TO THE EDITOR LETTERS
Competitive Television
SIR,—It is certainly true, as Mr. Norman Collins says in his article, that those who are opposed to the B.B.C. monopoly " have by comparison remained silent." It is true, too, that the merits of com- petitive television have nut been presented to the public with the simplicity and urgency which their importance demands. Time is short in which to counter the expert, yet specious, propaganda of the National Television Council.
Among the benefits to be gained from the existence of an alternative television organisation will be a choice of programme and programme source for the viewer, alternative employment for the employee, spitra markets for the television writer and producer, especially for the new entrant, and increased opportunities for actors and entertainers. All this will result in better programmes, without any necessity for resorting to crude or tasteless techniques used in America or elsewhere.
Transcending all these considerations, however, is the fact that the B.B.C. monopoly will no longer remain inviolate, for no national monopoly of " information, education and entertainment " should be tolerated in a free society, not even a monopoly which is claimed to be benevolent and politically impartial.—Yours faithfully, J. M. THOMAS.
8 Priory Avenue, High Wycombe, Bucks.
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