A BIG TASK

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1932, Page 5

A BIG TASK

RADIO PROGRAMMES

SEARCH FOR TALENT

RECORDED MUSIC

The countless difficulties experienced by the New Zealand Radio Broadcasting Company in arranging programmes from day to day were mentioned in the company's farewell message to listeners on Thursday night. The message was delivered from 2YA by the station director, Mr. J. Ball. " The company believes it has investigated every avenue likely to provide entertainment," stated Mr. Ball. ''The most had been made of Kew Zealand talent, both European and Maori. Long-distance relays have been largely availed of. By this means the talent of country towns1 has been added to that of. the cities. Not content with'local artists and with gramophone recordings, the company went far afield in its search for entertainment features. It endeavoured to secure recordings of items broadcast in. Britain. Unsuccessful there, it turned to America, where a new industry, that of making special recordings solely for broadcast purposes, was beginning. Unfortunately, again, the supply, of recordings-suitable for a New Zealand audience is very restricted. However, it is in this direction —the securing of recorded broadcast features from overseas, preferably Britain— that the future of broadcasting in New Zealand lies. It is not possible for the available local talent, combined with an admixture of commercial recordings, to provide listeners, week in and week out, with concert programmes of which they will not grow tired. The Broadcasting Company recognised this years ago, and has been making continuous efforts to find a way of securing additional'attractions and adding variety to the evening's entertainments. : THE LOCAL TALENT. ';The accumulated talent of New Zealand—distributed through the four main cities and in the provincial towns from the North Cape to Bluff—is less than the number of artists available to the broadcasting stations in one Australian city. While some of our "New Zealand artists are excellent, it is not to be expected that in any one of our four chief cities where a YA station is. centred there is an aggregation of talent rivalling that of a large Australian city. '■'It has been a principle of the Broadcasting Company that local talent should be encouraged, and, more than is generally realised, broadcasting, has tendered a wonderful service to music. The ambition of many a young musician has been whetted by the prospect of engagements to perform on the air, and many a musician has kept in practice solelyj-'becaqse of the engagements ■which the-YA stations have regularly offered. The Broadcasting Company is now the greatest musical organisation in New' Zealand, and broadcasting is practically, the: only market which is available to musical talent. "Some of you have, perhaps,- compared renditions by local artists with gramophone records, and you have said, 'Why do not programmes consist entirely, of recordings?' There is no one more alive than the Radio Broadcasting Company to'the merits of recordings. An electrical reproduction is now well nigh perfect from a technical point of view, and the item recorded is probably the be,at. of a ..dozen, efforts ,mado by/the artist under' "ideal"'" conditions. To make comparison " with". the local artist's performance is gather unfair to the local artist. ... . EEIBTRIOTION ON EECOEDS. "But is has^not been possible for us to -pn-vid'evia..service-'consisting• solely of recorded items—even if we had desired' "to, dp so., The regulations under'which^we have operated have restrictedio'2s per.cent the amount of recorded'items in our evening concert programmes. In any case, as we have ; skid, :',the Broadcasting Company has given iyhat encouragement it could to local' ta|ent~aud we think that on, the general; average the New Zealand artists .have served you .well and compared more than-favourably with.those heard overseas. One- thing is certain:, had ;the-'Broadcasting Company not patronised local industry . the protests would: have far exceeded those received .for having done so. "The/ Broadcasting Company has thought it right that encouragement should .'be given to music, and it has usedVits.best efforts:to foster it,..not only; by offering engagemens .to singers and flayers who could pass the audition tests* but by subsidising ' musical societies. In. this connection, in each of the four centres a sum of £250 has been placed annually at' the disposal of a.. committee consisting of representatives of the various musical and dramatic societies in the city, and that sum has: been apportioned out to the societies ih'such:aums as the committee thought ;fit.- ..' '■ . : ■...'■■ ADVISORY COMMITTEES. "When referring to the musical and dramatic committees, it may be stated for ,the.b:eriefit: of those of our listeners who may not be aware of the extent to which' the Broadcasting Company's service has been organised, that the YA stations have had theadvice of advisory committees, ;there being a number in each city ■ dealing • with separate branches of broadcasting. These committees, have numbered 14, consisting of 114. different members, and have comprised .uiusical and dramatic, children's, primary productions, and church committees; Throughout New Zealand a number of official listeners have regularly reported on the standard of programmes, and the quality of reception. "A broadcasting service encompasses a, wide variety of features, apart-from the regular concert entertainment Sessions are regularly devoted to the children, to religious services, to dinner music, and to informative talks to housewives, to farmers, and to people generally;'there are sessions given over to news and to sport. In all of these the Broadcasting Company has given of its'"- best. ■ • ■ ■ ' "If there is one section of broadcasting' more than, another which appeals to listeners it is the broadcasting of topical happenings. In this direction the YA stations have devoted a good proportion of their time, and nothing that lends itself to broadcasting and has been available has been missed. There is bo need to mention more than a few, such as Kingsfofd Smith's flights, the Byrd conversations with New. York, the Napier earthquake, and the Guy Menzies transTasman flight. It will be remembered that* a few hours after flying the Tasmah, Guy Menzies, though located in a smalltown on the West Coast, was speaking to 3YA listeners. "Bebroadcasts of overseas stations have frequently been carried out with more' or less success, dependent upon atmospheric conditions. As listeners will have noticed in recent cable news a regular Empire short-wave service is to begin .on Monday next, and no doubt in tho future' rebroadcasts will be a ■feature .of .the YA/ schedules.''