Saunders (nee Dowling), Catherine

Catherine was one of the first television announcers in Dunedin. She was the first woman reporter on Dunedin's 'Town and Around' programme and later became the female reporter on the Wellington edition in 1967.

Bill Toft was one of the Wellington announcers she worked with and she remembers with gratitude his helping her write the letter which led to her second career - with the Dairy Board. Another announcer she met in Wellington became her husband Bill Saunders, who became a television documentary maker.

After 2 years overseas they returned to New Zealand in 1973. Catherine started a programme for the Dairy Board on the promotion of cheese on the local market. She believed that if people were made more aware of the goodness of cheese, its many uses, and its relative cheapness, then the demand would greatly increase. She was proven right over 4 years. The consumption of cheese in New Zealand increased by 67 per cent. She was confident that the 'Buy a Bigger Block' slogan became a way of life.

First published in the New Zealand TV Weekly, June 3, 1966

When eyebrows are raised on DNTV2, they’re almost certain to belong to continuity announcer Catherine Dowling. Catherine’s eyebrows “talk" when she does, or, more often, one of them does, lifting most expressively, but without any artifice whatsoever. But more even than her unique eyebrows, Catherine is noted for an extremely efficient memory, enabling her to deliver long, and often dry and complicated announcements without stumbling or surreptitious glances at her script. Catherine has another forte too, a comparatively rare one among women announcers. She is at her best on outside broadcast commentaries, with a most admirable flow of language, remarkably free from cliche and repetition. And she has the added knack of appearing to enjoy every minute of whatever she is doing, from compering an antique car rally to participating in a teenage dance broadcast.