NEW BROADCAST BILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22046, 28 February 1935, Page 13

NEW BROADCAST BILL

" DEATH OF B STATIONS"

MR. SCRIMGEOUR'S CRITICISM

[BY TELEGRAPH—OWN' CORRESPONDENT] WELLINGTON, Wednesday

An attack on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, now before Parliament,. was made by the Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour, of the "Friendly Road" station, IZB, in the course of an address in the Wellington Town Hall tonight Mr. Scrimgeour said he had not been able to obtain the sanction of the present Broadcasting Board or the Government for the erection of a station sufficiently powerful to serve southern centres. He had been to Wellington 16 times in the last six months, but had been unable to obtain any satisfaction or any reason for the refusal. The proposed legislation, Mr. Scrimgeour continued, would mean the death of every B class station in New Zealand. The new board would have the power to intervene in the direction of such stations as the "Friendly Road," even though they were supported entirely by voluntary contributions. The new board, he said, should be an elected body, enabling those who paid licence fees to have some say in tho conduct of an important service. As it was, there would just be four more marionettes on the strings pulled by the Government. "Listeners do not like the stereotyped programmes offered by the national stations," Mr. Scrimgeour added. "Wherever there is a B station it has 80 per cent of the listeners."