Appreciation and Farewell

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 26, 8 January 1932, Page 29

Appreciation and Farewell

C semimnnenenntiembanaeieel A Tribute to Manager a and. Staff

Band, performances have been given by the leading Auckland bands and club and ship orchestras. The Broadcasting Choir, under the conductorship of the station director, Mr. Len Barnes, was responsible for some splendid programmes. ‘The variety of talks and lectures added to the good standard of the service. Dxcellent educational series of lectures were given by the Workers’ Educational Association. The programme from 1YA this month will be of a holiday nature and will not contain any revolutionary changes. Apart from the extended hours of transmission over the New Year, the regular schedule will be observed until further notice. One change of note will be the disappearaime of the "international" programme on. Tuesday evenings. The "international" programmes, which are electrical recordings of American broadcast items, have been presented weekly at 1YA since May last. The Radiators. NEW combination of radio artists to be known as "The Radiators" will be on the air next month, The series of educational lectures conducted under the auspices of the Workers’ HWducational Association will be enlarged and talks will be given weekly by the association on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings,

AFTER the broadcast of the company’s statement from 2YA on New Year’s Bve Mr. Ball made a short speech eulogising the Broadcasting Co. and the staff. BELInvVE me, I am grateful for this opportunity to voice, on behalf of the staff of 2YA, a few words of appreciation and farewell to the directors and general manager of the Radio Broadcasting Company. The hour is fast approaching when cur official association with them will be terminated and our allegiance transferred to the new controlling authority. Before the severance takes place it is fitting that we should publicly acknowledge the happy relationship that has consistently prevailed between employers and employees. We have been proud to play our part in the pioneering of the broadcasting service of this Dominion, and I do not hesitate to ask listeners to accept my assurance that our work for them has been a joy to ourselves, and that whatever sacrifice of time and personal con-

venience the exigencies of the service has necessitated on their pehalf has been compensated by the fascinations of the service itself. Mr. A. R. Harris. PARTICULARLY do we wish to thank Mr. A. R. Harris for the courtesy and consideration he has extended to us all. His task has been heavy, his responsibility onerous, but we know that he has given of his best in fulfilment of the trust reposecd in him. No one has been more zealous than he has for the preservation of the high standard of efficiency on which he has established the service. A change in the system of control effected by Parliament as a matter of national policy based on the principle that a public service should be publicly owned and controlled requires that Mr. Harris and his co-directors of the Broadcasting Company shall relinquish control of the service. As from midnight to-night they will do so, I feel sure with the consciousness that they have done a great work for New

Zealand and that in the doing of it they have well earned the grateful appreciation of many thousands of listeners. On behalf of the staff it is my pleasing privilege to express to them our best and kindliest wishes . for their welfare in the future. May I, too, voice the thanks of the staff of 2YA, to the ladies and gentlemen who are with us in the studios this evening. Pleasant Relationship. THAT the artists who have been regularly associated with the station, some of them since its inception, should have combined to present 2 complimentary .concert to the directors was indeed a graceful and a happy thought. The compliment is indicative of the pleasant relationship that has existed between the artists and the executive officers of the service, a relationship which will assuredly continue under the new regime. To the members of the honorary advisory committees and to the many honorary lecturers also I desire to express our warm appreciation of their helpful co-operation and of the many courtesies they have estended to the members of my staff and myself. Theirs has indeed been « labour of love -a truly practical demonstration of selfless community service. And now it but remains for me to. voice a cordial welcome to the board and to assure Mi. Vickery and his colleagues that they will have*the loyal allegiance and zealous co-operation of the entire staff, to whom the promotion of the best interests of the service is al once a duty and a pleasure.