14

Between Ourselves

Last week I had one of these Unpleasant dreams when you wake up swearing that you'll never eat another heavy meal before going to bed.

I dreamt I was in a broadcasting studio and the whole of the wall facing me was studded with thousands of tiny lights. Each light represented a listener, and when I started to broadcast they were all glowing brightly. But as I talked the lioghts began to to go out - one by one at first then by dozens. Of course, a gadget like that would be a godsend to all broadcasting stations in guaging the popularity of their programmes, albeit sometimes a mighty unpleasant experience for the broadcaster - hence my nightmare. One does often feel, when giving a talk on the radio, that many people are switching off simply because they don't like radio talks on principle, and would much rather be listening to Strauss or Beethoven. On the other hand there are certainly those others who would listen with the closest attention to a learned discussion on the nocturnal habits of the lesser Peewit in Patagonia.

It is all very difficult. Broadcasting stations the world over spend large sums of money on what is known as "Listener Research". Every day a small army of earnest questioners seeks to find out what sort of programmes the ordinary citizen wants to hear. Their hard-won information is then seized upon by a squad of psychologists, analyzers and statisticians who eventually produce a formula which they claim indicates the popularity or otherwise of individual broadcasts. In America this collecting of opinions is often taken to extreme lengths. I remember seeing a film in which a man returnd to his home after a hard day's work, only to discover that his daughter has been arrested for attempted murder, his wife has deserted him and and financial ruin stares him in the face. In the moment of tragic discovery the phone bell rings and the stricken man dazedly lifts the receiver to hear a glutinous voice enquire "to what programme are you listening and why?", As a matter of fact "Listener Research" is amazingly accurate in its findings and becomes essential to effective programme planning when you have many hours of broadcasting time to fill every day. But here in Palestine each night we have only 45 minutes in which to satisy all potential listeners to the PBS English programmes.

Consequently, our English programme from 9:45 onwards has developed into a somewhat inartistic mixture of talks, classical music plays and light entertainment.

However, from the beginning of April onwards, we plan to put that right. We are going to do, in a limited way, what the BBC did to solve the problemin trying to please everybody. Some of you may have read the article I wrote in "Radio Week" a few weeks ago, under the somewhat cryptic title "Caviar for the Highbrows". It descibed how the BBC recently launched one of the most courageous experiments in the history of broadcasting - courageous in that it introduced a nightly 6-hour programme directed, uncompromisingly, to a discriminating minority. It is a programme that sets out to broadcast something "culturally satisfying and significant" with a complete disregard for so-called popular taste. A typical evening's radio fare on this programme might well include a Sophocles play - an appraisal of Russian Foreign Policy, a complete opera, anything up to three hours long, and a recital of Tudor Church music. Of course, we cannot go as far as that, our facilities and time are much too limited, and incidentally the BBC's Third Programme, as they call it, costs them nearly two million pounds a year to run. Our plan is to use our 527 metre transmitter every night for purely cultural broadcasts from 9:45 onwards. By cultural I mean talks, documentary features, poetry, serious drama, and classical music. It becomes, in effect, a sort of restricted Third Programme, which should have a considerable appeal to Palestinian lidteners. We found difficulty,, as the BBC did, in giving the new programme a name. It would sound thoroughly pretentious to announce it as the "PBS Cultural Programme", or the "PBS Highbrow Programme"; so we are following then BBC's lead and are calling it the "PBS Second Programme".

By this time now I can well visualise the gloomy faces of those of you who take a poor view of cultural activities on the radio. But before you turn off your set in disgust let me reassure you. Every night at the same time from 9:45 onwards, our transmitter broadcasting on 449 metres will carry a programme in complete contrast. We are calling it the "PBS Light Programme" and it will be devoted exclusively to popular music, light entertainment, comedies, and "thriller" plays - no talks, no classics. Thre is one reservation though. We just have not the time to include everything we should like to broadcast and as for the local Forces Station specializes in straight dance music and Swing, devotees of Harry James and Benny Goodman can tune to the Forces Broadcasting Service - at least for the time being. The nine-thirty news will continue to be broadcast on both transmitters.

The introduction of this new dual programme scheme involve considerable planning and organization and we shall not be able to start before the first week in April - 6th of April to be exact. All this obviously means extra work, especially for the members of the PBS English Section. They, however, are full of enthusiasm, partly because we are doubling our chances of pleasing the listeners and, after all, that is what we are here for. And also our radio sets have assumed a new importance now that we are more or less forced to stay at home at night.

I will not say much about the actual programmes as, of course, they will be published fully in our journals when the time comes. But in the meantime here is a general outline of what you will be able to hear. On the Second Programme each week there will be oneor two acts from recorded opera, chamber music works, concerts and recitals of classical music, poetry readings and talks on various subjects, a documentary feature and possibly a radio drama production. In contrast, on the 449 metre transmitter, the Light Programme will include a serial thriller, a request programme, variety and various musical programmes.

One last point: when the new programmes have been on the air va week or two and you have had time to digest their contents, then I shall be most grateful if you will write and tell me what you think of them.