An A.B.C. Of The B.B.C.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 374, 4 March 1937, Page 3

An A.B.C. Of The B.B.C.

Every year you and nearly eight million other wireless licence-holders each pay a 10/- fee, and when the Post Office has had its share this, leaves the not-to-be-despised sum of £2,038,262, with which the British Broadcasting Corporation plans builds and caters generally for your entertainment, says W. L. Greig in th© “Daily Mail.” This was the total at the end of 1935. When the 1936 figures arc issued the turn is expected to be much larger. Did you Mr, Mrs and Miss Listener ever wonder v.hat happens to this money, Who are the men who spend it, and how they do it? Well, here are the facts'. It takes just 2000 people to do the spending—which figure includes an nouncers you hear every day, the pro

i gramme builders of whom you seldom I hear, the ’ mandarins in thickly car ' pcted offices, to say nothing of lift j boys, electricians and typists. ■ Right at the top, of course, are the I governors.- | Mr R. C. Norman, the chairmar j (who is a brothei’ of the much more widely known Governor of the Ban! of England), receives from you £3OOO a year. His.' vice-chairman, Mr Harold G. Brown, is allowed £lOOO a year, • while the others—at £7OO a year I each —are Mrs M. A. Hamilton, the !Rt Hon Hl. A. L. Fisher, one-time president of the Board of Education I and Lady Bridgeman. To these ! governors falls the task of settling matters of high policy. By the new .charter which comes into force on January 1 their number is increased to seven, each governor receiving £lOOO.

The Director-General. Next to them —and most in the public eye—comet Sir John Reith, the director-general. He is the work ing chief of the 8.8. C man at the wheel steers this costly ship along the course rouglily charted by the governors. Reference books are silent on what you pay him. Unlike the Public Ser vice, the 8.8. C. keeps individual salaries a stern secret. The whole of the administration ■side, however, cost £94,459 in the last year for which figures are avail able. Sir John’s is the voice you may hear on momentous occasions. A deep voice, very different from that of the usual announcer, is carried over the air in a few brief words His name is l never given, but the touch of accent which betrays his Scottish ancestry is there. It is definitely a voice which tells of the strong, dour character of its. owner. He is 47 now, this son of the manse who has controlled the 8t.8.C. since its official birth. He came from Gias gow in 1922, when the Government of the day decided that it must at last take notice —somewhat sceptical notice, too, —of this new-fangled in vention.

Mr Reith, as he was then, had been trained as an engineer. The War saw him at the front, wounded once, fin ishing at a major in the Royal En gineers. Then to the Ministry of Munitions, and, the war over, back

to an engineering post in Glasgow. But young Reith had impressed the powers-that-be in Whitehall. So he was called to London to be the first general manager of the British Broadcasting Company. The rest is history. He found 18-.000 people with licences and 18,000,000 ready to jeer. There was just enough money for 33 hours of programme each week. To-day it is? approaching the 100 hours mark. Staff Administration. Recent events have put the staff administration side of the 8.8. C much in the limelight. You might Work in Broadcasting House for years without meeting Sir John, but you certainly would not be overlooked by Vice-Admiral Sir C. Carpendale, the deputy-director-general, or Mr B E. Nicholls, the administration controller. These men are gods to those- who help to spend your £2,000,000. The admiral brought naval dis cipline with him to Broadcasting House. There is a quarter-deck atmosphere about when he visits a department—find It lasts long after he has gone. His value to the 8.8. C is deemed to be such that, although he should have retired under the age limit of 60, he is still in office.

Mr Nicholls came from posts in India. He is a man of whom the pub lie hears little, but he has grown up with the 8.8. C.

But perhaps you may want to send bouquets’ (or throw brickbats) at the men who arrange your programme for you.

Then address them: Charles Siep mann, the director of programme planning, or Cecil Graves, programme controller. Anyway, they are the men who spend most of your money and they deserve much of your notice. Let me summarise them for you: Graves’, Cecil: Mention his name to some band conductors and try not to hear what they say. Arch-enemy of song-plugging. Forty-five years old. Held several administrative posts after joining 8.8. C. Became Empire director in 1932. took over programmes in 1935. Siepmann, Charles: Forceful, energetic personality. Vigorous opponent of “Too much London” for the regions. Thinks the provinces can do pretty well on their own in many ways. Spent a year seeing the wheels go round in the regions'. Used to be director of talks. Between them Graves and Siep mann have’a lot of your money tc spend. Programme Expenditure. In 1935, £1,110,572 was applied tc programmes, and this is how they spent it: £' Artists, speakers, etc 401,380 Permanent orchestras ...... 201,080 I Performing rights, copyright fees and news royalties 187,361 | Programme telephones 54,275 Salaries (staff) 227,200 Travelling, etc 39,326 Revenue has been going up by fair-sized bounds in recent years But so have fees, although not in the regions. It is l said in hushed voices in entertainment circles that a fam ous comedian was paid £-500 for a short broadcast. But Messrs Siepmann and Graves just smile. Even this £1,110,572 still leaver p little of your money to be spent. The I engineers take £3B6.s29—quite a bis I slice of the balance. Their salaries!

account for most of this' sum’, but £93,976 is required for power and plant maintenance and research.. Their travelling expenses are quite a little budget in themselves. And no wonder. A list of 8.8. C, transmitters these days looks like a page taken (Am a gazetteer of the British Isles. There are 10 centres, and many ot them have several transmitters, a far cry since the days of solitary 2LO. If you are; still able to bear with and digest further statistics it is Worth noting that it takes 5/2 of each licence fee to give this service. Because after the Treasury has had its first bite (via the Post Office) it comes back again for a second in the guise of an income tax collector. This needed £120,108 last year.