BROADCASTING

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 4, 12 August 1927, Page 4

BROADCASTING

DEBATE IN THE HOUSE | ee SUMMARY OF THE FACTS

During the: week, debate occurred in the House of Representatives upon broadcasting matters in general, but particularly upon the loan of £15,000 by the Government to the. Radio Broadcasting Company for the purpose of meeting the Government’s ‘desires, for Imperial and national reasons, to have a higher powered station at Wellington, that originally contemplated at the time of the agreement being reached between | the company and the Government, This. debate ran to some length. | THE £15,000 LOAN. : At the opening of 2YA, the Post-master-General, the Hon. W. Nosworthy, said that £15,000 had been loaned to the company to provide a station of a power much superior to that originally planned. On this being raised in Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holiand) said that the Broadcasting Company was in competition with the Post Of fice, and it was objectionable to lend such a sum of money without the authority of Parliament. We wanted to know why the money was lent. Was the company in snch a bad position that it must go to the Government for a loan of £15,000 to enable it to carry on with its work? He would like to know whether further loans weré likely to be made. Why should such a loan be made when people who were waiting for loans for houses and other things were told that the money was not available? Mr. Wolland also objected to the Prime Minister’s speech being broadcast from Christchurch when his own was not. Mr. J. A. Lee (Auckland East) said that if the Broadcasting Company was in such a bad position, why should not the Government accede to the request of listeners-in and make broadcasting a State monopoly? What was the return for such an example of political patronage? Other Labour members spoke on similar lines. WHY THE LOAN WAS MADE, In the absence of the PostmasterGeneral, the Prime Minister capably replied to the discussion. The money was lent because the Government’s technical experts recommended that it would be desirable for the Wellington station to be of such capacity as to have a daylight range over the whole of New Zealand and a night range over the whole of the Sonth Pacific. This mecessarily altered almost entifely the financial arrangements with the company, because it introduced new factors and new costs. The big station was of the primest importance as a natiOnal and Imperial factor. The company had met fully its original commit ments, but it was only fair on extending the company’s obligations to extend sOme temporary aid in meeting those obligations. The Government had precedent for this from the national point of view in the advances made to coalmining and goldmining companies. The Government had secnrity for the advance made and he could see no danger provided | the company gave good service to the listeners.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL? Mr. Holland suggested that the Goyernment should take over the control of the service. Mr. Coates replied that if Mr, Holland had had as much to do with the matter as he had, he would be very glad to leave the control in the hands of somebody else. It was a pioneering business and like all pioneering businesses certain difficulties were ineyitable. The Government was just as anxious as anyone else to see broadcasting properly carried out and regulated. The day might come when the Government might take over the company. THE COMPANY'S FINANCES, In regard to the remarks of Mr. Iolland and other Labour members relative to finance, the general manager of the comipany states: ‘The facts are-(1) In addition to our original undertaking to find | £20,000 for capital expenditure we have found and entered into commitments. for £50,000, including this loan of £15000 from the Government; thus we have ourselves already found £15,000 beyond our original undertaking and are responsible for £30,000 beyond the original sum. (2) All capital expenditures have been found by us and not one penny of revenue has been di- verted towards capital, but every penny of revenue has been returned to listeners in programmes and service. (3) Our books are open in full detail to the Post and T'clegraph Department and have been examined from time to time,

At the opening of 2YA, the Post-maSter-General on this point said: "T have, on different occasions, had the finances of the company looked into and have satislied myself that everything is in order, that there has been no unnecessary expense in administration and that the com.Pany gave as good a Service as I could expect in the circumstances." THE COPYRIGHT OF PROGRAMMES Mr. R. McKeen in the debate said the company’s "latest dodge’? was to produce its own publication; to refnse to hand forthcoming broadcast pro-

grainmes to the newspapers for publication; and so to compel listeners-in to pay a high price for the company’s paper, The official reply is: The facts are: (1) The "Radio Record" is separate ftom the Radio Broadcasting Company, is separately financed and separately administered. It exists to give a programme and news service to listeners and further the general cause of broadcasting, It is on a separate and independent commercial basis. (2) There has been no refusal to hand pro‘grammes to the Press for publication. wo free copies of each issue of the ‘Record’? are posted to each news paper that desires the programme service so that they may continue their former practice of giving daily programmes, (3) No paper formerly published ‘programmes weekly in advance, although the opportunity was theirs to take. (4) There is no compulsion whatsoever to buy "The Record,’? and the price is not high. COPYRIGHTS AND COUNTRY HALLS The Hon, D. Buddo complained about | restrictions on country halls through copyrighting.-The official reply is: The hon, gentleman must be under. some misapprehension, There is no such restriction as he imagines. It is not true that the Broadcasting Company declined to allow wireless to be used in country halls unless the secretary held a license from the copyright holder. The question of the copyright of music was controlled by the owners or publishers, and once the Broadcasting Company met the royalties and copyright fees for transmission it was not concerned with what happened. IN COMPETITION WITH THE POST OFFICE Mr. Holland said "The company is in competition with the Post Office." -The company’s reply is: We are not in competition with the: Post Office. On the contrary, the Broadcasting Company materially enhances postal and’ telegrapiic revenue. There is nothing that it helps more than it does the Post Office. Its ramificationg extend from the North Cape to the Bluff. Listeners are continually writing aud the company replies to ail. It has a very large incoming and outgoing mail bag. It spends a lot on telegrams and on toll calls, and it receives many telegrams and telephonic communications. It pays a large sum every year for telephones and relay lines. In a hundred different ways it augments the revenue of the P. and T. Department, but not in one particular does it deprive the Department of revenue. Nothing that it sends ‘‘over the air" makes it. unnecessary for anyone to send anything by mail or "on the wire." The Broadcasting Con'pany 1s not in competition with the P. and T. Department.