BROADCASTING TO THE EMPIRE

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 17, 2 November 1934, Page 14

BROADCASTING

TO THE EMPIRE

LTHOUGH = Empire broadcasting is to-day an established and growing "feature of the Bri-

tish Broadcasting Corporation's policy, it was not actually started till December 19, 1932. But as far back as 1927 the importance of supplying broadcast programmes to British residents oversea had been realised and tests were started from a small experimental shortwave station at Chelmsford, known to enthusiastic radio amateurs overseas as GSSW.: By 1929 sufficient experience had been gained to enable a scheme for Empire broadcasting to be laid before the Government. In 1930 this scheme was discussed at the Colonial Conference and at the Imperial Conference. It met with approval, and in the spring of 1931 detailed plans were circulated to the broadcasters of the Dominions, and through the Colonial Office to the Governments of the Colonies and Dependencies. Replies received did not, however, indicate any readiness to co-operate practically, although they expressed approval and goodwill. At this juncture the B.B.C. did not feel justified, unaided, in supplying the funds necessary to put its scheme into effect.. A year later the need fora British broadcasting service was still more pressing, not only because of the demand that was known to exist, but also because England was not taking its rightful place among the nations of the world in the provision of shortwave broadcasting facilities. Then in August came the financial crisis, and it . was realised that all hope of financial support from the Government or. the Dominions and Colonies had vanished, and it became solely a question of the B.B.C. deciding whether to abandon the project, or to carry the full financial responsibility for an Empire Service. It chose the Inttar alternative, and in the au-

eewN,r O(N! tamn of 1931 plans were

drawn up for the construe~ tion of an up-to-date Empire ‘proadcasting station at Daventry which would transmit pro-

grammes in approximately a year’s time. A great deal had been learnt during the five years of transmissions from GSSW, but much’ experimental work remained to be done, and it was decide in these early days, to transmit only very simple pro- | grammes, principally gramophone records, relays from the home programines and, as a main feature. a news bulletin in each transmission. When the service opened, the daily programme schedule consisted of five two-hour broadcasts radiated from the Empire station at Daventry at convenient listening times for the five main divisions into which, for broadcasting purposes, the Empire had been divided. Roughly speaking these were: (1) Australia, New Zealand, British North Borneo and the Pacific Islands; (2) India, Burma, Ceylon, the Malay States © and the Straits Settlements; (3) South Africa, East Africa, Aden, Malta, Cyprus, and. Palestine; (4) West Africa, Ascension Islands, St. Helena and. the Falkland Islands; (5) Canada, British Guiana, British Honduras, the West Indies and Newfoundland. The development of the programmes. inevitably depended upon the response, received in the form of letters, from individual listeners overseas and the cooperation of such broadcasting organisations as existed in the Dominions and Colonies. Preliminary publicity had stressed the importance of this assistance. The distant listener alone could supply the knowledge on which future programme. plans. and ‘technical adjustments would be based. The invaluable assistance provided by the listening end has been largely responsible for the success of this new broadcasting venture, and the considerable developments which have been possible during the two years of its existence. There is no doubt that the interest of listeners throughout the world was greatly stimulated by the Empire Christmas Day programme of 1932, and particularly by the message from the King with which that programme concluded. This programme, which would never have been possible with- / out the collaboration of oversea broadcasting organ-%. isations, aroused great expectations. Hundreds of®.. listeners wrote letters, not only appreciative of it, but also giving their views on the form which the daily Empire programmes should take. Much valuable information was received, and with it the knowledge that there existed in all quarters a nucleus of listeners, whose enthusiasm was a sure sign that the popularity of the new service would spread rapidly. The whole financial responsibility for the Empire service was being shouldered by the B.B.C., and, without positive proof of the existence of.an oversea audience, the expenditure on programmes had to be kept to a minimum. But by April, 1933, there was no doubt as to the widespread appreciation of the Empire transmissions, and there / { E |

\ was then every reason to app y a mudesi weekly sun towards the improvement of te programme service. [f it could give pleasure to friends or relatives living th places where entertainment was not easily obtainable there could be no license-holder’ in the United Kingdom who would.reseit the allocation of an infinitesimal fraction of his annual ten shillings payment to this end. By July of last year the Empire programmes had been strengthened, the timings adjusted, the total hours of broadcasting increased from 10 to 144 Technical alterations were also undertaken designed to enable large numbers of people to hear more transmissions than the one primarily designed fot them. Just-what that first Christmas Day broadcast in 1932 meant to British people exiled from England at that time of the year is told in the following letter received by the B.B.C. from an Englishman. living in the Federated Malay States :- "We live in a small out-station, and have no wireless. but a friend who was coming to stay with us suggested bringing his set. He arrived on Christmas Eve and we set a 20 foot bumboo pole in the ground for an aerial. In view of the fact that we are surrounded by a positive forest of causarina trees of 60 to 80 feet in height and that the aerial was, of necessity, a Heath Robinson contraption as well as being very low, our friend was far from optimistic about the result.... We sat out on the lawn with the sea only a few feet away. The garden was alight with, fireflies, and on the tops of the cusuarinas the Southern Cross rested on its side, At nine o'clock by our time the programme began. Of the thrill it gave us it-is quite inipossible to write. The magnitude of what was happening was beyond realisation. . .. We were all people who have been through a variety. and number of. experiences and have become normally hardened iy the _ process, but to hear the King speak as if he were actually stuuding beside us here in our tropical garden, and to feel that his voice was being heard by all his peoples all over the world was an experience which, I think, has worked a perceptible, if subtle change in all of us. . After the National Anthem we went into our Christmas dinner; with the candle-lit tree, turkey. plum pudding and the carols coming to us through the open windows from the wireless outside. it was not too difficult to imagine that we were actually:in England instead of 10,000 miles away. There must bé. hundreds, millions. ie like us, and it must have been brought home to lem, as it was to us, that we are all banded together, however many thousands of miles we may be apart, in loyalty to, and faith in our King." Although there is good reason to be satisfied with the results achieved up to date, there are stil] parts of the Empire, notably New Zealand, where matters are by no means satisfactory. Conditions are rarely consistent and’ reception varies from place to place and from season to season, but continual experiments are being made at the transmitting end, and reports from the difficult areas show that reception is definitely better than it was a year ago. Even now many listeners write enthusiastically from ‘all over the Empire to the B:B.C. stating that reception is sometimes so good that. Empire pro"orammepac 8 OUaxn One _- .

clear as those transmitted from their local stations. During the latter part of 1933 and the first half of the present year there has been an increasing tendency on the part of

broadcasting organisations overseas lo relay the programmes transmitted from the Empire station, and it is anticipated that this practice will grow. The primary object ot the Empire service, and one which will never be overlooked, is to keep those who are out of range of any local broadcasting station (particularly dwellers in the Colonies and Dependencies ) in touch with the home country. Valuable assistance has recently been given by certain Colonial Administrations, which have set up wireless exchanges through which the Empire programmes are being rediffused in urban centres. Apart from individual offers of financial support there has been. recognition in some Colonies of. the desirability, where possible, of contributing to ‘the Empire service. But before any general contribution from overseas towards Empire broadcasting can he expected the B.B.C. feels it must demonstrate that the shortwave service, which is already successful in’ many places,.is practicable everywhere. This can only be done gradually, since development towards technical perfection must necessarily be slow if it is to be sure. Yet the fact that what has already been done has been sufficiently appreciated in certain quarters to result in the offer of’ financial assistance reinforces the B.B.C. in its decision to pur sue steadily. its forward policy. When looking to the future there are two further points which merit attention. First, there are a.great many British residents in the. South American Continent who, not ‘without reason, feel, that their interests should be considered. But the Empire had to be a first charge in the scheme for British shortwave broadcasting, and technical limitations have to some — degree prevented inclusion within the transmission area of certain important tracts of

country inhabited British subjects. Here grammes. are (Continued on page 26.)

Broadcasting to the Empire. (Continued from page. 15.)

receivable, but. at inconvenient times or at weak strength. This is an important matter, and one which is now under consideration along with other adjustments to the present arrangements. ‘This is every hope that before many months have elapsed British listeners in South America will be no less well served than their fellow countrymen in the West Indies and (Canada. And secondly, there is the question of the short-wave activities of foreign countries. The obvious determination of Great Britain to build up a first-class Hmpire service caused Continental nations to increase their energies. To-day it is fair to state that the British Empire broadcasting station is received as well in nearly all parts of the world as the German. French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, and Russian short-wave stations. But the programmes of these countries can also he received in most parts of the Empire, and there is a vital obligation to maintain a service for British Empire listeners, which, on its programme merits, will be at least as acceptable. if not more so, than those of foreign countries.