Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

you in some difficulties which, fortunately, we are free of in Britain. But between Europe and America I think it's five hours, which is a very, very serious disadvantage. Q: You don't have that disadvantage with the continent, do you? A: No. We're doing a very great deal with the continent of Europe, an increasing amount. We managed to establish a link with the continent. Q: What type of link? A: The link is a series of transmitting and receiving stations on a sort of relay system which go down as far as Rome, Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris. We haven't yet got across the Pyrenees into Spain or Portugal. But one of the great advantages from our point of view is this: All Europe is more or less on the same time scale. There's no more than an hour's difference between us and any of those European countries that I mentioned. This is a thing we're going to develop in a very big way. It's one of the things that was difficult to develop in sound radio because sound radio depends so much on the spoken word and we all speak different languages. But in television so much of the story is told by picture and it's comparatively easy to arrange for such spoken word as is necessary to be done by somebody who speaks the language of the country in which the program is going to be received — that's not too difficult when the picture tells nine-tenths of the story. Q: What types of programs are you exchanging now? A: . For instance, our Queen went to Paris several weeks ago and there were a large number of programs there — the Queen arriving in Paris, processions down the street, attendance at the opera, and all that sort of thing. There were a large number of television broadcasts in connection with that. I can give you another example: On New Year's Eve we had as our theme the passage of time and we visited every European capital and each one made its characteristic contribution towards the program. Q: Is ITA also hooked up with that? A: They could be. Q: They don't carry any of these special events? A: Not so far. Q: You mentioned a moment ago that you thought it would be possible to adjust the cable at considerable expense so that trans-Atlantic television would be possible. A: Well, I don't know that the cable is the way out of the difficulty. (I'm not a technician myself.) But even if it were, it would be enormously expensive. I suppose there are various possibilities of establishing wireless relay stations up through the Arctic. Q: Some people have suggested that probably the next best solution and maybe the best one is a combination of television tape recordings with jet planes. A: You know there is a great difficulty over this television tape recording. It looks as if it could be the solution to the whole problem. But unfortunately the television tape recording records the electronic signal precisely. Now one of the tragedies of television is that each nation is on a different standard of electronic signal. We're on one, the European continent is on another, America is on another; and it's impossible for us to exchange programs by electronic signal. It's going to be very useful within America — this electronic recording— it's going to be very useful in Britain. But as a means of export, it's out until we can get on to a common basis, until we can find a new satisfying method of conversion from one standard to another. Q: Do you exchange any programs with American stations or networks? A: We do exchange a certain number. We often show See It Now and Project XX of NBC and several of those. Call to Freedom is another and there are many such. Q: Are any of your programs sent here? A: Art films have occurred quite a lot on American programs. War in the Air is a thing that you are running now — it is one of our big projects. I must add that, I hope these things are going to be increased in number in the near future because hitherto we have not had agreements with our own unions that make many such projects Page 126 • June 10, 1957 possible. But that agreements had recently been come to and I hope that they will increase quite a lot in the future. Q: This may be difficult for you to answer because it is detailed. What would an hour-long program cost BBC? A: I can tell you that the total overall cost of BBC programs last year was 'round about £2,800 an hour. But that included everything. About $8,000 an hour was the total cost of the BBC's television service. When I want to add additional hours, of course, I don't have to pay for all the overheads all over again, and I find that additional hours cost about £ 1.900 an hour. They come to about $5,300. Q: You mean that includes rehearsal hours? A: Yes. But it doesn't include rents, rates and all the big overhead expenses that are included in the bigger figure of 2,800. Q: Getting to you personally for a moment, you have been with BBC from the beginning? A: Well, almost, yes. BBC started as a limited liability company on Jan. 1, 1923, and I joined in September 1923. Q: What did they call you then? A: I was called a general assistant and I did practically anything I was told. I had to do most of the program planning and all the coordination between London and the regions. As soon as we started the Radio Times I became the program editor of the Program Times — in other words, I did the time table. You see how the two things are really part of the same job. As soon as I finished my day's work, they made me go up and announce the programs. Q: What was next? A: Next they sent me out to Natal South Africa to start broadcasting there. I had to start all over again from scratch. I was there two years. Q: And when they returned you to Great Britain, what happened? A: Then they made me regional controller in Northern Ireland for six years. That brought me to 1932. Then they brought me to London as assistant head of the program side in London. This was sound radio only, of course, in those days. I did that for four years. Then I became the founder and first principal of the BBC's staff training school, a job which I held for one year. I was sorry that I didn't hold it for more than one year. But the job I wanted most in life fell vacant at the end of the year and I applied for it and that was west regional controller of the BBC, which I did for nearly 19 years with an interval during the war when I was director of administration in London. I became director of tv last year. Q: What is your reaction to American television? A: My reaction is that I admire a great deal about it, particularly the slickness and competence with which everything is put on. It's that wonderful — what we in Britain call — presentation. And I know enough about this to know how very difficult it is. I very much admire the way the Americans achieve that. You do it better than we do. Q: What type of programming do you think we do best? A: It's very difficult for me to say because you see I've only been here a week and I had a great many engagements. You can understand, you've got so much television I've only been able to turn the thing on in odd minutes here and there and look at it. I don't think that I can give a sensible answer. One program I did see the other night which I admired very much indeed was on Mike Wallace. I saw him interviewing a Negro. They were talking about the segregation problem. I thought it was so well done. I thought if I could have this on my service, I'd be very proud of it indeed. Q: Have you had a chance as yet to observe the commercials and the way that the presentation on commercial television in the U. S. has compared to the commercial television in Britain? A: I think, judging the thing by standards of commercial television, that they're not doing too badly in Britain; I mean they're getting on. But, of course, they haven't been as long in the business as your people. And they have got a great deal to learn from them, which I'm sure they are learning fast. Yours are, I think, in some ways rather slicker. But I don't mean to say that I don't think our people aren't doing very well; I think they are. Broadcasting • Telecasting