5 DECEMBER 1958, Page 6

'ANYTHING I add to what has already been said.' Mr.

John Spencer Wills lamented in his chair' man's speech for Associated-Rediffusion. '111''Y be regarded as tainted by selfish motives.' per' haps: but what he said is certainly worth Pon; dering. He proposed what I take to be a ki" of condominium, between the ITV and the BBC' to run programmes for minorities; and he sa!' that A-R would be willing to participate in such a service, 'notwithstanding that it would have t° be subsidised by our existing service.' But would it? The reason why serious programmes are 1101 commercially profitable is mainly because Most of the people who would enjoy them are 1101 watching—are not even, as a rule, aware that they are on. Television has never attracted, 0,1. has driven away, most of the people who wool') enjoy, say, opera. A network specifically caterill for minorities could hi time get them back; an' it would. then attract advertisers for the sanic reason that The Times and the Mattchcsi'l'i Guardian attract advertisers, by collecting 01'11, but relatively well-to-do audiences. I still prole' the idea of 'Pay As You View,' but, failing ali5' I feel that the A-R proposal is much more sensible' than the idea of giving the third network eithec to the BBC or, worse, to ITV. As Mr. Wills se'r sibly admitted, it is hard enough now for e°111 mercial television to provide sufficient materiii and talent for one network, without trying 10 stretch it over two. •