Publisher's Synopsis
The first volume begins with the early experiments into wireless telegraphy by Ernest Rutherford and ends with the New Zealand Broadcasting Service in the 1950s, just before the advent of television. Topics dealt with are the development and geographical spread of transmission and reception facilities, the political debates about broadcasting and consequential institutional changes, the interventionist role of the state in broadcasting, programming style and content, and the social and cultural consequences of broadcasting.;Some of the more flamboyant characters who shaped New Zealand broadcasting are described in this volume: James Shelley ("The Prof"), the first Director of Broadcasting, Daisy Basham ("Aunt Daisy"), who woke up the nation with her "Good morning , everybody" and, of course, Colin Scrimgeour, the populist and controversial broadcaster known to everyone as "Uncle Scrim", who stirred up public debate and goaded the government until he was silenced by the jamming of 1ZB on the eve of the 1935 election.;The second volume starts in 1950. It begins with the shift from state to public broadcasting, the birth of TV and the spread of coverage nationwide. It then follows the many changes in the structure of broadcasting, from the NZBC through to the 1990s focus on radio and TV broadcasting as essentially commercial activities. Public and private broadcasting in both media are covered, and the narrative shows how private radio and television gained new acceptance as they rose to dominance in the 1990s alongside the growing commercialization of public broadcasting.
