BROADCASTING FEES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 278, 14 February 1928, Page 16

BROADCASTING FEES

NOT ‘SOMETHING FOR NOTHING’’ MANAGER EXPLAINS The application of the Broadcasting Company to broadcast the band contest which is. being held in Christchurch this month has been refused. Mr, A. R. Harris, general manager of the Brdkdcasting Company, in reference to .this information, said that the reason for the committee's decision was that it refused to give the Broadcasting Company “something for nothing” “There is apparently a misconception among some people regarding the functions and duties of the Broadcasting Company,” said Mr. Harris. “In the first place, it is not the Broadcasting Company that is getting ‘something for nothing,’ but the attraction that is broadcast on relay. It costs the .Broadcasting Company considerable money to broadcast, and the persons whose performance is broadcast no additional expenditure. Neither has it any adverse effect on the attendance. As a matter of fact, it has been proved here and elsewhere that considerable benefit accrues to the attraction broadcast due to the publicity given. “The Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, Ltd.’s, position, is not that of a private company formed to exploit the public, but that of a public company .formed under Government regulation to administer a public utility ih the interests of the community. “The company appreciates that it costs racing and trotting clubs, band associations, musical societies, and such-like public institutions a considerable amount of money to provide their form of entertainment and it is their business to decide whether they shall or shall not permit broadcasting. The company also appreciates that these institutions are giving in their own way, and at considerable personal effort and expense, service of the greatest public interest. However, as the Broadcasting Company’s service is also given in the public interest, it cannot for this reason make direct payment for relays, although it is prepared to co-operate with such institutions to the extent of providing the broadcasting service without any cost to them.”