Great Lakes Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Radio Commission, (No. 4900-4902.)

Decision Date06 January 1930
Docket Number(No. 4900-4902.)
Citation37 F.2d 993
PartiesGREAT LAKES BROADCASTING CO. v. FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION. VOLIVA v. SAME. AGRICULTURAL BROADCASTING CO. v. SAME.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Spencer Gordon, of Washington, D. C., Walter M. Provine, of Springfield, Ill., and John E. Wing, of Chicago, Ill., for appellant Great Lakes Broadcasting Co.

John W. Guider, of Washington, D. C., for appellant Voliva.

Frank D. Scott, of Washington, D. C., and Harry Eugene Kelly, of Chicago, Ill., for appellant Agricultural Broadcasting Co.

Louis G. Caldwell, Bethuel M. Webster, Jr., Paul M. Segal, and Ralph L. Walker, all of Washington, D. C., for appellee.

Before MARTIN, Chief Justice, and ROBB and VAN ORSDEL, Associate Justices.

MARTIN, Chief Justice.

Appeals from orders of the Federal Radio Commission denying the applications of appellants for certain modifications of their respective broadcasting licenses. The applications in question represent competitive claims of the three appellant broadcasting stations for operating time on the same broadcasting channel.

The first station in question is WENR, located in Chicago, and owned and operated by appellant the Great Lakes Broadcasting Company. The company is owned and managed by an association of public utility corporations, and has been operating under successive federal licenses since 1925. The station was organized and has been conducted as a general service public station for broadcasting good music, entertainment of various kinds, educational features, and news. It ranks in point of material equipment with the foremost stations in the country. In August, 1928, with the permission of the Federal Radio Commission, it procured a new transmitter capable of employing 50,000 watts power. The cost of the station exceeded $450,000. Its programs have been uniformly excellent and popular, and in recent years it has expended more than $300,000 a year in operation. Prior to November 11, 1928, the station was operated on a frequency of 1,040 kilocycles. This was not a cleared channel, but was employed by various other stations using medium or low power; that is to say, power not exceeding 1,000 watts. The station then employed a power of 5,000 watts in the daytime and 500 watts in the evening, with a limited right to use 50,000 watts after midnight. The station was operated full time each day.

The second station is WCBD, which is owned and operated by Wilbur Glenn Voliva. It is located at Zion, a city with a population of about 6,000, located 40 miles north of the business center of Chicago. It has operated under license since 1924. The station is operated in the interest of the religious denomination upon which the city of Zion is founded, and its programs are based upon the religious exercises in the Zion Temple, and include the sermons of the leader of the sect. The choir of the church furnishes the music broadcast by the station. The investment and expenses of WCBD are not so great as those of the other stations, but the programs are of a high character, and are popular with a large class of people, regardless of religious affiliations.

The third station is WLS, owned and operated by the Agricultural Broadcasting Company, a corporation located in Chicago. This station was established by federal license in the year 1924, by Sears-Roebuck & Company, a large mail order concern with headquarters at Chicago. In November, 1928, the station was taken over by the present owner, with the consent of the Federal Radio Commission. The capital stock of the corporation is owned in part by the Prairie-Farmer Publishing Company, and in part by Sears-Roebuck & Company. Prior to November 11, 1928, WLS operated upon a frequency of 870 kilocycles, by use of a transmitter having a capacity of 5,000 watts. This channel was a cleared channel, and the operating time upon it was shared by WLS and WCBD, in the proportion roughly of five-sevenths time to WLS and two-sevenths time to WCBD. The programs broadcast by WLS were of high character and general interest. They were of especial importance to farmers and stockmen. The station continuously sent out valuable reports upon agricultural and allied subjects, which were of service to a large class of listeners. The station has an efficient equipment.

It appears accordingly that prior to November 11, 1928,...

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11 cases
2 books & journal articles
  • Creating effective broadband network regulation.
    • United States
    • Federal Communications Law Journal Vol. 62 No. 1, January 2010
    • January 1, 2010
    ...Great Lakes Broadcasting Co., 3 F.R.C. Ann. Rep. 32 (1929), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, Great Lakes Broad. Co. v. Fed. Radio Comm'n, 37 F.2d 993 (D.C. Cir. 1930), cert. dismissed, 281 U.S. 706 (1930) (establishing programming service as one of the public interest criteria to be used in......
  • The Fairness Doctrine: the Bcs of American Politics - Josh Martin
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    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 60-4, June 2009
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    ...95. Id. 96. Id. (quoting Great Lakes Broad. Co., 3 F.R.C. 32 (1929), rev'd on other grounds, Great Lakes Broad. Co. v. Fed. Radio Comm'n, 37 F.2d 993 (D.C. Cir. 1930), cert. dismissed, 281 U.S. 706 (1930)). 97. Id. (quoting Great Lakes Broad. Co., 3 F.R.C. at 36). 98. 47 F.2d 670 (D.C. Cir.......

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