M. B. S.

With or without Politics, 1936 was a banner radio year. Recovery's impetus provided U. S. radio listeners with the most elaborate air shows since radio began. In October, campaign radiorators of all political parties used air time as it never had been used before, gave the networks all-time revenue highs for a single month. Last week, before the year closed, Mutual Broadcasting System accomplished what radiomen have long held improbable: a fourth coast-to-coast network.

To hold their major outlets across the U. S., National Broadcasting Co. (two networks) and Columbia Broadcasting System own some stations, make contracts with others.* Because of the monopolistic nature of chain broadcasting, Federal control of licensing and the scarcity of radio stations not tied up with N. B. C. or C. B. S., successful emergence of a rival network with coast-to-coast outlets depended largely upon co-operation of three potent Eastern and Midwestern independents--WOR, Newark; WLW, Cincinnati; WGN, Chicago--and upon securing Pacific Coast facilities.

Early in the autumn of 1934 an advertiser who did not want to pay the full cost of chain broadcasts, but wanted to reach the New York and Chicago market areas, approached officials of WOR, the Bamberger Department Store's station, asked if they could arrange for a program on both WOR and WGN, radio outlet of Colonel Robert Rutherford McCormick's Chicago Tribune. The advertiser proposed to pay only the station rate of each. This meant that the stations would have to absorb the wire charges for carrying the program between the two cities. They did.

With the inauguration of two-station broadcasts, WOR and WGN formed Mutual Broadcasting System on Oct. 1, 1934. They agreed to seek advertisers who wanted to utilize both stations, but not to interfere with each other's local programs. WOR and WGN also began exchanging sustaining (noncommercial) programs. Alfred Justin McCosker, president of WOR, became chairman of M. B. S.; Wilbert E. Macfarlane, vice president and business manager of the Chicago Tribune, became president. Mr. Macfarlane has been interested in WGN since the Tribune opened its station in 1925, has refused to let the chains dominate its policies. First taking N. B. C. programs, then C. B. S. features, WGN dropped all chain broadcasts in 1934. According to Mutual's President Macfarlane, the stations run Mutual instead of being run by the chain. WOR and WGN went into M. B. S. on a 50-50 basis and the network was not organized for corporate profit. Officers and directors receive no salaries from M. B. S., are paid by their own stations.

Soon after M. B. S. was organized, an advertiser wanted WLW as a Cincinnati outlet for his program in addition to VOR and WGN. Operated by Powel Crosley Jr., who makes radios and controls the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, WLW is the most powerful radio station in the U. S. (500,000 watts). It soon became a cooperating member of the Mutual net work. On June 1, 1935 M. B. S. began trading sustaining programs with the Canadian Radio Commission, and in September added CKLW (Windsor, Ont.) to the network. Canadian programs gave U. S. listeners variety and CKLW gave M. B. S. a powerful station in the Detroit area.

After the political conventions, M. B. S. in rapid succession added more than a dozen stations to its network in New England and the Midwest, reached into the South. Most important, the Don Lee Broadcasting System of California decided to sever relations with C. B. S. and join. M. B. S. This switch, effected last week, raised Mutual's station list to 39.

Oldest network on the Coast, Don Lee Broadcasting System has four major stations (KHJ, Los Angeles; KFRC, San Francisco; KGB, San Diego; KDB, Santa Barbara), just became associated with six smaller ones. The late Don Lee, a successful automobile distributor, bought his first station in 1926, founded the chain in 1928. The system began television experimenting in 1931, now televises nightly over W6XAO, once a week with synchronized sound from KHJ. President of Don Lee Broadcasting System since his father died in 1934 has been Thomas Stewart Lee, 30, a favorite in Hollywood cinema circles and a shrewd manager of Don Lee's auto and radio interests.

Don Lee's hookup with Mutual meant Columbia had to have new California stations. They bought the State's most powerful independent station, KNX at Hollywood (50,000 watts), also KFSO at San Francisco, which this week will be added to the C. B. S. chain. N. B. C., not caught napping, went after four stations owned by the McClatchy newspapers.

Although growing rapidly, Mutual Broadcasting System still has a long way to go to match the older chains if it wants to. Without all of the new station alignments reflecting in its income, M. B. S. reported gross program billings of $1,794,000 for the first eleven months of 1936 as compared with $1,117,000 for the same period last year, a 60% increase. Columbia's program revenues for the same period were $20,788,000, comparing with $15,751,000, a 32% increase. N. B. C. reported an eleven-month figure of $30,935,000 for 1936, comparing with $28,255,000 last year, a 9% rise.

*Four additions this week to N. B. C.'s Red and Blue networks will bring its station list to 111, a new high. C. B. S. serves 97 stations.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.