Established on 18 October 1922, the BBC will shortly be celebrating its centenary. With a total staff count of over 22,000, operating in over 70 countries, the BBC remains the world’s largest public service broadcaster. From its earliest days, the organization has worked hard to fulfill its mission, laid down by Royal Charter, to “act in the public interest,” champion impartiality (whether it actually does this is beyond the scope of this general history), and “inform, educate and entertain.”
The organization’s portfolio includes eight interactive TV channels, ten radio networks, and more than 50 local TV and radio services. The BBC World Service, established in 1932, reaches a global weekly audience of 279 million and is considered by many to be one of the UK’s most important cultural contributions. From award-winning modern crime dramas such as Line of Duty to its beloved dramatization of classics such as Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, the BBC is recognized and respected throughout the world.
Key facts
- Established as a commercial broadcasting company in October 1922
- Under Royal Charter, became a public service broadcaster in 1927 and changed name to British Broadcasting Corporation.
- Began broadcasting the world’s first regular high-definition television service from Alexandra Palace, London, on 2 November 1936
- The broadcast of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 became the first time ever that a coronation of a British monarch had been viewed by the public.
- In 1997 the BBC launched their first ever 24-hour rolling news channel along with BBC Online.
History
In October 1922, a small group of wireless manufacturers were granted a broadcasting license by the General Post Office. The jointly owned commercial enterprise was named the British Broadcasting Company, and early broadcasts were aired out of Marconi’s London-based studio. Later the same year, John Reith was appointed as the first General Manager.
The company published its first edition of The Radio Times, the world’s first publication committed to radio (and later radio and TV). The publication listed the schedule of programs as well as technical advice and advertising. The publication is still in circulation but was sold by the BBC in 2011.
During the 1926 General Strike, the cessation of the printed press meant that, for a brief time, the company’s broadcasts became the only source of news for many people. The British Government was keen to utilize the medium to reach the public, and for the first time, the independence of the company was challenged.
In 1927, under the Royal Charter, the British Broadcasting Corporation was launched. The charter laid out the main goals and responsibilities of the new corporation, and Reith became the first Director-General. Since the days of the Royal Charter and becoming a corporation, the BBC has been funded by consumer license fees (first on radios and then eventually on televisions), enabling the service to not rely on advertising. Protective of the kind of content that was to be broadcast, Reith kept a close eye on what programs would be broadcast and what events would receive coverage. Meanwhile, engineer John Logie Baird had been experimenting with television. By the end of 1929, utilizing a mechanical scanning disk, Laird had successful broadcast the first black and white images.
By 1932, a change of premises was needed, and the corporation moved into Broadcasting House, the UK’s first purpose-built radio broadcasting building. Later, in December that year, King George V would become the first British monarch to use radio when he delivered his Christmas address to the Empire, inaugurating what would become the Empire Service (later the BBC World Service).
In 1935 the BBC began leasing the East Wing of the Alexandra Palace in West London. From this site, a competition was begun between Lairds scanning disk method and Marconi-EMI’s Emitron camera to see which produced the better television system. The Marconi-EMI system won the competition, and the BBC began broadcasting the world’s first regular high-definition television service from the palace on 2 November 1936.
The BBC’s first foreign language service was launched in 1938 after hiring the Egyptian-born Ahmad Effendi, a much-loved presenter throughout the Arab-speaking world.
Since the end of the 1930s, the Langham Hotel, one of London’s most luxurious hotels, acted as an extra support facility for the BBC. Situated opposite Broadcasting House, numerous wartime radio programs were broadcast from the hotel, including by US broadcaster Edward Murrow and French General Charles De Gaulle. In 1940 both buildings sustained damage during the Luftwaffe bombing raids.
At the height of World War II, the BBC launched what would become one of its most well-known radio programs – Desert Island Discs. Still aired to this day, celebrities would pretend to be ‘cast away’ on a desert island with nothing but eight musical tracks, one book, and one luxury item. The novel concept behind the show proved instantly popular with listeners who enjoyed getting to know the celebrities of the day, and their musical tastes, more intimately.
The variety of programs and coverage continued to reach new heights throughout the 1940s. Still produced more than 75 years later, Women’s Hour would be the first radio program dedicated to issues affecting women at the time.
Although the 1950s was a ‘golden’ era for television, radio continued to entertain more people, and few radio programs have been more successful than The Archers. Set in the make-believe rural village of Ambridge, the show follows the life of a number of characters in the farming community and remains the longest-running soap opera in the world.
Back in the world of television, Britain and much of the world were awe-struck to witness the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Friends and family around the country gathered together around available television sets to watch a sovereign be crowned for the first time. By the end of the decade, another iconic piece of British broadcasting occurred when the children’s program Blue Peter was launched.
As the BBC continued to grow, new premises were required to cater for the growing number of television programs being created. In 1960, one of the world’s first ever purpose-built television centers was erected in West London. The building was the brain-child of architect Graham Dawbarn and was simply named The Television Centre. The building would become the BBC’s headquarters until 2013 and world-famous series such as Fawlty Towers, Doctor Who, and Strictly Come Dancing, were all made at the centre.
In 1967 BBC Two would become the first full-color television service any anywhere in the world, and the first event to be broadcast in color would aptly be one of Britain’s annual sporting highlight – Wimbledon!
The world would watch one of the great documentary presenters of all time present Life on Earth in January 1979. Presented by David Attenborough, the program bought the natural world in to people’s living rooms more intimately than ever before. The broadcaster and natural historian would go on to present landmark nature documentaries including, the Emmy award winning series Planet Earth as well as the Blue Planet series.
The BBC’s coverage of the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles in 1980 enchanted audiences around the world. The broadcast was watched by an estimated 750 million viewers in 74 countries. Later that decade, BBC journalist Michael Buerk along with cameraman, Mohammed Amin, delivered one of the twentieth century’s landmark pieces of modern journalism. Reporting from Northern Ethiopia, Buerk’s coverage of the ‘biblical famine’ was picked up by over 400 stations worldwide. The coverage would go on to stir Bob Geldof and Midge Uhr to create the charity Band Aid, which was followed by the famous ‘Live Aid – Free the World’ concert a year later on 13 July 1985.
The 1990s saw the BBC venture into the digital world with the creation of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) for radio. One of the largest audiences for the BBC occurred in 1995 when the journalist Martin Bashir landed a Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. Just two years later, Diana would be killed in a tragic car accident. Only in 2021 did the news break that the journalist had falsified documents and lied to try and persuade Diana and her family to give the interview.
In 1997, the BBC launched its first 24 hour rolling news channel, and by December of that year the pioneering BBC Online was launched. At the turn of the millennium, the BBC continued to invest in digital technologies, and by July 2007, BBC iPlayer was born. In 2010, the first ever Super Hi-Vision (SHV) pictures, invented by NHK of Japan, were broadcast from a London-based BBC studio to Japan. This technology was also used to film parts of the London 2012 Olympic games, the world’s first ever genuinely digital Olympic games.
The BBC World News and BBC.com services act as a commercially funded branch of the organization. BBC World News broadcasts in English to approximately 300 million households throughout 200 countries and territories. As the BBC approaches its centenary in 2022, this truly British institution continues to produce and broadcast award-winning dramas, documentaries, and news reports.
Places to visit
Numerous BBC studio tours are available throughout the UK (currently closed due to Covid-19). This includes the MediaCityUK site (Manchester), home of Radio 5 live, CBBC, BBC Sport and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. You can also make your own news and weather bulletin at this interactive studio. Updates and bookings are available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/tours
You can sign up to be a contestant or contributor for many current BBC shows by visiting https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/take-part
The headquarters of the BBC continues to be Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA. Tours are no longer available at the site.
A Greater London Council blue plaque is located at Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London N22 7AY – considered by many to be the home of modern television. The BBC Tower is still standing.
