GAMES ON THE AIR

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 538, 14 October 1949, Page 10

GAMES ON THE AIR

HAT kinds of entertainment can be _ successfully _ broadcast? Those depending principally on sound (such as speech and music) naturally fill most of our radio time, but a num-

ber of sports largely involving action and the visual element are now effectively "put on the air." That , so many keen devotees of cricket, football, tennis; etc., regularly follow descriptions of these sports sufficiently attests their popularity. In. all these games the rapid action, the need for fast description by the commentators, and

their ability to ad lib easily during dull moments, no doubt contributes largely towards holding the listener’s interest. The broadcasting of entertainments depending partly on visual, partly on aural effect can also bring pleasure, as witness the numerous transmissions of the recent Italian opera. True, the acting, scenery, costuming, and in fact almost everything but the music (and the prompter’s voice) was lost, Yet eve a partial presenfation of this most complex of all musical arts suceeds, simply because that part is music, which can stand on its own. But how could an entertainment by a hypnotist or a conjurer be successfully broadcast? Theses most perfect description of hypnotic antics or rabbit-produc-ing would interest us but little, because the entertainment is entirely visual and not continuously fast enough. Nor do enough of us know how it’s done to ensure a sufficiently large and interested tadio audience, We listen willingly to a cricket or tennis broadcast, because we have played these games, and can follow the description easily, and largely understand what is going on. But entertainments of the trick or intellectual type are not easily broadcast if they have no aural support. The playing of cards is about halfway between the two categories. I have not yet heard a Poker*game broadcast, but attempts to describe its more exalted relative, Bridge, are not uncommon. I once did it myself, and have some idea of the difficulties. So I am wondering what sort of listening public has followed the talks every Wednesday night from 1YA by Bruce Bell and Len McKillop. Bidding is spoken aloud, and can be followed on the air, but the subsequent play is silent, and all the reasons for this bidding and play are concealed from the hearer, Each hand must therefore be described, and most listeners find a certain amount of reluctant note-taking essential. Still, there are so many Bridge devotees nowadays that any attempt to talk about it interestingly over the air is worthwhile, even if we have to wait for television for complete success. Perhaps at times these Auckland players have tended to accentuate un-

usual and freak hands too much. It might be of more general interest and help to concentrate on the everyday problems that arise in even simple hands at the Bridge table. One might mention various decisions made by responsible clubs on infringements "and

other matters that continually arise during play. That there is plenty of enthusiasm to cultivate, is evident from the fact that 18 teams from five New Zealand centres met in Wellington to’ play five sessions of three hours each during the recent championship fours tournament. Incidentally, since the Russians have by now laid claim to so many inven-

tions, it is appropriate to mention that the name "Bridge" is believed to be a contraction of "Biritck, or Russian Whist," the title of one of the early pamphlets on the game, *

H.J.

F.