TELEVISION IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26847, 27 September 1952, Page 2

TELEVISION IN BRITAIN

Warning Given By 8.8. G. Director

(Special Correspondent NJZ.P.A.) 7 September 26. Mr George Barnes, BJB.C. director of television broadcasting, addressing the British Council of Churches, said television should be regarded as something to look forward to and not as a tap dripping as the background to every domestic chore, every meal, and every family argument “The danger is that television might become an addiction, that it might become a narcotic,” he said. “We are learning to produce quality in a variety of fields before we attempt quantity. The Americans, who have done toe opposite, and have filled the air -with television all day, are frightened of the effect it is having and are seeking ways to raise its quality. “It is to be hoped that competitive television will not mean television all day long,” Mr Barnes said. “At the present rate of acceleration, there will be more viewers than listeners in five years’ time. During the 10-year period of the 8.8.C.’s charter, owning a television set is likely to become as nor* mai as owning a radio set is n>ow.’’ Discussing the recent objections to television raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. G. F. Fisher)—who presided at the meeting—Mr Barnes said: “I think the answer to the

dilemma posed by the' Archbishop—that it is intolerable to have to choose between what the 8.8. C. thinks good for the people or broadcasting only what the majority are supposed to want—lies in the conception of the responsibility of a monopoly to serve not one audience, but many. Television as a national service is only a month old. It is still in the technique stage. No one knows enough about it technically, artistically, or politically to dogmatise about the effects it will have on the public. “I can only suggest that one danger in radio was the dissipation of concentration,” Mr Barnes said. “It has become an invitation to inattention.”

Dr. Fisher said that any comments he had made were not merely directed against the 8J8.C., but to the nation and the general view that it must have every amenity provided. It was a moral criticism which he made. People should not expect to get everything that was possible. “We can feel very thankful the policy of the 8.8. C. in this matter is to go slow and see there is quality long before quantity,” he said.