Control of Broadcasting

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 26, 8 January 1932, Page 5

Control of Broadcasting

Board Takes Over

New Year Statement This statement, which marked the official change-over from Company to Board, was read by the announcer at each of the YA stations immediately after the midnight chimes on December 31:- "¥ have now to remind listeners that from midnight, just passed, the broadcasting service in New Zealand will be controlled by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board recently appointed. At the direction of the members of the board, I have firstly to extend to everyone the board’s very best wishes for a prosperous New Year. ‘In taking over the service, the board feels that its first duty must be to congratulate the Radio Broadeasting Company of New Zealand, Limited, on the efficient organisation it has established in a few short years. When it is considered that the company started with about 4000 licenses and finished with 70,000, there is no doubt that the service rendered must have been satisfactory. It now rests with the board, as trustees for the listeners-for that is how the members of the board regard themselves-to carry on where the company left off, and to seek ways and means of extending and improving the service. : "Listeners will appreciate the fact that the members of the board have had insufficient time to examine thoroughly all matters pertaining to the broadeasting service, but I am to say that they fully appreciate their responsibilities and will do their utmost to build up a service whieh will redound to the credit of the Dominion. "Once again, on behalf of the New Zealand Broadcasting Board, I wish all listeners a happy and prosperous New Year."

7 ARKED only by a few brief announcements, the control of radio broadcasting in New Zealand changed from- the Broadcasting Company to the Radio Board. Just before midnight on New Year’s ~ Hive, the familiar announcement, "This is Station --YA, operated by the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, Limited," was heard for the last time. It has been replaced by a simpler call-merely the station’s eall letters-except when opening and eldsing for the day, when the city is giygen. Krom all stations, more or less impromptu concerts were tendered by the artists to the Broadcasting Company. At 2YA a particularly bright and attractive programme was presented under the direction of Syd. Allwright (of the Melodie Four), and Victor Lloyd, the well-known dramatist.. Until 11 p.m, the party entertained at the microphone, at which hour the station went over to the Watchnight service at the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Among those participating in the evening’s entertainment were wellknown 2YA artists, including the Lyric Trio, Mildred Kenny’s Guitar Band, Frank Bryant, Will McKeon, Margot Russell, A. P. Truda, Owen Pritchard, Victor and Blsie Lloyd, R. S. Allwright and Mrs. Allwright, Gordon Short, Wally Marshall, Jeanette Briggs, Ngaire Coster, Mrs. Amy Woodward, and Joyce Woodward, Billy Hart, Len. Ashton, the Etude Quartet, Mrs. Holloway, Clement May, Nohi Tahiwi, and the members of 2YA Orchestrina. At 11 o’clock all present-artists, members of advisory committees, and staff, some ninety in all-were the

guests of the company at supper, Mr. J. Ball presiding in the unavoidable absence of the general manager, Mr. A. R. Harris. A very pleasant hour was spent, during which a number of appropriate toasts were enthusiastically honoured. ‘The principal toasts, "The Artists,’ "The Organisers of the Com- ’ Concert," and "The Broad.

casting Company," were proposed respectively by Messrs. Hrnest Palliser, the chairman, and Mr. Ernest Dawson. Growth of the Service. N behalf of the directors of the Broadcasting Company, the station director, Mr. J. Ball, read an Official statement. "The time has arrived when the Broadeasting Company has to say adieu to its very many friends scattered throughout New Zealand and further afield," Mr. Ball said. "We are, therefore, taking this convenient opportunity of addressing a few words to our listeners on behalf of the Radio Broadcasting Company. It is not at any time a happy duty to say farewell, and this is particularly so in the realm of broadcasting. Catering For All Tastes. "TN broadcasting there is such an intimate touch between those responsible for the service and those who receive it that the occasion of this parting is tinged with a great deal of re gret, not only on the side of the directors o£ the company, but also on the part of listeners, if one may judge from the amount of correspondence recently received, for our listeners have always taken an almost personal interest in the welfare of the service, a feeling which the directors have keenly realised and reciprocated. "The YA stations may have disappointed some of you at times because, not knowing what mood you would be in on a particular night, the programme organisers, some weeks previously, had arranged an entertainment of a certain kind and you had preferred a concert of a different type. You did not know the troubles and difficulties the programme organisers had had in arranging that programme, and you did

not think of how many other listeners approved of it although you did not. "All such little misunderstandings are by the way. They are inseparable from any service to the public, where there are so many likes and dislikes. On occasions, listeners have written in to say that a certain programme was the worst ever broadcast-and by the very same mail other listeners have described it as the best yet. They have declared that programmes of that type should be given every evening. Growth of the System. "TINE Broadcasting Company hanow reached the end of the charter granted it by the Government and it has pleasure in handing on the torch which was entrusted to it six and a half years ago. That the torch burns brightly is shown by the number of licensed radio listeners now compared with six and a half years ago. Ther? are 70.000 now; there were about 3000 then. "Broadcasting was yery new JD 1925, and the company had no beaten track to follow, not even a_ blazed trail, but it has done its best to carry out the trust reposed in it. It has steadily organised aud developed its service until it has attained its present standard." Providing Entertainment. "THE company believes it has investigated every avenue likely to provide entertainment," stated Mr. Ball. "The most had been made of New Zealand talent, both European and Maori. Long-distance relays hvne been largely availed of. By this means the talent of country towns has been added to that of the cities. Not content with local artists and with gramophoue recordings, the company went far afield in search of its entertainment features,

It endeayoured to secure,recordings of items broadcast in Britain. Unsuccess ful there, it turned to America, where a new industry, that of making special recordings solely for broadcast pur, poses, was beginning. Unfortunately, again, the supply of recordings suitable for a New Zealand audience is very restricted. However, it is in this direc tion-the securing of recorded broadcast features from overseas, preferably Britain-that the future of broadcast’ ing in New Zealand lies. It is not possible for the available local talent, come bined with an admixture of commercial recordings, to provide listeners, week in and week out, with concert programmes of which they will not grow tired. The Broadcasting Company recognised this years ago, and has been making continuous efforts to find & way. of securing additional attractions and adding variety to the evening’s entertainments. The Local Talent. "HE accumulated talent of New Zea-land-distributed through the towns from the North Cape to Bluffis less than the number of artists available to the broadcasting stations in one Australian city. While some of our New Zealand artists are excellent, it is not to be expected that in any one of our four chief cities where a YA station is centred there is an aggregation of talent rivalling that of a large Australian city. "Tt has been a principle of the Broadcasting Company that local talent should be encouraged, and, more than is generally realised, broadcasting has rendered a wonderful service to music. The ambition of many a young musician has been whetted by the prospect

of engagements to perform on the air, and many a musician has kept in practice solely because of the engagements which the YA stations have regularly offered. The Broadcasting Company is uow the greatest musical organisation in New Zealand, and broadcasting is

practically the only market which is available to musical talent. "Some of you have, perhaps, compared renditions by local artists with gramophone records and you have said, ‘Why do not programmes consist entirely of recordings? There is no one more alive than the Radio Broadcasting Company to the merits of recordings. An electrical reproduction is now well-nigh perfect from a technical point of view, and the item recorded is probably the best of a dozen efforts made by the artist under ideal conditions. ‘To make comparison with the Yoeal artist’s performance is rather unfair to the local artist. Restriction on Records, "Bur it has not been possible for us to provide a service consisting solely of recorded items-even if we had desired to do so. The regulations under which we have operated have restricted to 25,per cent. the amount of recorded items in our evening concert programmes. In any case, as we have said, the Broadcasting Company has given what encouragement it could to local talent, and we think that on the general average the New Zealand artists have served you well and compared more than favourably with those heard overseas. One thing is certain: had the Broadcasting Company not patronised local industry the protests would have far exceeded those received for having done so. "The Broadcasting Company has thought it right that encouragement should be given to music, and it has used its best efforts to foster it, not only by offering engagements to singers and players who could pass the audition tests, but by subsidising musical societies. In this connection, in each of the four centres a sum of £250 has been placed annually at the disposal of a committee consisting of represen tatives of the various musical and dramatic societies in the city, and that sum has been apportioned out to the societies in such sums as the committee thought fit, Advisory Committees. ° HEN referring to the musical and dramatic committees, it may be stated for the benefit of those of our listeners who may not be aware of the extent to which the Broadcasting Company’s service has been ~organised, that the YA stations have had the advice of advisory committees, there being a number in each city dealing with separate branches of broadcasting. These committees have numbered 14, consisting of 114 different -members, and have comprised musical and dramatic, -children’s, primary productions, and church committees, Throughout New Zealand a number of official listeners have regularly reported on the standard of programmes and the quality of reception. "A broadcasting service encompasses a wide variety o ffeatures, apart from the regular concert entertainment. Sessions are regularly devoted to the children, to religious services, to dinner music, and in informative talks to housewives, to farmers, and to people generally; there are sessions given over to news and to sport. In all of these the Broadcasting Company has given of its best. "Tf there is one section of broadcasting more than another which appeals to listeners it is the broadcasting of topical happenings. In this direction the YA stations have devoted a

good proportion of their time, and nothing that lends itself to broadcasting and has been available has been missed. There is no need to mention more than a few. such as Kingsford Smith’s flights, the Byrd conversations with New York, the Napier earthquake, and the Guy Menzies

trans-Tasman flight. It will be re membered that a few hours after flying the Tasman, Guy Menzies, though located in a small town on the West Coast, was speaking to 3XYA_ listeners "Rebroadcasts of overseas stations have frequently been carried out with more or less success, dependent upon

atmospheric conditions. As listeners will have noticed in recent cable news a regular Hmpire short-wave service is to begin on Monday next, and no doubt in the future rebroadcasts will be a feature of the YA schedules." "The Broadcasting Company is proud of its achievements, and is grateful to the many listeners who have so generously expressed appreciation of the service given. The company has at all times endeavoured to maintain a° high standard, and it has taken meticulous care that what is broadcast should not offend the susceptibilities of anyone, nor be unfit to be heard by any members of the family. No one has realised better than the directors of the company the widespread and farreaching power of broadcasting. It is the mightiest power for good in the world to-day. af "T desire, before concluding, to @xpress our sincere appreciation of the co-operation of the many talented -artists and the various musical and kindred organisations who have contributed to our broadcast programmes, and especially do I desire to convey our grateful thanks to the ladies and gentlemen who have done such splendid work in connection with our children’s sessions, the honorary lecturers who have given so freely of their time and knowledge, the members of our honorary advisory committees, our honorary official listeners in all parts of the Dominion, our loyal, zealous, and efficient staff, and, indeed, all who have been in any way associated with the service. "With a full realisation of the potentialities of radio, the directors of the Broadcasting Company have every confidence .that in the personnel of the Broadcasting Board the future control of the New Zealand service has been placed in safe keeping. In handing over to the board the New Zealand broadcasting service, the directors of the Radio Broadcasting Company extend to the members of the board their good will and best wishes for their future success. To the board and to all listeners they wish a very happy New Year." A Tribute to the Staff. Ae. BALL then, in a neat speech, . eulogised the artists and the staff. Unlimited Possibilities. A STATEMENT was made from each station on behalf of the Post-master-General, Hon. A. Hamilton, and the Broadcasting Board. ie. "For about six years broadt 4 in New Zealand has been owned and controlled by the Radio Broadcastihg Company," stated the Minister, "afd I should like to express appreciation to the company for its successful pioneering of the service. When the company agreed to establish stations some years ago this most recent development of science was then in its infancy. To-day broadeasting is an important part of our social and educational life. "A clause in the agreement, under which the company operated, gave the Government the right to take over the stations at the end of 1931. This the Government by legislation last session decided to do. The price to be paid. is being settled by arbitration. The Post und Telegraph Department has taken the stations over’ from the company, and, when the transaction is: completed, will hand them over to the board, (Concluded on page 28.)

Broadcasting Control (Continued from page 6.)

Which was recently appointed under the Broadcasting Act of last session. "Yor the future the broadcast service will be publicly owned and. controlled by the Broadcasting Board. It will be the aim of the board to give best possible service commensurate with their financial resources. As the task ahead of the new board is a big one, I would ask all listeners for their sympathetic co-operation. It would seem that unless some further new invention appears that the possibilities ahead of broadcasting, both from the educational and social point of view, are almost unlimited."