ON THE BROADCAST BAND

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19803, 19 May 1934, Page 14

ON THE BROADCAST BAND

CHURCH RELAYS. Morning—2YA, Trinity Methodist; 3YA, Colombo St. Baptist; 4YA, First Church (Presbyterian). Evening—lYA, Baptist Tabernacle; 2YA, St. Andrews’ Presbyterian; 3YA, St. Mary’s Anglican; 4YA, Salvation Army. All the YA stations now broadcast descriptions of wrestling contests In the cities. Many listeners are expressing dissatisfaction with YA Sunday night programmes, and it has to be admitted that these are not unduly attractive. Last Sunday for instance, 2YA devoted its after-church session to a repetition of “Tristan and Isolde,” heavy Wagnerian stuff. 3YA (relayed by 4YA) occupied over half of its available time to symphonies, the gaps being filled by Christchurch amateurs. 3YL is so badly heterodyned that it is useless as an alternative station now, and the Board’s other auxiliaries were outclassed by IZB and the Napier station. Wagner is all right, but his place is the classical hour. Sunday night calls for something more restful. There are hundreds of recorded choral numbers and gems from oratorio that could be given, and the meditation music, slumber music, tranquillity music and other features could be copied from Australia.

3UZ Melbourne broadcasts boxing from Fitzroy Stadium each Friday | night. Boxers in main events at the Sydney Stadium will not agree to descriptions j being broadcast, as they consider this I affects their percentages, but sum- j maries of the fights are given from either 2BL or 2FC at about mid-night j each Monday. Vardoe (Norway) has a local station, j but the authorities have been petitioned to cancel its license. They state that its programmes are all recorded items, and that it prevents them from getting English and Swedish programmes. “Thirty minutes of music, mirth, and melody” fill up part pi the extra hour at the end of YA programmes. In many people’s minds music and melody are intertwined. But not so, as witness some of the dance numbers broadcast. So far from having any melody, some seem to be a deliberate collection of discords vocalised through a nasal organ. Yet there are people who cry out for more, and programme . organisers can hardly be blamed for J catering for the demand. The “We Await your Verdict" series j which thfe Broadcasting Board appears to value so highly that it arranges a national relay when they go on the air, are not nearly so well done in Wellington as they were in Australia, whence they have been heard several times. No attempt is made here to synthetise a court atmosphere, but the chief ground for criticism is found in j the unconvincing reading of some of | the people in the “cast." It is not easy to understand the fuss | made concerning the S.O.S. call In I the McEachern record. Any wireless operator should have known that no S.O.S. wpuld come on that part of the j broadcast band, and the commenda- ; tion handed out to some operators is ! scarcely merited. “Effects” are a j recognised part of radio technique [ nowadays, and they should not deceive j any really intelligent listener. Good atmospheric conditions last j Saturday night enabled the YA sta- j tions to carry out a successful rebroadcast of a message to New Zealand from the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Lyons, who spoke from Canberra, the Commonwealth capital. The speech was landlined to the Sydney shortwave station, whose trans- | mission was relayed from Wellington, j IZB Auckland has been refused an j extension of broadcasting hours. At j present it is licensed to transmit on j certain evenings, but it desired to j operate every night and to carry out j sports broadcasts during the day. It I is understood that the reply to IZB j embodies the Department's policy in j regard to extension of B station hours. ]