BETTER PROGRAMMES ARE OBJECT OF INVESTIGATION OF BROADCASTING SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27274, 28 December 1949, Page 4

BETTER PROGRAMMES ARE OBJECT OF INVESTIGATION OF BROADCASTING SERVICE

Special Correspondent WELLINGTON, Dec. 27. Complaints by listeners that there are times when all the radio broadcasting stations in New Zealand seem to be given over simultaneously to the same type of programme are to be investigated at the instigation of the new Minister of Broadcasting, Mr Doidge. In an article in the latest issue of the New Zealand Listener, the official journal of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service, he states that what might be termed the “universality” of New Zealand programmes is one matter of common complaint he has asked the Director of Broadcasting, Mr W. Yates, to examine immediately.

“ The listener pays his fee and thinks he has a right to demand . the sort of service he wants,” Mr Doidge said, “but there are 433,965 registered listeners in New Zealand and tastes differ. What some people like, others abhor. Classical music bores one section of the community, jazz exasperates another. Obviously, it is impossible to devise a programme that appeals to all people all the time. It is not easy to balance conflicting tastes. We can but strive to attain a standard of perfection. The aim must be the gradual infusion of improved standards. We must seek to popularise good music, good drama, and good educational features.

“If popularity were the accepted guide to programmes, imitation would become the accepted rule and new ideas would die at birth. My hope is that the New Zealand Broadcasting Service will adventure and experiment freely and boldly. The listener is. and always must be, the final judge. The intelligent and co-operative criticism of the listener will always be welcome but if this invitation is accepted, I would beg of the critic to aim at constructive criticism and to remember that a radio item which may annoy 100 people and move them to angry denunciation possibly pleases 10,000 who are satisfied but silent.” Mr Doidge referred to a visit he and the Prime Minister had made to Rome just before the war ended and how they had revealed to them the extent to which New Zealanders appreciated opera night after night. Hundreds of New Zealand troops on leave thronged the opera house there demonstrating a desire for good music. Mr Doidge said he felt that in the days ahead, particularly in the winter months, encouragement should be given to the development of “listening parties.” These had become popular in other parts of the world. It was a new social habit developed, particularly among lovers of opera and drama. After referring to the investigation he had asked for into the “universality ” of New Zealand programmes, Mr Doidge said it should be possible to find a niche for the critic who declared “ We want a blessed hour of sanctuary where dance music and unfunny comedians cannot penetrate.” That was not to say that the dance band had not its place, added Mr Doidge. In popularity, it must nearly reach the top flight. When the winter months approached, the broadcasting service might be able to arrange a special “ dance night ” each week so that young people in their own homes and in small halls in remote country districts could plan parties with the certainty of a full programme of dance music from one or two specific stations. Mr Doidge is to attend next month s conference of Commonwealth Ministers in Ceylon in his capacity as Minister of External Affairs. He said the purpose of that conference was to discuss Empire problems, but that if the opportunity presented itself, he hoped to introduce the question of broadcasting. At Colombo the conference would seek ways and means of a closer understanding of Commonwealth problems. As an instrument, the radio service opened up vast possibilities. In the past the BBC had carried most of the burden, but the organisation should be Empire-wide, with the BBC as a partner in the scheme in which they should all serve. He believed there was an urgent need for such a service. _ Mr Doidge said the New Zealand Broadcasting Service would seek to broaden its association with all those sections of the community, it served-;; in education, in religious service, in music, drama and entertainment, in the wide sphere of sport, and in the hundred and one different directions in which it now operated it must stand on good principles and must, create and seek to interpret those principles in fresh creative ways every day.