B Class Stations — Pros and Cons

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 27, 18 January 1929, Page 3

B Class Stations — Pros and Cons

Are they Justified ? A correspondent last week expressed appreciation of our article, "Ready to Raid Listeners’ Funds," in which we disclosed the plans of owners of "B" class stations to endeavour to secure subsidy from the Government or listeners for their stations. That correspondent said: "Your article is timely, and, to my mind, puts the case very fairly, and I believe you will receive the backing of all unprejudiced listeners." This week a correspondent takes the opposite point of view, and considers our article "unsportsmanlike." In pursuance of our policy of affording the fullest opportunity for frank discussion of this question, we are publishing this correspondent’s letter below, and make such comment on the arguments as we think is desirable. In our view it will be advantageous for listeners to have a full appreciation of the factors involved in the proposed agitation for "B" class stations being subsidised from funds provided by listeners for the broadeast service, We also publish an important letter from another "B" station owner suggesting a new method for the development of such stations, without subsidy, in the present or future, from listeners’ funds. We deal with this letter editorially.

OUR article "Ready to Raid Listeners’ Funds" in December 2ist’s issue is surely rather unsportsmanlike, and I firmly believe the majority of readers will have disapproved of: its sentiments. ver since the inauguration of Z stations, listeners have questioned why they received no subsidy out of license money, because they provided extra entertainment when Y stations were not on the air. Now that they are well-established, and giving relia ervice, why should they not form an ociation among themselves, without you endeavouring to blast them in listeners’ minds? I venture to say that these Z stations have been beneficial to the R.B.C.’s finances, in that they have largely helped to increase the number of licenses issued, for it is they who have been on the air during the shops’ best radio-selling hours (12-2 p.m.), when the Y stations have almost totally been silent. You say radio advertising is contrary to the spirit of the regulations, and would be foreign to listeners, yet you suggest selling time to the proprietors of the Z stations by the R.B.C. to advertise their wares, which they do not at present any more than the Y stations, who also acknowledge the loan of ‘records by So-and-So. Moreover, I venture to say buying Y stations’ time would be more expensive than running their own plant. They on need bigger audiences by virtue f0) e greater power of the Y stations; people buy in their nearest home town; no Aucklander would send to Dunedin for a good record he heard from there, he would' procure it in Auckland. And besides, surely the Z stations get big enough audiences? We hear all of them in Dunedin, so I suppose they can all be heard in Auckland too. You. point to Australian conditions of over-crowded ether not being desired in New Zealand, and you endeayour to frighten crystal owners at least that if the Z stations are oversubsidised out of licenses that there will be such a jumble of jarring jingles in their sets that listening-in will be an abomination instead of a delight. Z stations are not on the air during Y hours so far as I know. Certainly the Z stations will be well advised not to ask to be on the air, more than one at once in one centre, as their wave1 hs are close. e Z stations, in my opinion, give licensees extra value, and are to be encouraged along present lines rather than being swallowed up into a monopoly, or starved out of existence. A vivid case in point occurred on Christmas afternoon. It was dull, wet and blowy, unenticing to go outside the house, and one turned to radio to provide an interest. Dialled 1, 2, 8, 4 Y¥ station in turns, all closed down. Luck was in after all, 4ZM on the air with an extra good selection of gramophone records, and 3Z0 with a special session for hospitals-carols and an inspiring and heartening message for h infirm and well by some gentlemaw. I was so absorbed by these two stations that I didn’t dial on to the 1 and 2 Z's, but probably they, too, were on the air, unselfishly foregoing their Christmas relaxation for listenert’ pleasure,

I wonder what New Zealand would say if all the public services closed down on Christmas afternoon? I may say I have. no interest whatever in any Z station, beyond the pleasure they afford me, at present gratuitously, and I don’t see why they should not receive a small modicum of the increasing licenses, as an earnest of listeners’ appreciation, and the radio clubs should be treated the same, as they, unlike sports clubs, are providing others with entertainment. Be a sport and let the Z stations live peaceably until they actually tread on Y’s corns. I would like to congratulate 4YA on their Christmas night entertainment, as being the best of the four stations, and also 2YA on their excellent dance programme on Boxing night, better than relays from noisy cabarets.-G. S. PAXTON (Dunedin). IN our view our correspondent does not display a full and proper grip of the subject he discusses. Nor has he been perfectly fair to ourselves in traversing our article. For instance, h says, "Yet you suggest selling time to hte proprietors of the Z stations by the R.B.C. to advertise their wares." That statement is not correct. What we said was, "The objective of furthering radio would have been attained more completely by co-operation than by competition. It was open, and still is open, to the owners of these B class stations, seeking publicity and the furtherance of radio, to purchase time from the Radio Broadcasting Company, and invest their money in longer hours of operation and- if they have the talent available-better programmes than have been given. Such programmes could be sponsored by the firm concerned, and full credit given them for their enterprise and initiative." This passage. shows, we think, that it was not our thought that the time purchased should be devoted to advertising, but to the provision of those "better programmes" which it was suggested the B class stations could give. Our correspondent further suggests that "Buying Y stations’ time would be more expensive than running their own plant." This strikes us as rather a foolish suggestion, as no basis of purchase has been suggested nor a quotation asked. To a business mind it would seem extremely unlikely that the

purchase of part time from an existing organisation would be dearer than the establishment of an entirely new plant, with all the expenses of capital outlay, rent, ete, apart from actual operation. Having regard to the value of split overhead, a business mind would not support our correspondent’s suggestion. The suggestion that the Z stations do not need bigger audiences is also, to our mind, somewhat feeble, seeing that the very purpose of their existence is publicity, and "the bigger the better" must surely be their motto. We have no objection whatsoever to being a "sport" and letting the Z stations live peacably on their present basis, as suggested by our correspondent. The trouble, however, was that they were not content to remain on their present basis. They promulgated a suggestion for raiding listeners’ funds or seeking a subsidy for a service voluntarily entered upon by themselves for their own special purposes. This. proposal to our mind involved the welfare of radio itself, as the splitting of the funds for broadeasting to give each of these small stations, as suggested by our correspondent, "a modicum," would simply lead to diffusion of effort and inefficiency. Experience elsewhere is definitely against the superfluous _ stations. A listener can enjoy one only at a time. If longer hours of trans: mission are desired, that end is more likely to be gained satisfactorily by conversation. of the funds available, than by diffusion of those funds in duplicating plant and equipment.

A sounder view of the position regarding B stations is advanced by Mr, W. A. Sunderland, of Port Chalmers, who writes :- "About the B stations, there are some who broadcast to improve their radio trade; there are some who do it for the love of it, but I have not yet heard of anyone asking them to broadcast. It is either for business improvement or for the love of it, and when either party is not satisfied I should say the simplest way out is to go off the air and not try and unload it on the listeners-in, or the Broadcasting Company of New Zealand. £ should think the Broadcasting Company can spend all the license fees for keeping up their stations and paying their very fine artists. So the simplest way out for the B stations, I should think, is for them to go off the air when they are not satisfied, and not try and unload on either the Broadcasting Company or the listen-ers-in." Some Other Factors ILL you please allow me a little space in which to reply to a letter by J.L. (Hastings) in the "Radio Record" of January 4. In the first place I would like to have seen J.L sign his full name under a letter like that. In the second, it is quite evident that your correspundent is not the proud possessur of too efficient a receiving outfit; if he was, he would certainly not have criticised the Radio Broadcasting Company to the extent which he did. J.L. states that "Aussies" are inaudible and therein, I claim, lies heaps of reasons for criticising his outfit, and if J.L. does not possess a very efficient set how can be reasonably claim the privilege of pulling the present broadcasting service to piecés. As for getting mostly mush, fading and distortion, well, this statement is absolute rot and leaves J.L. open to considerable personal criticism in consequence. I am running a 6-valve set with one of the latest moving coil speakers and it strikes me very forcibly that. it would do J.L.’s_ heart good to hear this outfit and to realise just what real pleasure can be got out of the present service. In regard to subsidising the B class stations, it seems to me that if any payment is made to one it must be made to the lot and what is paid to them cannot be spent on improving the present service given by the YA stations, And who in Hades, in my district, anyway, is willing to sanction a portion of their license fee

being paid away for something they are not receiving, for this is what it would mean if a portion of the license fees were set aside for the benefit of the B class stations. Some of these stations certainly render splendid service in their immediate districts, but of what real use are they to the great number of listeners in Wellington and Marlborough for instance. A lot of listeners hear these stations very often in these districts, but how many hours per week of almost perfect reception ean they lay claim to hearing. I have heard 2ZM, 2Z¥F, and 4ZL equally as good as 1YA and 8YA, but how often will this occur? When the former stations come through good it follows that YA stations are not out of the picture altogether, and who is going to listen to records all the evening when they have a receiver capable of picking up and reproducing many of the very fine items put over by the YA stations? Again can it be stated that the effective range of the B class stations in any way compares favourably with the YA stations? Not one line of this letter is intended to belittle the activities of the B stations, but to get at the bottom of the whole question, and to do this I consider that it is necessary to draw as complete a comparison as possible between the two classes of stations, and not to beat about the bush but bring out everything that has a bearing on the subject. In this way only can the matter be settled amicably to all parties.N. C. WINSTANLEY (Picton).

B Stations Supported by Advertising. N recent issues of your journal you have given generous publicity to the matter of B class stations, and in your issue of January 4 state that you are quite prepared to give full publicity to capably-expressed views on the question from whatever angle they be advocated. In these circumstances you will. therefore probably find space to permit the views of station 3ZC, Christchurch, to be placed before your readers. Before coming down to hard facts may we state that we are quite in accord with the majority of the opinions expressed by you. We are in complete agreement with you when you state that "a service satisfactory to listeners and the public in general can be provided only by central control, and adequate organisation and administration of the funds available." Further, "that system would not prove possible by the provision of isolated, independent, and scattered ‘B’ class stations nibbling at the stability of the central fund through demands for. subsidies."

We believe that the letter sent out by the Dunedin independent stations was a mistake and have already expressed the opinion to the authors of this letter that they had tackled the problem from the wrong angle. We are strongly in favour of an independent broadcasting service in the Dominion-but not if this involves any question of subsidy from the Government, or the allocation of any portion of the fees paid by listeners. To quote your own words: "There is only one way to view this question, and that is from the broad view of the best interests of the radio service and those primarily concerned, the listeners themselves." We agree with you that "if a beginning is made with subsidising, then there is no saying where it is going to end. The end simply would be diffusion without efficiency." Itt is with a full realisation of this fact that in all our requests to the Government to permit us to earn sufficient revenue to pay the overhead expenses of our station we have stated emphatically that neither now nor in the future do we ask, or will we ask, for any financial assistance, direct or indirect, either by way of subsidy or by the allocation to us of any portion of the license fees payable by listeners.

Having made our views on this matter quite clear, may we be permitted to state as briefly as possible why we believe independent broadcasting will be "in the best interests of the radio service and those primarily concerned, the listeners themselves." In the first place, the question has to be considered as to what is the function of radio broadcasting in the community. In your article "Ready to Raid the Listeners’ Funds" you refer to "a certain number of listeners who desire entertainment only to be provided during entertainment hours." This implies that broadcasting is a meuns of entertainment. Accepting this assumption as the viewpoint of the Radio Broadcasting Company, it must be agreed that the company is grappling with one of the most difficult tasks in the world-the satisfying of all tastes at one and the same time. [We expressed our views, but that expression of view is not binding on the Radio Broadcasting Company. Our correspondent must not seek to identify two different organisations.-Ed.] It is here that an independent service would materially assist the company. So long as only one service is available to listeners so long must the nature of that service be restricted: Possibly an appropriate analogy would be that of the

professional entertainment world. In each of the main centres in the Dominion there are numerous picture theatres, a vaudeville theatre, and a the‘atre utilised by visiting companies. In euch of these different theatres programmes of an entirely different nature are presented nightly, the respective managements knowing full well ,that from an entertainment point of view "variety is the spice of life.’ And yet, in spite of the ample provision made for the entertainment of theatregoers there are, in addition, choral societies, orchestral societies, amateur operatic societies, organ recitals, "little theatres," and other forms of entertainment, proving that there is a need for independent enterprise of all sections of the community are to be catered for. Independent broadcasting may be likened to these private providers of what may be termed "special" forms of entertainment. One could write at great length in support of this . argument, but your space is too valuable for a lengthy dissertation on this viewpoint. Summed up, however, we may state that from our viewpoint there should be no conflict whatever between the YA stations and independent B class stations. The one should be the complement of the other.

As an instance may we point out what happens at present on Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday afternoons listeners who are not interested in sport are debarred from the pleasures of their sets, as there is no alternative from the relays of sporting fixtures. On Sunday evenings a listener must, willynilly, listen to a church service till after 8 p.m., or else leave the set out of action. With an efficient independeut service there would be a_ choice of programmes on both these occasions. Similarly during the hours when the YA stations «are at present silent. With a properly organised and controlled independent service there is no reason why radio service should not be available from early morning till midnight every day in the week. You will note that we use the terms "properly organised and controlled" when referring to B grade stations, and, in this connection we would point out that our proposals, placed before the Government, provide for a_ central board of coutrol to control all B grade stations, such board to consist of one member appointed by the Government, one member by B grade licensees, one member by the New Zealand Broadeasting Company, Ltd., one member by the radio traders of the Dominion, and one member by listeners. We have suggested, further, that. the number of B grade stations to whom licenses may be issued shall be determined by the board of control, who shall decide whether the interests of listeners will be served by the establishment of such stations. The most important provision, from the Broadcasting Company’s point of view, in our proposal to the Government is that no claim whatsoever shall be made by any B grade stations for any portion of the licence fees collected by the Government from listeners. As regards the revenue necessary to maintainn an efficient B grade service in the Dominion we cannot see what objection there can possibly be to a strictly controlled, and limited, period of publicity on.the air from B grade stations. Your comments in this connection rather discountenance radio publicity,

but you nullify the effect of your remarks by publishing an article from _ the London "Radio Times," by Mr. A. J. Preston, which makes it quite clear that "radio advertising, like newspaper advertising, has increased greatly in subtlety. The old days of ‘Buy more so and so!’ are past. An advertiser sponsoring a programme realises that to try the patience of the listener with continuous eulogistic description of his commodity would be to imperil the good-will built up by such heavy expenditure. He cannot risk offending his prospective customer or driving him to seek refuge on some other of the many available wave-lengths. To-day he is content, in most cases, with a simple announcement at the beginning and end of the programme that ‘this concert is provided by the makers, i) and so.’ " *

And now for a brief criticism of your own published statements, In the first place we must join issue with you when you quote Australia as "a very good object lesson." You state, "The tendency there now is, after experiencing the blessings (?) of a multiplicity of stations, to concentrate and reduce their number. Hence we have seen the amalgamation between 2FC and 2BL, and between 3LO and 3AR. The. object of these concentrations was greater etticiency for the listener." You omitted to state, however, that these amalgamations did not reduce the number of stations, but were effected solely to prevent duplications. For instance, in Sydney on Saturday afternoons it was the custom of 2BL and 2FC each to broadcast the races, so that listeners would either have to listen to race descriptions or cut off, Now, while’ one station is describing the races the othge is giving a musical programme, and‘a majority of the listeners appreciate tlie change. In various other ways the stations co-operate, but the Department still maintains that the programmes are not of sufficient variety or merit. The Acting-Director of Postal Services in New South Wales (Mr. Hal- dane) stated recently (vide Christchurch "Press," June 19, 1928): "It must be remembered by listeners that the Department is not bound in any way to the existing A class broadcasting stations. If it is practicable for any other companies or organisations to give a better service to listeners, the Department will be glad to hear from them." So much for Australia, where, incidentally, B grade stations have been operating for years past and are still increasing in number and in therg® tivities. There has been no reduc in the number of Australian stations; on the contrary, they have increased during recent months, In conclusion we would again stress the fact that we can see no possible reason why an efficient independent service should not be developed in the Dominion to supplement the present broadcasting service. If this is effected we are confident that it will be not only to. the advantage of listeners generally, but also will materially assist the revenue of the Broadcasting Company of New Zealand.-I. 25. STRACHAN, Station Director, 3ZC (Christchurch). ia