Broadcasting the Empire Games

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 524, 8 July 1949, Page 7

Broadcasting the Empire Games

NE of the major tasks which the NZBS will undertake next year will be the covering of the British Empire Games which are td be held in Auckland from February 4 to February 11, inclusive. During the eight days of sport there will probably be representatives of other broadcasting organisations in New Zealand’ who will co-operate with the NZBS men in sending the commentaries, summaries and results round the world. It is likely that the Australian Broadcasting Commission will send two representatives here to cover the purely Australian angle of the Games, and that they will be Bernard ‘Kerr and Talbot Duckmanton-possibly with some other part-time commentators. The BBC will, as far as is known at I cabae send two commentators and the South African Broadcasting. Commission one. The NZBS will have available two mobile recording units, as well as tape‘Tecorders and the studio facilities in learnt There are no definite details available yet as to the number of countries competing, the number of entries, or the events in which they will , ‘participate, and therefore no complete list of the broadcasting networks which will be interested. All the radio commentators will be given full press facilities so that they will be able to go to and from the recording studios to prepare their reports, summaries and impressions with a minimum of inconvenience. There will be one actuality broadcast of each event by a corm-

mentator on the spot, and the repre~ sentatives of other radio organisations will be able to make use of these broadcasts when editing their own’ material. The last Empire Games meeting was held in Sydney in 1938, when athletes from 13 countries took part. They came from England, South Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Southern Rhodesia, India, Ceylon, Trinidad, Scotland, Wales, Bermuda, and British Guiana. In the course of seven days 60 new records were created in traci:, field, and athletic events and 11 in swimming, and New Zealanders were prominent in many departments. The programme for 1950 will cover nine branches of sport-athletics, cycling, swimming, rowing, boxing, wrest ling, bowls, fencing, and weight-lifting. Provisional arrangements have been made for the athletics to be held at Eden Park, the rowing on Lake Karapiro (near Hamilton), the cycling at Western Springs Stadium, the swimming in the Olympic Pool (Newmarket), and the boxing, wrestling, weight-lifting, and fencing in the Auckland Town Hall. The bowls contests will be played off on various Auckland greens. It is proposed that athletics, should be held on four afternoons, with a marathon race starting at 11.0 a.m. Swimming is expected to take up four sessions, with one session for water-polo; wrestling and boxing, six sessions; weight-lifting, four sessions; rowing, one day; bowls, six sessions; cycling, two night sessions and & morning ‘session, including provision for a road race; and fencing, 15 sessions.