More than this, television an
nouncers, artists and speakers will
be expected to look at their audiences
squarely, which means that they must
dispense with the script Of the un-
seen audlo studio and memorize their
lines.
These are few of the observations
and experiences already Cleaned from
experiments with television conducted
by the British Broadcasting Corp. In
preparation for the introduction OF
visual images on regular schedules.
The B. B. c. has mustered complete
staff to man its London television stu
dios, and they began work in real
earnest with the initial public show
ing of the British system during Lon
don's annual radio show in Olympia
Hall early in September. Upon the
acceptance of television broadcasts by
the London public may depend the
determination of the future course
U. S. television may take, for it is well
known that American laboratories
have progressed fully as far as the
British in so far as technical develop
ment Is concerned.
TELEVISION in the United States,
however, awaits secret field tests"
recently started by Radio Corp. of
America, with visual broadcasts from
its experimental station atop the En-
pire State Building. In the meantime,
nevertheless, R. c. AS subsidiary,
National Broadcasting Co., has re-
served space in its vast Radio City
studios for the practice Of television
technique and the study of photo
genie features"
The term "photogenic features" was
first introduced by the B. B. c. last
month in announcing the selection of
its first two hostess for
television. They were picked as suit
able types for televising out of more
than 1000 applicants, meeting quail
fications Of personality, tact, charm,
looks and voice-but mainly because
their features were suitable to the tele-
vision medium. The plan is to have
them alternate at their posts, one act
ing as announcer, while the other Is
the hostess who greets the television
artists and speakers and helps them
become acclimatized to the unusual
atmosphere of the television studios.
In addition, the B. B. c. has an
nounced the engagement of Leslie
Mitchell, veteran broadcaster, as its
first male television announcer.
Whether men or women announcers
will be regularly used has not been
finally determined, though it seems
clear that the male of the species will
need to be made up no less than the
female for their radio-vision cameras.
That many present announcers and
artists will fall by the wayside when
television comes, as did so many movie
stars when the films went to sound,
seems inevitable in view of the severe
additional qualifications required.