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Children's Services Entertainment for children was provided in the late afternoon programmes. The aim is to make these sessions informative and educational as well as entertaining. Travel, genera] knowledge, and musical items were features of the programmes. Attractive programmes received from the British Broadcasting Corporation included " Matilda Mouse," a series of children's stories read by Wilfred Pickles, the leading figure of the " Have a Go " programmes. On Sunday evenings special children's song services were broadcast in collaboration with the clergy of the various churches. The Service again wishes to thank those people who throughout the year have given voluntary assistance to programme organizers in the presentation of children's sessions. Recorded Programmes A steady flow of material was received from the London Transcription Service of the 8.8.C. and heard by New Zealand listeners during the year. These programmes are of wide range and excellent over-all quality and are distributed to the stations of the Service as soon as possible after they are received. The types of programmes received cover classical and light music, variety, talks, documentaries, plays, children's programmes, and serials, and they feature some of the world's most famous authors, playwrights, and performers. The Commercial stations also used a number of these 8.8.C. features as sustaining programmes. There was a decline in the number of feature programmes offered to the Service from overseas producers. The majority of these features are purchased from Australian sources. There was a noticeable decline in the number of sensational features offered and an increase in the light musical programmes. In all, fifty-six features under the following headings were purchased . .. Serious music . . .. 4 features comprising 70 episodes. Light music .... .. 14 „ 416 „ Variety .. .. .. 1 „ 26 Dramatic musical .. .. 2 ~ 65 „ Self-contained programmes .. 6 ~ 182 „ Dramatic serials .. .. 11 ~ 988 ~ Book adaptations .. .. 12 ~ 585 „ Children's plays .. .. 6 „ 54 „ 56 features 2,386 episodes. A Selection Committee exercises considerable care in the auditioning of features to ensure that of the large number submitted only those suitable for our purposes are accepted. SHORT-WAVE DIVISION The 27th September, 1949, marked the end of the first year of transmission of Radio New Zealand. Intended primarily for listeners in the Pacific islands and Australia, the transmissions have reached much further afield and reports on reception have been received from a great many countries. The division of programme time allowed for approximately one-quarter of the transmitting-time to be given to talks, news, and documentary features. These were given under four main headings : " Background to New Zealand," dealing with a wide field of background information ; " Through New Zealand," a commentary on the coastsline, outlying islands, and country people ; " Farm Topics," dealing with items of an agricultural and pastoral nature ; and " Sporting Commentary." . ,

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