N.Z. MAY NOT HAVE TELEVISION GROWING PAINS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 63, 30 June 1950, Page 7

N.Z. MAY NOT HAVE TELEVISION GROWING PAINS

The growing popularity of television in both England and America has aroused interest in the possibility of such a service being started in. New Zealand. It would take much research and expense, experts tell us, before stations could be established. In addition it would take a lot of unforseen troubles such as is now being experienced in the United States. To have the stations and receivers and audience is not enough. There must be programmes which, unlike radio programmes, can be seen by the audience. In five years, television has become .a pretty slick operation, but so many mistakes are occurring that they have become one of the main attractions. No Tooth

Once when giving- one of those big television smiles an announcer dropped a tooth on the floor. Yet the most dreadful things happen with commercials. There is a famous beer advertisement. The announcer lifts a glass to his lips, a glow of pleasure spreads across his face. The camera switches away for a moment and comes back showing the announcer smug and satisfied with the glass empty.

But this time the camera did not swing away and television fans saw the announcer sloshing his beer into a bucket.

Then there was the gentleman selling the cigarette lighter. “It’s the new 20th Century fully automatic design—never misses. Yoti just go flick,” he enthused, “and it’s lit. Er, this must be a special show model without any fluid.” Flick, flick, flick and flick again. Nobody offered him a match, and he was still flicking when the director shut him off the air. ' It Wouldn’t

These demonstrations can be quite disastrous. An announcer was demonstrating a folding table. “A child can work it,” he said, in a rich microphone baritone. He pulled, yanked and tugged until sweat ran down his face under the heat of the lights.

Suddenly it came together with a bang. Undaunted, he said: “You see—the perfect table—AND it’s ABSOLUTELY solid.” He slapped his hand on to it and it collapsed. These television howlers have become so frequent that most big stations now film their commercials beforehand. This is fantastically expensive £4OO a minute for straight films and £IOOO a minute for animated cartoons.