Yearbook of radio and television (1960)

INTERNATIONAL TV ROUNDUP (Continued from Page 1095) Germany, saturation is still at a low 15-20 per cent, compared with 90 per cent for radio. In higher income brackets it reaches 25-30 per cent, indicating that high TV set prices are a major obstacle in the way of a more rapid development of TV. IRELAND The Government of Ireland has called upon Eamonn Andrews of the BBC to head a new Television Advisory Committee to develop TV in Ireland. Mr. Andrews has agreed to serve on a part time basis, and visualizes a service like the BBC with advertisements, but not a commercial network such as the ITA in the United Kingdom. A plot of land on top of a mountain near Dublin has been purchased for the first transmitter. ITALY Despite the remarkable growth of the television network in Italy, which with 343 transmitters — second only to the U. S. — now covers practically the whole country, stocks on hand of TV sets are regarded as disturbingly high. At the end of July 1959, there was an inventory accumulation of 100,000 sets compared with 50,000 sets at the end of 1958. However, this was regarded as temporary, and a considerable stimulus to sales was anticipated in expectation of the opening of a second TV channel at the time of the Olympic Games in Rome this August. MALTA The Government of Malta has announced that it will have a TV station by mid-1960. Though the initial cost will be provided by the government, it will not exercise any controls over its programming. The estimated 7,000 TV set owners now view Italian TV programs. NETHERLANDS So far three separate applications for licenses to participate in commercial television have been filed. The Netherlands Newspaper Owners Association and a magazine publishers' group wish to cooperate with existing broadcasting companies, which are linked to various political parties or religious groups, and are united in the Netherlands Television Foundation. The third, the Independent Television Exploitation Company (OTEM), wishes to set up a separate commercial TV network along the lines of the British system. The Government announced that it was considering the granting of a license for commercial TV to the OTEM group. This raised howls of protest from critics who maintain that if advertising is to be introduced in TV, it should take the form of spot commercials, with programming remaining in the hands of the Netherlands TV Foundation. The government still has not made any formal recommendations to Parliament concerning the form of commercial TV. A company (VRON) has been formed to broadcast commercial radio programs from an offshore ship. Its initiator, Mr. Lewin te Diemen, has also shown interest in establishing commercial TV by means of aircraft, at times when the official Netherlands TV is off the air. The Minister of Education stated that it is planned to increase TV transmissions from the present 15 hours per week to 18 in 1960, 22 in 1961, 26 in 1962, and 30 in 1963, at which time it is expected that there will be 1,400,000 TV sets in the country. The government plans to invest a total of 16,000,000 gulden (about $4,250,000) within the next three years for new TV transmitters, relay lines, and studio facilities. NORWAY Norwegian television officially joined the Eurovision network last October. SWEDEN The Swedish TV network is expanding rapidly. Nine additional transmitters went on the air in the last quarter of the year. Sixty per cent of the population is now within TV range, and with 17 more transmitters scheduled by mid-1960, the total , will be raised to 70 per cent. By 1965, 95 per cent of the population will be covered. A Swedish organization also plans to begin commercial television this fall, it is reported. The company is affiliated with a German concern. The government-owned and operated radio and TV organization is fighting the attempts of the commercial TV company to gain government approval. Government officials think there is little chance of the commercial company ever being licensed. SWITZERLAND Federal Councillor Wahlen, after consultation with the Federal Council, has decided that the permanent locations for Switzerland's central television studios should be in Zurich and Geneva. The decision was made after a long study of various reports submitted by the PTT, the Swiss Radio Society and other interested parties. A lively debate had followed the proposal of the Swiss Radio Society's General Assembly last summer that Basel and Lausanne should be the sites for the central television studios. A proposal for the eventual establishment of a third studio for the Tessin in Lugano was uncontested. Federal Councillor Wahlen stated that television in Switzerland should not be regional or cantonal but must be Swiss, and that it is the responsibility of the central studios to reflect the heterogeneous qualities of the country in their programming. UNITED KINGDOM This has been a peak year for television in the United Kingdom. Sales are estimated at 18 per cent greater than in 1958. Production of TV sets reached 2,700,000. With the construction of several new transmitting stations of the BBC and ITA, the former now covers 99 per cent of tha population, and the commercial service can now reach over 90 per cent. It has also been a ver^ profitable year for the programming companies. The ITA has asked the Postmaster General for permission to increase its broadcasting from 50 to 71 hours per week, and the daily maximum from 8 to 1 1 hours. The authority thinks that "strong arguments are necessary in a free community to justify a state of affairs in which people can (Continued on Next Page) 1097