Our Mail Bag

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 9, 13 September 1929, Page 27

Our Mail Bag

Will correspondents please practice brevity, as heavy demands are now made on space, All letters must be signed and address given as proof of genuineness; noms de plume for publication are permitted. Address "eorrespondence Editor, "Radio Record," P.O. Box 1032, Wellington.

. "Danger." TAK this opportunity of expressing our appreciation of the second presentation of the radio play "Danger" from 2YA on September 2. As far aswe are concerned down here, Mr. Victor S. Lloyd and party are firm favourites. Their plays and sketches are excellent, also Mr. Victor Lloyd’s unusual experiences, which he relates In such a fascinating manner. We also consider the Melodie Four to be the best quartet heard from any of the YA stations, and thoroughly enjoy all , their items and their good-night song. We. would be very pleased to see their photos in the "Record" in the near future. We realise that it would occupy too much of your valuable space to throw bouquets at all 2YA’s artists, but we consider every one to be excellent. 2YA would not be 2YA without Mr. Announcer-we Idok upon him as a pepbnal friend. A wor to the zonstant growlers whose fgult-finding letters appear from time to time in your paper. Their grievances are about as numerous as bristles in a clothes-brush, and our advice to these faultless people is, for them to spend two shillings in your For Sale column, and if they are lucky to invest in a better receiver or leave listening to more satisfied people. Mr. Drummond’s pleasant "G-o-o-0o-0-d Night" has en-. countered much sarcasm, but if they would tune in (if possible) to 2GB, Sydney, on a Saturday night and hear the closing announcement perhaps they would not have so much to say regarding 2YA. Carrv on the zood work. YA

stations.-‘

Satisfied Listeners

(Dune-

din

Trio Appreciated. Mi I be allowed to express my appreciation of the playing of an instrumental trio (Messrs McLean (2) and Izett) at the Port Nicholson Band eoncert last Sunday. After hearing so much singing from 2YA, well-played instrumental numbers prove a welcome relief, and the trio’s items were very well chosen. To those listeners who enjoy tuneful music, the items were a treat, and we are all looking forward to hearing this fine trio broadcast

again.-

J.

Hughes

(Wellington) .

A Good Hefty Growl. We no sooner get over one infliction, than another is upon us. I refer + to the gramophone selections of Grand » Opera. Carmen has just died, now "La Traviata" is born. The programmes of’ late have been about fifty per cent. (more or less) gramophone records (25 per cent. is the contract limit). Most listeners, I am sure, have gramophones in all pers homes, and are quite eapable them, so do not want "canned" music dished up to them continually over the air. Why not cast out records from the evening programmes? We all know that the gramophone and } a few records in the studio is a cheap way of running the station-but is it giving service? Why not get a trio to broadeast for the dinner music session? The constant habit of putting on one programme and getting the other stations to rebroadcast it is, in my opinion, a poor way to increase interest in radio. .The impression I have is that it is the Radio Broadcasting Co.’s idea to run the business as cheaply as possibie, and not. wotry about giving the listeners a good service. (There is not object in running it cheaply, as "profits" are limited to 7 per cent. on capital. The only business procedure is to give the fullest value on the reve- ~ pue available.-Hd.)

It is amusing to read your reasons why listeners in should endeavour to rope in new enthusiasts. I myself would not advise any of my friends to buy a radio to listen-in to the YA stations, for without the Australian stations I am sure they would soon use the axe. Improvement in broadcast service is what is wanted first. Now for a few questions and suggestions, which, I suppose, ,will be committed to the waste-paper basket: (1) ‘Why the continuous closing-down of stations? For instance, if a lecture is concluded at 7.50 p.m., the station goes off the air for 10 minutes. This is most annoying, and one has to look for a station that is on the air, and giving service. (2) Tacet from 2YA. The ridiculousness of this-before the clock has stopped chiming-on. with a record. Result: Distortion. Then, in 10 minutes’ time, all the rush and bustle is over, and "tacet" is upon us. (3) Sundays. Not so many religious relays in the afternoons, and in the evenings a church service from 1YA and 38YA, while the other two stations put over a popular programme. The following Sunday reverse the order. (4) When will the silent day become an active day? Shortly, I hope. Then we will have more people taking out radio licenses. Looking for some much-needed

improvements. —

Disgusted

(Inver-

eargill).

Racing Broadeasis. I AM writing to you on behalf of some seven of us-all license-holders. We read the last issue of the "Radio Record" and noted with interest our local agent’s (Mr. Moses) letter re the broadcasting of races. You people have done your bit, as we all unanimously admit, and we also know that you have been broadcasting races under awkward difficulties since the Racing Conference placed the ban on broadcasting from the actual course enclosure. We read the article mentioned by Mr. Moses, in a previous issue, referring to abandoning race results altogether, and we sincerely hope that the occasion will never arise when this step will be taken. We people up here in the North, and the racing fraternity here are many, cannot possibly get away to meetings such as the Grand Nationals and Wel-lington-even Auckland is beyond most of us-but on that account it does not seem fair that the Racing Conference should shut us right out from hearing the thrilling and excellent announcing that people ‘hang breathlessly: over a loudspeaker to hear. If it were possible to go to a race meeting, nothing would prevent the average racegoer from being there. The whole trouble seems to be that the powers of the

Racing Conference think that broadcasting feeds the bookmaker. What utter rot! The bookmaker can get all the information he wants from certain quarters; he wants his prices, too, not only results. We know people with whom we come in contact every day who have never had any transactions with a bookmaker in their lives, yet they will sit around a loudspeaker all day to listen to the racing come through. All classes of sport come to us per radio (any very good, too), so why should racing be barred to us purely on account of the bigotry and monopoly of the Racing Conference. We are not children, but the Conference

evidently treats us as such.-

The

Sport of Kings

Radio Announcing. Alt who are interested in the English lankuage and in the Englishspeaking people, must realise that we can form no conception as to what extent our language will be influenced by radio, and therefore it is our duty to watch jealously any new changes introduced, particularly in pronunciation. It was for this reason I sent a few lines to your ¥aluable paper. Mr. Harris, the general manager of the Broadeasting Co. is a live wire, and having spent some years-in New York, is on the alert for anything up to date. If we supply ‘a sufficient number of subscribers, he will see that the company delivers the goods. They are serving the public, and I claim that we have us much right to criticise the servants of the company as we have to criticise New Zealand Railway servants or Post Office officials. Healthy criticism is good, and I am pleased to say the "Radio Record" welcomes it. I have never in my life hit a man who cannot hit back, notwithstanding "Champion" (of one who cannot hit back), and I can assure that "Champion" If do not feel at all squashed, and thar I have lost no sleep since his verbose vituperation appeared in print. In any case, I shall not be drawn into a contro-. versy, but would like to tell "Hetrodine" and "Way Back" that they have missed my point. I did not object to any, good-night, but I did point out how absurd a "Thank You" was after Mr. Announcer had given a list of news items, or other particulars. Not that that matters, but the "Thank You" should be at the other end of the wire, or wireless. Some time ago a big gun in the radio world appeared in New Zealand, and was received with open arms by all, He made a beautiful kick-off, but success was too much for ‘him, and in a few months his hat was too small, and his first-class pronunciation drifted after this fashion: "The

doctah said the fevah was in the house near the theatah," and so he had to move on, and, I think, rightly. I have listened to Walter Bentley, Borodale, Jas. Carroll ‘Hutchinson, Hight and others, and I am always delighted with réally good style of speech, and particularly with good pronunciation. Mr. Announcer at 2YA is not, in my opinion, the best announcer in New Zealand, but he is good, and I am delighted to notice that he has in the past few weeks dropped that nice drawing-room style,‘and the past week his clear-cut speech has improved 100 per cent., and is conspicuous for its absence of frill, and I hope it will continue so, as over the air we want nothing but plain stuff, and the plainer the better. I would like Mr. Ball to continue his talks on Foreign Policy, and would suggest he gives us a quarterhour talk, say twice weekly, in the din-

ner music hour.-

Lux Cum Amore

(Ohakune),

30/8/29_

3 Dinner Music. SUGGEST that the dinner music be arranged at different hours from each station. I am satisfied that not ‘one listener appreciates the hour. If music is not, required, the remedy is in

his own hands-

Milton

(South-

land. )