THE SILENT NIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 29 May 1930, Page 27

THE SILENT NIGHT

WAS THERE A PROMISE ?

The "Eadio Record, "'in ah editorial, practically contradicts a statement put into circulation that a promise was given that the silent night would be abandoned this year by 2YA, and also that the hours of service would be extended. It is unable to recall any promise of this nature having been given by anyone in authority. It does, however, recall printing in December an article forecasting the abolition of the silent night as the next major com cession to bo granted to listeners^ "Looking back oh the advances made over the last twelve months, we strongly hope that the incoming twelve will see the abandonment of the silent night." And.the "Eecord" desires its memory to be refreshed* ' In the "Evening Post" of 9th January the following'appeared in this column: '■ "A definite promise has been made by Mr. A. Harris that the 'silent nights' will be abolished at all the YA stations next winter. It is intended that subsequently (though there, is no indication of the probable date of the change) a midday session, from noon till 2 p.m., will be instituted as a daily feature, and later still morning sessions will-bo added... Tho projected abolition of the silent nights wDlbo a very woleome change. It has been repeatedly advocated in this column as an important factor in reducing the prevalence of interference by oscillating receivers, and tho-fact that the Broad-

casting Company is at last iu^a position to abolish a fault which can only have been justified on strong economic grounds is a matter for general congra.tion." ■ . It is admittedly unfortunate that after this lapse of time it is not possible to produce the original evidence (published in an exchange), on which the assertion quoted was based. It must be apparent that such a statement would not have been published, and reprinted in other papers and left entirely uncontradieted until now, if such original evidenco had not existed;. and the present writer believes that the statement was correct. Whether such a promise was actually made or not, the fact remains that it j is high time the Broadcasting stations-j abandoned their distinction of being1 the only prominent broadcasting stations in the English-speaking world to require a weekly rest. There_ is a very wide demand for the abolition of this absurd silence, which confers no benefit on anybody. One argument in its'favour is that:it enables people with valve sets to tune in s stations which on other nights are Blanketed by the local station; but it is common knowledge that sets which are of such a kind that they are so handicapped are'the cause of continual interference on the silent night, and that nobody then has good reception of anything. Apart from the matter of the extra cost to the company, there is not a single valid excuse for the continuaanee of the silent night. In view of the fact tyiat the number of licences is annually increasing the financial argument has lost much of its validity.