THERE ARE OTHERS!

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 1, 22 July 1927, Page 11

THERE ARE OTHERS!

A LISTENER’S VIEWPOINT, THE COMPLEXILY OF PROGKAMMES, S rom) our own nurrow evint of view, man er womant: wio dotes on dance music grumpies}’ ucqause Uere 1s not enough dance a45ICG Wleinded in the programmes, sue listener wilo worships the twang4g Melodies Of the siawauan steel etatar demauds more space in the pro-! oA*GHuMes TUL is pet items, And so! © goes oh right through the wnole| eaiuut Of Droaucast entertainment, A! vroadcast audience is muuxe any other,! sue mempberg of this audience pay for a certain e1tertamment service, and cey expect to obtain complete pleas ure from it, A theatre audience com prises people who can attend or stay away, just as they desire. hey are uot compelled to bestow their patron-| age. = Simply, there is no compul-| sion for payment to the theatrical company. With a broadcast audience it is quite ditterent; the listener is compelled to pay for the entertainment whether he or she likes the bill of fare or not. Very well, it is only logical, then, that the listener should feek that he or she must obtain the fullest enjoyment possible from the broadcast programme. Shall we grant this? Yes. It is quite a reasonable aspect of the case. But there is a circumstance which places a broadcast audience in quite an anomalous position-utterly different to that of a theatre audience. For example, a person who delights in listening to dance music, and does not appreciate pianoforte solos, is not likely to pay to hear Paderewski, or a Dickensonian recital. Even if that person decides to try a change, and goes to hear Paderewski or a Dickensonian recital, he cannot upbraid the management of cither entertainments on the basis that he, or she, dors not enjoy piano solos or the recitals of excerpts from great anthors. the broadcast audieuce represents those who pay, by compulsion, for many phases of entertainment which provide no enjoyment for various sections of this audience, This must be ac« cepted as a simple, incontrovertible fact. The broadcast director 9 rece.sises, this at the outset, and, sensibly, does not hope to please everyone all the while. He, however, aims to cate¥ for each particular taste in direct proportion to its importance. He reeognises that his audience comprises the widest and most comprehensive rauge of tastes possible in a civilised country. Various methods have been devised in other countries tu ascertain the popularity, in their relative degree, of the various kinds of items which are embraced in a_ broadcast’ service. Newspapers have printed coupons to be filled in by the listeners, who are required to indicate their choice of the varions types of broadcast items in the order of choice-a kind of preferential voting. As these coupons are printed in several davs’ issues of the newspaper, these who show the most persistence in forwarding the coupons back «re apt to carry the day as against those who have less time or opportunity to vote so often. This is, therefore, not em ideal methed of gauging the various tastes,in their relative proportion. If each licensed listener were restricted to one vate, and a large proportion ef licensed listeners actually recorded-their votes, then the broadcast director woutt have a substantial basis on which to compile his programmes so as_ to please each section of the listeners in their due proportion. This, no doubt, would not eliminate the person who. complains that there is too mweh highclass music and not enough jezz, or, on the other hand, the person who growls that there is too much azz: and not enough classical] music. Let us regard" the matter from a less selfish, or ‘self-centred, outlook Under our present complex social system we all have to make sacrifices for the common good of the community, and the same applies to broadcast listening. We should remember the other fellow. If a_ classic item bores us, or a jazz number annoys us let us make allowances for the other fellow who is relishing what is disliked by us. ™