Popular misconceptions 1: looking back at "Broadcasting in the Seventies"

Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 3rd September 2013 at 15:46

Having read your comments on my recent series of posts about the move to all-digital radio, I thought it would be instructive to look at some of the documents that have lead to the broadcasting world we have today.

In the coming days I will be looking at Greg Dyke's "Making It Happen" from a 2002, the John Birt-era "Extending Choice". Today, we start with "Broadcasting in the Seventies".

As I can't find a copy anywhere else online for you to read it yourself, you can read the whole thing here Broadcasting in the Seventies - Digital radio - ukfree.tv.

Broadcasting in the Seventies was published by the BBC as an insert to the internal newspaper Aerial back in 1969. I came after a long period of decline for radio: the number of "radio only" licences had fallen back to the level of 1927. Pirate pop-music radio, playing "gramophone records" had forced the BBC into launching Radio 1, but Radio 2 and 4 were still the mixed-genre Light Programme and Home Service and Radio 3 was half the "Music Programme" and partly "The Third".



For those who believe that management consultants are a new thing, it is instructive to know the report was compiled assisted by McKinsey & Co, and somewhat alarming to know that the public had to be told The BBC is no more free than the private citizen to live beyond its income. Ends must be tailored to means.. The start point was

...there is the fundamental change in the nature of the radio audience. The millions who once listened of an evening to 'In Town Tonight' and 'Itma' [It's that Man Again] now watch television. Radio's peak hours have moved to breakfast time and lunch time.... In television, the pattern is clear: BBC-1, BBC-2, and the new dimension of colour spreading across both.

But experience, both in this country and abroad, suggests that many listeners now expect radio to be based more on a different principle - that of the specialised network, offering a continuous stream of one particular type of programme, meeting one particular interest. One channel might offer pop, another serious music, another talk programmes, and so on. ... Already BBC radio has moved in this direction, first with the Music Programme, then with the all-pop Radio One.

and so...

convert Radio Two to another all-music network, presenting all that is covered by the umbrella of 'light music' - anything from Sinatra to Lehar. (It is sometimes suggested this should be called the 'sweet' music channel, but light music offers more variety and continuous saccharine.)

Back in 1969, classical music appeared on Radio 4:

Programmes originated on the Third invariably attract bigger audiences when repeated on Radio Four. An evening concert of standard classical music will win more listeners on Radio Four than on the Third.

However, an Arts-only network "for minorities" was costing too much:

We have also had to consider finance. The Third costs much more per hour than any other network, yet it has by far the smallest audience.... On Radio Three the separate labels of Music Programme and Third Programme will disappear and the entire output of the network put under the single heading of Radio Three, which will concentrate wholly on music and the arts.

...the full rationalisation of Radio Four ... to make this largely a speech network. There will be a strong emphasis on news and topical programmes, but remembering those people who rely solely on radio, or prefer it, Radio Four will continue to carry general entertainment programmes.

The BBC didn't think in 1969 an all-news network was ... necessary. Auntie knows best, of course.

... we have decided against a network concentrating entirely on news. We believe that there are two different audience's for radio news, just as there are for newspapers. Some listeners want only brief, capsule news. Others want longer bulletins, followed by programmes amplifying the news and presenting comment.

Schools...

...education programmes could be separated from the national networks ... the vhf network now carrying Radio Four available for education ... we recognise that schools without vhf sets would need time to re-equip, so we would propose to delay the change until the autumn of 1971.

And there is always the new-fangled technology

Stereo: For radio, stereo is potentially as exciting a development as is colour for television. It adds a new dimension to listening. The present limited stereo output on Radio Three is successful, and an increase of standard classical music in the evenings should provide some opportunities for expanding it. There is, however, an insistent demand for stereo to be extended to other networks and to more parts of the country. It would be idle to pretend that at present, there is much chance of this, but it would be relatively simple to equip local radio stations to transmit in stereo and we are studying other ways of doing more to meet one of radio's long-term priorities.

However, local radio is seen as very necessary.

We have put forward to the Postmaster General a provisional scheme for expanding our local network to about forty stations, which would reach nearly 90 per cent of the population of England. These stations would basically have to be vhf services) and this would cut down the number of people able to listen to them until the sale of vhf sets expands.... As local stations develop in the main conurbations, we would propose in England to discontinue 'opt-outs' - periods when a separate region or area opts out of the main Radio Four service in order to transmit programmes just for its own part of the country. Local radio would dovetail with the new pattern for television outside London which will stem from our fresh proposals for the regions.

UHF TV is to bring better TV regions to England, which did happen

The boundaries were drawn some forty years ago not on any basis of community interest but to match the range of the transmitters. These are regions devised by engineers rather than sociologists. The Midland Region stretches from the Welsh border to the North Sea. The North Region has to cover Liverpool and Newcastle, Manchester and Hull, Lincoln and Carlisle. The South and West Region serves an area stretching from Land's End to Brighton ... replace them with eight smaller and more socially logical regions. These will be based on the existing regions and area centres: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich Plymouth, and Southampton. In the longer term, as money permits, we would hope to set up further centres, with one in the East Midlands as a first priority.

The question of frequencies was an important one. For those who wait for 99% DAB coverage, it is worth noting that in 1969

The medium-wave coverage on Radio One at present 86 per cent of the population by day, reduced by foreign interference to only 33 per cent at night ... reinforce the Radio One transmitter network to bring in another 4.5 million listeners by day and night

The present medium-wave coverage on Radio Four is 98 per cent by day and 70 per cent by night... raise the coverage to 99 per cent by day and 95 per cent by night

One thing that didn't happen was...

leave Radio Three on vhf only. Such a high-quality output is, in fact, best heard on vhf, but we recognise that, in the short term, some listeners would be deprived if it were taken off the medium wave

Back to Finance and I never realised you ever needed a car radio licence...

It is estimated that the BBC is ... a million from failure of people to pay their car radio licence fees.

And it is almost shocking to hear that the BBC has to consider

...seeking agreement to use more gramophone records. We also propose to repeat our own musical broadcasts

And concludes

On one side must be set: the dispersal of the three existing English Regions, the disbandment of several BBC orchestras, and a reduction in the use of outside musicians, some reduction in other radio staff and the possible loss of the medium wave from Radio Three and of part of the vhf from Radio Four; and a few may regret a shift in emphasis in Radio Three in the evening.

But on the credit side can be offered: a Radio Three offering more music while retaining some cultural speech programmes, greater separation of Radios One and Two, a more clearly defined speech network on Radio Four, the creation of eight new, more logical English regions and (we hope) some forty local radio stations, wider medium-wave coverage on Radios One and Four, and possibly a separate channel for education programmes.