BROADCASTING CONFERENCE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 541, 4 November 1949, Page 7

BROADCASTING CONFERENCE

Station Officers Meet in Wellington

TATION ‘managers, district engineers, and Head Office executives of the New Zealand. Broadcasting Service recently attended the first staff conference held since Mr. William Yates took over the position of Director of the NZBS. The principal aim of the conference, which took place in Wellington and lasted for three days, was to discuss broadcasting policy and development, modern trends, and the progress that will be possible when various stations begin transmitting on higher power during 1950. It is intended next year to widen the listeners’ choice of programmes considerably, and it will then be possible to’consider confining some stations to specific types of programmes, such as those appealing to

followers of variety, those ° presenting more substantial material, and those offering something between the two, As soon as the power increases are completed, the technical staff of the NZBS will conduct a survey of reception cuuditions throughout New Zealand, and collect data for programme officers so that satisfactory . variation of programmes from different stations can be achieved. During the conference each station manager was given an opportunity to discuss problems affecting his own station and district, and new appointees exchanged views with the more experienced officers. At convenient times during the conference, members of the Engineering and Commercial Divisions held meetings to talk over work in their own specialised fields.

It was explained to the conference that there are vacancies in the announcing, technical, programme and clerical departments for people with the necessary qualifications, and means of filling these positions were discussed. An out~ line was given of progress made this year with lecture courses under the -recently formed staff training scheme, together with details of the programme for 1950, when the scheme will be expanded. Reports were presented by Jean Combs, officer-in-charge of the Broadcasts to Schools Department, who recently returned after some months of study at the BBC on a bursary awarded by the Imperial Relations Trust, and by Winston McCarthy, sports commentator for the NZBS, on broadcasting in South Africa.