October 13, 1923] 



NA TURE 



559 



should preclude the Government from using its own 

 wireless stations for the broadcasting of such informa- 

 tion as may be deemed desirable, subject, of course, 

 to the ordinary broadcast programmes being interfered 

 with as little as possible. Mr. C. Trevelyan, a member 

 of the Committee, expresses regret that his colleagues 

 were unable to agree to the operation of broadcasting 

 by the Post Ofhce. He is of opinion that a situation 

 may easily arise in which this may be the only satis- 

 factory possibility and gives reasons for the views 

 he holds. 



In dealing with the means of securing widespread 

 reception with the cheaper types of receiving sets, 

 the Committee points out that most of the existing 

 difficulties might be avoided or reduced by the 

 provision of a considerable number of transmitting 

 stations of lower power than those already existing. 

 The possibility of employing relay stations and 

 linking them up by Post Office telephone trunk lines 

 to main centres is also touched upon. Developments 

 in these directions depend upon certain technical 

 factors, and the outlay for thus dealing with the 

 whole country would be large, both as regards the 

 wireless stations and the land lines. Such a scheme, 

 the Committee points out, would enable great 

 numbers of persons to use " crystal " receivers, and 

 it is likely the revenue from licences would be corre- 

 spondingly increased. So far as future developments 

 are concerned, the Committee thinks that the greatest 

 latitude should be left to the Controlling Authority, 

 and is a matter in which it would be unwise for the 

 Committee itself to attempt to define the policy which 

 should be adopted. A recommendation is, however, 

 made that the licence issued to the British Broad- 

 casting Company, which has the requisite organisation 

 and technical and other experience, should, subject 

 to certain variations in its terms indicated in a later 

 part of the Report, be continued. 



The alternative methods of meeting the cost of 

 broadcasting and the several considerations that come 

 into play are comprehensively dealt with in the 

 Report. Having considered the evidence placed 

 before it on the subject, the Committee has come to 

 the conclusion that, in order to cover the cost of 

 running its eight stations and to pay a dividend on 

 its capital at the rate of 7J per cent, per annum, the 

 British Broadcasting Company requires a revenue of 

 160,000/. a year — or, if allowance is to be made for 

 future developments and improvements, not less than 

 250,000/. a year. Of the methods of raising revenue 

 proposed, the Committee entirely rejects the one 

 containing a proposal that the cost of broadcasting 

 should be met wholly or partially out of public funds. 

 With regard to the suggestion made to it that a 

 substantial contribution towards the cost of the 

 service should be obtained by means of a system of 

 licensing the manufacture and sale of wireless appara- 

 tus, the Committee says that the proposal merits 

 careful consideration, but it is unable to recommend 

 its adoption. 



In dealing with the existing method of raising 

 revenue by means of fees collected on licences issued 

 to owners of receiving apparatus, the Committee has 

 had to consider the objection which has been raised 

 in principle to a Government Department handing 

 <)\er public revenue collected by it to a private 

 individual. 



The Committee is of opinion that the arguments 

 dvanced against the adoption of this method of 

 j providing funds for broadcasting are based on an 

 incorrect conception of the nature of the trans- 

 ction and recommends the continuance of the 

 l)rescnt arrangement whereby revenue is collected by 

 means of licences for receiving sets, a part of which 



NO. 2815, VOL. 112] 



is handed over to the British Broadcasting Company. 

 The aim of the Post Office should, the Committee 

 thinks, be to obtain sufficient revenue from licence 

 fees [a] to cover administrative expenses in connexion 

 therewith with a safe margin, and (6) to provide the 

 necessary contribution to the cost of the broadcast 

 programme. In the event of a considerable increase 

 in the number of licences, the resulting surplus should, 

 it is suggested, be devoted (i.) to reducing the licence 

 fee ; or (ii.) to improve the service ; or (iii.) to both 

 these purposes. As the Post Office authorities esti- 

 mate that the cost in connexion with the issue of 

 licences is unlikely to exceed 25. 6<i. per year per 

 licence, an amount of 75. (>d. per licence would be 

 available, if required, to meet the cost of all broad- 

 casting services. The total number of licences issued 

 up to the present is about 170,000, and there are 

 about 30,000 applications for experimental licences 

 held in suspense, making a total of about 200,000. 

 It is impossible, of course, to say what is the number 

 of unlicensed stations ; it is stated in the Report 

 that the number is probably nearer 200,000 than 

 100,000. The Committee is of opinion that, if a high 

 standard of programmes is maintained, it is not 

 unlikely that within a few years the number of 

 broadcast listeners may rise to a million or more. 

 In view of the possibility of a very considerable 

 increase in the number of licences, the Committee 

 suggests that under any new arrangement a sliding 

 scale should be adopted in relation to the proportion 

 of the licence fees to be paid to the operating company 

 or companies. 



The Committee recommends that the marking of 

 apparatus should be abandoned and one uniform 

 licence introduced for broadcast reception and another 

 for experimental work. It is further recommended 

 that the broadcast licence should be placed on sale 

 at Post Offices and issued on payment of the fee 

 without any formalities or questions. It is pointed 

 out that the Post Office would thereby be relieved of 

 the difficult and somewhat invidious duty of deter- 

 mining whether applicants are genuine experimenters 

 or not. With a view, however, of safeguarding neigh- 

 bouring installations from interference, it is recom- 

 mended that a clause should be inserted in the new 

 licence in the following terms : — " The station shall 

 not be used in such a manner as to cause interference 

 with the working of other stations. In particular, 

 back-coupling must not be used to such an extent as 

 to energise any neighbouring aerial." Disregard of 

 this condition should, it is suggested, render a licence 

 liable to summary cancellation, and, further, that 

 provision should be made for levying a penalty in 

 cases where a licensee can be proved to have re- 

 peatedly caused serious interference. It is also sug- 

 gested that for purposes of meeting cases where 

 persons set up and use unlicensed receiving stations, 

 statutory powers should be obtained similar to those 

 already possessed by the Customs and Excise Depart- 

 ment in connexion with the licences they control, so 

 as to place the Postmaster-General in a position 

 (a) to call upon suspected persons to fill in a form 

 of declaration showing whether they are liable to a 

 licence fee or not ; and (ft) to accept a compromise 

 fine in the case of a minor default as an alternative 

 to prosecution. 



Having regard to the existing agreement between 

 the Post Office and the British Broadcasting Company, 

 the Committee recognises that it would not be possible 

 for the Postmaster-General to introduce any change 

 in the present scheme whereby the rights of the 

 Company would be adversely affected, except as a 

 matter of negotiation between the parties thereto. 

 It is of opinion that the immediate adoption of its 



