100 YEARS OF BROADCASTING

100 Years of the BBC

This month sees the centenary of the BBC, a service which for 100 years has sought to entertainment inform and educate. It’s the best broadcaster in the world, and we celebrate its milestone this month...

100 YEARS OF THE BBC

A CENTURY OF BROADCASTING

THE 1920s: BIRTH OF THE BBC

ON 18TH OCTOBER 1922, The British Broadcasting Company or BBC was officially formed, consolidating the experimental broadcasting efforts of a number of wireless manufacturers including Marconi. The company’s namesake began experimenting with ‘wireless telegraphy’ in the early 1890s and made a breakthrough in 1895 when he realised that raising the antennae enabled him to broadcast his so-called ‘Hertzian waves’ over greater distances. After the closure of amateur radio stations which had been largely experimental, the BBC launched its first daily radio service on 14th November 1922, and within the month broadcasts were made in the cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle too. The BBC appointed a General Manager, John Reith in December 1922. In September 1923 The Radio Times was published for the first time. In February 1924 ‘the pips’ first marked the Greenwich Time Signal. n SADLY THE BBC’S ability to serve as a national broadcaster soon became all too necessary. In 1930 Reith was designated Director General declaring a remit to ‘inform, educate and entertain,’and John Logie Baird was experimenting with broadcasts of a television signal near Covent Garden and in 1932, having outgrown its original ‘studios’ at Savoy Hill, the

BBC opened its new Broadcasting House premises.

In 1932 King George V became the first British monarch to broadcast an address, in 1934 the BBC worked with Marconi to create the ‘Type A’ microphone and in 1936 the BBC Television Service opened. Existing radio output is consolidated into the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme. In 1939 the BBC also launched its Monitoring service, monitoring international affairs. n

THE 1930s: EARLY TELEVISION

THE 1940s: GREAT BRITAIN AT WAR

IN SEPTEMBER 1939, THE BBC consolidated its national and regional programmes to form The Home Service. 1939 saw the most sensational broadcast from RAF Hendon, the first worldwide broadcast. 1943 would see The BBC General Forces service begin broadcasting to troops, and in 1948, its news services are consolidated into the first dedicated programme, Newsreel. n

THE 1950s: ENTERTAINING A POST-WAR NATION

POST WAR BRITAIN was fraught and nerves were shredded. Fortunately, Auntie (the nickname emerged in the 1950s) was on hand to entertain. The Archers first broadcast in May 1950, and live reports from Parliament began from 1949, increasing throughout the 1950s. Sales of TV sets really soared though, when the BBC broadcast the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. n

Main: BBC coverage of the Coronation in June 1953. Above: The Archers is the world’s longest-running drama, still broadcast today having made its debut in May 1950. Above/Right: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was established in 1958. In October 1958, Blue Peter began broadcasting. Seen here is Christopher Trace and Leila Williams.

THE 1960s: ROBOTS & DISC JOCKEYS

THE 1960S BEGAN with a bigger new home for the BBC. Television Centre was the first purpose built television production centre in the world to be conceived. Top of the Pops and Match of the Day make their debut in 1964. BBC 2 launches in 1964 and is the first TV station to regularly broadcast in colour. Sadly, the 1960s also saw the debut of tin-pot terrors in our living rooms, as Dr Who was first seen in November 1963, as a generation terrified by Daleks and Cybermen hid safely behind the nearest sofa cushion. Less scary was Tony Blackburn. In response to offshore pirate radio stations, BBC Radio 1 was launched on 30th September 1967, with The Light Programme, The Third Programme and The Home Service renamed radio two, three and four respectively. n

100 YEARS OF THE BBC

A CENTURY OF BROADCASTING

THE 1970s: THE ELECTRONIC AGE

WANT TO STAY INFORMED? The BBC had you covered in the 1970s, as John Craven,

Trimphone and a succession of questionably lurid background graphics brought news to a young audience.

Launching in 1974 was Ceefax, the precursor to the internet, and a couple of years before, the BBC also launched its Open University programming. Meanwhile, across the UK, a number of local BBC radio stations launched, providing unprecedented coverage of local news... BBC Leicestershire was there before, from 8th November 1967. n

100 YEARS OF THE BBC

A CENTURY OF BROADCASTING

THE 1980s: CHARITY BROADCASTING

BY THE ENDOF 1980, each county had its own local BBC station. November 1980 also saw the introduction of Children In Need, which raised £1.2m in its first year... it raised over £39m in 2021. Pudsey was created and named in 1985 by BBC graphic designer Joanna Lane, who worked in the BBC’s design department. Comic Relief would launch in March 1985 and Band Aid was formed a year before that in 1984. The BBC is also doing good with the launch of a new programme, Watchdog, in September 1980 which aimed to keep consumers safe from shoddy goods and alert us all to any scams or household dangers. The BBC also launched its Micro computer and under Grantham’s Margaret Thatcher, aimed to ensure all children would become computer literate. Elsewhere, BBC Breakfast Time launched in 1983, and the wedding of Charles and Diana attracted a worldwide audience of 750m viewers and listeners. n SATELLITE TV LTD was established in 1980, with Rupert Murdoch taking over the company in 1983. Having failed to become part of the BSB consortium, Murdoch instead launched his Sky TV service at 6pm on 5th February 1989. British Sky Broadcasting launched in

November 1990 and now offers broadband and mobile phones too. The company is fashionable and represents a blow to the BBC’s broadcasting dominance. DAB radio is broadcast in 1995, and the BBC launches its 24 hours news service/channel in November 1997, and on 15th December 1997, its website was launched. The corporation experienced a record audience of 3bn viewers and listeners in

September 1997 but sadly for all the wrong reasons, as people from 200 countries watched the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. n

THE 1990s: TV ARRIVES FROM SPACE

2000-2021: 21ST CENTURY BROADCASTING...

THE 21ST CENTURY has seen the launch of BBC 4 in 2004 and BBC 3 in 2003, and it began broadcasting in HD in 2006. 2007 saw the launch of iPlayer, the BBC’s ‘on demand’ service. The media landscape is set for the rest of the 21st century and will see internet based content delivery, fewer schedules and more ‘on demand’ services as well as better resolution broadcasts and increasing interactivity. n