TRUST AND RADIO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22714, 28 April 1937, Page 10

TRUST AND RADIO

ADVERTISING RIGHTS McARTHUR INTERESTS AUSTRALIAN AGENCY SALE BY DEPARTMENT [TIV TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday A private company in Australia, known as Radio Vision, limited, has been sold tho Australian rights for the letting of radio advertising in New Zealand. This was confirmed by the Minister at present in charge of broadcasting, the Hon. F. Jones, in a telegram to the Christchurch Press this evening in reply to an earlier request for comment on a statement that the sale had been made to the company, which was reported to be one of the investments of the Mc Arthur Irust. Minister's Statement "When the first request was made to the Minister by telephone in the afternoon he stated that he would have to investigate the report. Later he sent the following telegram: —"Replying to your telephonic inquiry. On investigation to-day I find that a number of Sydney business firms were written to and applications were received from others to act as representative of the commercial broadcasting service in New Zealand for the letting of advertising over the air in, the Dominion. The Radio Vision Proprietary submitted the most suitable and acceptable terms and I am assured that they are rendering good service." Recent Court Evidence The first announcement of the selling of the Australian rights was made in the hearing of an appeal in the Supreme Court at Invercargill on March 2, when Mr. Fleetwood W. Graham, secretary of the McArthur Trust, was explaining the financial holdings of the trust. He said, according to a Press Association report, that one of its investments was £SOO, practically all the preference shares in Radio Vision, Limited, which had the Australian rights for commercial broadcasting in New Zealand. Many of the biggest firms doing broadcast advertising had their headquarters in Australia and their appropriations for advertising over the air would be made from Australia. Almost All Preference Shares Australian firms, Mr. Graham said, which wanted "space" on New Zealand commercial broadcasting programmes would buy it from this firm. The McArthur Trust owned practically all the preference shares. The ordinary share issue was about £ISOO, but he did not know who held those shares. He thought that the investment was a safe one. As far as can be ascertained the Australian company named is not a public one. No record of it can be found in Jobson's Investment Digest, which is a record of registered public companies in Australia and New Zealand.