BEHIND THE ZB PROGRAMMES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 123, 31 October 1941, Page 8

BEHIND THE ZB PROGRAMMES

IGHTEEN hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year, the four main stations of the Commercial Broadcasting Service are on the air. That’s a lot of broadcasting, and, looking at it a little more closely, a lot of programmes. And even after taking away such fixed and regular programmes as the service sessions, the news and the big half-hour and quarter-hour sponsored shows, there are still a good

many gaps to be filled in by means of what are technically known as sustained programmes, mainly of recordings. That is where the programme department of a ZB station comes in, Like’ the technicians, the accountants, and the copywriters, the programme organisers are the unsung heroes of broadcasting. And as a glimpse at Station 2ZB's programme department shows, the work they do is responsible and vital. Mark Tozer is programme organiser at 2ZB,-and on his shoulders falls the responsibility for the smooth running of the department. He must be ever on the alert for new and fresh ideas and methods of presentation; he must bear in mind that not all types of programme are suitable for any time of the day. His early morning sessions must be sufficiently lively to brighten up the heaviest sleeper; at about 10 o'clock in the morning the tempo must slacken; at lunch time it quickens again, though the afternoon’s music must be restful, the evening programme demands careful balancing of feature programmes with suitable music; and after 10 o’clock at night, the mood must _be gay and light. Mark Tozer is well ‘aes for his job. Composer, songwriter, and a per former on several musical instruments,

he has taught music, and has had wide experience in radio, Edward D. Burt, his chief programme assistant, selects all the recordings heard in the breakfast session-that is to say, from six o’clock in the morning until nine, and up to mid-day. Monica Barrell looks after programmes from mid-day until 5.30 p.m., and also finds time to conduct a session of "New Releases" at 9.30 p.m. every Friday. Thelma Cusack attends to the period between 5.30 p.m. and midnight. An important member of the programme department staff at any ZB station is the transcription officer, who, at 2ZB, is Lloyd Barrett. It is his job to make sure that the correct episode of serial features and the correct commercial recordings go on the air at the correct time,

N this page are four glimpses of Station 2ZB’s programme departtment and its staff. Top: Mark Tozer, programme organiser, checks up on a record. Left: Monica Barrell and Edward D. Burt with some of the many records needed to keep the week-end programmes going. Bottom left: Lloyd Barrett is transcription officer; the walls of his office are decorated with schedules and lists of serials and recordings of commercials. Below: Thelma Cusack, one of: the programme assistants, tests a record before it goes out on a programme