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During the period the Service made full use of the best musical and other talent available in the Dominion, and in addition many notable artists from overseas were engaged. The library of recordings has been extensively enlarged, and through this medium items by the most famous international artists and combinations are available for the benefit of listeners. Throughout the period 146 concerts by musical societies, choirs, &c., were broadcast, and 2,266 different local artists gave performances. Of the artists and combinations broadcast from the National Stations, the following are worthy of mention: The Budapest String Quartet, the Comedy Harmonists, Essie Aokland, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Anderson Tyrer, Victoria Anderson and Viola Morris, Barbara Lane, Cuthbert Matthews, and Sydney MacEwan. Talks. Wherever possible, notable visitors to the Dominion have been induced to broadcast talks, generally 011 subjects on which they are authorities. In this way listeners have been afforded the opportunity of hearing authoritative views on many important subjects. In addition, local speakers have been encouraged and a number of interesting debates arranged. Included in the list of speakers heard from the national studios were Dowager Lady Swathling, Dr. Susan Isaacs, Miss Fay Compton, Miss Kathleen Courtney, Dr. Koo, Dr. Paul Dengler, Professor Brunner, Professor Kandel, Dr. Hugh Dalton, Mr. Laurin Zilliacus, Rev. John Elynn, and Mr. Adrian Quist. The educational broadcasts to schools have become increasingly popular, and at the 31st March, 1938, there were 751 schools with 47,156 pupils participating in these broadcasts. The educational broadcast booklets which are issued to pupils and teachers by the National Broadcasting Service are necessary adjuncts to these sessions, and 151,036 were issued free during the period. An innovation in educational broadcasting this year was the introduction of a weekly half-hour broadcast to children of the Education Department's Correspondence School. Plays. Plays continue to be popular with the listening public, and during the year nearly three hundred were presented. Worthy of mention were performances of " The Green Goddess," " Libel," " Laburnum Grove," " Pompey the Great," " The Rivals," and " The Time Factor." In order to encourage local writers, a play competition providing prizes totalling £100 was launched during the year. Overseas Rebroadcasts. Many important speeches and commentaries on events occurring overseas were made available to New Zealand listeners in the form of rebroadcasts and relays. Included in the long list of these broadcasts were the Coronation ceremony from Westminster Abbey, His Majesty the King's Christmas message to the Empire, the opening of the Naval Base at Singapore, commentaries on the cricket test matches New Zealand v. England, the matches for the Davis Cup, the King's Prize at Bisley, the boxing matches Braddock v. Louis and Farr v. Louis, events at the Empire Games, Sydney, and Rugby matches played by the South African team in Australia. Speakers heard during rebroadcasts of overseas stations included Lady Astor, Sir Hugh Walpole, Sir Josiah Stamp, Miss Jean Batten, Mr. Arthur Henderson, Mr. Bernard Shaw, and Mr. Lan Hay. News. During the period under review a short daily Government news service was inaugurated, the four main national stations being linked up for the purpose during the news session. This service ensures that listeners receive first-hand information of Government and departmental activities. Special Recorded Programmes. Considerable progress has been made in the recording work undertaken in the Wellington studios, arid a large number of plays and serials were produced during the year for use at the various national stations. Programme Analysis. A dissection of the matter broadcast during the 31,278 transmitting-hours shows that music took up 71-9 per cent, of the broadcasting-time. The following analysis sets out the position in detail:—

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Percentage of "®m. Programme Time. Music — Serious .. .. .. •• •• •• •• •• •• 20-51 Light .. .. .. • • •• 46 " 69 A A 7 Modern dance .. .. .. •• •• •• •• •• '' l: ' Old-time dance .. .. .. • • • • • • • • • • 0-23 Plays and sketches.. .. .. •• •• •• •• 5-78 Sporting commentaries .. .. .. •• • • ■■ •• 2-23 Talks: General; educative (including school broadcasts) .. .. .. 3-77 News, weather and market reports, announcements, &c. .. .. .. 6-63 Church and devotional services .. .. .. • • • • • • 3-25 Children's session .. .. .. ■■ •• •• •• Miscellaneous . . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1' 82 100-00