THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1949. THE BROADCASTING SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27276, 30 December 1949, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1949. THE BROADCASTING SERVICE

The preliminary comments of -the Minister of Broadcasting, Mr Doidge, upon the important Service which has come under his direction are to be welcomed. To say that all is not well with broadcasting in New Zealand is to emphasise what is obvious, and such comment must be also, to a large degree, unfair: for there will never be agreement among half a million licence-holders, and more than twice that number of listeners, upon what constitutes “ good ” programmes. The NBS must be perpetually under critical fire. It must be adaptable enough to alter its ways as public desires make themselves felt; it must be sufficiently courageous to resist public dissatisfaction when the sights of the critics are set too low. Two thousand years ago Plato deplored the bad standards that can inform art when “ audiences, have found their tongues, as though they were expert judges of good and bad in music and poetry; and instead of an aristocracy, an evil sort of theatrocracy has grown up.” His words, apply as pertinently to broadcasting today as they may have to the popular entertainments of his day. If we except, albiet reluctantly, the gaudy activities of the commercial division from consideration, leaving them to the “ theatrocracy ” of listeners, the NBS still invites examination.

The Minister has put his finger upon one of the conspicuous defects of the system when he mentions the complaint that at times all stations are giving forth with one type of programme. If he has found leisure in the holiday season to apply a discerning ear to the radio he will not need to be told tvhat is the most exasperating and repetitive of all broadcast features. The dreary monotony of “ race results,” which are recited literally morning, noon and night from both national and commercial stations, is a sore trial to listeners. It is obvious that an enterprise which in a few days attracts more than a million pounds of the people’s money through legitimate channels alone is of public interest. But there can be no justification for giving racing virtually a priority over all other broadcast material, and there is no excuse for the constant intrusion of these announcements into all types of programme at all hours. An arrangement by which ’the results are given at fixed times, for example, on the hour, is surely practicable. As the commercial stations increase their power, it might be preferable to confine racing reports to that channel, leaving the national stations free to concentrate upon a less limited range of entertainment. No newspaper is unaware of the importance which racing holds in the public esteem, but in the columns of the press it is at least kept in its place, not scattered with the general news. . ' ... Speaking in broad terms, broadcasting in New Zealand falls into the error of trying to please all the people most of the time. Zoning of programmes, so that within range of the average, receiver there is always, a choice of programmes, would be an undoubted improvement. It has unfortunately become a part of broadcasting policy, presumably due to parochial and political pressures, to increase the number of outlets until every hamlet is claiming the right to its own station. This is ,an excessively wasteful development, and it can lead only to deterioration rather than improvement of broadcasting standards. Mr. Doidge might well consider restraining such costly multiplication of stations, and extending the efficient reception range of the main stations, at the same time increasing the broadcasting time of the alternative’stations, such as 4YC. Members of the new Government, when in Opposition, frequently advocated a reduction in the licence fee. This is a matter that should now be kept in .view. There is no reason why the commercial stations should not contribute to the overall cost of the NBS, and it is not money that is the evident lack in the service at the present time.