MEMBERS' VIEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 49, 27 February 1935, Page 9

MEMBERS' VIEWS.

WIDE DIVERSITY. A VOICE FOR PARLIAMENT? PRAISE FOR B STATIONS. (Bj- Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The ramifications of radio broadcasting in Now Zealand found ready debaters in the House of Representatives yesterday when the amendments to the existing law were introduced. A wide range of subjects was traversed, including the position of B class stations, the encouragement of local talent, the improvement of national station programmes, the broadcasting of controversial subjects, and the use of advertising over the air. One suggestion advanced was that Parliament should have its own transmitting station, so that people in the backblocks would be able to listen in to debates of interest to them. It was mentioned by the member advancing the proposition that a friend had facetiously suggested for the legislative station the call signal "G.A.S."

Opening the discussion, Mr. B. J. Howard (Labour, Christchurch South) suggested that one purpose of the bill was to give monopolistic rights to the Government to use the air for campaigning. He would be glad to hear from the Minister whether everyone would be given the same privileges, and whether extended privileges would be afforded the B stations. B Stations Popular. Mr. A. E. Ansell (Port Chalmers) said that he also would like to know how the B stations were to be treated, for it was important that their activities should not be circumscribed as in the past. Were it not for the work of the B stations in Dunedin he was sure that radio licenses would be reduced by 50 per cent, for the programmes put over by the A stations were, generally speaking, of a mediocre character. Mr. W. J. Poison (Government, Stratford) : Only records. Mr. Ansell: Yes, tinned stuff. He wanted to know if there were any provision in the bill for inclusion on the board of the services of someone who might be called an entertainment manager. He did not know whether the present board comprised anything but technical experts, but there seemed to be nobody who could give a lead in regard to programmes acceptable to the public. The services given by the B stations were so acceptable to the public that they should be encouraged. Harmonic Problems. Mr. C. L. Carr (Labour, Timaru) remarked that he had noticed in connection with the new Auckland station that there had been considerable difficulty over harmonics, which had now been minimised. There was the same trouble in Christchurch, where the harmonics of 3YA interfered with listening to the B stations. "Personally," continued the member, "I believe it was done deliberately hy the engineers, under instruction from the Broadcasting Hoard, so that when the two stations were operating together, tho harmonics from 3YA would blot out tho other." The suggestion that controversial matter was to be permitted over the air meant, in his opinion, that the Government would be able to put over its side, but that if anyone else wanted to put over his views, some pretext would be found to prevent him. He would like to know whether it was proposed to appoint to the board some members who would know a little about music, the drama and cultural subjects generally, instead of the present members who were fanners or who represented some other interest which was not cultural, the result being the present programmes which were dished out to a long-suffer-ing public. He also hoped there would be a clause in the bill enforcing the regulations regarding electrical Interference, for theec were now a .lead letter. B Stations' Good Service. , Mr. H. Atmore (Independent, Nelson) ateo put in a strong argument for consideration of B stations, mentioning that one in his district had to be maintained by public subscription because reception from Wellington was so poor, and the now Christchurch station had failed to give the promised improvement. Inquiry was made by Mr. F. Jones (Labour, Dunedin South') as to whether the new board would impose further restrictions on the B class stations with the object of wiping them out. Therehad been a good deal of jealousy between the A and B class stations, and it would be of interest to know whether the B as well as the A stations would be allowed, under the bill, to broadcast controversial matter. In Dunedin over 2000 listeners were contributing half-a-crown each above their license fees in order to keep one of the B stations on the air. Local Talent. According to Mr. J. A. Lee (Labour, Grey Lynn), the national service had given listeners a great service, but that did not mean it was incapable of improvement. Mr. R. Semplo (Labour, Wellington Kast) : There is some awful tripe in it! Mr. Lee: I have said it is capable of improvement. However, the genuine music lovers get value every day of their lives listening to some of the world's greatest artists. At the same time, that is no reason why something should not be done to encourage local talent. We should become not merely a nation of listeners, but a nation of performers as well. There should be increased organisation of local talent, and where that talent is good we should be prepared to pay the price it is worth. We should not expect first-class musical artists to entertain the people of New Zealand at relief rates of pay. Mr. A. S. Richards (Labour, Rosk'Il): Worse than that! In the opinion of Mr. Lee the granting of assistance to B stations would not adversely affect the A .stations. Air Lee asked whether university prntosors would have the right to measure 11P political speeches submitted fo. broadcasting under the new arrangement to determine whether they met the standard of the economic views or those so-called cultural experts. Air H T -\rmstrong (Labour, f hn»tchurc'h East), who also paid a tribute tithe services of the A stations, urged that encouragement should be given the B stations, his main point being that listeners should have as wide a choice as possible within reason. B class stations could not carry on and some would go off the air unless they received Treater" consideration and some of tlie existing restrictions were lifted. "One would require tne cnoice ol trie (uncle to listen to local stuff, some of which is pure, unadulterated tripe, , de-

clared Mr. Semple, who went on to criticise the failure of the authorities to develop the use of good local talent, instead of starving it off the air. If the Government would 6ee to it that the best local talent was engaged, good programmes would bo the order, but these people were not catered for. The authorities took any old thing, provided it was "cheap stuff." The inclusion of a representative- of the listeners on the board was advocated by Mr. Richards, who said the arrangement could bo carried out at a small cost by voting taking place simultaneously with the payment of license fees. Station 'G.A.S." The establishment of a Parliamentary broadcasting station was advocated by Mr. Fraser, who said that when he had discussed the matter with a friend the latter suggested the call signal should be "G.A.S." However, Mr. Fraser said he believed the Legislature should have a station of its own. Members of electorates in the most remote corner of New Zealand should have the same right to listen to Parliamentary debates as visitors to the public galleries of the House. There would be no question of "imposing Parliament" on anyone, as the listener, if he were bored, as might occasionally happen, could turn off on to jazz musia or some other selection, since the Parliamentary wave-length would not conflict with others. Thousands of farmers would have followed with interest the debate on the Mortgage Corporation Bill. The newspapers gave good reports within space limits —• they were not always fair reports—and utilisation of the air would be of distinct value to the people. ' Advertising Opposed. Opposition to the broadcasting of advertising matter was voiced by Mr. W. Nash (Labour, Ilutt), for the reasons that if B stations were necessary they should be maintained out of the general fund; that it was not possible to tune off every time advertised goods were mentioned-, and that it was most dangerous to make a service contingent upon advertising revenue because of the influence advertisers could exercise upon such a service. Advertising as advertising should not be allowed on the air. If B stations were allowed to advertise they would have to colour their views to meet those of the people who were providing the advertising revenue. 'Die position of the newspapers in relation to advertising revenue proved that. Mr. Nash considered that the programmes of 2YA during the past twelve months would bear favourable comparison with any of the B station programmes. The managerial staff of the Broadcasting Board was occupying its time finding out the material the listener wanted. At the samo time there was room for improvement. Mr. A. Harris (Government, Waiteniata) failed to see why the B stations, if they wished it, should riot be allowed to remain on the air continuously. "A Fair Run." Replying to the debate, the acting Postmaster-General, Mr. Bitchener, nutlined the provisions of the bill, which are reported in detail under separate headings. In regard to tho suggestion that a listeners' representative should be appointed to the board, the Minister said he had undertaken to receive a deputation on the subject from one of tho listeners' clubs and he would see what could be done in the light of the information that deputation submitted to him. Mr. Richards: There is no right of appeal from the decision of tho new board on controversial subjects? The Minister: That is not provided for. But with a board of seven members, duo consideration will be given to every matter. The aim of the Post-master-General is to make the position a? acceptable as possible to listeners and the general public. The B stations, along with the A stations, will got a fair "run. In the past there has been a conflict of authority, with divided, control, but now both classes will be brought under the olio board.