2. • October 1922
• Where it all started - BBC Radio
• 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.
3. • September 1923
• The first edition of The Radio Times
• The first edition of The Radio Times listed
the few programmes on offer, 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 most popular listing
magazines.
4. • February 1924
• Greenwich Time Signal (GTS) - the 'pips’
• Invented by the Astronomer Royal Sir Frank
Watson Dyson, and the Director General of
the BBC John Reith, the six short 'pips' were
designed to mark the precise start of every
hour on BBC radio. Today the GTS is heard
on BBC Radio 4, and other BBC networks.
Time signals based on the same principle
exist in other countries.
5. • November 1929
• John Logie Baird tests television
• Using BBC frequencies, John Logie Baird
broadcast some of his first experimental
television broadcasts from studios near
Covent Garden in London. Pictures were in
black and white, created by mechanical
means, and flickered, consisting of just 30
lines definition.
6. • May 1932
• Broadcasting House opens and changes radio forever
• 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.nd 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.
7. • December 1932
• King George V addresses the Empire
• 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 BBC World
Service, and the King voice was heard
for the first time by millions
simultaneously.
8. • 1934
• The 'Type A' Microphone
• 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
9. • November 1936
• The BBC Television Service opens
• The BBC was the first broadcaster in
the world to provide a regular high
definition television service.
Programmes we would expect to see
today such as drama, sport, outside
broadcasts, and cartoons all featured,
but not for long. The outbreak of war in
1939 brought programmes to a sudden
halt.
10. • May 1937
• The BBC first television outside
broadcast
• 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.
11. • 1938
• First foreign language broadcast - Arabic
• Announcer Ahmad Kamal Sourour Effendi
was recruited from the Egytpian radio service
as the voice of the BBC 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.
