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No effort was spared to aflord listeners the best entertainment obtainable. At each of the four main cities the Board's stations are transmitting for seventeen hours every week-day, and the provision of suitable programme-matter necessitates the careful exploration of all available sources of supply. Ten new recorded British programmes obtained from the British Broadcasting Corporation were broadcast and met with widespread appreciation. The Board's repertoire of recorded grand operas was added to, and twenty-eight different operas were broadcast during the year. After lengthy negotiations with the owners of the copyright, the Board was able to make Gilbert and Sullivan's works available to listeners, and the popularity of this music is undoubted. During the year 1,419 different local artists were heard from the Board's stations and forty-five performances by different musical societies and choirs were broadcast. The Board's policy of securing the services of artists and companies touring the Dominion enabled listeners to hear, amongst others, Mr. Anderson Tyrer, Miss Nora Delmarr, Mr. Gordon Bryan, the Raratongan Mixed Choir, J. C. Williamson's New Opera Company. Not only did the Board secure the services of many artists and companies visiting the Dominion, but it also acted as entrepreneur in arranging tours of the national stations by a number of eminent artists, including Mr. L. Godfrey Smith, Senia Chostiakoff, Mr. Barend Harris, Mr. Alexander Browne, Mr. Raymond Beatty, Madame Elsa Stralia, Madame Goossens-Viceroy. Talks (Educative). With the ready co-operation of the Education Department, marked progress was made in the matter of educational talks for schools. The Board printed and distributed free to scholars 21,000 booklets explanatory of the subject-matter of these talks. The increase of interest in school broadeasts can be illustrated by the following example. At the beginning of 1934 ninety-eight schools and 5,083 scholars were recorded as listening to IYA Auckland. At the end of the year there were 162 schools and 8,410 children, or an increase during the year of 65 per cent. As an experiment the Board arranged for the delivery, by expert teachers, of ten talks designed to assist candidates for the Matriculation Examination. So successful were these broadcasts that it is intended to go further in the matter this year. Under the auspices of the Workers' Educational Association numerous talks were delivered on a wide variety of subjects. Talks (General). Listeners heard, either direct from the Board's stations or by rebroadcasts from overseas, talks by many notable and interesting persons. The speakers included His Majesty the King, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, Mr. Bernard Shaw, Sir lan Eraser, M.P., C.8.E., Dr. Sydney Nicholson, Mr. Malcolm Mac Donald, Sir Eabian Ware, The Hon. F. S. Malan, P.C., Sir Hubert Wilkins, Mr. Crombie Allen, Captain Taprell Dorling, D.S.O. (" Taffrail ). Of special interest to the sporting section of the community were talks by Mr. Don Bradman, Mr. M. A. Noble, Mr. Gene Sarazen, Mr. F. J. Perry, Dr. A. J. Harrop, Mr. J. R. Metcalfe, Mr. T. E. Hampson, Mr. E. Barwick. Plays and Sketches. During the year three hundred and thirty-seven plays and sketches were presented from the four main stations. Worthy of special mention were —" The School for Scandal, ' " Everyman, Joan of Arc." Amongst the recorded plays heard were—" Sir Christopher Wren," " Flags on the Matterhorn," and " Chopin." Overseas Rebroadcasts. Reception from the Empire Short-wave Station is still uncertain, and it has not been found possible to undertake frequent rebroadcasts. A number of notable speeches and events broadcast from the Empire station were, however, made available to listeners. Included in this category were —A description of the wedding of H.R.H. the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina ; the Armistice Day service from the London Cenotaph ; the commemoration Service from St. Clement Dane s Church ; the launching of the Cunard liner " Queen Mary " ; a description of the opening of the EnglandAustralia air-mail service (from Croydon) ; an appeal by Lord Mo,ynihan on behalf of the British Empire Cancer Society. Other interesting overseas rebroadcasts were —Descriptions of the arrival at Melbourne of several competitors in the Centenary Air Race, and speeches by them ; running commentaries of matches played by the New Zealand representative Rugby team in Australia ; a description of the race for the Melbourne Cup. Outside Broadcasts and Sporting Broadcasts. Numerous outside broadcasts were arranged during the year. Amongst these may be mentioned : Description of the arrival in New Zealand of H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester and speeches at a number of the civic receptions tendered to His Royal Highness ; the opening of the Waitaki hydroelectric works ; the laying of the foundation stone of the National Art Gallery and the Dominion Museum. Broadcasts of sporting events were numerous and varied ; ninety-one Rugby football matches were dealt with ; racing broadcasts were given on 102 days during the year ; sixty-two wrestling matches were described ; descriptions of twenty-four yacht races were broadcast; boxing was dealt with on twelve occasions ; athletic meetings on nine ; and swimming on nine occasions.

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