Delay Urged In Opening Second TV Channel

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30588, 3 November 1964, Page 1

Delay Urged In Opening Second TV Channel

New Zealand should not start a second television channel for some years, because not enough material of a reasonable standard was available to fill two programmes. But when a second channel did open, a third channel devoted to education should be started at the same time, Mr Clive Court, the founder of the New Zealand Television Workshop, said in Christchurch yesterday.

“The idea of starting two new channels at once would probably be difficult technically, but it would be the ideal,” Mr Court said.

More important than starting new channels was to link the existing regional stations, he added. An effort should be made to get the link completed before the world-wide satellite television network began operating, so that, if New Zealand joined, the full benefit could be obtained from the great expense of setting up the necessary receiving station. The satellite system was expected to be working by 1967. The second channel should not be started until the producers of the first channel were "bursting with ideas.” Otherwise, the same was likely to happen as in Australia, where the multiplicity of i channels had resulted in there being practically nothing worth having on any of them, except the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s channel. "The Australians’ level of artistic appreciation has been so sabotaged by the drivel that comes over their television sets that they no longer recognise anything good when they do see it,” said Mr Court. Much of the blame must be put on the advertisers who sponsored the pro-

grammes. Countries with this influence had the lowest standards. “You are fortunate here—you haven’t had sponsored television,” said Mr Court, an Englishman. “You have one of the best standards in television programmes in the world. Don’t judge television standards in the United States and elsewhere by what you see here of their productions, because you only see what they are able to sell you. “Your existing programmes set a standard to

be lived up to. If you start a second channel too soon, you will undermine this." When the second channel started, it would presumably be a commercial channel, said Mr Court. The third channel, as he envisaged it. would also be supported by commerce, but the arrangement would be that the studios would be left free for educational programmes during the day while the commercial interests were allowed to arrange things as they pleased in the evenings.