B RADIO STATIONS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19337, 29 May 1937, Page 6

B RADIO STATIONS

GISBORNE POSITION NOTHING DECIDED VET LISTENERS SUPPORT 2ZM "Gisborno listeners are prepared to pay £250 ii year to keep L'ZM on the air and with proper service as the license ot! the station now allows they will, I am sure, double that amount,'' said the proprietor of that: unsubsidised B radio station in Gisborne, Mr. 'P, R. Stevens, in conversation to-day with a reporter. His present license allowed him to operate on Sundays from noon to 1 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to .11 p.m., Mondays from 8 p.m. to J0..'11l p.m., Thursdays from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturdays front S p.m. to 10.30 p.m., .he usual short morning broadcasts, and three "floating" hours weekly for the broadcast or rcbroadcast of anything of interest. "So far the station has not been sold, and we have no intention of selling until we see that the listeners do not want us on the air and learn the result of the determined fight for listeners being waged by the officials of the New Zealand Association of Radio Listeners and the United Listeners' Club in Auckland," added Mr. Stevens. "Six subsidised stations have sold out to the Government, but it is not yet known which have been dropped and it is only fair te the listeners that this should be known."

Inquiries were made also front the subsidised station 2ZJ, and the proprietor, Mr. C. T. C. Hands, made a statement that no sale to the Government had been completed yet. Ho added that in any case the station was not closing down. Auckland Attitude Alarm and apprehension as to the future of B radio stations had been followed by a decision in Auckland to hold a public meeting of protest in the Town Hall on June 10. The decision was made at a recent meeting at the office of the United Listeners' Cll)b.

Listeners' are invited to listen to station IZM to-morrow between 0 p.m., and 7 p.m., when details of the proposed meeting will be broadcast, and certain prominent citizens of Auckland will express their views.

In the course of ,a broadcast from IZM last Sunday night, the representative of the United Listeners' Club declared that the Prime Minister, the lit. Hon. M. J. Savage, had said during his election campaign that he would not let anybody down. "We contend that the J) stations have not only been let down, but that they are being completely annihilated," said the speaker. "The listeners will not let the B stations down. For many years the popular little stations have struggled to give listeners good programmes in the hope that a Government would be elected that would treat them fairly by granting adequate protection and financial assistance."

The failure of the present administration to carry out its promise to the ■B stations was a bitter disappointment to all sections of the community. Listeners would not stand by and see these popular stations go out without making a strong protest. The Hon. F. .Tones, acting-Minister of Broadcasting, would not promise a subsidy in the event of the B stations refusing to sell. That action by the Government was tantamount to asking the B stations to commit suicide, because they would probably be starved out fcnyway, it was stated. The policy of the Government, was as expressed by Mr. A. F. Moncur, M.P., for Itbtorua, that he saw no reason for the continued existence of the B stations.