Broadcasting surplus

Press, 9 August 1982, Page 20

Broadcasting surplus

PA Wellington The Broadcasting Corporation had a surplus of 56.5 million in the year to March. 1982. almost 10 times the previous year's surplus, according to the corporation's annual report. The report, tabled in Parliament last week said that the surplus of 56.521.451 compared with 5678.497 in the March. 1980. year. Advertising sales increased 32 per cent for television. and 28.5 for radio's community stations. The chairman. Mr lan Cross, said that the excellent trading result was a reward for careful management in times of inflationary pressures. “However. I must emphasise that this commercial

progress is not producing present - growth or future strength for broadcasting." he said. “It is increasingly offset by steeply rising costs to run non-commercial radio and television services, which the licence fee is not adequate to meet.” Mr Cross said that the corporation has been deferring capital expenditure in some areas and using the money saved to pay for noncommercial programming, and funding the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. As a result, it had been unable to keep up with, technological changes. New Zealand had had cheap broadcasting services with the charge to the consumer through the licence fee unchanged for seven years.

“But we are approaching the point where the corporation may have temporarily to switch support away from social and cultural services in order to protect revenue earning capacity and thus maintain non-commercial activities of any significance at all in the future." he said. The corporation believed the situation could be restored if radio and television were to be funded over the next five years at a level adequate to meet the social costs of non-commercial services desired by the country, said Mr Cross. "Meantime, we may be forced to look at changing some existing non-commer-cial services such as YC radio to a commercial basis." he said.