EMPIRE BROADCASTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 752, 4 May 1933, Page 1

EMPIRE BROADCASTS.

Grappling With Technical Difficulties. LONDON, April 21. The bad reception of Empire programmes in Australia is disturbing the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is grappling with technical difficulties in the hope that perfect transmission will enable the programmes to be improved. The difficulties are manifold, the worst being the inability to synchronise English and Australian reception times. Most of the big figures are broadcasting in England in the evening, when Australians are sleeping.

The 8.8. C. has been advised that reception in Australia is best in the early afternoon, and therefore they intend in June to transmit a morning session between 4.30 and 6.30 a.m. (1.30 to 3.30 p.m., Sydney time), when it will be difficult to induce Bernard Shaws, Snowdens and Lloyd Georges to visit the microphone. Such speakers had been secured, but it was a bad policy to spend large sums when reception in Australia was doubtful. A broadcasting official explained that Australia possesses better local broadcasts than any other Dominion, and consequently has fewer short-wave sets, which probably explained why they had received only ten letters discussing the programmes, against hundreds from other parts of the Empire. The corporation admitted that the programmes at present were not inspiring, and when the whole country complained of dullness they would know that reception was satisfactory. Meanwhile, they were doing more, technically and experimentally, with Australia than in any other zone.