THE BROADCASTING SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22266, 19 May 1934, Page 10

THE BROADCASTING SERVICE

LISTENERS’ LICENSE FEES At a recent meeting of the Otago Radio Traders’ Association it was pointed out that the Governmerit has not yet announced any intention of allowing to radio listeners a deduction from the license fee of 30s per annum of the amount of this fee applied to royalty payments in the past. The fee of 30g was applied as follows;—To the Radio Broadcasting Board 255, to the Post and Telegraph Department 2s, to Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Ltd., under an agreement in respect of patent rights, 3s. This agreement, linden, which over £ 15„000 per annum was collected and paid to the main proprietor of Australasian radio patents, terminates on May 31, up to which date the patentee will receive 6d per listener from the current year’s license fee, and no further payments thereafter from listeners’ foes. The Government has now left radio traders to bear the burden ot payments to patentees. Thus for 1034-35 the Government will receive 2 S 6d per listener, or over £14,000, which is allocated to no specific purpose, and in future years the amount will be 3s per listener, or approximately £16.000. As this amount has been subscribed in the past for a specific purpose for which it is no longer required it is held that the Government is making an unjust imposition on radio listeners, and, no doubt, listeners’ leagues and such organisations will wish to know either what is going to be done for their benefit with the large sums involved, or whether the license fee is to be reduced by the amount of this now unnecessary contribution.