THE BROADCASTING BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 301, 19 December 1931, Page 9

THE BROADCASTING BOARD.

Appointments are Announced by the Postmaster-General. ONE CANTERBURY REPRESENTATIVE. (Special to the “ Star.”) WELLINGTON, December 19. THE HON A. HAMILTON, Postmaster-General, announced last evening the appointment of the following to comprise the Radio Broadcasting Board:— Me H. D. Vickery, public accountant, Wellington, to be chairman. Mr G. R. Hutchinson, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board. Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane, of Culverden, Canterbury.

Members of the board have already conferred informally and some important phases of their work are in hand. The first big step is the settlement of the terms for the acquisition of the company’s assets in order to hand them to the board on January 1. This responsibility develops wholly on the Government. Negotiations have been in hand some time and there is a conference to-day between the Broadcasting Company’s directors and the Postmaster-General on this subject. The “ Star’s ” correspondent has definitely ascertained that the Radio Board has taken advantage of the services of the company’s operating staffs in the four centres and will thus secure continuity in the programmes after January 1, despite the serious time limitation imposed on the board in its arrangements for carrying on the service. It may be anticipated that no radical changes in the programmes, or policy, can be expected until the board, which is primarily an administration of business men, has had ample opportunities of conferring. “INFERNAL MESS.” Listeners Voice Criticisms of New System. IN HANDS OF EMPLOYEES. Disappointment exists among people interested in radio that the personnel of the Radio Broadcasting Board does not include men expert in the management of broadcasting. It is contended that this lack of knowledge will handicap the board seriously, and that the organisation will be endangered till they can gain some knowledge. “ It appears to be an infernal mess,” said Mr J. I. Smail. “ The board will be dependent entirely on its employees and will be in their hands.” It is felt among many people who take an interest in the administration of radio that the appointment of the board is a mistake. Broadcasting was going on smoothly under the company, and was virtually controlled by the Government, which issued the licenses. The constitution of the new system allows for a board of three, appointed by the Government, with an advisory council of eight, selected from nominees of listeners’ organisations. The chairman of the board is appointetd for five years, is a full-time worker, and is paid £650 a year. The other two members are appointed for three years and are paid £350 a year. “ Purely Political”

The appointments appeared to a number of listeners to be purely political and to have no regard to the technical ability required to run a system of broadcasting. The short time between the announcement of the board and the date for it to take over was also subjected to strong criticism, the main complaint being that an entire reorganisation of the staff would be necessary, an impossibility in the short space of a few days. It was agreed that there would be little difficulty if the present staff were taken over as it stood, thus avoiding a hiatus.

“ It wili take months to organise,” said one critic. “ The board will have to decide on a policy, and will certainly have to give a good deal of time to travelling round the four main stations to learn their workings.” The question of B stations, one listener said, was one of the weightiest and most urgent to be decided. Relay stations would also have to be consid-

ered. Another point was a possible reorganisation of the wave-lengths of the YA stations in order to yet more satisfactory reception all over the country. At present Wellington was almost inaudible in certain parts of New Zealand at some times of the year. “ Not Representative.” The advisory committee of eight was described by another listener as a piece of futility. The nominations, it was said, would come from small bodies of listeners, not at all representative of the general feeling among listeners. A plebiscite of listeners could easily be , taken, and nominations could as easily have been made by listeners. “ As it is,” he said, “ we are getting foisted on to use an advisory council, of the members of which we have heard nothing. We all fear that we may get cranks of one sort or another who will ’ lower the high standard of entertainment reached by the company.”

Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane, of Culverden, who has been appointed a member of the Radio Broadcasting Board. As far as present arrangements have gone, the broadcasting system in New Zealand will consist on January 1 of a board of three men, and some apparatus, but the Government has agreed in the meantime to arrange for a continuity of programmes. The Canterbury Representative.

Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane, the sole South Island representative on the board, is well known as a breeder of prize Friesian cattle at his farm, “ El Beit,” Culverden. His half-bred and Merino sheep have also won many prizes at agricultural shows in the province. A very popular member of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, he was elected president in 1930 and again in 1931, his term of office being extended. He is also president of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand, and officiated at the recent Royal Show held in the Addington Showgrounds, Christchurch. In 1928 Mr Macfarlane was an aspirant for political honours, contesting the Hurunui seat against the Right Hon G. W. Forbes in the Reform interest. He polled 3505 votes against Mr Forbes’s 5344. Mr Macfarlane was educated at Otago Boys’ High School and Lincoln College, and was for a short time in a mercantile office before going on his father’s property, “ Kaiwarra,” at Culverden. Later he took over part of the estate, which he has farmed ever since. He had three years’ active service in the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, rising to the temporary rank of major. He is a director of several private companies and takes a keen interest in racing, having several horses under commission. Under the title of “ Farming Facts and Fancies,” a series of articles on the practical side of farming which he contributed to the newspapers, was recently published in book form.