I was surprised to see new reprints of this book on Amazon for $38, It is in the public domain, and the sellers description even says so:
Anyway, on the topic of programming, heres an excerpt of a section discussing the topic of college Part 15vcampus stations which I thought is still relevant today..
EDUCATION ON THE AIR
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLUMBUS
1949 page 216:
WAYNE COY,Chairman,FCC, Washington, D.C.:
IN HIS INVITATION TO ME to participate in this panel on the future of broadcasting, Dr. Keith Tyler said he wanted to limit the scope to the "next few years.".. ..As I understand it, I am not expected to comment on educational broadcasting. That is being left to the experts. However, since I have the platform amid so many educators, I want to take a moment to discuss the progress of station construction by educational institutions. ...
The low power non-commercial FM educational service authorized by the Commission last year seems to be filling a real need. Six of those stations are under construction while 11 more have been applied for. I suggest that you investigate the possibilities of these low power stations for your schools. They should be an excellent stepping stone into the higher powered stations that you need to serve the thousands of persons who are waiting to be served.
In addition, as you know, some 100 low power campus stations in the standard [AM] broadcast band are now in operation. The Commission has issued proposed new rules to govern these stations and has asked for comments to be submitted by June 1. The Commission now proposes to consider licensing these stations. Most of the stations, while commercial, are non-profit enterprises. Your comments on the terms of such licensing procedures will be welcomed.
In conclusion, I wish to express my appreciation to all those who, through the past 19 years, have labored so diligently and so brilliantly to build this Institute for Education by Radio up to its present impressive eminence.
PROBLEMS OF CAMPUS STATIONS
WORK-STUDY GROUP
HOWARD C. HANSEN, Presiding -Program Manager, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System; Director of Radio, MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Ill;
The intercollegiate broadcasting system, during the last three years, has gathered a great deal of information about our programming practices. These statistics have been intended for the guidance
of our stations and the findings are rather startling.
Our figures show that campus stations are programming a disproportionate amount of popular music. Popular music is being programmed at the expense of other types of programs. All of us know that popular music stands high on the list of the undergraduate, but I think our stations ought to be something better than imitation juke boxes.
One of the strong arguments for a campus-limited station, is that it might serve as a laboratory and a place where students might learn some of the actual fundamentals of radio broadcasting. The best training for a sound understanding of radio broadcasting can scarcely be limited to jockeying discs around the clock. The amount of preparation that goes into this kind of program is nil, since it is usually an ad lib program.
It is our confirmed belief that the best shows,from the viewpoint of training and service, are those using local live resources. These are the hardest to prepare, and yet we urge you to do this type of work if you want to make the most of your possibilities. You are the only station serving your campus community and you are in a unique position to develop its resources for broadcasting.
When the IBS petitioned the FCC, in 1948, to allow campus-limited stations to continue in existence,the strongest statement dealt with our potential as a training and experimental laboratory. We believe that the FCC would find little or no reason for our existence as record spinning agents only. As you know, the case made by IBS at that time led to an extension of time for campus-limited broadcasting. Any trend away from our established position would tend to weaken our pending case.
In our annual programming report, we have attempted to document the character of our broadcasting practices during the past three years. The nature of these documents can be important to our future. With this in mind, you know how we feel about the 68 per cent of popular music in the 1951 report, and why we are continually urging more local-live programming.
I have asked our panel members to make suggestions for the exploitation and development of local-live resources. As I see it, that is the heart of the problem.
Mr. Edward L. McClarty - Director of Radio, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, Calif.:
I agree with Mr. Hansen. I do not see how we can justify the existence of community radio stations with this disproportionate amount of popular music on programs, even though a large percentage of students will vote for popular music.
My feeling is that a campus station should at all times provide services to the campus that it will not get any other way. Let me give an illustration of this. Many small colleges do not have their football, basketball or baseball games broadcast, especially when they are played away from home. What better service can a campus radio station give to its home audience, than remote broadcasts of sports events? I had an experience of this sort in which local sponsors paid $450 for the broadcast of a baseketball series, and it proved to be worth while.
Our station setup is probably different from many of those represented here. Our station is part of the radio curriculum, which is not the case in about 50 per cent of the IBS stations. We use our station as a laboratory, for radio production, for in-class listening, and for widest possible experimentation in radio development.
Our station is not just a group of students operating a juke box, turning it on at 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon and turning it off at 9 in the evening. I will grant that a juke box will get a large audience, but I believe that the popularity of the radio station, in the final analysis,will be measured by the total percentage of people reached. In other words, some time in your program structure you should program so you can get minorities as well as the larger single segment. I think in the final analysis that is sound reasoning.
A college station has several obligations: First, to the students who operate the station. Next, to the other students on campus. If the station is financed by the institution, it has an obligation to the college curriculum. Finally, the college radio station has an obligation to serve the entire college community.
Mr. John B. Roberts -Director of Radio and TV, Temple University, Philadelphia.:
I see two things that we can accomplish with the campus limited station, and in the final analysis I am not sure but that they are one and the same thing. The first is to serve our school, and the second is to serve the people who participate in the broadcast. Since those people are a part of the school, these two aims become one.
If we use our campus limited station wisely, we can bring considerable benefits to those people who do the broadcasting, in terms of personal development. Station experience helps to develop the ability to cooperate. Radio is teamwork. One has to learn to get along with people. It also develops a sense of responsibility, assurance,self-confidece and poise.
Lastly, from that basis you often work to a position of leadership. Still another quality which is developed is communication both oral and written.
You have an opportunity to correlate knowledge from other fields.
One of the problems in modern education is the tendency to teach political science as one entity, economics as another and sociology as a third, and they are never brought together. If you program wisely,
there is an opportunity to draw together all this knowledge to bear on a specific problem.
I am going to cite a few programs which help along these lines I have mentioned.
One program type, which I think has been under-emphasized in our colleges, is a radio commentary program, as the college man sees it. This calls for the development of an ability to think and to write. If he learns to do this, he will improve his whole educational process and will have benefited whether he never broadcasts again.
Another type of program I have not seen tried too often, but which has great merit, is drama in sound and music. I would like to suggest that more people try this. Another type of program I would like to
suggest is for someone to read from one of the technical journals, such as the Journal of Social Psychology or the American Economics Review. This can be used to stimulate worthwhile discussions. I also think that we should get better acquainted with the members of our family.
One program which has possibilities is a “meet the professor” show. You might call the program, “Favorites on the Faculty.” All of these suggestions on programs are aimed primarily at improving the educational processes of the person who does the broadcasting, but I think these programs also would be of assistance to those who heard the broadcasts.
Mr. Roy J. Flynn:4
4 Director of Radio, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.:
Those of us who took part in the Hazen Foundation talk, last November, found ourselves in an interesting position. The foundation is investigating college radio stations and campus stations, to see how they communicate and stimulate ideas on the campus.
Leaders of the foundation, in talking about programming, mentioned two types of programs they would like to see promoted. These were programs involving international issues or international relationships, and religious programs. Ever since our station WFFU started, in 1949, we have been trying
to work our foreign students into the programming. We began with interviews, and these were good. Next we tried a round table discussion on questions of international import. We discovered that some foreign students were not too well informed on international issues, and that some questions did not hold much interest for our campus....
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