IZA IS 42nd MEDIUM-WAVE STATION

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 40, 25 May 1965, Page 11

IZA IS 42nd MEDIUM-WAVE STATION

Station 1ZA Taupo is the NZBC's 42nd mediumwave radio station. Already this year, the Corporation has opened a similar station — 2ZE — at Blenheim, and it plans to commission three others within the next six months, at Hawera, Tokoroa and Taumarunui. The NZBC is establishing these new radio stations to provide much better reception in the areas concerned and to cater for community development. However, some people maintain that the NZBC is

wasting its money establishing new radio stations throughout the country; that radio, with the development of television, has become a "thing of the past"; and that the money would be better spent on the development of the television service. They feel that radio cannot compete with the audience attraction of the newer medium. The Dir-ector-General of Broadcasting, Mr G. ,H. Stringer, does not agree. The term "broadcasting," for so many years synony-

mous in New Zealand with sound radio, now covers television as well, he says. While complementary to each other, the two media are also in some respects natural rivals. "Sound radio will continue to thrive, because no other medium can completely replace it as a general source of entertainment or information. "Its strength lies in its versatility and in the immediacy of its impact." There is no doubt that radio loses some of its

audience to television during the hours when there are transmissions in both media, but this "loss" is well -compensated for. A survey carried out late last year for the NZBC by V an independent organisation showed that the expected shift from evening listening to evening viewing (urban listening at 8 p.m. is only half the pretelevision figure of 1959) has been balanced by a substantial increase in daytime listening — up to 25 per cent.