How U.S.A. Broadcasts

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 25, 3 January 1930, Page 15

How U.S.A. Broadcasts

Activities of the N.BC. BERLIN H. AYLESWORTH, presi-. dent of the National Broadcasting Company in America, is on a Visit to Europe, where he has had something to say about the American system of broadcasting. Aylesworth believes that service to the public is the one foundation on which the company should base its hopes for permanent support and ultimate prosperity. As a_ result the measures the things N.B.C. should do or not by the test of whether they will benefit the public. Aylesworth is not a technician ; he will tell you he doesn’t know the ence between a kilocycle and a motoreycle, or a short-wave and a permanent wave, . o He has atechnical staff to deal with those things. But he does try. to envision ‘the -vast, possibilities of radio as an educational and cultural force, as a purveyor of entertainment, information and instruction. His enthusiasm.and sense -of the dramatic and his refusal to accept as final "it can’t be done" often enables him to accomplish the seemingly impossible. _ With some sixty-three broadcasting stations to feed, the N.B.C. mainly relies for its upkeep on the’ income accruing from microphone publicity given to a large group of industrial and commercial concerns who sponsor the programmes, No direct advertising is permitted, as it is considered that bald "‘puffs" would. raise the antagonism of listeners and would defeat its own ends. Of the sixty-three transmitters dotted all over the North American Con‘tinent, from New York on the east eoast, to San Francisco in the west, and from Chicago. to Miami in Florida, only three broadcasting stations are actually owned by the company. Daily transmissions are almost continuous from 7 a.m. until midnight and simultaneously, where necessary, three different entertainments can be relayed to three separate groups of stations included in this system. A rule has been made that no educational or instructional talks shall last more than 15 minutes, and statistics show that of the total transmissions only 33 per cent. of the time is devoted to speech, In his opinion, Mr. Aylesworth states that the tastes of listeners had undergone considerable change in the space of two years,