AUSTRALIAN B STATIONS

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 42, 26 April 1935, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN B STATIONS

"THE fact that the Australian broadcasting service is modelled partly on the British system-the controlling of the national stations by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation-and partly on the Ameri-can-the operation of commercial stations-is commented upon.in the latest issue of "Wireless Weekly" (Sydney). Australia has about 60 B class stations, ranging from 50 to 1000 watts in power, and with broadcasting time of from a few hours to 24 hours a day. These stations rely on advertising for their income; thus the Australian system js partly English, inasmuch as the listeners pay license fees, and partly American in that the costs of running the B stations are met by advertising. ‘Wireless Weekly" goes cn to say: "‘It is logical to expect from our national stations essential services and programmes representative of the best entertainment the world has to offer, and from our advertising stations, stunts, novelties and sustaining Programmes: in short, it would be good policy i° the A stations would come on the air only when they had something worth while, while B stations kept on the air full of light ‘stuff for casual listeners, Thus, the A stations could save money on ‘fill-up’ sessions, spend more on evening programmes, get more artists from other countries, and estaklish a much-ne-ded symphony orchestra. "At the same time, it would be necessary to increase the power, electrical and otherwise, of the B stations. When the wavelength changes become operative in a few months’ time, there will remain no reason why B ‘stations should not have at least five kilowatts in the aerial. American stations have fifty, and Australia ‘cannot expect to get the best results from the American syster. unless its B stations are given the coverage which makes advertising worth while. Radio policy should not antagonise A and B stations, but get the best out of each,"