F — 3

Hours op Transmission. The total transmission time of stations operated by the National Broadcasting Service was 52,818 hours. Of this time, 36 hours were lost owing to technical faults and power-failures. The great increase of transmission hours is shown by the fact that in the calendar year 1932 the transmission time of national stations was just over 13,000 hours. Programmes. The National Broadcasting Service, at the 31st March, 1941, was supplying programmes from the sixteen stations indicated hereunder :—

In addition to the above stations there were two stations privately owned which are subsidized by the Government. Broadcasting and the War. During the year the war continued to provide the National Broadcasting Service with new problems not hitherto encountered in the conduct of broadcasting in New Zealand, and many fresh opportunities to serve the nation in its war effort. The dominant aim has been to keep the people informed reliably and promptly as to the progress of the war by frequent broadcasts of news bulletins and expert commentaries ; to further the national war effort by means of talks by representative citizens, by appeals and announcements, and by broadcasts of special programmes and events. At the same time, there has still been available normal broadcast fare of a cultural, entertaining, or informative nature. It has been recognized that, although broadcasting is a powerful medium for the furtherance of the war effort, there should be maintained in the programmes a due proportion of entertainment and diversion, otherwise the listening habit might diminish with a consequent loss in the effectiveness of broadcasting as a stimulating and unifying medium in the national interest. News and Commentaries. Through the continued courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Messrs. Reuters Limited, the news bulletins broadcast from London have been available to the Service, and the national stations have rebroadcast these bulletins seven times a day. These rebroadcasts, together with commentaries on the news and talks on all aspects of the war, have occupied from two and a half to three hours daily of the time of the main national stations. To meet the special needs of country listeners and of those in remote districts, a news summary under the title " The N.B.S. Newsreel " is broadcast each evening at 9 o'clock, containing all the important news available up to the time of broadcasting, and compiled from sources such as the broadcasts of news from London, New Zealand Press Association messages, and the news service of the Director of Publicity and the Prime Minister's Department. The main stations still broadcast each evening at seven o'clock local news made available by courtesy of the daily newspapers, as well as sports results and market reports. Talks. Owing to heavy demands on available broadcasting time there were fewer general talks of New Zealand origin than in a normal year, but overseas rebroadcasts have provided an unprecedented number of talks by distinguished speakers of international importance, mostly connected with the war. There were three broadcasts by His Majesty the King, the first being an Empire Day broadcast given while the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France and Belgium was in progress. The second broadcast by His Majesty was in September, when the institution of the George Cross and George Medal was announced, and the third broadcast was a Christmas message. Her Majesty the Queen was heard on two occasions—the first a broadcast on the eighty-fifth anniversary of the founding of

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Station. Aerial Energy. ! Frequency. Wave-length. Kilocycles. Metres. 1YA, Auckland .. .. .. 10-00 kW. 650 462 1YX, Auckland .. .. .. 0-15 kW. 880 341 1ZM, Auckland .. .. .. 0-75 kW. 1,250 240 2YA, Wellington .. .. .. 60-00 kW. 570 526 *2YB, New Plymouth .. .. .. 0-03 kW. 810 370 2YC, Wellington .. .. .. 5-00 kW. 840 357 2YD, Wellington .. .. .. 0-20 kW. 990 303 2YH, Napier .. .. .. .. 5-00 kW. 750 400 2YN, Nelson .. .. .. .. 0-03 kW. 920 327 *2ZJ, G-isborne .. .. .. .. 0-10 kW. 980 306 3YA, Christchurch .. .. .. 10-00 kW. 720 416 3YL, Christchurch .. .. .. 0-30 kW. 1,200 250 3 ZR Grey mouth .. .. .. 0-10kW. 940 319 4YA, Dunedin .. .. .. .. 10-00 kW. 790 380 4YO, Dunedin .. .. .. .. 0-15 kW. 1,140 263 4YZ, Invercargill .. .. .. 5-00 kW. 680 4-41 * Stations owned by the National Broadcasting Service, but operated under contract.