Radio Eavesdropping of the B.B.C
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SEPTEMBER 1954 VOL. 60 No. 9 .1 to t h o i í t y and 1 so << t p e tt d en f E have now had ample time to study the new there is still another body that comes into the Television Act, which became law just after our last picture : the P.M.G.'s decisions on technical policy issue appeared. The Government's plan for an for both the I.T.A. and B.B.C. will be affected by " additional " television service, though somewhat the recommendations of the Television Advisory involved, is not on the face of it, difficult to under- Committee. stand, though we must admit to doubts as to how Fortunately, there is a good deal of flexibility in some of the details will work out in practice. the Act, and plenty of room for second thoughts. To us, the most interesting section of the Act is The word "may" occurs much more often than that in which the Postmaster -General is given what " shall " and the P.M.G. can make new regulations at appears to be very wide powers over the technical short notice. Throughout all the debates, the activities of the Independent Television Authority. Government has wisely kept to the principle of In this matter, at least, there appears to be little leaving a loophole for subsequent changes. independence and no authority! Of course, it is a It is wrong to shoot the pianist who is doing his fact that in Great Britain the P.M.G.'s power over best, and still worse to shoot him before he has played every form of radio activity is sweeping; he may a single note. The I.T.A. needs the full support make regulations prescribing " the things that are to of everyone concerned with radio in implementing be done or are not to be done " by any one of his the complicated scheme laid down in the Act. licensees. Of course, he may intend to keep these Wireless World's only fear is that, with so many powers up his sleeve, and allow the I.T.A. as much secondary problems to overcome, attention may be technical autonomy as is enjoyed by the B.B.C. If distracted from the primary task of planning the he does not, one is tempted to ask, what is the pur- long -term technical development of television. pose of the I.T.A.? It would surely have been less wasteful of national resources and effort to leave the technical means of television distribution in the hands Radio Eavesdropping of the B.B.C. The Government's quarrel with the B.B.C. monopoly was that it represented a monopoly _t GOOD deal of publicity has been given in the in the dissemination of ideas; that objection would daily Press to a recent case in a London magistrate's have been overcome much more economically by court, where two men were charged with contraven- setting up a chain of transmitters operated by the ing the section of the Wireless Telegraphy Act that B.B.C. but fed with programmes under the control forbids the interception and disclosure of messages. of a truly independent body getting its revenue from It was stated they had listened to police and fire - advertisements. service v.h.f. transmissions and passed on information The Post Office decision, announced before the so gained to news agencies and fire assessors. The new Authority came into being, that the I.T.A. trans- defendants, who pleaded guilty and said they had missions were to be polarized like those of the B.B.C. no idea they were acting unlawfully, were ordered to in the same areas, may or may not lend colour to the pay £8 8s and £2 2s costs, respectively. idea that the P.M.G. intends to make himself respon- Newspapers, in reporting the case, made play with sible, not only for controlling technical policy, but for the fact that this was the first prosecution of its kind. shaping it as well. That may be true enough, but no new principle is Further support for the same idea comes from the involved. Lack of secrecy has always been a skeleton fact that one of the members of the Authority has in the radio cupboard and for 50 years the Post- any radio -technical qualifications or experience, and master-General has rightly had the power (which he so must depend entirely on the engineering staff they has used widely) to make regulations against may appoint or on outside advisers. And, of course, unauthorized interception and disclosure of messages. WIRELESS WORLD, SEPTEMBER 1954 409 www.americanradiohistory.com The Television Act Summary of the Main Pro.i: ions ELL over two years ago, the Government first The matter of the programme contracting com- declared their intention of establishing a new tele- panies is still somewhat obscure. From our point of vision service, alternative to that conducted by the view, virtually all we know from the Act is that it B.B.C. Two basic principles for the proposed scheme will be the duty of the I.T.A. to secure "adequate were affirmed by Government spokesmen; it was to be competition " between a number of them to supply competitive and was to be financed by advertisments. programmes. It is not known how the time of the Since then, many methods of attaining the desired various I.T.A. stations is to be divided between the end have been debated, only to be abandoned or modi- various contractors. fied later; even the basic principles have been watered Wide powers of control over the contractors are down to some extent. Now, at last, a cut -and -dried conferred by the Act on the I.T.A., who may impose plan has appeared in the final form of an Act of Parlia- heavy penalties for breach of contract. They are ment. In view of all the changes that have taken bound by the Act to observe certain rules as to the place and in spite of the vast number of words that pay and conditions of their staff. have been written in the Press, readers may like to The Authority, in its turn, is subject to pretty have a summary of those provisions of the Act most drastic Government control of their day -to-day activi- likely to affect them. ties. The P.M.G. or any other Minister of the Crown The Television Act, 1954 (H.M.S.O., price 9d) may require them to broadcast any announcement, makes " provision for television broacasting services while the P.M.G. may at any time impose a ban on the additional to those provided by the British Broadcast- broadcasting of " any matter or classes of matter." He ing Corporation, and to set up a special authority for also has the power to determine the hours of broad- the purpose ... to be called the Independent Tele- casting, both as to maximum and minimum hours per vision Authority." The I.T.A. is to provide, for the day and as to the actual times of the transmissions. period of 10 years, television services " of high quality, On the technical side the Authority is subject to both as to the transmission and as to the matter equally rigorous control under the powers conferred transmitted," and shall be composed of a chairman, on the P.M.G. by the Act. They may be required to deputy chairman and eight others. These under the use " such technical measures or processes as may be chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Clark have now been specified " or to set up additional stations thought to appointed by the Postmaster -General. They comprise be necessary to extend coverage. an assemblage of persons distinguished in the There are a number of secondary provisions, includ- Arts, literature, industry and the world of affairs. ing permission for the I.T.A. to do various things aris- It is stipulated that none of them shall have any ing out of its main function and to embark on ancillary interest in an advertising agency, in the selling of radio business enterprises that may be found necessary. equipment or in programme contracts. The members The I.T.A. must not, however, manufacture or sell are to be paid, and, in addition to membership, may radio equipment. perform other salaried work in the Authority. The rest of the Act -in fact, the greater part of it- The I.T.A. is to be a " body corporate " but not a is concerned with detailed control of broadcast matter. body exercising functions on behalf of the Crown. It An obligation is put on the Authority to see that pro- enjoys no special privileges under the Wireless Tele- grammes do not offend good taste or decency, do not graphy Act, and will need the Postmaster General's incite to crime or lead to disorder or offend public licence for its stations. The aim is that the Authority feeling. They also have the responsibility of ensuring shall be financially self- supporting as soon as possible, balanced programmes, of presenting news accurately but it may be granted by the P.M.G. up to £750,000 a and impartially and of showing no political bias. year. Initial capital expenditure is to be met by a grant of up to £2M, spread over five years. First and foremost, the function of the I.T.A. is to Resistor and Capacitor Preferred Values build and operate television broadcasting stations. It must also arrange for studios to be provided, or if A British Standard for the preferred valites and tolerances need be, itself provide them.