BROADCASTING COSTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 220, 17 September 1938, Page 21

BROADCASTING COSTS.

Government Departments find it easy to spend taxpayers' money, when it has aot been collected, but the temptation thai excess radio fee* must impose ought to be considered by the payers of fee& The National Broadcasting Service lives on fees; it now has £441,62G in account, of which the Commercial Service owes the National Service £80,270, plus £1407 interest; £75,781 3a on temporary investment, and £30,305 ie in the bank—the balance being value of land, plant and equipment. During l the year £18,082 was spent in buying (16) B stations and the total subsidies to remaining (5) B stations amount to £1333, while £2718 has gone to (5) B stations operated under contract. These small sums are useful to get a real idea of the enormous expenses of the Government stations and the disproportion of the expenditure to results. The total time used on broadcasting in the National Service was 31,2(50 hours, and a dozen station* built this up. The total expenditure is given as £212,429, the revenue as £311,817. The Estimate® show that a staff of 181 last year will be increased to 197 this year, ealariee being estimated to increase from £50,400 to £56,415. This may be considered bad enough, but the commercial stations, four in number, deserve any biscuits there are about. The four commercial stations operated for 18,450 hours. Without fees to fall back on, sales of commercial stations' time provided a revenue of £98,412. Programmes on the commercial stations are to a considerable extent the business of advertisers, so that an increase of the present etaff from 140 to 299 is startling. On the salary side last year's expenditure of £52,552 is estimated to increase to £74,090. Some items in the expenses call for more explanation than tho accounts furnish. "Commission" is expected to increase from £10.730 to £18,500 "on account of increase of business.'' The advances of £80,200 from the National Service included £11,270 from the previous year. The land, buildings, machinery and equipment, including the "purchase of 1ZB," only stand the commercial account £55,900, less than the year's advances from the listeners' fee«. The bulk of the remainder on the assets aide of commercial radio is £29,854 sundry debtors (presumably debts due from sales of time, which gave an income of £98,418). plus the accumulated admitted excess of expenditure over income of £11.953. What, does the staff do? It doesn't clcan the offices, as this is to cost £1250 this year. The facta aeem that both «er-

\ icrs have a lot too much money to play with, but that the comiuerckil stations; are likely to make heavy drafts on the listeners fees in the long run. The I ommorcial Service not only owes to National Service, hut it owes iMo.ti.jO to the Public Works, £4170 to other Departments, £3t,04 in conimis'"'on and £2441 "sundry." This service's debts eeem secure enough; its "assets" are more doubtful, consisting largelv of the full pun ha so value of records, blocks, spares and the slightly depreciated or underwritten otlice equipment, machinery, plant also monev* owiit". Incidentally, if the. /M stations had not been commercialised, in addition to the £12.000 they are admittedly behind, and the few other thousands, or tens of thoiisands, they ap|H>ar to be likely to lust', the National Service might linve s«i\i*d £tioo which is voted as subsidies to the private 15 stations this year, bv allowing those stations to handle advertising, without the taxpayer having to stand aiiy losses. Who knows but "that the station* the (Jovcrnmeiit has denied all revenue to, lieyond the £000 subsi<l\. might have made very substantial piohts, on advertising worth about 1100.000, and might have provided a leal argument tor "socialising'' them? A. E. KUIiIXSOX.