THE FUTURE RADIO POLICY

Hokitika Guardian, 7 October 1930, Page 2

THE FUTURE RADIO POLICY

IMPROVING B GRAjDE STATIONS,

POST-MASTER-GENERAL ON Y COPYRIGHT.

:yy/WELLINGTON,' October 3. // Although no definite statement of policy Cpncerhiiig, the /future- of radio ih New ; Zealand, following the expiration.of The present contract, was forth'coniing, several - important references jwere made by the Hon. J.*p; Donald, Postmaster-General, during tbh 'debate' on the post- and Telegraph Estimates in the/ House to-day. ■ ''Tlie. discussion- was initiated by : Air ' J."<'A . ' Nash (Palmerston);/ who asked What' thie Gpvfernment was doing to ■assist B grade station's. It: had been 'stated that'the Government had entered viiitb a’ii arrangement ; with the Copyright Associiition for the purpose of ' the . New Zealand Bitoadeasting Company, There was quite a largb humbei < of second-grade stations in the : Dominion, and, new ones were constantly opening upj but they were not /welcomed by the Broadcasting Company.- If it Were' possible to put them off the air, the Broadcasting Company Would do so. The Copy, right-:Asiociation wm demanding fourP«nce for every copyrighted item broad* cast, andi <«» ; the B grade stations had no .income, the charge inflicted a great hardship, Ah they had to rely on was thp bef pnpuaP subscription • from./Hateners4n, and unless: some protection were given, they - would be compelled to close down because'of the copyright chfvrgje.v “The time' has come;” Mr Nash declared, “when the Government that a corporation .Was cnclcavouriiig .to help the' seoond-grade stations.” In the opinion of Mr Clyde Carr ;(Timaru)i ! the Tistehers-in license fee was ,tlic highest in the world, and the service the .worst. .: ! .. v

/ luqiliiyjwas made by the, Hon R. A. fright i,(Wellington Suburbs) whether there was any truth ,in the statement that a large corporation was endeavouring, to buy,, opt the Broadasting. rCompany. .'■> He said he would not .like to see' v ; Amerian : broadcasting interests .take control of the air in New Zealand. The copyright charge was outrageous, ■ ' ■ / ‘'AN OUTRAGEOUS CHARGE.” The Postmaster-General said he understciod that the Copyright Association Wished a charge of fouritenoe for each side of a broadcast gramophone record, ‘ 'That appears to me to he - outrageous, ’ 1 he-said' “ahd so. far as I am oonceiUed, if it 1 is possible for the Government to do anything to stop that, members.cah. rest assured that I will be only top pissed to do it.” ••/ : Mr Dtwiaj'd. . addod that; he; had /pot ‘heard .anythjng abbut the Broadcaßting Company being taken over ,by an American company, . . persohaily; ' he did . not - think there' was any tenth in the' assertion, because the license of the Broadcasting Company did pot expire;, until-January, 1082.,

Mr Carr: There is not much to.buy, “No, there is not very muoh' to buy,” the Minister agreed. “The Americans are pretty good business men and I don’t think they would buy , under .the. present conditions,” ' A member: Have they the right of renewal ?The Minister ... . approves B grade stations. Mt j,; A. Nash: Does the Minister approve of B grade, stations? :“Most assuredly, ’’ .replied the Minister, who went on to say , that they could not lose sight of the fact that the B grade stations were inaugurated at a time when nobody else would undertake the work.; There w,as no reason wliy;tlisteners-in should not be getting better service than they were getting, and it would be a good thing if an improvement could be brought about. It would not be fair t 6 ask him what was being done in that direction ■ as the matter was only just being considered. “I do realise,” he repeated* “that we want something better than- we have got*- at present.” Colonel M’Dbhald (Wairarapa): Nationalise “AGAINST RADIO ADVERTISING.” “I believe there is room for the B grade stations as well as the major stations,” said the Minister, “They serve quite a good purpose in the community, and their • interests will be conserved in the new regulations which l hope will be brought into' force along with the ,interests of theSnajor stations.” '

Replying to another question, the Minister said he was sure the people of New Zealand did not want to hear advertising on the air. There was plenty, of advertising in the newspapers and in other ways. Mr Carr:,We are not asking for it. The jVfinister said that the Department had been asked to allow advertising, but had refused. Mr Nash; Quite right. Tho Minister: We will have to he very careful what we allow on the air .even in the matter of sponsored programmes. I believe that when the new scheme is properly worked out, the people of New Zealand and the House will he very well satisfied with it.. ... Mr Carr: Can you give any idea when it is likely to eventuate? . The Minister said it would take a few . weeks. It would require a little time to work it out. It certainly ought to be ready by the time Parliament met next year. However, probably something could be done before then.

In making another effort to ascertain the policy to be adopted following the completion of the present broadcasting contract, Mr M, J. Savage (Auckland West) said he could not imagine anything being in the air regarding an American desire to buy out the company unlegs the Minister knew about it. However, if the Americans wished to buy out the small existing right they were welcome, but when the existing contract expired they should be told that the State would do the job, TRe' Minister should say so, because this was one of the public services which should never have been left to a private company. Many other speakers raised other topics and the adjournment arrived before the Minister was able to make a further reply.