AUSTRALIAN SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20304, 11 July 1929, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN SERVICE.

NEW COMPANY'S PLANS. MANY IMPROVEMENTS PROMISED. The hand of experienced .showmen, who know their public well, is plainly to he .seen in (he policy announcements issued by the new Australian Broadcasting Company. The directors evidently believe (hat reticence is as big an anachronism in broadcasting as in stage enterprises. So far as quantity and variety go the tare they ■if for is lavish enough to make New Zealand listeners quite a little envious. • In a statement published last week, the three directors, Mr. F. Stuart Doyle, Sir Benjamin Fuller and Mr. Frank Albeit, promise more hours of broadcasting and new features. The programmes, they say, will pay more attention to the requirements of women listeners-ill, inculcate a love of good music and provide reliable market information. Not so much time will be spent in future 011 birthday greetings in the, children's hour. 'I he director of the State Conscrvatorium of Music, Dr. Arundel Orchard, has promised to work in close co-operation with the new 01ganisation. The directors propose (o concentrate on musical programmes on Sunday evenings .from eight o'clock until ten o'clock. On alternate Sundays the programme from station 2FC. Sydney, will be provided by Ted Ilenkei's Capitol Theatre Orchestra, and by Will Trior's Orchestra. Continuous Programmes. A new rostor of hours will operate at stations 2VG and 2BL. It is proposed to increase the bmxuleasting hours by 286 ; per annum. As far as possible there will be a continuous programme of music from either chip station or the other. Duplication in tho transmission of market reports, news services, mails, shipping, racing and the children's sessions will be eliminated. Greater attention will be : paid to "popular and musical education." i Women's interests are to have special at- ; tent ion. Domestic science, hobbies and | problems will be the subject of "talks" j in tho session arranged for those engaged ! in home duties..

Three permanent instrumental combinations will be established in the studios, and will perform in the morning, afternoon and evening sessions. Relays of programmes of symphony orchestral music will be arranged in Sydney and in Melbourne in order to develop a public taste for that type of entertainment. The standard of the evening performances will be raised in proportion to tho general improvement in other parts of the service. No advertising, either direct or indirect, will be broadcast from either of the stations under the new regime. In New South Wales and Victoria, where two "A" stations will be operated in association by the new company, programmes will bo so arranged that music will be available practically throughout the hours of broadcasting from one station or the other.

Children's sessions will commence earlier, and will only appear on station 2FC programmes. Another feature will be lunchhour music between 1 and 2 p.m. The broadcasting of chuich services will bo continued. There will be two such broadcasts on Sunday mornings, but at night there will only be one—from 2BL—in New South Wales; stations 2FC and 3LO will concentrate on musical programmes for Sunday nights, from 7.30 p.m. until 10 p.m.

Services that have been popular to the ! sporting community in the past will be rei rained, and improvement in certain direc- ! tions has been arranged. J The Daily Session.

In' future station 2FC will conduct an ! early morning session from 7 to 8.15 ! o'clock. The morning session will open : at 10.50 with a daily sporting talk, and i at 10.45 there will bo an organ recital, i Tho programmo throughout the day will ' includo selections from the station's light | orchestra, and some features, such as a ' session for the great public schools and the I State schools. The children's hour will comI menco at 5.45 p.m., a dinner session at ! 6,45 p.m., and the usual musical pro- j | gramme at eight o'clock. On Sundays I i 2FC will open at 10 a.m. and continue • until 10.50 p.m. Station 2BL will open at 8.15 a.m. with | a programme of "awakening music." ' Special sporting items will be given on | Saturday afternoons. Every care will bo taken to offer a programme as different . as possible from that in progress from ; 2FC. 2BL will close down at 10.30 p.m. I on week-nights, except Saturdays, when a i dance programme will continue until midj night. Tho Sunday programmo from 2BL will commence at 10.55 a.m. and will end at 10 p. ni. Messrs. Gordon Balcombe, John Fuller, and Alexis Albert are alternate directors of the new company. Mr. 11. G. Horner has been appointed secretary. Mr. Oswald Anderson, formerly of 2FC, will continue to control programmes And the musical operation of the company in Xcw South Wales, and Mr. 11. P. Williams will, control the utility, news and sporting activities. The staff will include Mr. A. S. Cochrane, "Mr. Basil Kirko, Mr. A. C. C. Stevens and Mr. Laurence Halbert. . CATERING FOR FARMERS. COMPANY'S NEW PLAN. A scheme for a service of regular talks for the farmer was submitted by tho Broadcasting Company to a representative meeting of delegates from Canterbury agricultural bodies at Christchurch last week. The meeting approved tho scheme in principle, and set up a sub-committee to go into tho details. Apparently the proposal owes a good deal to tho energy of Dr. Charles Chilton, who lately retired from tho rectorship of Canterbury College. Dr. Chilton addressed tho meeting at length upon the proposals. So far as can bo gathered from tho official report, tho idea is to havo talks delivered at regular intervals from the four main stations, cither bv the experts who proparo them, or by tin: station announcers. It is also hoped, by the assistance of tho Government Meteorological . Office, to supply special weather forecasts and to answer listeners' questions about farming problem. l !. A part of tho scheme is to set. up local advisory committees, presumably ono for each station, to work on tho saine Ines as tho musical, religious and committees already formed. ' e . commitieo appointed last ?' cc ' • rented in its personnel tho Lincoln A , Aral College, the Canterbury A. a u P Association, the Department ot culture and the Canterbury 1.0g.0^ i L Tho°scheme is a praiseworthy one, and ' should succeed if it ( °» J 1 Dominion, and not merely a lanteiburj, basis Differences ot climate, soil and firming practice mako it necessary that tho special needs of each district should be catered for. Northern dairy-farmers will scarcely l>o satisfied unless the resources of the Massey Agricultural College are drawn from. , ' Tho Broadcasting Company admits that it has come rather lato into the field, but obviously it could not very well act until its public relations machinery had been put into working order. From the company's point of view the development should bo advantageous, because the expense to tho company will probably bo small and. by catering for tho farmer it will help forward its already active campaign to create more listeners in tho smaller towns and country districts.