Radio Record

Radio Record, also known as the New Zealand Radio Record and Home Journal, began in 1927 as the official organ of the Radio Broadcasting Company, a company responsible for the laying the foundations of a national radio service in partnership with the Postmaster General, funded by licensing fees. A weekly publication, founded, owned and edited by Arthur James Heighway throughout its entirety, initially under the Radio Publishing Company and then under National Magazines Limited in 1933, the journal aimed to provide listeners with information about company activities, plans and policy as well as knowledge of radio programming.

Over time, subjects covered in the journal would broaden from radio to motion pictures, theatre and book reviews and contain special segments dedicated to the home, women and children. Robin Hyde (Iris Wilkinson) was a frequent contributor, interviewing international celebrities as well as having her novel Passport to Hell serialised in 1936. Upon returning to New Zealand after her 1938 world tour, Aunt Daisy (Maud Basham) would become editor of her own section recounting her travels called Aunt Daisy Brings You the Weekly Cheer Budget and answered letters in the column Aunt Daisy’s Mailbag. 

At the beginning of 1932 broadcasting in New Zealand changed hands from the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand to a new Government-appointed broadcasting board, with the company assets acquired by the Government under the Broadcasting Act of 1931. However, this change did not seem to impact on Radio Record at the time. Even in 1935 with the introduction of the first Labour Government, Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage was quoted as saying on several occasions that ‘if private enterprise ... is doing its job, we are not going to interfere’ (24 July 1939: 8). It was assumed by Heighway at the time that the relationship between the newly created New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS) and Radio Record was one of ‘close and friendly co-operation’ (24 July 1939: 8). However, that was to change in 1939 with the introduction of the NZBS’s new journal, the New Zealand Listener.

Heighway outlined his case and recollection of events in an open letter published in Radio Record on 24 July 1939. In it, he recalls in conversations with the service that they had no intention of putting any restrictions on programming information until ‘the political head of the Department had stepped in and issued instructions that their stations … conserve everything for the Listener’ (24 July 1939: 8). Further fuel to the fire was that the Listener could be mentioned on radio, essentially advertising the journal, something that Radio Record was not allowed to do due to radio advertising restrictions at the time. Radio Record had built a circulation as a pioneering radio publication with a broad appeal, and while the two titles had their own separate and specialised fields, Radio Record could not compete without the publication of advanced programming information to inform its audience.

As a result of Heighway’s publicly outlined concerns, Radio Record was purchased by the NZBS for around 3,300 pounds, well under Heighway’s estimated value of 10,000 pounds. On 22 September 1939 Radio Record would publish its final issue, outlining that the title would be incorporated into the Listener. Not long afterwards in November, Heighway would declare bankruptcy, stating that the cause was the voluntary liquidation of National Magazines Limited, due to its chief publication Radio Record being absorbed by the Government. Heighway would move to London and would go on to be appointed managing director and editor at World’s Press News Publishing Company.