TURBULENT 30s
The Blattnerphone, invented in 1931 by Louis Blattner, was the first device capable of recording sound on tape employed by the BBC. It used 6mm steel tape – good enough for voice, but not music. Spools were large and editing was done by soldering the metal tape. It was in 1934 that the iconic BBC Type A Microphone first surfaced. Commercially available mics were expensive in the thirties, so the BBC worked with the Marconi Company to develop its own model. The Type A, continually refined over the years, became the classic BBC microphone, as seen in numerous period dramas and films. In 1936, the BBC became the first broadcaster in the world to provide a regular ‘high-definition’ television service. Drama, sport and cartoons all featured in this. The outbreak of war in 1939 brought programmes to a halt, however. After only six months of regular TV programming, the BBC took its live cameras on location to its first ever outside broadcast – for King George VI’s coronation. The transmission was a surprising success, and few technical problems were experienced. Recording technology didn’t exist at the time, so images of the event that the BBC has in its archives were actually filmed from a television screen at home.
FANTASTIC 50s
The first daily news programme aired on BBC TV in 1954. These kept the newsreader out of vision, with only still images and maps. Longer news reports were broadcast in cinema- style newsreels. The first Eurovision Song Contest came from Switzerland in 1956, with the BBC providing technical support. Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was watched live by over 20 million people in the UK.
FEROCIOUS 40s
This was a notable decade for the BBC, due to its landmark moments of wartime broadcasting. In September 1943, a BBC war correspondent and recording engineer boarded a Lancaster bomber to capture what became a historically important wartime report, revealing the true horror of a night- time raid over Nazi Germany. The first official announcement of the D-Day Normandy beach landings was also broadcast in 1944. Held in Wembley in 1948, the BBC televised the Olympics for the first time. This required an unprecedented outside broadcast operation, starting with the opening ceremony on 29 July. The BBC provided broadcasting facilities for 61 nations, allowing the first Olympic Games following the Second World War to be seen and heard globally.
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REMEMBERING SHEILA BORRETT
In 1933, Sheila Borrett was employed by the BBC after a campaign to recruit a female announcer. She was successful because of her low-pitched voice, but after three months was removed from the position after the BBC received thousands of complaints from listeners uncomfortable hearing a woman announcer.
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