Auckland Notes

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 20, 30 November 1928, Page 8

Auckland Notes

(By

Listener

"THERE is every prospect of a brisk radio trade developing in Auck- 4 land during the coming month, for. s¢ much public attention has been drawn '. to the service rendered by broadcasting that the possession of a radio receiver in the home seems no longer a luxury. Many consider that the main function of broadcasting in the future will be not the -provision of regular entertainment, but he conveying to the publie of quick and vivid impresSions of important happenings in every sphere of life. That is, of course, until television materialises commercially. YA broke its customary Monday silence this. week to relay during the afternoon and evening a function and a service that attracted widespread : attention throughout the Dominion. The visit of a distinguished Roman Catholic prelate was in itself sufficient justification for the relay, for Cardinal Cerretti is a figure of such importance in the religious. world that people of all denominations were anxious to hear him.

The ceremony of unveiling the memorial tablet at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital was fully described, and the speeches marking the occasion were transmitted excellently): It was the evening service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, however, that earned the approvi: of the big body of listeners. Never before has better choral musie been broadcast from 1YA, and both. choir and soloists were greatly appreciated by the. big unseen congregation: at speakers and phones, even though this congregation was not, in the main, of the faith of the worshippers in the Cathedral. A correspondent in the local Press has raised the question of what principle is involved in arranging such special broadcasts as. the one: on Monday night. The answer is so ob-. vious that one wonders at the lack of perce’ ion displayed by the writer. It is part, and a very important part, of a broadcasting station’s function to give its listener. all of importance which will educate or entertain them. If Monday’s relay does not come under such a category ther the general public will be much. surprised. HE popularity test provided an interesting programme on Wednesday evening. Next day the writer came into contact with many who had quite enjoyed their temporary task as adjudicators, and these: people will await eagerly the publication of the géneral consensus of opinion upon the items given. The test was quite attractive as a novelty, as wellasa_ tide, and it might well be followed by another in which the human element participates, and mechanically reproduced music is replaced by the voices o* actual artists. ‘THE operatic excerpts from 1YA _ maintain their popularity, and "The Maid of the Mountains" proved. as popular on Tuesday: last as wheg it was first put over. A (THERE are many keén followers o Australian’ cricket in Auckland, and for them 1YA usually manages to provide some early information. Usually, by 10 pv... the day’s scores in th. big cricket matches across the water have been picked up from 2FC or 2BL, and are given out for the henefit of the many who cannot hear Australia at this time of year. :