Historical Moments in Radio
As prepared for the November, 1996 DX Audio Service


Historical Moments in Radio, a collection of stories about the rich and
exciting past of a.m. radio broadcasting .. and today I want to take you
back to the beginning of 1927.  Now, if there was ever a landmark year in
broadcasting history, 1927 would certainly rank among the most important.
 

If you remember the story, the broadcast dial was a mess.  A select
committee in Washington had been appointed by President Hoover to figure
out how best to deal with radio stations in a fair and equitable manner
.. and, indeed, later in 1927, a new Federal Radio Commission would be
established by the President.
  
But here we are in January of that year .. and the trade press is doing
its best to anticipate all the problems any regulating body would face. 
Among the loudest voices was the magazine "Radio Broadcast".  Now this
was as slick and professional a journal as is TV Guide or any of the
monthly computer magazines of 1996.  Many of its views were considered by
the Government for rules changes.

However, in the January 1927 edition, the editor took a firm stand
against the appointment of a new commission because it would cost too
much.  He felt the Department of Commerce should continue to manage the
radio spectrum.  A year or two ago we went into more detail on this
matter on Historical Moments .. perhaps you remember.

So let's jump down to the news of the day .. I see that the successes
being enjoyed by short wave radio beaming antennas has encouraged Mr.
Marconi to predict that, someday, electric power will be distributed by
radio rather than by dangerous overhead wires.  Hmm .. here we are 70
years later still predicting the same thing .. only this time we're
talking about satellites.  Oh!  And RCA has announced an experimental
program with the Fox Film Corporation to market a talking movie device
using the Pallophotophone patents next to a regular movie projector.  

General Electric is now relaying programs from Schenectady to its Canton,
New York station up near the Canadian border using the new Single
Sideband technology.  They report that signals are more reliable and can
be generated with much less electric power and the signals use less than
half the bandwidth of conventional a.m. transmissions.  Huh.  I wish GE
had pushed for sideband for regular broadcasting .. we would have a much
cleaner a.m. band today if they had.

Here's a comment in the magazine written 70 years ago:  "The aesthetic
enjoyment of radio is a matter of listening to high-grade local stations.
 The fact that, for example, WODA, WLWL and WRNY have, by their choice of
wavelengths at various times, excluded WGY from reaching the New York
City listeners is a minor loss, as long as WHN, WEAF and WJZ are left
undisturbed here.

I guess we'd be a little late if we dx'ers were to write them a letter of
complaint today.

And here's a reprint of the WLW regulations prepared by its program
director .. it went on for pages so let me just give you a sample:   "No
requests for money shall be broadcast.";  "No direct advertising shall be
permitted on WLW."  " In order to maintain a clear and distinct broadcast
it is best not to use the 'sustaining' pedal on the piano."  "Speakers
should always use a manuscript -- the manuscript is to be approved in
advance -- it should be typewritten, double spaced on regular sized
sheets of paper and should be read at the rate of one such sheet in 3
minutes."  

Can you imagine what would happen to the announcer today in 1997 who read
a script at the pace of one double-spaced sheet in three minutes?

A letter to the editor begs that the magazine report on just which radio
is best.  The editor, as you might expect, isn't about to do that and
lose all but one of his advertisers -- but the way he handled the
question was to point out that different people have different interests
in radio listening and such a rating would be as useless as trying to
rate the best automobile.
 
After all, the magazine says, the winning car in an automobile race
traces its success as much to luck and a good driver as it should to its
own merits.  Much the same can be said for radio listening.  Usually, a
skilled person can pull stations out of the ether with the cheapest of
radios that a casual listener might not even know were on the air.

And finally, here's an ad from a 1926 edition of the Boston Globe .. the
ad reads:  "Women's summer dresses for sale at $3.75.  Each is of
standard manufacture and comes complete with all switches, sockets,
rheostats, dials, panels, coils, condensers and transformers.  The
reductions are enormous!"

Gosh .. if they'd included the tubes I might have ordered one for my
wife.  She'd look terrific in one.

For Historical Moments in Radio, this is John Bowker