Arkansas Airwaves
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Arkansas Airwaves Ray Poindexter A little more than a year after radio broadcasting was first heard nationally, Arkansas' first regular licensed station went on the air. The state's progress has not usually been as rapid in most other fields. At first, radio was considered to be a novelty. There was no advertising revenue to support it. Many of the early Arkansas stations left the air. Those that remained were jolted by the Great Depression. By the time things started getting better economic- ally, the nation became involved in World War ll. It brought various broadcasting restrictions and a shortage of products to be advertised. Radio's economic heyday in Arkansas came after the war. New stations began to spring up in many towns in the state. Soon the rushing radio surge was met head-on by a new and threatening medium --television! The question of survival was uppermost in the minds of some radio station owners. In order to live with the new force that had a picture as well as sound, many Arkansas stations had to make necessary adjust- ments. Today, both radio and television are alive and well in Arkansas. Jacket design by George Fisher -sd: `a, 1110 CG 2i7net, ARKANSAS AIRWAVES by Ray Poindexter I Copyright © 1974 Ray Poindexter North Little Rock, Arkansas II The richest man cannot buy what the poorest man gets free by radio. - from an early RCA ad III Photograph courtesies as follows: WOK-Mrs. Pratt Remmel and Arkansas Power & Light Co. KFKQ-Faulkner County Historical Society KUOA-Lester Harlow KTHS-Patrick C. Arnoux KGHI-F. E. Bolls KGJF-Dan Winn KBTM-Jay Beard KELD-F. E. Bolls KLCN-Harold Sudbury and Jan Lowry KFPW-Lester Harlow IV To my wife Hazel for her countless hours of research and proofreading, and for her toleration of my radio idiosyncracies V CONTENTS Page FOREWORD PART ONE: The First Two Decades 1 PART TWO: Wartime Broadcasting 291 PART THREE: The Postwar Boom 307 PART FOUR: The Big Transition 349 PART FIVE: The Levelling Off 381 PART SIX: Now 399 VI FOREWORD Radio has not left its own recorded history. Because of the intangible nature of its product, its past has, for the most part, disappeared into thin air. Radio has been concerned with today and tomorrow-not yesterday. To put together even an informal history of Arkansas broadcasting, many sources outside of the immediate industry had to be utilized. Although several Arkansas radio pioneers were helpful, often hazy, fading memories had to be substantiated with material from printed sources. I am very grateful for the many articles and stories about Arkansas broadcasting that have appeared in various newspapers and other publications through the years. Ray Poindexter North Little Rock, Arkansas VII - PART ONE THE FIRST TWO DECADES WON On Sunday evening, October 17, 1921, in their home at Harding Place in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, an industrialist and his family listened to a radio musical concert over KDKA, Pittsburgh. The Westinghouse station had begun its first regular program schedule almost a year earlier, on Tuesday night, November 2, 1920, with the returns of the Harding -Cox presi- dential election. The industrialist was Harvey C. Couch, Sr., founder of Arkansas Light and Power Company (later changed to Arkansas Power and Light Company). Following the concert, several announcements were made by the announcer, a young man that Couch knew personally. He recognized the voice as that of Harold W. Arlin, the world's first fulltime announcer, who had worked at KDKA since January 1921. Early the same year, Couch had visited KDKA. He was no stranger to the people at Westinghouse Electric Company. His firm was one of their customers. One friend there was a Mr. Brown from Three Creeks, Arkansas, near El Dorado. He had worked up to the position of vice-president in charge of the credit department. AL&P had good credit with Westinghouse. Harvey Couch himself was a prime example of the humble - origin American success story. He was constantly alert for an innovation that would be beneficial to his company, his city, and his state. He believed this new medium of communication offered such potential. -1- The Couch Family listening to KDKA, Pittsburg. From left to right: Mrs. T. G. Couch, Harvey's mother; Kirke; Harvey, holding three -year -old daughter Catherine; and a neighbor. (Mrs. Harvey Couch was in the hospital at the time.) First, it had been called "wireless" for the obvious reason; but by 1912, because the signals "radiated" from transmitters, it had become known as "radio." The U. S. Navy was credited with originating the new word. They also adopted the terms "radiotelegraphy" and "radiotelephony" to distinguish between dot -and -dash code signals and voice transmission. The Navy originated the word "broadcast"-meaning literally a broad cast; that is, the sending of an order to several ships at the same time rather than to each ship separately. The receiving set in the living room of the Couch home was a large, powerful Westinghouse. Outside, two 100 -foot poles 50 feet apart held the antenna. To eight -year -old Kirke Couch, it seemed that they had owned the set for six months before they could pick up anything except noise. The hot, sultry weather of the summer of 1921 caused too much static for good reception. A -2- national magazine, Radio Topic, carried large pictures of the Couch Family enioying a concert on the radio. One picture portrayed Kirke and his three -year -old sister Catherine (for whom Lake Catherine at Hot Springs was named) "listening in," indicating the simplicity of the Westinghouse set. Recently, Catherine (now Mrs. Pratt Remmel) revealed that the photography was done during the daytime when they couldn't actually have been listening. Radio signals were received during nighttime hours only. On November 15, 1921, Harvey Couch arranged for the Pine Bluff Rotary Club to see a demonstration of radio broadcasting. Because of his rapport with Westinghouse, a company executive brought a small sending set to Pine Bluff for the broadcast. The transmitter was installed at the Couch home; and the receiving set was placed in the meeting room at Hotel Pines by Milton Voss, who was described as a "local wireless shark.' He erected the antenna on top of the hotel. From the Couch home, Misses Ernestine and Ailee Norris presented several vocal and piano selections. The program was completed with the playing of phonograph records. The Rotarians were impressed by the fact that the tones could be heard clearly throughout the meeting room. Couch told the group that he had become especially interested in radio of late and that he thought it would open up an unlimited field for purposes of business as well as pleasure. As early as 1920, Arkansas Light and Power Company had formulated plans to build a radio system that would provide private stations at all of the company's plants around the state to keep the plants in close touch so that assistance could be given should any plant face a shortage of electric power. In late January 1922, Couch was elected president of the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, but he was not present to learn of the honor immediately. He was away on a business trip to Pittsburg and New York. By then his company had made application to the Radio Division, Bureau of Navigation, U. S. Department of Commerce, for a license to operate a broadcasting station. The Radio Act of 1912 had given the licensing responsibility to the Secretary of Commerce. When the Pine Bluff application -3- was submitted, this position was held by Herbert C. Hoover. A temporary permit for station construction and testing had been issued. Couch's trip to Pittsburgh was again for the purpose of visiting Westinghouse and KDKA to become more familiar with radio broadcasting, but his journey to New York was even more significant. He felt that the man to see at that stage of station development was Dr. Lee De Forest. In 1908, he had invented the audion, a three -element vacuum tube with a filament, plate, and grid. The samè year he had broadcast phonograph records from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Two years later, he had aired a program from the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, featuring the world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso. Couch arranged for De Forest to build the transmitter for the new station, including a special vacuum tube. When Couch returned to Pine Bluff, he again talked enthusiastically about Pittsburg radio. By Tuesday, February 7, 1922, two 100 -foot wooden poles to hold the antenna were being put up beside the alley on the north side of the power company's building at 512 Main Street, present site of the Malco Theatre. The work was supervised by Ralph R. Pittman, the company's electrical superintendent. The previous day, L. E. Brasher of the Ship Owners' Radio Service had arrived from New Orleans to assist Pittman. The antenna was a "flat -top" arrangement. On top, five wires were connected to crossarms on each pole, and five more wires lower on the poles made a "counterpoise" ground connection. The new radio equipment was being installed in a room on the building's ground floor. The transmitter required direct current; therefore, an electrical generator was essential. An electric motor attached to one end turned the generator. In addition to the De Forest transmitter, there was also a De Forest radio receiver, which was powered by an Eveready storage battery. It was the type of battery that in those days was encased in a wooden box.