1. 1920’s1920s
The British Broadcasting Company, as the BBC was originally called, was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless
manufacturers including Marconi. Daily broadcasting by the BBC began in Marconi’s London studio, 2LO, in the Strand, on
November 14, 1922. John Reith, a 33-year-old Scottish engineer, was appointed General Manager of the BBC at the end of 1922.
October 1922
Where it all started - BBC Radio. Pathe News marks the start of 2LO in a cinema newsreel. Following the closure of numerous
amateur stations, the BBC started its first daily radio service in London – 2LO. After much argument, news was supplied by an
agency, and music drama and 'talks' filled the airwaves for only a few hours a day. It wasn't long before radio could be heard
across the nation.
December 1922
Thirty-three year old John Charles Walsham Reith became General Manager of the BBC on 14 December 1922. There were no
rules, standards or established purpose to guide him. He immediately began innovating, experimenting and organising, and with
the help of his newly appointed chief engineer, Peter Eckersley, the service began to expand.
I hadn't the remotest idea as to what broadcasting was.
September 1923
The first edition of The Radio Times listed the few programmes on offer. It also provided advice for budding radio enthusiasts, and
numerous advertisements by the fledgling radio industry, offering the latest in radio receiving technology. It was to become one
of the world’s most popular listing magazines.
January 1927
The British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC is established by Royal Charter as the British Broadcasting Corporation. Sir John
Reith becomes the first Director-General. The Charter defined the BBC’s objectives, powers and obligations. It is mainly concerned
with broad issues of policy, while the Director-General and senior staff are responsible for detailed fulfilment of that policy.
2. 1930’s
• 1930s - The birth of television. This was the decade that changed everything, and the BBC was aware that it might have to operate in a radically
different way should war come. This didn’t stop the BBC investing and developing, and it was the first broadcaster to begin a regularly scheduled
TV service, in 1936. Radio went from strength to strength with the brand new Broadcasting House opening in 1932.
May 1932
• Our audio slideshow explores the history of Broadcasting House. The BBC had outgrown its studios at Savoy Hill, and had to find a new home.
Instead of converting another existing building, the BBC commissioned a purpose built centre. At the time it was one of only two in Europe.
Leading modernist designers were employed, and the building is a mixture of functionalist and art deco styles.
December 1932
• King George V was the first British monarch to broadcast on radio. The ground breaking moment was used to inaugurate the start of BBC Empire
Service, forerunner to today’s BBC World Service, and the King’s voice was heard for the first time by millions simultaneously.
1934
• Commercially available microphones were expensive in the 1930s, so the BBC worked with the Marconi Company to develop its own model.
• The ‘Type A’, developed and refined over the years, has become the classic BBC microphone as seen in period dramas and films.
May 1937
• Cine film of the Coronation used by the BBC in the 1953 programme All Our Yesterdays - The Passing Show. After only six months of regular TV
broadcasts, the BBC took its cameras to the Coronation of King George VI. Recording technology did not exist, so these images were filmed from a
television screen at the home of an employee of the Marconi Company.
January 1938
• The voice of Ahmad Kamal Sourour Effendi with introduction by Lord Reith. Announcer Ahmad Kamal Sourour Effendi was recruited from the
Egyptian radio service as the voice of the BBC’s first service in a foreign language. His appointment made the service popular overnight, as Effendi
was one of the most loved presenters in the Arab world.
3. 1940’s
1940s
• The BBC at War and beyond. The BBC at war saw fundamental changes in programme making practice, live reporting from battle scenes, and was a fundamental
source of propaganda news to the free world. Post war a TV news service was launched, the first post-war Olympic Games was televised, and Children’s Television
began. BBC engineers invented the first means of recording live TV, and extended the corporations international presence.
January 1942
• Roy Plomley interviewed by John Dunn in 1980. Desert Island Discs was devised by Roy Plomley, who presented the first edition on 29 January 1942. It was recorded
two days earlier with comedian Vic Oliver, in the bomb-damaged Maida Vale Studios. The success of the programme has always owed much to its simple format,
which allows for sometimes revealing interviews. However, early programmes were scripted, to comply with wartime censorship.
October 1946
• Woman's Hour - The first dedicated radio programme for women. Norman Collins was the creator of Woman’s Hour, and spoke about the origin of the programme in
1967 From early on Woman's Hour was not afraid to tackle difficult issues facing women. Even after the first few editions, politics and women’s citizenship featured
prominently. By 1947 BBC managers were panicking at the prospect of the menopause being discussed. Topics such as 'keeping house', and child care featured less
after the 1960s.
October 1946
• A ground breaking children’s television service was inaugurated after the war, and one of its earliest successes was Muffin the Mule. Muffin was a loveable puppet
whose antics were accompanied on the piano by Annette Mills. The duo’s routine was to last for 9 years, and was the first children’s programme to appear from the
BBC’s new television studios at Lime Grove. Normally voiced by famous commentator John Snagge, BBC Newsreel painted a picture of the day’s events as a filmed
sequence of short reports.
July 1948
• London 1948 - The first televised Olympic Games. How the London 1948 Olympic Games looked on-screen. Approximately 100,000 UK households had a television in
1948, yet 68.5 hours of live Olympic coverage was broadcast by the BBC. Most viewers watched on screens measuring about 25 by 20 centimetres. In its day, this was
the most technically advanced outside broadcast undertaken by the BBC.
July 1949
• TV weather forecast test, recorded 27 August, 1956. Launched just before World War II then abandoned, regular TV weather forecasts were revived in July 1949. They
consisted of charts, with a disembodied voice reading the weather bulletin. The big change to the modern format came in January 1954, when a Met officer
interpreted the map in vision. George Cowling was the BBC’s first ‘weatherman’.
4. 1950’s1950s
• The age of television: The 50s was the decade of television, with the televising of the Coronation the driving force behind a massive increase in sales of sets. Radio was
still very important, and early in the decade the world’s longest running radio soap opera was born - The Archers. BBC TV’s second big debut of the decade came in 1958
with the start of Blue Peter - still running to this day.
May 1950
• The Archers - the world’s longest running soap opera. Extract from a 1955 episode of The Archers. This rural soap opera is set in and around the fictitious village of
Ambridge. It was first broadcast as a trial programme on the Midlands Home Service to promote good agricultural practice. The experiment ended on 2 June, and was
then broadcast across the UK, becoming a national institution.
October 1950
• the House of Commons on BBC Parliament. Live coverage of Parliament was first discussed as part of the Woolton Committee in 1944. Described reports of the day’s
proceedings were commonplace on national radio by 1949. An experiment to televise live debate from the Commons was considered successful, but the public could not
see it. Regular live proceedings by TV were not broadcast until November 1989.
1952
• V.E.R.A. - Vision Electronic Recording Apparatus used on Panorama. Vision Electronic Recording Apparatus –V.E.R.A., has been billed as the first video tape recorder -
developed by the BBC, 1952-8. In truth this was a myth that emerged because of the BBC’s heavy promotion of the system, in spite of its obvious inferiority to rivals. The
commercially successful American Ampex machine was used on air by ITV as early as May 1957.
June 1953
• Sales of television sets soared following BBC coverage of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II For the first time ever a coronation moment was seen live! This event
transformed the history of television, boosting the sale of black and white television sets. Over 20 million people across Europe watched the event, with many people
clustered around friends and neighbours’ TV sets.
April 1958
• The Radiophonic Workshop is established. Delia Derbyshire and Desmond Briscoe at work. Based in the legendary Room 13 of Maida Vale studios it used an often bizarre
mix of objects to create sounds. The Radiophonic Workshop created uniquely memorable electronic sounds - such as the Doctor Who theme music - and became one of
the most significant influences on 20th century electronic music.
October 19
• Blue Peter starts its 50 year run. Blue Peter celebrates its 20th anniversary in 1978Running for more than 50 years and still going strong, Blue Peter has touched numerous
generations of children. With its intrepid presenters and characterful pets, it’s in studio 'makes' and charity appeals it genuinely engaged with younger viewers' lives and
interests. Now the programme comes from new studios at Salford Quays, Manchester.
5. 1960’s
1960s - Colour TV
• A decade of colour, drama, and international collaboration mark the 1960s as an era of exceptional broadcasting innovation and excitement. Colour TV ended a long period of
technological isolation for Britain, the BBC drama department produced world beating TV series with Doctor Who and The Forsyte Saga the two main successes. The first satellite
broadcasts also became a reality.
June 1960
• Television Centre opens. Designed by Graham Dawbarn, BBC Television Centre was the first purpose built television production centre in the world to be conceived. Copied in
numerous countries, the building has become an iconic image of broadcasting. Countless shows have been made there, including Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus,
and Strictly Come Dancing.
November 1963
• First episode of Doctor Who – the legend begins. Videotape had only been in use for seven years when a new science fiction series was proposed by the BBC’s head of drama.
Verity Lambert, Doctor Who’s first producer was quick to exploit the amazing effects the medium could achieve. Doctor Who continues to be one of the most successful sci-fi
series of all time.
January 1967
• The Forsyte Saga – costume drama changes forever. The 26 episode adaptation of the Galsworthy novels, revolutionised costume drama. On Sunday nights, when the Saga was
on, social life stopped. Dinner parties were scheduled around it, and evening service at some churches was moved to allow churchgoers to watch!
June 1967
• It was not possible to connect the entire world in a live broadcast by satellite until the end of the 1960s. The BBC was the first broadcaster to attempt such a programme. Our
World consisted of live, non-political contributions from participating countries. The BBC commissioned the Beatles to sing all you need is Love for its contribution.
July 1967
• BBC TWO - the first full colour TV service in Europe. Although occasional programmes in colour could be watched on BBC Two as early as 1966, a full colour service was not
launched until 1967. Wimbledon tennis was the first programme of the new service. Colour was extended to BBC ONE and ITV by 1969, and by 1976, the colour network was
complete, when the Channel Islands joined the system.
September 1967
• Radio 1 goes live. After pirate radio stations were banned by the government, the BBC launched Radio 1 to meet the increasing need of the youth market. Its first DJ was Tony
Blackburn, its first programme Daily Disc Delivery, and the first record played was Flowers in the Rain by The Move.
6. 1970’s
1970s - Classic comedy
• Despite hyper-inflation in much of the world, the BBC scored major hits in its light entertainment programmes. The award winning
Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served and The Good Life, plus the ratings topping Morecambe and Wise Show and The Two Ronnie’s
were the big hits of the 1970s. The BBC also developed CEEFAX for TV, and quadraphonic sound for radio.
January 1970
• The Open University goes on air. How the Open University and the BBC worked together. The BBC and Open University joined
forces to create a long-standing partnership which transformed access to university education. This followed a desire to open up
learning by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1960s. The combination of early morning and late night broadcasts with written
materials, became an international model for distance learning.
April 1972
• The first children’s TV news bulletin. John Craven was chosen to present the programme, sitting in front of a desk, not behind, so
as not to remind children of a teacher! Newsround was the first sustained attempt to give children a news service which they
could call their own. It broke two major news stories: an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul, and the loss of the Space
Shuttle Challenger in 1986.
April 1974
• this ground-breaking programme captured the tensions and humour of ordinary family life in the Wilkins household. It raised
controversial issues about class, race and manners in 70s England, and was the first time cameras had simply filmed daily life
without direct interviews - the earliest example of 'reality TV'
September 1974
• Originally designed by BBC engineers to provide subtitles for the deaf, CEEFAX (derived from 'see-facts') was the first teletext
service in the world. Its information was wide-ranging, including news, weather, and sport. CEEFAX finally ceased operation in
October 2012, but other broadcasters’ teletext services remain on air and popular, particularly in the Nordic countries.
January 1979
• Although natural history programmes had been seen before, it wasn’t until David Attenborough started this epic series that the
genre really took off. Revealing life around the globe through beautiful photography and compelling and intimate commentary, the
series initially consisted of 13 episodes.
7. 1980’s
1980s - World conflict
• This was a decade of major international conflict and the BBC found itself torn between covering conflicts in the Falkland Islands,
Northern Ireland, Tiananmen Square, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, stretching resources immensely.
July 1981
• The Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Charles and Diana's wedding had an estimated global TV audience of 750
million, making it the most popular programme ever broadcast. It was full of iconic and memorable moments, making its mark on a
generation, and was one of the BBC’s biggest outside broadcasts of the decade.
January 1982
• The BBC Microcomputer is launched. It also stimulated the new media and computer games industry worldwide. Government backing
and its own dedicated programme on BBC Two helped to make the computer a success, rapidly taken up in homes and schools.
January 1983
• Breakfast Time – the UK’s breakfast TV service. Presented by Frank Bough, Selina Scott and weatherman Francis Wilson. Breakfast
Time was launched ahead of ITV’s breakfast service, changing TV schedules for ever. The BBC surprised its rival when it launched a
lightweight sofa based show with the emphasis on studio guests, keep fit, horoscopes and news headlines.
February 1985
• EastEnders - the BBC's most watched programme ever. One of Britain's most successful television soap operas reached number one in
the ratings within 8 months of its launch. It has consistently remained amongst the top 5 programmes thereafter. The BBC bought part
of the old ATV studios at Elstree to build a permanent set for the series.
July 1985
• The creation of Live Aid from BBC TWO's Live Aid - Against All Odds. Live Aid, a multi-venue rock music concert, was organised by Bob
Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for Ethiopia famine relief. It was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television
broadcasts of all time with an estimated 400 million viewers, across 60 countries, watching the live broadcast.
8. 1990’s
1990s - Princess Diana
Arguably the TV highlight of the 90s came right in the middle of the decade - the Panorama interview with Princess Diana (1995).
Watched by 15 million people, Diana talked frankly about her marriage to Prince Charles. Later in the decade, nineteen million people
would watch the funeral of Diana, at the time, the largest outside broadcast ever mounted by the BBC.
September 1995
• BBC Radio 1 reports on the start of digital radio. DAB was promoted heavily by the BBC, and as a result was taken up more rapidly in
the UK than anywhere else in Europe. BBC Research and Development provided much of the technology and systems to make DAB
happen. Interference free quality, and additional programme information are some of the benefits.
November 1997
• Jennie Bond introduces a report on the start of twenty four hour BBC news. The BBC’s first rolling TV news service was launched as
BBC News 24, and was the second 24 hour news service in Britain. Now available across a number of digital platforms the channel
continues to win awards for its hard hitting stories and investigations.
December 1997
• Lord Birt, then the Director-General of the BBC, was quick to recognise the real potential of the internet for public service
broadcasting. He sought the advice of young people working in the Corporation about which way the BBC should turn in the
fledgling online world. Following a trip to Silicon Valley in the United States, he drew up the blueprint for BBC Online.
September 1998
• The first BBC digital TV channel. BBC Choice included the BBC's first daily sports show, as well as extended coverage of music and
sporting events. One key attraction were the regular behind the scenes programmes which lifted the lid on the workings of a
number of BBC TV programmes. The channel ultimately mutated into BBC Three in 2003.
9. 2000’s
2000s - The digital revolution
• The digital revolution that started in the late 90s, neared part completion with the analogue TV switch off in 2012. Since the start of 21st century, digital BBC TV channels, and radio services have
increased, and HDTV has become the new standard. New services, such as Red Button, Connected Red Button, the BBC iPlayer, and 3D TV, continue to make a huge impact
May 2004
• Come Dancing returns as 'Strictly'. The original Come Dancing ran between 1949 and 1998, but only reached cult status when it was re-launched as Strictly Come Dancing in 2004. Placing well
known celebrities outside their comfort zone, and seeing them come through a tough competition and selection process has had people viewing in their millions.
July 2007
• Introducing the BBC iPlayer. By the mid-2000s, streaming technology had developed sufficiently to offer whole TV programmes online. Designed by BBC developers as a simple way of catching up
on missed programmes, without an additional fee to pay, the BBC iPlayer is a complement to conventional TV viewing.
September 2007
• BBC Pacific Quay – the first all-digital BBC centre. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown opens BBC Pacific Quay, accompanied by former BBC Director-General Mark Thompson. Officially opened
by the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The new building is a dynamic broadcasting centre and a benchmark in terms of state-of-the-art digital technology and production methods, across TV,
radio and online. All BBC Scotland's national broadcast output comes from here, including the popular Reporting Scotland and Sportscene.
March 2008
• BBC Arabic and BBC Persian Television – a new way forward. With dwindling numbers listening to shortwave radio, the BBC World Service radically shifted its focus to the Arab and Persian world.
BBC Arabic Television provided a solid news service, whilst BBC Persian Television focused on youth and current affairs.
November 2008
• BBC Redbutton 2008. Broadcast across all digital TV channels. BBC Red Button took its name directly from the red button viewers used to select the service on their TV remote controls. Video on
demand, the ability to answer quiz questions, and background programme information are just some of the features now on offer.
September 2010
• Super Hi-Vision pictures consisting of 4000 lines of picture information were first broadcast from London to Tokyo from BBC studios. The system, invented by Japanese broadcaster NHK, was
enthusiastically supported by the BBC during the London 2012 Olympic Games when selected events were shown in SHOVE on a giant screen at the BBC Radio Theatre. Many argue that watching
an SHV broadcast is just like being at a live event.
July 2011
• BBC News on what 3D means for Wimbledon. The 125th anniversary of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships was marked with the UK’s first live 3D coverage of the men's and ladies' singles finals.
The free-to-air broadcast on the BBC HD channel was available to anyone who had access to a 3D TV set and to HD channels, regardless of which digital TV provider they used.
