ENGLISH BROADCASTING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20022, 12 February 1927, Page 12

ENGLISH BROADCASTING.

PROFITING BY AMERICA’S MISTAKES. A WONDERFUL SYSTEM. EMINENT AUTHORITY’S VIEWS. Great Britain lias profited by the mistakes made in tho United States, and for that reason her wireless broadcasting has been wonderfully managed. America has rnado the mistake of allowing a large number of broadcasting stations, which were really under no control, to be established, and Britain, seeing the folly of this, established a single controlling company. This observation was made to a Daily Times reporter last evening by Sir William Noble, an eminent English engineer 'and authority on wireless broadcasting, who is at present paying a visit to Dunedin. Sir William Noble retired from tho position of engineer-in-chief of the British Post Office in 1922, and then became a director of the British General Electric Company, which has branches in all the large cities of Australia and New Zealand. He was chairman of the committee that inaugurated broadcasting in England, and was appointed a director of the British Broadcasting Company on its formation. On January 1 of this year the British Broadcasting Company handed over the conduct of its affairs to what is now known as the British Broadcasting Corporation, a body that has been appointed by the British Government. Tho main object of Sir William Noble’s visit to Now Zealand is to see the different branches of the British General Electric Company and to see what progress is being made m telephonic development. Sir William is of the opinion that as far as it lias gone broadcasting in New Zealand is in a flourishing condition, but it will take some time to reach maturity. One drawback in Australia and New Zealand is that there is not the variety of programme. London and other large cities of England have n great advantage over the colonics, due to the fact that all the principal artists of the world conic to .England, and there is therefore a greater field of good talent for broadcasting. Such talent as he heard in Australia, however, was good, but it cannot obtain the same selection as the Mother Country. During the past four years the controlling company in England directed 20 broadcasting stations in different parts of Great Britain and one in Northern Ireland. Each of these stations used a different wave length, and therefore there was no interference. In addition to all thcsie stations, a high-powered station was erected at Davcntry. The result is that practically the whole country has been covered, and a high percentage of the population can listen to broadcasting on a cheap set. The object the compony had in view was to popularise broadcasting. and in this it had succeeded beyond the highest expectations. At present there should ho about two and a-half million licensees in Great Britain. Broadcasting had bad no oflect on the newspapers, for only a resume of news was broadcast, and if there wore an important item people who did not buy newspapers in the. ordinary course purchased copies in order to obtain a fuller account. Sir William Noble will leave by the early train this morning for Christchurch, where he will broadcast a speech at the official opening of the Christchurch station. ‘'Being a Scotsman,’’ he added in conclusion. “1 feel very much at home in Dunedin. I have heard many an accent I could cut with a knife.”