BBC National Programme: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:45, 21 April 2021

Revision as of 10:18, 28 April 2021

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| image_size = 220

| image_alt = A photograph of Broadcasting House showing the art deco styling of the main facade. made from Portland stone

| caption = The BBC National Programme headquarters were at [[Broadcasting House]] in [[London]]

| typecountry = [[United =Kingdom]]

| country = [[United Kingdom]]

| motto =

| slogan =

| radiotransmitters = {{ubl|[[Droitwich transmitting station|Droitwich]] {{Frequency|200|kHz}}|[[Brookmans Park transmitting station|Brookmans Park]] {{Frequency|1149|kHz}}|[[Moorside Edge transmitting station|Moorside Edge]] {{Frequency|1149|kHz}}|[[Westerglen transmitting station|Westerglen]] {{Frequency|1149|kHz}}}}

| license_area =

| headquarters = [[Broadcasting House]], [[London]], UK

| broadcast_area =

| area =

| nation =

| regions =

| erp =

| owner = [[BBC]]

| key_people =

| launch_date = {{Start date|1930|03|09|df=y}}

| dissolved = {{End date|1939|08|31|df=y}}

| callsigns =

| callsign_meaning =

| language = [[English language|English]]

| replaced = 5XX

| replaced_by = [[BBC Home Service]]

| footnotes =

}}

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On 21 August 1927, the BBC opened a high-power medium wave transmitter at the [[Daventry transmitting station|Daventry 5GB]] site, to replace the existing local stations in the [[Midlands|English Midlands]]. That allowed the experimental longwave transmitter 5XX to provide a service programmed from [[London]] for the majority of the population. This came to be called the BBC National Programme.

By combining the resources of the local stations into one regional station in each area with a basic sustaining service from London, the BBC hoped to increase programme quality whilst also [[Centralization|centralising]] the management of the radio service, this was became known as "the regional scheme", and eventually resulted in the gradual extension [[1930s|throughout the decade]] of a separate [[BBC Regional Programme]].

The local stations were gradually either converted to regional relays or closed entirely and replaced by high-power Regional Programme transmitters. Some local studios were retained to provide for programming from specific areas within each region. Most transmitters also carried the BBC National Programme on a local frequency to supplement the longwave broadcasts from 5XX, initially these were on three separate frequencies in order to minimise interference,. but byBy 1939 as the Regional Programme network expanded, the three remaining medium wave transmitters – at [[Brookmans Park transmitting station|Brookmans Park]] (for [[Home counties|London and the South East]]), [[Moorside Edge transmitting station|Moorside Edge]] (for the [[Northern England|North]]), and [[Westerglen transmitting station|Westerglen]] (for [[Central Belt|central Scotland]]) – were all using {{Frequency|1149|kHz}}.<ref name=MDS>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Mike |url=http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio.html |title=How It All Began |department=UK Radio: A Brief History - Part 1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611090521/http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio.html |website=MDS975 |date=2010 |archive-date=2011-06-11 |access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref>

===Broadcasting hours===

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Upon the outbreak of [[World War II]], the BBC closed both the Regional and National Programmes and replaced them with a single channel known as the [[BBC Home Service]]. The main transmitter network was synchronised between just two groups, using 668 and 767 kHz, each of which could be turned off during [[Strategic bombing during World War II|air raids]] to prevent their signals being used as [[Radio beacon|navigational beacons]] (with listeners required to retune in such an event to a low-powered single-frequency network on {{Frequency|1474|kHz}}).

On 29 July 1945, within 12 weeks of [[Victory in Europe Day]], the BBC reactivated the Regional Programme, but retained the name "BBC Home Service" (until 30 September 1967 as the station became [[BBC Radio 4]]). On the same date, the [[BBC Light Programme]] was launched, by taking over the style and much of the function, as an entertainment channel, of the [[BBC Forces Programme]] (which had begun broadcasting on 7 January 1940), as well as the [[Droitwich transmitting station|Droitwich]] {{Frequency|200|kHz}} longwave frequency which had been used by the pre-war National Programme.

==See also==

{{Portal|BBC}}

* [[BBC Radio]]

* [[Timeline of the BBC]]

* [[List of BBC radio stations]]