Twenty Years After

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 1, 30 June 1939, Page 11

Twenty Years After

The Hobby of the Few Becomes the Habit of the Many -A Brief Account of the Sensational Development of New Zealand Broadcasting

It is difficult these days to imagine a world without radio, so deep a root has it taken in modern life. Yet in most cases imagination is not needed, but only memory. Like the cinema, the radio is of such recent origin that there are still plenty of men and women who can plainly recall the first wonderful whinings and whisperings of the "wireless," just as there are many who can remember the early, feeble flickerings of the screen’s shadowshow. So, in writing the history of broadcasting in New Zealand, there is no need to delve far into the past. When one talks about the early days of New Zealand broadcasting one really

means those days round about 1921, when the confusion caused by the unregulated, though admirable, efforts of a multitude of enthusiastic amateurs caused the Government of the day to step in. At first, the’Post and Telegraph Department arranged to issue provisional permits for receiving apparatus for experimental or instructional purposes only. These permits were first issued in April, 1921, and one of their conditions was that no interference should be caused to public wireless telegraph work. Transmitting licenses were confined to people engaged in the scientific side of radio, or who were personally connected with manufacturing radio equipment. However, the number of amateurs grew so rapidly, and the general public itself began

to show so much interest in the new marvel of radio, that these regulations were soon archaic and unwieldly. By January, 1923, 588 permits for amateur wireless had been issued, and the number was increasing fast. So, while the Department continued to issue provisional permits, a start was made with drafting permanent regulations. In 1923, these regulations came into force. They provided for receiving, transmitting, experimental and broadcasting licenses. The annual fee was 5/- for a receiving license. In the first twelve months after these regulations came into force, approximately 2,000 licenses were issued. It is an insignificant number compared with the present great total, but still an indication of how rapidly the radio habit was growing in New Zealand. REDUCING INTERFERENCE The aim of the 1923 regulations was to make the broadcasting of music, talks, news

and other items of interest as widely available to the public as possible. At the same time, efforts were made to reduce the interference which was the bugbear of early radio listening. Besides the marked increase in applications for licenses for receiving sets brought about by these new regulations, there were also many applications for transmitting licenses and, in a few cases, for licenses to broadcast. The year 1923 saw the erection in the principal centres of comparatively small-powered broadcasting stations operated by private enterprise. These were partly but not wholly successful.

The Government had brought some degree of order out of the early confusion; but it was not enough. Therefore, investigations wefe made with a view to establishing a first-class national broadcasting service. In this work, New Zealand was in the happy position of being able to learn from the experience of other countries; and, in addition to canvassing for the views of radio societies and others interested in the subject in New Zealand, the Government made extensive inquiries overseas. UNDER PRIVATE ENTERPRISE As a result of these investigations, the Government took the view that, in the circumstances then prevailing, the most satisfactory arrangement would be for a private company to undertake broadcasting under Government control. In 1924, the Right Hon. J. G. Coates (then Postmaster-General and

Minister of Telegraphs) introduced legislation providing for the development of a national radio broadcasting service in the Dominion. The Government was to have rigid control of the new service, but it was empowered to enter into an agreement for the development of broadcasting under private enterprise. The Act also introduced the principle of licensing listeners by the payment of a fee, part of which was to be devoted to broadcasting. This legislation was well received by listeners. The various radio societies had

already made it clear to the Government that there would be no objections to paying a much higher fee, provided the increase was devoted to the improvement of broadcasting. The new regulations were gazetted at the beginning of March, 1925. In the 1923 regulations the receiving license fee had been 5/- a year; in 1925 the amount was increased to £1/10/-. Previously licenses were issued for a period of twelve months from the date of issue; under the 1925 scheme, they lapsed on March 31 each year. After the regulations had been gazetted, negotiations broke down with the syndicate which was going to undertake Dominion broadcasting, and the existing stations had to carrv on

under Government subsidy until August, 1925, when the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, Limited, was incorporated. NEW STATIONS Under the 1923 regulations, authority had been given for the establishment of broadcasting stations of 500 watts power on wavelengths ranging from 206 to 385 metres, and for 250-watts stations on wavelengths ranging from 190 to 250 metres. On August 7, 1926, the Auckland station came on the air. The number of licenses at that date was 4,400, The new station at Christchurch followed a few months later. From then on the number of license-holders went up with a rush, the total at the end of March, 1927, being 18,162. Continued on page 49.

Twenty Years After

Continued from page 11. The next big event in New Zealand’s broadcasting history was the opening of 2YA, the Wellington super-power station of 5,000 watts, on July 16, 1927. At that date, even. by world standards, this was considered a powerful station. In October, 1927, at Dunedin, 4YA was reconditioned on modern lines and carried on until its new premises in the "Evening Star" building were Officially opened on October 16, 1929. Thus, in less than a year, three new stations had been built and equipped. Also, in the same period

the number of license-holders had been multiplied more than four times. Progress since then has been even more spectacular. The Broadcasting Board replaced the Broadcasting Company in January, 1932; in April, 1935, the license fee was reduced’ to 25/- from 30/-; and in July, 1936, the Government assumed full control of the administration of broadcasting. The first Commercial station was. opened in Auckland in October, 1936, followed quickly by Commercial stations -in the other three centres. Then, in January, 1937, a national station was opened at Titahi Bay, Wellington, with a transmitting power of 60,000 watts. Radio to-day is no longer a novelty but a part of the everyday life of the Dominion. In spite of the

rapid strides that had been made, only 14 per cent. of the Dominion’s households contained licensed receiving sets ten years ago. Five years later, the proportion had risen to 35 per cent.; and to-day there are sets in more than 84 per cent. of the homes in New Zealand. The number of license-holders is now approaching the 320,000 mark. Denmark and Sweden are now the only two countries in the world ahead of New Zealand so far as the number of licenses in proportion to population is concerned. This is a remarkable achievement. But two years from now, if the present pace is maintained, every home in the country will have its radio set. In other words, the growth of New eZaland broadcasting from practically nothing to saturation point will have taken less than 20 years!