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In addition to the business sessions of both the main committee and the technical sub-committee, there were a great many other sessions dealing with production techniques, educational broadcasting, agricultural broadcasting, controversial broadcasting, religious broadcasting, listener research, and other matters. These sessions were among the most valuable. This was the first occasion on which the executive heads and leading technicians of the national broadcasting organizations of the Commonwealth had met, and the Conference wished to make it clear that it in no way overrode the functions or authority of the national broadcasting organizations represented. It was the unanimous view of the Conference that the meetings had been of such outstanding importance and value to the future of broadcasting that the Conference should reassemble periodically. The next meeting will be held possibly in 1947, at a place to be arranged. Financial Report.—The Revenue Account for the year ended the 31st March and the Balance-sheet as at that date for the national stations appear in parliamentary paper 8.-l [Pt. IV]. Revenue for the year included license fees, £435,813 ; receipts from sales of and advertising in New Zealand Listener, £39,625 ; and interest, £21,695. A further £170,000 was invested during the year to provide for future development and to overtake arrears of construction and equipment which have been held up owing to war conditions, making a total of £1,570,000 now invested for this purpose. Commercial Activities General.—ln the year under review the Commercial stations have continued the accepted policy of broadcasting advertising matter interspersed in diversified programmes consisting mainly of light entertainment, news, information, and war publicity. In preceding sections of this report the activities of Commercial stations in such matters as news broadcasts, feature production, special services, war publicity, &c., have, in order to avoid repetition, been covered along with the activities of stations of the National Division in the same fields. The following comments are added on matters solely affecting the Commercial stations :— Advertising.—Once again the revenue from broadcast advertising shows an increase and maintains the upward trend which has been experienced since the inception of Commercial broadcasting. Many advertisers who have been using this avenue of advertising for a number of years continue to sponsor programmes which have a large following among listeners, while many new advertisers are using radio for the first time during war years. The Commercial Division has assisted in all the publicity campaigns associated with the war effort, and a number of advertising contracts have been declined so that the necessary time could be made available. Despite this, the revenue figures have continued to increase. The thanks of the Service are due to the advertisers, who have given their whole-hearted cooperation in facilitating the broadcasting of war publicity. For this purpose they have gladly cancelled their programmes or made time available when the occasion has demanded such action. Programmes.—The programmes during the year were varied and interesting as well as entertaining, and due care has been taken to achieve a reasonable balance between advertising and entertainment. In addition to the most favourable use of local talent and personalities and of the best type of recorded feature usually associated with. Commercial broadcast programmes, the Commercial stations also broadcast many programmes from the 8.8.C. and the United States Office of War Information. Every endeavour is being made to ensure that programmes accepted for broadcasting from the Commercial stations are of the most suitable type available. Due regard has been paid to the need for ensuring that features which, while generally accepted radio fare for adult audiences, might reasonably be regarded as unsuitable for hearing by young children are not broadcast until late in the evening. In pursuance of its desire to keep up the standard of features to be associated with advertising programmes, all features are now approved and purchased by the Service before being offered to advertisers for sponsoring. Recordings and Development of New Zealand Talent. —Many programmes written by New-Zealanders have been produced in the studios of the Commercial Division. Some of the current features are wholly the work of New-Zealanders, who have written the scripts and handled the acting and producing. Shortage of equipment prevents this section from expanding, but it is hoped that such expansion will be possible after the war. Financial Report.—Time sales for the year reached a new peak, sales amounting to over £271,000, representing an increase of more than £16,000 over the previous year's operations. In addition, local and national community organizations of the non-profitmaking type received free courtesy advertisements to the value of £7,000, while the National Patriotic appeals and various Government Departments, particularly those connected with the furtherance of the war effort, received substantial reductions in rates of an aggregate benefit of £9,600. Engineering Section During the year the programmes of the National Broadcasting Service were radiated by twentythree stations located throughout the Dominion from Auckland to Invercargill. This number included five stations of the Commercial Division, two small stations operated under contract, and two private stations which were subsidized. All these stations with the exception of the latter four were staffed and maintained by the Engineering Branch of this Service.

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