F.—a

1944 NEW ZEALAND

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING SERVICE FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDED 31st MARCH, 1944

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly 'pursuant, to the Provisions of the Broadcasting Act, 1936

REPORT

I have the honour to submit the annual report on the operations of the National BroadcastingService for the year ended 31st March, 1944, in accordance with the provisions of section 18 (1) of the Broadcasting Act, 1936. The Statutes Amendment Act dated the 26th August, 1943, repealed section 2 of the' Broadcasting Amendment Act, 1937. The effect of this amendment was to abolish the National Commercial Broadcasting Service as a separate organization and to transfer to the National Broadcasting Service under the Director of Broadcasting control of commercial as well as other national stations. The unified control of the two types of broadcasting service is working smoothly, and a better co-ordinated and more economically administered service should result. There were regular and frequent broadcasts of war news and commentaries, and in all national campaigns for the furthering of the war effort the Service played a prominent and effective part by the broadcasting of special talks, feature programmes, and announcements. As a result of these activities the time available for normal programmes of music and entertainment was curtailed and it was not always possible to provide for listeners the choice of alternative programmes that would ordinarily be available. There was, however, still a substantial amount of normal broadcast fare available each day, and the standard of this was maintained by the use of local performers and the best recorded material from overseas. The programme policies of the two types of stations, commercial and non-commercial, are being continued, but the pooling of resources made possible by the amalgamation under one control should result in an improved standard of programme. The allocation of time to various types of programmes and services has not been substantially altered, except for an increase of time for broadcasts connected with the war and a reduction in sporting broadcasts consequent on the restricted sporting events. At the request of the electricpower authorities the Service has limited the hours of broadcasting in order to help in the conservation of power. From June onwards all stations ceased transmission from 5.15 p.m. to 5.45 p.m. each week day, and listeners were requested to switch off their receiving-sets to save power. While the power thus saved by stations is not great, that saved by the resultant switching-off of radio sets is very considerable. The actual power used by all the stations in New Zealand is only onefortieth of the total power used by receiving-sets in the Dominion. National Stations Programmes: Broadcasting and the War. —Extensive use was made of broadcasting in furthering the war effort. This embraced talks by Government and other prominent speakers, special war-effort programmes, and intensive publicity campaigns in connection with such matters as war loans, national savings, Patriotic Fund appeals, dig for victory, salvaging of waste materials, rationing, and food-production. Broadcasts from certain foreign stations were monitored, and the information received, including particulars of New Zealand prisoners of war, was communicated to the appropriate authorities. Regular broadcasts of news and commentaries kept the public in touch with the progress of the war, while an increased number of broadcasts of personal messages and talks from NewZealanders overseas provided a constant link with our Forces abroad. The normal broadcasting programmes of music, entertainment, and information contributed to the maintenance of pub lie morale.