TELEVISION IN AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29139, 26 February 1960, Page 7

TELEVISION IN AUSTRALIA

Dean Sullivan’s Impressions “The standard of television programmes I saw in Australia did not impress me. I thought that on the whole they were of the quality of rather poor films, the Dean of Christchurch (the Very Rev. Martin Sullivan) who has recently returned from a short trip to Australia, said yesterday. “But some of the producers I met were very forward-looking and anxious to develop the medium and to do serious work. It is only fair to say that The inferior programmes are on the commercial network. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation television is better. “The medium has possibilities for religious purposes too,” Dean Sullivan said. One programme he had seen had a panel of religious speakers who appeared week after week and each week they were asked questions by a critic of religion—a sort of “devil’s advocate.” People have claimed that the religious critic is often not given a chance to put his side of the story and this programme gives him the chance. “But what I saw in milk bars and in private homes was mostly the commercial stations," said the Dean. “I got the impression that conversation was not only unnecessary, but an irration of an evening. The entertainment was done for people. “For sport it was magnificent. The nearest thing we have in New Zealand is when someone takes a transistor radio to a football or cricket match. You hear the description and see what is happening at the same tim£. “Many people say they will not buy a set. I will be interested to see how many do not. It is a medium they cannot afford to ignore.”