558 



NATURE 



[OCTOBLU 



a» 



Report of the British Broadcasting Committee. 



I-', Coiiini; 

 ( ,iiHr,i! <^ 



Listcr- 

 ■ rPKf»nt 



ret • miincir . , iii.nl'- i: 'o 



In: .i,L;usl23; IJio (lociiiinnl fniM. i'/,i, llM. 



^ Office, price <^. mi) ^\.l- i ml to ilic 



pill '11' ■ ' ' .' ^ I . 



\\\ ■ >l 111. c, I lir (( ,11,111:1 tec ii.ul tOCOn- 



sidcT ; Kdi.io.r !ii ;i!l It . ;i li.il-,: :A]i he con- 



tracts and licCll- ■ , i\ I Imv 1! , ,| iii,i\ lie j;i,iill«<i ; 



(r) tlu' ;i("ti'»'^ '^ ,, ..iM 1m- i.il.cn ii|uin liic dctcr- 



iiiination ■ ini- Imi'ii.cmI tlif I lioadcasting 



CoiMii 1 ii> lo wliK li liii Milrasliiig nia\- Ik- put ; 



;i; ; 1 lotions wliiili may need to !>'■ pLiirrl 



iij^ 1 dcveloi)iii(iit . 



ThcKepoii, wliiih is admirably drawn iii' n 



signed by all Ur- lucmhers of the Coinim m 



servations are, however, made on a few points by 

 three of them. There is every evidence that very 

 careful consideration has been given by the Com- 

 mittee to the many matters associated with the 

 present-day broadcasting problem ; and certain iin- 



¥prtant recommendations are made in its l\(]K,rt. 

 he task of the Committee has been one of peculiar 

 difficulty, owing to the existence of a licence from 

 the Post Office to the British Broadcasting Company 

 for the operation of a scheme which, while still having 

 some eighteen months to run, has in certain respects 

 broken down in practice. The Committee has wisely 

 decided to disregard to a great extent this complica- 

 tion and has dealt with the situation practically as 

 though the Government had a free hand. 



In view of the possiMlitv that all laryo communities 

 may eventually demand this niexpensne ser\ice, and 

 that Imperial and international broadcasting services 

 may eventually be established, the Committee con- 

 siders that " the control of such a potential power 

 over public opinion and the life of the nation ought 

 to remain with the State, and that the operation of 

 so important a national service ought not to be 

 allowed to become an unrestricted commercial 

 monopoly." It is further pointed out that a technical 

 reason for such control also exists : all wireless 

 telegraphy and telephony has to be conducted within 

 a limited group of " wave-lengths," and every new 

 wireless station takes up a certain " waveband," 

 which no other sending station within a certain radius 

 should be permitted to use. These " wavebands " 

 must, the Committee considers, be regarded as a 

 valuable form of public property, and the right to 

 use them for any particular purpose should be 

 authorised only after careful consideration and in 

 such a way that the public interest may at all times 

 be fully safeguarded. 



The Committee recognises that broadcasting is still 

 in its infancy and that new applications of it are 

 likely to arise from time to time in many directions. 

 It is of opinion that, if conducted on proper and sound 

 lines, broadcasting will be of great educative value, 

 both directly and indirectly, and it has been much 

 impressed with the widespread enthusiasm which 

 broadcasting has aroused. The great interest in 

 wireless telegraphy and telephony promoted by 

 broadcasting in almost every class of society cannot 

 but tend, the Committee foresees, to produce bene- 

 ficial results, stimulating as it does experiment and 

 research. " The listener," the Report says, " may 

 perhaps become an experimenter ; the experimenter 

 may possibly become an inventor." 



The Report deals briefly with the events which led 

 to the appointment of the Committee and gives an 

 outline of the present scheme, its merits and defects 



NO. 2815, VOL. I 12] 



bein m t<-<- j)la( cs on re< 



fact ' 1 lH:f(jre It " (ieiilo 



that til' r;:tL-,li liruadcabtirig Companv has- 

 eiiterjuiM md ability of a high order m < arr\ 

 their undertaking and have done 

 pioneer work in the face of many <!; 

 Report also comments upon the o. . 

 have been raised by certain manufacture : 

 to the present scheme. The Committer » a,,, • 

 following opinions tiiereon. It agrees with t: 

 that it is wroTK. in principle to attempt to < "• 

 nian importation of wirele- 



by I ■ nces issued by the 



General. .\-^ ri^ariK the nmaining ol 

 agreesthat tin- ^i hem'- .'i .'■:!;-• British l'..- 

 (■om])aii\- unusual po','. '"ommittee, however 



has liad no pre)of Uiai ipany has made aii\- 



improper \\ y ot its position. J he scheme for levynr_; 

 a contribution wu apparatus from the manufacturer^ 

 was, the Committee points out, imposed by th' 

 Government as a condition of the broadcasting' 

 licence which the manufacturers desired. 



The first of the recommendations contained in tii • 

 Report relates to a matter affecting the Controllm- 

 Authority. The Committee considers that the que- 

 tions involved in broadcasting are so complex, an ! 

 the decisions to be taken so various and require > ) 

 much technical and other consideration, that a Stand 

 ing Committee (unpaid) should be set up by Statu t- 

 to assist the Postmaster-General in the aaministratiou 

 — technical, operative and general — of broadcasting. 

 It is recommended that this Committee, for which 

 the name " broadcasting Board " is suggested, should 

 be composed of uti iuflependent chairman, preferably 

 a specially qualified member of the House of Commons, 

 nominated by the Postmaster-General, and twelve 

 members — of tliese two should be specially qualified 

 persons nominated !>% the Postmaster-General, and 

 the remainder should be drawn from certain intere.sts 

 or bodies named in the Report. In connexion with 

 this recommendation, the Committee thinks that 

 broadcasting may e\entually become " so great a 

 national responsibility as to demand the creation of 

 a small paid body of experts, to whom (always 

 subject to the Postmaster-General) its control should 

 be entrusted." 



Sir Henr\^ Norman, a member of the Committee, 

 makes an important reservation in relation to the 

 composition of the proposed Board. In his opinion 

 " a heterogeneous Board of thirteen members, giving 

 voluntary service, eleven of them not necessarily 

 with special knowledge of the subject and possibly 

 without technical knowledge at all, presided over by 

 a member of the House of Commons, who would, of 

 course, be chosen from the political party in power, 

 and whose tenure of office would be subject to political 

 exigencies, would be inefficient, would carry little 

 authority, and its proceedinsis would therefore be 

 for the most part futile." Sir Ilenry is in favour of 

 the appointment of a highly-qualified and well-paid 

 Broadcast Control Board, say, of three members ; 

 that is to say, he would prefer that immediate effect 

 should be given to that part of the Committee's 

 Report which recommends the creation at a future 

 date of a small paid body of experts for the control 

 of broadcasting. 



The arguments for and against the operation of 

 the broadcasting services \>\ the State are set out in 

 the Report. The Committee considers that the 

 objections to State operation of the service outweigh 

 the advantages ; at the same time, it is of opinion 

 that no licence issued by the Postmaster-General 



