IN BRIEF

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1937, Page 23

IN BRIEF

NOTES FROM NEAR AND FAR

The Director of Broadcasting, Professor Shelley, has made arrangements for one of the world's greatest string combinations, the Budapest String Quartet, to,lour the New Zealand national stations, commencing in October next. The personnel of the quartet is: M. Roismann, first violin and leader; Alexander Schneider, violin; Stephen Ipolyi, viola; Mischa Scheider, 'cello . , '

An active campaign is being waged by the Government against listeners who have failed to take out licences for their receiving sets. It is understood that numerous defaulters throughout the Dominion will shortly be called upon to explain to Magistrates why they have been listening to the programmes without having licences.

Plays and sketches from, the YA stations during the coming week include the following: "The Fly on the Wall," from IYA on Monday, at 8 p.m.; "Playgoers," from IYA on Monday at 8.25; "The Table Under the Tree" (a 8.8.C. production), from 2YA on Monday, at 9.5 p.m.; "London Wall," from 2YA on Wednesday at 9.5 p.m. ■

The Empire Service Department of the 8.8.C, whose chief concern is normally with programmes for listeners overseas, is also anxious to provide listeners at home with an increasing number of broadcasts from the Dominions. The Dominions are to contribute to the new weekly series on "World Affairs." The third Monday of each month will bring ,a, talk. from and about each of the Dominions in turn, given by a man on the spot.

New Zealanders broadcasting in the Empire programmes from Daventry during the coming week include Vera Moore (pianist), who may be heard on Saturday (New Zealand Day), at 8 p.m.; Marie Ney, the New Zealand actress—also on Saturday, at .• 8.55 p.m.; Arthur Alexander (pianist), on Thursday, at 8.46-p.m.

The total number of radio licences in Britain was expected to reach 8,000,000 in January. Official figures show that during December there was an increase of 63,055, bringing the total to 7,960,573. Britain is second to' Germany among European countries in the number of licence holders. In Germany there are 8,167,957 licences in issue, but 570,000 are granted free to unemployed, war invalids, and others. One reason for the recent acceleration in the rate of increase has been a post office campaign against "pirates" who listen without paying. During December there were 266 successful prosecutions.

Britain seems such a small country, a mere hop, step, and jump for an aeroplane, that it came as a surprise to many when the Postmaster-General, Major Try on, stated recently that 100,000 wire miles of line were'specially set up by the British Post Office for 8.8.C. broadcasts during the past year. This figure only applies to what are known as outside broadcasts, of which there are about 2000 a year. The length of lines provided varies from a few hundred yards to 100 miles.

Although broadcasting has been a vital force for only fifteen years.or so, it has already inspired hundreds of books in many languages. A recent pamphlet contains a list of about 200 books founded on talks and other material in the 8.8.C. programmes, or dealing with broadcasting in its nontechnical aspects. Many of the volumes in the list consist of symposia to which the most eminent men and women in British public life have conjtributed. In the list the place of honour is occupied by books on religion and philosophy, which number sixtyone. There are thirty-six children's books, many of them compiled from material used during the Children's Hour. Other subjects include politics and foreign affair.|, ten volumes; economics and sociology, thirteen; art and music, fifteen; language and literature, fourteen; travel arid 'adventure, twelve; Nature, gardening, and the countryside,. sixteen; science, - sixteen; health and cookery, seven; psychology, six; broadcasting, sixteen; simple technicalities, six; miscellaneous, twentyone.