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BBC Light Programme

December 30, 2022

The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the long wave frequency which had earlier been used – prior to the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 – by the National Programme.

BBC Light Programme
The Light Programme headquarters was at Broadcasting House in London
Country
United Kingdom
HeadquartersBroadcasting House, London, England
OwnerBBC
Launch date
29 July 1945 (1945-07-29)
Dissolved29 September 1967 (1967-09-29)
LanguageEnglish
ReplacedBBC General Forces Programme
Replaced byBBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 1

The service was intended as a domestic replacement for the wartime General Forces Programme which had gained many civilian listeners in Britain as well as members of the British Armed Forces.

History

The long wave signal on 200 kHz/1500 metres was transmitted from Droitwich in the English Midlands (as it still is today for BBC Radio 4, although adjusted slightly to 198 kHz/1515 metres from 1 February 1988) and gave fairly good coverage of most of the United Kingdom, although a number of low-power medium wave transmitters (using 1214 kHz/247 metres) were added later to fill in local blank spots. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, the Light Programme (along with the BBC's two other national stations – the Home Service and the Third Programme) gradually became available on what was known at the time as VHF, as the BBC developed a network of local FM transmitters.

From its first day of broadcasting in 1945 until Monday 2 September 1957, the Light Programme would be on the air from 9.00am until midnight each day, apart from Sundays when it would come on the air at 8.00am until 11.00pm.

There was, however, a period of a year when the Light Programme was forced to end its broadcasting day one hour earlier than normal at 11.00pm. This commenced in mid-February 1947 as an effect from the appalling winter of 1946-1947 which saw a fuel shortage in the country with the government enforcing electricity saving measures, one of which was losing one hour of broadcasting per day from the Light Programme. Even after the fuel shortage had ended by spring 1947, the 11.00pm closedown each night continued as BBC Radio found itself in financial problems and needed to save money. The midnight closedown of the Light Programme resumed one year later from Sunday 11 April 1948.[1][2] The long-running soap opera The Archers was first heard nationally on the Light Programme on New Year's Day 1951,[3] although a week-long pilot version had been broadcast on the Midlands Home Service in 1950.

From Monday 2 September 1957, the Light Programme's broadcasting hours would start to increase, with a new early morning start time of 7.00am until midnight, later moving to 6.30am from Monday 29 September 1958. In 1964, broadcasting hours were increased even more, with a new morning start time of 5.30am from Monday 31 August. Up until September 1964, the Light Programme would always end its broadcasting day at midnight; however this changed on Sunday 27 September 1964, when a new closedown time of 2.00am was introduced.[4][5][6][7]

The Light Programme closed down for the last time at 2.03am on Friday 29 September 1967. At 5.30am, it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and was also replaced by BBC Radio 1 at 7.00am.

Programming

Some programmes broadcast from the Light Programme still continue today, such as Friday Night is Music Night, Junior Choice, The Archers, Pick of the Pops, Desert Island Discs and Woman's Hour. Other programmes included:

Presenters

References

  1. ^ [1][dead link]
  2. ^ [2][dead link]
  3. ^ Reynolds, Gillian (24 August 1996). . The Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014.
  4. ^ "Light Programme - 26 September 1964 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Light Programme - 2 September 1957 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Light Programme - 29 September 1958 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ^ "Light Programme - 29 July 1945 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.

External links

  • Radio Rewind – The 1500m Light Programme

December 30, 2022
light, programme, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources BBC Light Programme news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967 when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1 It opened on 29 July 1945 taking over the long wave frequency which had earlier been used prior to the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 by the National Programme BBC Light ProgrammeThe Light Programme headquarters was at Broadcasting House in LondonCountryUnited KingdomHeadquartersBroadcasting House London EnglandOwnerBBCLaunch date29 July 1945 1945 07 29 Dissolved29 September 1967 1967 09 29 LanguageEnglishReplacedBBC General Forces ProgrammeReplaced byBBC Radio 2BBC Radio 1The service was intended as a domestic replacement for the wartime General Forces Programme which had gained many civilian listeners in Britain as well as members of the British Armed Forces Contents 1 History 2 Programming 3 Presenters 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditThe long wave signal on 200 kHz 1500 metres was transmitted from Droitwich in the English Midlands as it still is today for BBC Radio 4 although adjusted slightly to 198 kHz 1515 metres from 1 February 1988 and gave fairly good coverage of most of the United Kingdom although a number of low power medium wave transmitters using 1214 kHz 247 metres were added later to fill in local blank spots Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s the Light Programme along with the BBC s two other national stations the Home Service and the Third Programme gradually became available on what was known at the time as VHF as the BBC developed a network of local FM transmitters From its first day of broadcasting in 1945 until Monday 2 September 1957 the Light Programme would be on the air from 9 00am until midnight each day apart from Sundays when it would come on the air at 8 00am until 11 00pm There was however a period of a year when the Light Programme was forced to end its broadcasting day one hour earlier than normal at 11 00pm This commenced in mid February 1947 as an effect from the appalling winter of 1946 1947 which saw a fuel shortage in the country with the government enforcing electricity saving measures one of which was losing one hour of broadcasting per day from the Light Programme Even after the fuel shortage had ended by spring 1947 the 11 00pm closedown each night continued as BBC Radio found itself in financial problems and needed to save money The midnight closedown of the Light Programme resumed one year later from Sunday 11 April 1948 1 2 The long running soap opera The Archers was first heard nationally on the Light Programme on New Year s Day 1951 3 although a week long pilot version had been broadcast on the Midlands Home Service in 1950 From Monday 2 September 1957 the Light Programme s broadcasting hours would start to increase with a new early morning start time of 7 00am until midnight later moving to 6 30am from Monday 29 September 1958 In 1964 broadcasting hours were increased even more with a new morning start time of 5 30am from Monday 31 August Up until September 1964 the Light Programme would always end its broadcasting day at midnight however this changed on Sunday 27 September 1964 when a new closedown time of 2 00am was introduced 4 5 6 7 The Light Programme closed down for the last time at 2 03am on Friday 29 September 1967 At 5 30am it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and was also replaced by BBC Radio 1 at 7 00am Programming EditSome programmes broadcast from the Light Programme still continue today such as Friday Night is Music Night Junior Choice The Archers Pick of the Pops Desert Island Discs and Woman s Hour Other programmes included The Al Read Show Appointment with Fear The Archers 1951 1967 The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride 1965 Beyond Our Ken Billy Cotton Band Show Breakfast Special The Clitheroe Kid Dick Barton Special Agent Does the Team Think Desert Island Discs 1945 1946 Easy Beat 1960 1967 Educating Archie Family Favourites 1945 1967 Friday Night Is Music Night 1953 1967 From Us to You 1964 The Goon Show repeats from the Home Service Hancock s Half Hour Have a Go Housewives Choice Ignorance is Bliss I m Sorry I ll Read That Again It s That Man Again repeats from the Home Service Journey into Space 1953 1958 Junior Choice 1954 1967 Life with the Lyons Listen with Mother 1950 1964 Meet the Huggetts Movie Go Round Midday Spin Mrs Dale s Diary 1948 1967 Much Binding in the Marsh Music While You Work The Navy Lark Orbiter X Pick of the Pops 1955 1967 Parade of the Pops 1960 1967 The Public Ear Pop Go the Beatles 1963 Radio Newsreel Ray s a Laugh Richard Attenborough s Record Rendezvous Riders of the Range Round the Horne 1965 1967 Roundabout Saturday Club 1957 1967 Shadow of Sumuru The Showband Show Side by Side Sing Something Simple 1959 1967 The Sunday Hour 1945 1967 The Slide Sports Report Take It from Here Teenager s Turn Here We Go Top Gear 1964 1967 a music show unrelated to the car franchise Variety Bandbox Waterlogged Spa Welsh Rarebit Woman s Hour 1946 1967 Workers Playtime Home Service until September 1957 Your Hundred Best TunesPresenters EditBarry Alldis Marjorie Anderson Richard Attenborough 8 Tony Blackburn Tim Brinton Michael Brooke Desmond Carrington Sam Costa Bill Crozier Alan Dell Robert Dougall David Dunhill John Dunn Don Durbridge Simon Dee Franklin Engelmann Peter Fettes Alan Freeman Keith Fordyce Tim Gudgin Peter Haigh Colin Hamilton David Hamilton Paul Hollingdale David Jacobs Brian Matthew Jean Metcalfe Sandy MacPherson Roger Moffat Ray Moore Pete Murray Annie Nightingale Ray Orchard Robin Richmond Phillip Slessor Douglas Smith Ken Sykora David Symonds John Webster Roy Williams Bruce Wyndham Terry Wogan Jimmy YoungReferences Edit 1 dead link 2 dead link Reynolds Gillian 24 August 1996 William Smethurst the man who turned The Archers into a cult The Telegraph UK Archived from the original on 31 January 2014 Light Programme 26 September 1964 BBC Genome genome ch bbc co uk Light Programme 2 September 1957 BBC Genome genome ch bbc co uk Light Programme 29 September 1958 BBC Genome genome ch bbc co uk Light Programme 29 July 1945 BBC Genome genome ch bbc co uk Broadcast BBC Programme Index Genome ch bbc co uk External links EditRadio Rewind The 1500m Light ProgrammePortals United Kingdom BBC Radio Comedy Music 1950s 1960s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title BBC Light Programme amp oldid 1125329350, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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