STATE BROADCASTING

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 June 1927, Page 11

STATE BROADCASTING

URGED UPON GOVERNMENT. (Per Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, June 24. A North Taranaki Radio Society was formed last night, with a large following. It was resolved strongly to urge the Government to assume control of broadcasting in a manner similar to that obtaining in Britain, as the New Zealand Broadcasting Company no longer enjoyed the confidence of listeners. The Government was further recommended to retain the services of Mr J. M. Prentice. NOT UNDERSTOOD. CHRISTCHURCH, June 24. Mystery surrounded the operation of IYA, the Auckland broadcast station, on Wednesday afternoon. A Christchurch man who tuned in a little after 4.30, hoping to get trotting results, found the station at good strength, and the announcer giving out that they were “now to have a musical item, etc., by So-and-So.” There was a pause for a moment, and then the announcer stated they were going to have something by somebody else. This went on for a little while, and two very mystified listeners came to the conclusion that perhaps they had been listening to an advance programme being announced, although in a rather irregular way. Then they were further mystified when the announcer proceeded to a bedtime story. In the middle of a sentence he was cut off, and the listeners fondly imagined that they were at last to get a race result or two. They waited for quite a while ,and then came an item to the effect that a British cement company had purchased interests in the J. J. Craig estate at Whangarei. After that the station went suddenly off the air, and nothing more came from it. The mystery was solved this morning by reference to “Aerial.” “Oh!” he said, “you tuned in after the ordinary session had closed down, and I have no doubt they were trying out new announcers.”