Wait-and-See Policy On Aust. Colour TV Urged

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32313, 3 June 1970, Page 22

Wait-and-See Policy On Aust. Colour TV Urged

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) SYDNEY.

Australian commercial television stations want the introduction of colour television delayed. They believe that colour broadcasts should not start until 1974 or 1975 to ensure that viewers get the best pictures and sets at a reasonable price.

Late 1971 or 1972 has been tipped as the most likely period for the introduction of colour, but the Government has set no firm date. It has announced the technical system that will be used (P.A.L., for phase alternation line) and has said that stations will be told the starting date of colour transmissions 18 months in advance.

The Government is awaiting a report from the Board of

i Broadcast Governors before declaring the date. The governors have been discussing all aspects of colour with the television industry. A spokesman for the Post-master-General said he did not know when the report would be presented, but hoped it would be this year. In Melbourne the general manager of the Federation of Australian Television Stations, Mr Arthur Cowan, has said that commercial stations believed that colour should 'not be introduced until 1974 or 1975. He told the federation's annual meeting that station managements also considered ,18 months notice was not long enough.

Mr Cowan said that 18 months was insufficient to train staff and order, procure and install equipment to ensure standards measuring up to the needs of the Australian viewer.

Colour station equipment was being improved daily by more efficient and sometimes cheaper models, and the

trend would continue, he said. Home receiving sets were also becoming cheaper and more efficient, and there was reason to believe that some period of delay in Australia would benefit the community. Mr Cowan said that Australia's highly developed black and white system had been assisted by a comparatively slow start. Overseas experience had been utilised for an improved service, in which earlier mistakes had been avoided.

■ The same results should apply if colour television was riot introduced until 1974 or 1975, Mr Cowan said. The Postmaster - General's spokesman has said th.t the 18 months period possibly could be extended. “But there is no guarantee this will be the case,” he said.

In December last year New Zealand’s Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Adams-Schnei-der) said that New Zealand I was awaiting Australia’s decision on the start of colour television before making its own decision. At the time he said he was expecting Australia to make an announcement in the “near future.” But, since the Australian Government is still awaiting the Board of Broadcast Governors’ report, that announcement might be some time away.