Broadcasting Britain: 100 Years of the BBC

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Print of Gladstone Murray, Assistant Controller of the BBC and former Chief of Canadian Broadcasting, in 1936. National Portrait Gallery, CC BY-NC-ND Ever since, the BBC has been a story of innovation, creativity and resilience. It has survived crisis, conflict and changing technology. In almost every decade, it has been written off, debated and loved. More than anything, its survival is down to the extraordinary people at the BBC who care deeply about the power of truth and great storytelling. Sometimes, these people were able to effect fundamental and lasting changes within the BBC, helping it adapt to the challenges that it faced. But often, the BBC chewed them up and spat them out. From its earliest days, the BBC was newsworthy, and the resulting conflicts sometimes attracted significant attention from newspaper columnists, particularly from those sections of the press that opposed the idea of public broadcasting. Reithian values

The first example of election coverage: On election day, 15th Nov 1922, every effort was made not to interfere with the newspapers, with no broadcasting before 5pm or beyond 1am, and Sir William Noble, Chairman of the BBCo (British Broadcasting Company) was quoted in a newspaper saying: “We hope that many people will take up broadcasting who otherwise might not take a great interest in the world's news, and that, by giving them a brief synopsis of events, we shall whet their appetite for news and thus induce them to buy more newspapers.” The first sport commentary: Mr E. S. King, secretary of the West Ham United Football Club (that year's English Cup finalists with Bolton Wanderers), gave the first sports talk on, "Our prospects Wembley", on 20 April 1923. This weekend marks the start of the BBC’s centenary, and with it a year of special programming across all our channels and platforms. We will be celebrating one hundred years at the heart of British national life, but also a century at the core of one of our most precious sectors: our wonderful creative industries.Collins was increasingly frustrated by the BBC’s refusal to make the development of television a priority, and management’s continued determination to focus resources on radio. BBC managers eventually agreed to his proposal that a director of television be appointed to the BBC’s top committee, the Management Board, to give the medium a more influential voice within the Corporation. However, instead of Collins, a less troublesome executive was appointed to that role, over Collins’ head. The internal politics of the BBC remained newsworthy: the Manchester Guardian reported Collins’ resignation on October 14, 1950. As he left the BBC, an enraged Collins announced to the press that he was unwilling to see the Corporation continue to subordinate television to “the colossus of sound broadcasting”. Programme listings from the very first day of broadcasting, 100 years ago today, and the year that followed are now available to view. The listings reveal an unfolding media revolution as the wireless became the mass media format of the age. Either way, he was about to be forced out when in 1936 he received the offer of running the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). We now know, from material in the BBC’s archives, that Reith agreed to keep the allegations about his behaviour quiet, and to let him take the Canadian job. In Canada, perhaps surprisingly given the way he had been treated, Murray proved a good friend to the BBC. He helped cement the links between British and Canadian broadcasting in the run-up to the second world war and in the crucial early years of that conflict, before further allegations concerning his drinking, expenses, and links with the British secret service led to his downfall. He was shunted into a job with an impressive title but no real power, and eventually left the CBC. He went on to run a public relations business and to act as a prominent anti-communist campaigner during the cold war. Rex Lambert: paranormal investigator

Former director general of the BBC, Sir Hugh Carleton Greene. National Portrait Gallery., CC BY-NC-ND BBC 100 will celebrate and reflect on the unique role the BBC plays in the lives of audiences across the UK as our much cherished national broadcaster from its creation right up to the present day." For fourth place, Robert was torn between Doctor Who (1963) and Blue Peter (1958). The former marked the beginning of one of the first massive TV brands, and the latter highlighted the importance of the BBC in growing citizenship amongst the nation’s children. AHRC’s programme of public engagement activity throughout 2022 saw arts and humanities researchers engage people with research about the history and future story of broadcasting in the UK. The BBC’s willingness to engage in satire and in more critical coverage of national politics also angered the Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, who ended up appointing Lord Hill of Luton as the BBC’s Chairman. Luton was the former chair of the Independent Television Authority, ITV’s governing body. David Attenborough was said to have commented that this “was like appointing Rommel to command the Eighth Army”. Greene soon left the BBC. All this pointed to a new trend, which would resurface again and again over the decades that followed: if the BBC was not willing or able to deal with its rebels, then the government would do so. Nonconformity in the age of social media

Hugh Carleton Greene and the culture wars

Today, as we follow in Reith’s footsteps, our focus is again on innovation and reforming the BBC to ensure it can keep delivering value to audiences in this new world. This means doubling down on where we are unique and precious: British storytelling, impartial journalism, areas such as education, local news and research and development. These things are made more, not less, relevant by the digital age. The Programme Index is a searchable database of 100 years of BBC TV and radio broadcast listings. The newly assembled listings provide the most comprehensive record available of the known programmes that went on air from November 1922 until the publication of the first Radio Times in September 1923.