INDIA BROADCASTS

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 6, 26 August 1927, Page 13

INDIA BROADCASTS

TWO BIG STATIONS | _- Ps EFFECT ON THE NATIVES

BOMBAY. 7BY, 357.1 METRES, 3000 WATTS. CALCUTTA. 7A, 370.4 METRES, 3000 WATTS.

(From

Our Own Correspondent

Bombay, July 19. Broadcasting, that all embracing cartier of entertainment, news, and instruction, has stfuck ont on bold lines in India, which, within a few weeks, will possess two of the most up-to-the-minute high-power broadcast statioris in the world. It would be. difficult to assess the far-reaching influence that broadcasting is going to exert upon the national life of this wondrous land of mystery. ‘ Old friends in distant New Zealand may, without being over optimistic, expect to hear the Indian stations once they have dropped into their stride, and withthe zedl and experience of the engineers conducting these stations they should be operating at their peak efficiency before the end of August. -7BY, BOMBAY, ON THE AIR. Last evening, with great eclat, 7BY, Bombay, 357.1 metres, 3000 watts aerial energy, was Officially opened by the Viceroy of India. This station is locatei at Worli. It sweeps a vast area for crystal reception alone, not to mention its range for valve sets. The chief object in establishing so powerful a

station was to bring broadcasting per medium of inexpensive crystal sets to the homes of a substantial proportion of the teeming millions of the Presidency of Bombay. In this Presidency alone there is a population of something like 23,000,000, or, roughly, over eighteen times the total population of New Zealand. The Presidency, despite the ravages of pestilence and famine, is quickly recuperative and produces an enormous supply of cotton, cereals, sngar, tea, and wool. The secondary industries, too, are extensively developed, so the masses, seeing that crystal sets can be purchased for seven or eight rupees, are in a position to enjoy the boon of broadcasting. CALCUTTA COMMENCES, The Calcutta station, ‘CA, 370.4 metres, 3000 watts aerial energy, is dated to be opened officially at 6.30 p.m. on Angust 26, by Sir Stanley Jackson, Governor of ‘Bengal, ‘The time in New Zealand will be midnight on August 26, The Calcutta station has been ereeted at Cossipore, in Calcutta, the capital of Bengal. Here, again, we have not only a huge citv (population of about one end a half millions), but a térritory supporting something like 50 million people. The earning capacity of the masses is relatively high, the primary products embracing innumerable varieties of cereals, tea, cotton, sugar, pepper, spices, cinchona, coal, iron, and copper. There are also big jute and cotton mills around Calentta employing tens of thousands of natives. By means of the inexpensive crystal set the natives will be able to have this modern miracle, broadeasting, at their disposal. Calentta is built on the River Hooghly, 80 miles inland, and is well situated for the site of a broadcast station. BROADCASTING HOURS. For the first few months the broadcasting hours of the two stations will e iSunday. -l1 a.m. till noon; 6.30 till "p.m -11.30 ‘a.m. till, noon; 7,45: till 10.80 p.m. Tuesday.-3.30' till 4 p.m.; 8 p.m. til! 11:30 p.m. Wednesdav.-11.80 a. 2 tt, til ‘noon; 7.45 p.m, till 10.80 p "Thursdav.-3.30 mel: 4 pm.; 8 p.m. till 11.30: p.m ' Fridav,-11.380 till toon; 7.45 p.m. till 10.30 ‘p.m Saturday.-3.80 till 4 Pm; 5 "6,15 till 11.30° p.m. NEW ZEALAND TIME. To: enable New Zealand friends to pick up the Indian stations it is advis-' able to. explain that Calcutta time is 5 hours behind New Zealand, and Bombay is 6} honrs behind New Zealend, For instance, when it is 8 p.m,

in Calcutta it is 1.50 a.m, in New Zear. lagd. It will be 2.30 a.m. in New Zealand when the clock shows 8 p.m. on Bombay. GOOD EXPERT STAFF, We have a highly-qualified expert, staff. in charge of the technical side. of the broadcasting scheme which is: operated by the Indian Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Radio House, Apollo Bunder, The chief radio engineer is Mr. V. A. M. Bulow, who is an experienced radio man, with an abundance of resourcefulness and energy. The general manager of the ‘company. is Mr. EX. C. Dunstan. UNWIELDY ADVISORY BOARD. ‘There is one flaw in the general scheme, and that is the creation of an unwieldy Advisory Board of no fewer, than a dozen, leading citizens. It is’ my experience that the advisory boards are nothing short of a clog to! progress in all forms of public enter~ prise. A capable manager who is de--sirous of catering for the greatest nuni-; ber, and who is imbued with the spirit! of progress, is only hampered by the; widely, diverse opinions and fads: of in-' ) experienced persons who interfere with’ liis owt carefully-considered plans., The thing would not be tolerated in a railway company, steamship contpany, or banking organisation. Not infre--quently, too, the person with the most unreasottable fads possesses a zealousness and a flow of eloquence which converts the less combative minds of their colleagues. This renders the position of the general manager most unenviable Just how our: Board will func- , tion remains to be seen, but at the! very best it cannot give the general satisfaction that would result from the untrammelled endeavours of a com- | petent and energetic manager.