TELEVISION IN DOMINION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27541, 8 November 1950, Page 6

TELEVISION IN DOMINION

Minister Confident Of Practicability SURVEY TO BE MADE PA WELLINGTON, Nov. 7. Although it would cost • a lot of money to establish a television service in New Zealand, the cost would probably be less than was originally thought, sayl the Minister of Broadcasting, Mr Doidge, in the House of Representatives tonight. He said that as a result of discussions he had during his recent visit to London, experts would soon survey the problems involved, and he hoped a plan for developing television could be ' placed before the House and the country in due course. Mr Doidge was replying during a discussion of the broadcasting Estimates to his predecessor, Mr F. Jones (Oppn, St. Kflda), who said some departmental officers were sent overseas last year to study television developments. Mr Jones said the provision of a television service in New Zealand would be a big undertaking and he hoped the Government would make it a State undertaking on similar lines to the broadcasting service. New Zealand’s mountainous terrain would limit the coverage that could be given. He hoped the' Minister would not leave it to private enterprise to establish the service. In the United Kingdom, television was provided by a State Undertaking, and the same pattern should be followed here. Mr Doidge said his recent discussions in London had convinced him that television was practicable for New Zealand. “It is better than a possibility,” he said. “Very soon, as a result of the information he brought back, experts would be busy and he hoped definite plans would be put before the country as soon as possible with the prospects of establishing a service in the fairly near future. ; The fact that New Zealand was a small country had some advantages as well as disadvantages. He had been told that, provided the masts and the ground were available, a coverage within a 15-mile radius could be established without undue expenditure.