BBC Regional Programme

BBC Broadcasting House in London.

The BBC Regional Programme was a UK radio network which operated from the end of the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

Foundation

When the British Broadcasting Company first began transmissions on 14 November 1922 from the station 2LO in the Strand, Westminster, which it had inherited from the Marconi Company (one of the six commercial companies which created the BBC), the technology did not exist either for national coverage or for joint programming between transmitters. Whilst it was possible to combine large numbers of trunk telephone lines to link transmitters for individual programmes, the process was expensive and not encouraged by the General Post Office as it tied up large parts of the telephone network. The stations that followed the establishment of 2LO in London were therefore autonomously programmed using local talent and facilities.

By May 1923, simultaneous broadcasting was technically possible, at least between main transmitters and relay stations, but the quality was not felt to be high enough to provide a national service or regular simultaneous broadcasts.

In 1924, it was felt that technical standards had improved enough for London to start to provide the majority of the output, cutting the local stations back to providing items of local interest.

Original local stations

Each of these stations broadcast at approximately 1 kW.

Airdate	Station ID	City	Initial Frequency
14 November 1922	2LO	London	822 kHz
15 November 1922	5IT	Birmingham	626 kHz
15 November 1922	2ZY	Manchester	794 kHz
24 December 1922	5NO	Newcastle upon Tyne	743 kHz
13 February 1923	5WA	Cardiff	850 kHz
6 March 1923	5SC	Glasgow	711 kHz
10 October 1923	2BD	Aberdeen	606 kHz
17 October 1923	6BM	Bournemouth	777 kHz
16 November 1923	2FL	Sheffield	980 kHz
28 March 1924	5PY	Plymouth	887 kHz
14 September 1924	2BE	Belfast	682 kHz

Relay stations

Each of these stations broadcast at approximately 120 W

Airdate	Station ID	City	Relay of	Frequency
1 May 1924	2EH	Edinburgh	5SC	914 kHz
11 June 1924	6LV	Liverpool	2ZY	906 kHz
8 July 1924	2LS	Leeds and Bradford	2ZY	935 kHz
15 August 1924	6KH	Kingston-upon-Hull	2ZY	896 kHz
16 September 1924	5NG	Nottingham	2ZY	920 kHz
9 November 1924	2DE	Dundee	2BD	952 kHz
21 November 1924	6ST	Stoke-on-Trent	2ZY	996 kHz
12 December 1924	5SX	Swansea	5WA	622 kHz

The Regional Scheme

On 21 August 1927, the BBC opened a high power mediumwave transmitter at the Daventry 5GB site, to replace the existing local stations in the 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 centralising the management of the radio service. This was known as The Regional Scheme.

The local transmitters were gradually either converted to a regional service relay or closed entirely and replaced by high power regional broadcasts. 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, Scotland receiving a modified service known as the "Scottish National Programme".

Regional transmitters

Airdate	Transmitter	Region	Initial frequency	Frequency in 1939
21 August 1927	Daventry (a)	Midland	767 kHz
21 October 1929	Brookmans Park (b)	Basic Regional Programme (London)	842 kHz	877 kHz
17 May 1931	Moorside Edge	North	626 kHz	668 kHz
13 September 1931	Westerglen	Scottish	797 kHz	767 kHz
28 May 1933	Washford (c)	West	968 kHz	1050 kHz
17 February 1935	Droitwich	Midland	1013 kHz	1013 kHz
20 March 1936	Lisnagarvey	Northern Ireland (opt-out from North)	977 kHz	977 kHz
12 October 1936	Burghead	Scottish (for northern Scotland)	767 kHz	767 kHz
1 February 1937	Penmon	Welsh (West and Wales until 4 July)	804 kHz	804 kHz
4 July 1937	Washford	Welsh	804 kHz	804 kHz
19 October 1937	Stagshaw	North East and Cumbria (opt-out from North)	1122 kHz	1122 kHz
14 June 1939	Clevedon	West	1474 kHz	1474 kHz
14 June 1939	Start Point	West	1050 kHz	1050 kHz

(a) Until 16 February 1935.

(b) The Brookmans Park transmitter covered London, South East England, and much of East Anglia. However, as the sustaining service for the rest of the network, the London programme was not normally referred to as such on-air or in the Radio Times, but simply as the "Regional Programme" (internally, "the basic Regional programme").

(c) Until 13 June 1939.

Closure

Upon the outbreak of World War II, the BBC closed the Regional Programme and combined it with the National Programme to form a single channel known as the BBC Home Service. The former transmitters of the Regional Programme continued to be used to broadcast this service, but their frequencies were changed and synchronized in order to allow them all to transmit on just two wavelengths (668 and 767 kHz) which, in the event of air raids, could be turned off in sequence to prevent their signals being used as navigational beacons by enemy aircraft.

On 29 July 1945, within 12 weeks of Victory in Europe Day, the BBC reintroduced a regional service, but kept the name "BBC Home Service". The transmitters and frequencies which had been used prewar by the National Programme (the most powerful of which was 200 kHz longwave) were transferred on the same date to a new BBC Light Programme.

Inheritance

Both the National Programme and the Regional Programme provided a mixed mainstream radio service. Whilst the two services provided different programming, allowing listeners a choice, they were not streamed to appeal to different audiences, rather, they were intended to appeal to a single national audience. While using the same transmitters, the National Programme broadcast significantly more speech and classical music than its successor, the Light Programme. Similarly, the Regional Programme broadcast much more light and dance music than its successor, the Home Service.

References

• Various authors The B.B.C. Year-book 1933 London: British Broadcasting Corporation 1932
• Various authors BBC Year Book 1947 London: British Broadcasting Corporation 1947
• Graham, Russ J A local service Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, undated; accessed 5 February 2006
• Graham, Russ J A new lease of life Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, undated; accessed 5 February 2006
• Groves, Paul History of radio transmission part 1: 1922 - 1967 Frequency Finder, undated; accessed 5 February 2006
• Paulu, Burton Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 1967
• McCarthy, Clive Development of the BBC AM Transmitter Network

Further reading

• Briggs, Asa History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom Oxford:Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0-19-212930-9

External links

• UK radio history