Editorial Notes

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 13, 7 October 1932, Page 4

Editorial Notes

Wellington, Friday, October 7, 1932.

fA BROADCASTING service to be satisfactory must please the greatest number of listeners for the greatest number of hours, but the minority must never be forgotten. Satisfactory service comes down to the solution of two problems (a) coverage and (b) programmes. BS o z MHE report of the Coverage Com‘mission has been placed before @s and in view of its recommendations it is interesting to rewiew the actions taken by overseas eountries to obtain "coverage." In Great Britain the regional scheme rates. The programmes for the whole of Britain, with few excepions, ate produced in the studios at roadcasting House in the heart of don. Generally two Pro: @rammes are provided-nationa and both are relayed. ¢o the several transmitters strategically situated throughout the coun¢ry, and broadcast on two widelyted wavelengths. The aim to present to the majority of ners two class A programmes, those that can be received on a érystal or other simple set. Transgissions for one particular night ate opposite in character so that ielassical and non-classical tastes may be catered for simultaneously. That this system is popular is indicated by the fact that 9 per cent. of the inhabitants of the British Isles have

radio licenses (the New Zealand percentage is 5). ‘The concentration of resources in providing two programmes only has resulted in the maintenance of a high standard. With few exceptions: the lowest radio licenses are to be found in the mountainous areas, where the coverage problems would be greatest. On the other hand, the majority of licenses are found in the south-west, the flat country near the sea, over which the European programmes come. These facts illustrate the point that coverage has a tremendous effect upon the receivable quality of the programmes and consequently goes a long way in determining whether the service will be satisfactory or unsatisfactory. & % 8 "THE American system again consists of two programmes supplying centres with many relay stations, though in this case they are

al competitive and do not own the stations to which they relay. There are two key stations, one for the N.B.C. and the other for the Colum-~ bia network, and these are connected. by land lines to hundreds of other stations scattered throughout the continent. In addition, there are many other stations which provide their own programmes. The activities of all stations are controlled by the Federal Radio Commission, which determines the frequency, power, hours of operation and | quality of transmission. The re- | sult is that even though the Americans have hundreds of more or less independent stations, the listener is not besieged with a dozen stations clamouring at his dial and spoiling his local programmes. & 2 s GERMANY and other European countries are endeavouring to emulate the British system. Japanese broadcasting consists of a network of stations linked to two co-ordinated key stations, JOAK and JOBK. The result is that most Japanese listeners are receiving at least one programme satisfactorily. Australian broadcasting is built up of a national service which owns the principal stations, from which entirely different programmes are broadcast. Where two stations belonging to the corn- mission are in the same city; widely different programmes are presented simultaneously, e.g., 2FC and 2BL. In addition, there are many uncoordinated stations which: pro:

vide programmes in order to sell advertising time, and these B stations provide for most listeners an alternative service. The distribution of stations is ‘poor, as each B station has been placed so that it can reach the greatest number of listeners, without any thought. of national coverage, with the result that problems of selectivity for the city listener and the absence of nearby stations for country listeners are serious. * e e THE New Zealand system needs no explanation, and differs but little from the Australian system. The result is, as elsewhere, that city listeners are well catered for, while many country listeners do not have a reliable service. In view of this fact the Coverage Commission’s recommendation for a centralised system of relay stations has considerable merit.. Clearly the policy of the Board is not to dissipate too much of its capital in subsidising independent programmes, but to put into effect at the earliest possible moment the centralised scheme of providing the greatest number of listeners with. one. proid

gramme which they can satisfactorily receive, This is the fitst step toward a satisfactory service. % * s THE second requirement of a | satisfactory service, i.e., that of providing generally interesting programmes, is more difficult to de~ termine, it being almost impossible to ascertain the wishes of the majority. The value of the questionnaire has been disputed, but the fact remains that the country which has the highest percentage of licenses in the world is Denmark, where every listener when renewing his license fills in on the back thereof a ques~tionnaire concerning the programme service. The only way in which the authorities can determine whether or not programmes are satisfactory is from the license figures, and in this country, they continue to rise at a rate gipeater ‘than. anticipated. ; Already (there are 80,000, and the indifations are that before the end of December ‘that number will have risen to 85,000. Strangely enough, the-per-centage is lowest in Auckland and Dunedin, where there are more B stations than elsewhere.