100 years of the BBC
Home Cinema Choice|December 2022
Martin Pipe : revisits the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation, via technical innovations including colour TV, NICAM stereo, the iPlayer... and Ceefax
100 years of the BBC

The BBC began life a century ago, on October 18th 1922, and its arrival was partly down to an Australian opera singer called Dame Nellie Melba. The Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company had in 1920 broadcast Dame Nellie warbling from a station at its Chelmsford New Street Works. This was condemned as a waste of precious wavelengths by The General Post Office, which oversaw telegraphy at the time and considered it useful only for things like commercial shipping and military communications. But the genie had been let out...

Pressure from industry and radio enthusiasts (including 63 'wireless societies' representing more than 3,000 listeners) resulted in Marconi being allowed to resume entertainment broadcasts in 1922. Meanwhile, the GPO, mindful of the unregulated chaos that marked the nascent radio industry in the US, decided to issue a single broadcasting licence to a consortium of wireless manufacturers. 'British Broadcasting Company Ltd' was born, with shareholders including Marconi, Metropolitan-Vickers, GEC and Western Electric.

Establishing the BBC led to a reliable source of radio programmes for the country's enthusiasts (many of whom were technically proficient radio amateurs - 'hams'), and increased sales of sets and DIY kits.

Wireless, an ironic word for something that, at the high-end of the market, involved lab-like apparatus with glowing valves and large batteries, fed from a long aerial wire strung across the garden, could be an expensive hobby. Even the crudest form of receiver - the valve-less 'crystal set' - relied on headphones or telephone earpieces that cost around 25 shillings, approximately £100 today.

Esta historia es de la edición December 2022 de Home Cinema Choice.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición December 2022 de Home Cinema Choice.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE HOME CINEMA CHOICEVer todo
AV Avenger
Home Cinema Choice

AV Avenger

You should think twice before accepting an invitation to play Resident Evil 4 with spatial audio in a haunted prison, warns Steve May

time-read
2 minutos  |
May 2023
Catalogue classic Star Wars: Ep. VI - Return of the Jedi → Ultra HD Blu-ray, Disney
Home Cinema Choice

Catalogue classic Star Wars: Ep. VI - Return of the Jedi → Ultra HD Blu-ray, Disney

Forty years on from the movie's cinema release, Anton van Beek ponders what might have been if things had gone a little diff erently during the making of Return of the Jedi…

time-read
4 minutos  |
May 2023
Feedback
Home Cinema Choice

Feedback

Got an axe to grind? Need to comment on current tech? Want to share your knowledge with our readers? Team HCC is here to help

time-read
4 minutos  |
May 2023
M&K Sound V12
Home Cinema Choice

M&K Sound V12

TIME ON TEST: Three years REVIEWER: Steve Withers

time-read
4 minutos  |
May 2023
Sony 'bar demands to be upgraded
Home Cinema Choice

Sony 'bar demands to be upgraded

This well-specified Dolby Atmos soundbar may have a mid-range price tag, but you'll soon want to spend more, cautions Steve May

time-read
4 minutos  |
May 2023
Short and sweet
Home Cinema Choice

Short and sweet

Marantz's compact AV receiver returns with a new look and boosted features – Jamie Biesemans slips it into his AV rig

time-read
5 minutos  |
May 2023
Discreet delivery
Home Cinema Choice

Discreet delivery

A slim, stylish Scandinavian on-wall system impresses Mark Craven with its handling of the sweet stuff

time-read
5 minutos  |
May 2023
One project, two rooms
Home Cinema Choice

One project, two rooms

Dan Sait reports on a custom install where a JVC PJ/ Atmos system is joined by a stylish media den

time-read
2 minutos  |
May 2023
THE KING OF B RDA HOLLYWOOD
Home Cinema Choice

THE KING OF B RDA HOLLYWOOD

Three of his movies have taken over $2billon at the global box office, he's pioneered SFX and 3D technologies, and he's been to the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean. That's James Cameron by the way, not Anton van Beek

time-read
10+ minutos  |
May 2023
System selector!
Home Cinema Choice

System selector!

Given three similar budgets, Mark Craven, Steve May and John Archer assemble three different AV setups focused on movies, streaming and gaming

time-read
8 minutos  |
May 2023