SHORTWAVE RADIO STATION HARD TO RECEIVE LOCALLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 19, 1 August 1949, Page 5

SHORTWAVE RADIO STATION HARD TO RECEIVE LOCALLY

Most radio listeners in the Bay of Plenty can hear the New Zealand broadcast stations but how many have ever heard the New Zealand shortwave station? Because of the intricate technical make up of the station and the directional beaming of the special aerials it is hardly possible to receive the station in this country and it is probable that very few Bay of Plenty listeners have been able to tune it in. In any case the station is not intended for New Zealand reception. However, it is well received overseas and although beamed principally to the Pacific area the station has collected a vast listening audience throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe. Every day enthusiast, c letters from equally enthusiastic listeners are received and these testify well to the popularity of New Zealand’s shortwave programmes.

Sweden Likes Radio N.Z. Perhaps the most devoted listeners are the people of Sweden. Though reception may not always be good, they seem to like listening to the New Zealand station and send many appreciative letters to the officials running it. Of the many hundreds of letters received from Sweden, however, all .but one have been written in nearly faultless English. When the station first opened 10 months ago, there was a great spate of letters from overseas. Now, however, the original flood has gone and “fan mail” has remained steady at about 12 overseas letters a day. Letters received show that people on the Continent have a high standard of English as few translations are necessary. Most of the letters which do have to be translated are in French.. Australians seem to listen to the station a great deal and there are some areas in which it is the only radio station which can be received in certain conditions. Many letters have been received from Australians expressing appreciation of the rebroadcasting of cricket and football comentaries on the performances of New Zealand’s touring cricketers and All Blacks,

One enthusiastic listener, on holiday from Mt. Isa, Queensland, called in at the studio and presented the staff with souvenir lead and quartz samples from the mines in his home town. Mt. Isa, he said, was subject to "radio blackouts, when the only station the people could pick up was Radio New Zealand.

Linked With IYZ Radio New Zealand has a special link with the Bay of Plenty station IYZ. Of the many Maori programmes broadcast over IYZ several 'of them have been picked up and rebroadcast over shortwave from the overseas studios in Wellington. These programmes of Maori songs and hakas by Maori artists have proved immensely popular with the shortwave listeners and it is planned to have more such broadcasts.

Recently a special Maori programme was transmitted from Bay of Plenty Maoris to the people of the- Cook Islands by IYZ through Radio New Zealand.