New Developments

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 14, 18 October 1929, Page 4

New Developments

Woks is shortly to commence on the B.B.C,’s new headquarters in Portland Place, Oxford Circus, and it is estimated that the total cost of the building will be in the neighbourhood of half a million pounds, This building will contain at least twelve studios, of which two will be twice as big as the largest now in use at Savoy Hill. There will also be a super-studio, intended for the accommodation of large ore chestras, choirs, and massed bands, These studios will occupy the centre of the building, and will be grouped one above the other. They will be surrounded by offices, and will thus be protected from any extraneous interference SLOWLY but surely the world is ing covered with a network of wireless telephone services. One of the latest additions is the restricted service between Great Britain and Buenos Aires via Paris or Berlin. The charge is £2 3s. per minute, with a minimym of three minutes. Another important development towards establishing regular inter-continental communication was demonstrated recently in Australia, when a conversation between officials in Sydney and New York was maintained by means of wireless telephony. USTRALIAN broadcasting is now put on a basis of State control by the Federal Government’s acceptance of the tender submitted by the Australian Broadcasting Co., a group comprising Union Theatres, Ltd., Fuller’s Theatres, Ltd., and J. Albert and Son, Ltd., music dealers, of Sydney. The tender provides for a three-year contract. Listeners will pay an annual licensé fee of 24s., half of which will. go to the programme contractors, who should thereby be assured under present conditions of an annual income of £240,000. The contractor is required to furnish "programmes of general interest and of sufficient diversity to cater for the reasonable tastes of the community as a whole." Severe penalties are preseribed for non-compliance’ with the agreement, including the forfeiture of a bond of £5000, wholly or in part, which the contractor is required to deposit. The maintenance of stafions and their equipment will be the responsibility of the Government, the sole duty of the contractor being to supply programmes. . , \