B RADIO STATIONS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19365, 1 July 1937, Page 15

B RADIO STATIONS

APPEAL TO LISTENERS FOUR STANDING APART V ■ • CALL FOR FUNDS FOR 2ZM i “There are only four indeDendent B radio stations in New Zealand,” said the proprietor of station 2ZM, Gisborne, Mr. P. R. Stevens, this morning commenting on the B radio station question, “and it is up to the listeners to keep them on the air if the people waiit the B stations, as they are now known, to live.” 'He stated that there was only one independent station left in Gisborne, and if 2ZM was sold thb independence would be gone and any other B station in this district would be under Government supervision. An announcement had been made that nine stations had been purchased by the Government, but the listening public had not been told the names of those stations. Subscriptions for 2ZM Club The B class radio station owners had until Saturday to make "their decision regarding the sale of their plant to the Government, and 2ZM, a station which' had been popular with Gisborne, Poverty Bay, and listeners from outside districts was one of the stations affected by the decision. If the listeners wished to retain the independent control of the station local finances would be required. The subscription to the 2ZM Radio Club was only 5s annually and an appeal was being made for increased membership to enable the station to avoid having to be sold and to be able to carry on with the work it had successfully pioneered. Listeners wishing to assist the station in this effort should communicate with the proprietor without delay. Auckland Activity A campaign for funds to enable listeners to retain the services of four of the B radio stations in the North Island or an interest in them has been started in Auckland, and two trustees have been appointed to receive subscriptions. Permission to broadcast an appeal has been declined by the Government, and therefore it is being conducted through the press, listeners being invited to allocate their contributions to one or more of the four stations. The stations concerned, which have been given until Saturday to accept the Government’s offers to purchase them, are:— IZM, Manurewa; IZJ, Auckland; 2ZO, Palmerston North; and 2ZM, Gisborne. The trustees appointed are Mr. E. C. Cutten, a retired stipendiary magistrate, and Mr. A. A. Ross, chairman of directors of the Farmers’ Trading Company, Limited. “Urgent Action Necessary” “Urgent action on the part of listeners is necessary, as the time is short,” said Mr. A. C. A. Sexton, M.P., for Franklin,, the district in which IZM is situated, when explaining the position.- “During the past two or three weeks evei'y elTort has been / made to try to save the B stations,” he added. “The Government, however, has refused to state what subsidies it will be granting to enable the stations to be carried on, and, indeed, hqs refused even to say whether subsidies will be paid in respect of any specific station.” Mr. Sexton added that he had telegraphed to the acting-Minister of Broadcasting, the Hon. F. Jones, on Saturday, asking whether Mr. Rodgers was permitted to make an appeal over the air for funds to enable listeners to buy IZM or an interest in the station. The reply was as follows: “It is regretted that the broadcasting of an appeal of such character cannot be agreed to.”