Indian Broadcast

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 52, 13 July 1928, Page 2

Indian Broadcast

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES on COMMUNAL LISTENING SET { pN writing on broadcasting in India it is the future which dominates the position, says Mr. Erie G. Dunstan, general manager, Indian Broadcasting |Company, in "World Radio"; there is little past to talk about, and the present is not altogether happy. A, beginning was made in 1927, when towards the end of the year a service was started from two stations, one at Bombay and one at Calcutta, and that service continues, although it has received a temporary check owing to lack of finance. But neither station has eyer ceased to transmit programmes, and, now that steps are being taken to provide the extra capital necessary, the programmes will shortly be restored to a full basis, and we hope the service will scon be extended to two more stations, British Broadcasting Corporation tradition and example have provided the foundations on which we have to build, and the quality of the programmes has been surprisingly high; an unexpected supply of artists and material for broadcasting has materialised, and on the Indian side of the programmes we have only just begun to discover the talent and material; the demand is creating the supply. At the end of February we had about 7000 licenses, and at present there must be nearly 10,000; and now that the Government have started prosecuting "pirates," the figures will probably improve more rapidly. But in a vast country like India one cannot expect to achieve great things in under a year, with s6 new an inyention as broadcasting, which, even to us sophisticated Westerners, seems a niraclé, and to an Eastern is incred-_ ible magic-until he has heard it with his own ears. With only two small stations, over a thousand miles apart, in a country the size of Europe, exelusive of Russia, and with a population of over 300 millions speaking more than 200 different languages, it will be some time before any but a small proportion of the population will hear broadcasting for themselves, } But when we have got a hold, when we have got the stations to give a real service to the whole of India, what a i ,

tInagnificent prospect there is for broadcasting in a country where 05 ‘per cent. of the population is illiterate and consequently learns all it knows through eyes and ears! The Communal Listening Set, ONE of the first and most important developments will be the communal listening set, installed in every village within reach of the transmitter and maintained by Government as‘sistance and perhaps paid for by some instalment plan. At present the women in purdah have no touch with the world outside their Own zenana quarters, and consequently have little opportunity for education, or even amusement. Broadcasting will bring to them what it has brought to the blind and bed-ridden in England: release from the bondage of their own little rooms, and a share in the life and happenings of the community from which they were previously barred. A people who, in the main, ean neither read nor write, can make little use of newspapers, and rumour is their only purveyor of information, and setdom tells the truth; but a service of broadcasting will bring news into every town and village of India, not in the form of rumour, but as an authenticated, truthful, non-propagandist news bulletin. ; By fdr the largest proportion of India’s people are agriculturists, and to them the weather is of paramount importance; news of the imminence of the monsoon, tin: annual rains, or. even of casual rains, is news of a fresh supply of life-blood to them. ‘Weather reports and forecasts will be one of the most valuable features of broadeasting in India. The Only Means of Education. BP many of the outlying villages there is nothing in the nature ef schools or education, because either it is impossible to get the teachers to go and teach there, or it is too expensive; but when the, communal listening set be. comes an established fact, broadcast education will be better than none. There are large numbers of Europeans and Indians who pass their lives in districts entirely eut off from the world, To them broadcasting means the end of their isolation. The majority of Indians can afford ‘little from their meagre incomes for entertainment or enjoyment, and the establishment of broadeasting wii mean & new era for them, and must change their whole outlook on life, | In fact, taking the whole world, I doubt whether it is possible to tind any other country where there is such a tremendous future for broadeasting , the possibilities are infinite, Nothing ¢an prevent the progress of Indian broadcasting, which can so easily, so effectively, and so economically fill many gaps in the average Indian's !Ze. é | Service in Ceylon. (CEYLON was determined not io be | out of the running in the broadcasting race, and, as the result of the ‘report of a Government Committee appointed to inquire into the maiter, the chief engineer of the Telegraph Department was anthorised in August, 1924, to proceed with the work of establishing a broadeasting station. Broadcasting was started officially in December, 1925, when the station was opened by H.E., the Governor (Sir ‘Hugh Clifford). I ‘or to this, however, a limited service was given by an improvised transmitter of about 4 kw. power. Good though its re‘sults were, the power was not great enough to ensure good = reception throughout the island. | The power of the permanent station is 1.75 kw. input to the oscillating circuits. The aerial masts are 300ft. "high and 600ft. apart. A wave-length of 800 metres was decided on atter due consideration of the radiation efficiency of the aerial. The main ‘studio is situated in University Col‘lege, Colombo, and a small one for talks and news is in the Central Telegraph Office. he great problem of providing pro" grammes was, if not solved, at least ‘rendered less difficult, by the ready provision of the services of talented amateurs, who deserve all credit for their yaluable gratuitous work. In | spite of the immense difficulties of the situation a broadcast service of about 1000 hours per annum has for some time been given, and every effort is being made to increase the popularity and usefulness of broadcasting in the island.