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The Listener (magazine)

January 10, 2023

This article is about the British magazine. For the New Zealand magazine, see New Zealand Listener.

The Listener was a weekly magazine established by the BBC in January 1929 which ceased publication in 1991. The entire digitised archive was made available for purchase online to libraries, educational and research institutions in 2011.[1]

The Listener
CategoriesCulture
FrequencyWeekly
First issue16 January 1929 (1929-01-16)
Final issue3 January 1991
CompanyBBC Magazines
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based inLondon
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0024-4392

It was first published on 16 January 1929, under the editorship of Richard S. Lambert, and was developed as a medium of record for the reproduction of broadcast talks. It also previewed major literary and musical broadcasts, reviewed new books, and printed a selected list of the more intellectual broadcasts for the coming week.

Its published aim was to be "a medium for intelligent reception of broadcast programmes by way of amplification and explanation of those features which cannot now be dealt with in the editorial columns of the Radio Times". The title reflected the fact that at the time the BBC broadcast via radio only.

(The BBC version of The Listener was preceded by another magazine with the same title which was the Journal of the Wireless League.)

The first issue was published as a four-page insert in the Wireless World magazine on 24 March 1926. The Listener was described as The Journal of the Wireless League and was edited by Prof. A. M. Low. A comment from the BBC was included: "The B.B.C. welcomes The Listener. We have always before us the need for constant progress and we gladly listen to constructive criticism and help from the large body of listeners you represent. The Listener should be a milestone in the advance of British Broadcasting."

History

The Newspaper Proprietors' Association considered its launch to be "an illegitimate stretching of official activity" and, after consultation between Reith and the Prime Minister, a number of compromises were agreed to, including an upper limit of 10% original contributed material not related to broadcasting. Another compromise was a limit to the amount of advertising it could carry.[2]

It came to be seen as one of a trio of weekly magazines, the other two being The Spectator and the New Statesman, though it was distinguished from them by not being associated with a political party. The management of the other two magazines were occasionally critical of what they saw as the privileged financial position of their subsidised rival.

Above all, The Listener represented the BBC's cultural mission (strongly emphasised by John Reith). It gradually declined after 1960 as British society changed, the BBC became more plural, and other sources of information became more readily available.

The first editor, Richard S. Lambert, left in 1939 after successfully suing Sir Cecil Levita for slander over allegations that he was unfit for his job because of his credulity in believing in Gef, the talking mongoose.

1980s & early 1990s

Following the report of the Peacock Committee in 1986, all the BBC’s commercial activities, including The Listener, were moved into BBC Enterprises Limited. Management was now mainly answerable for the magazine’s commercial performance rather than its literary standards.[citation needed]

In 1987 The Listener was spun out to a new company jointly owned by the BBC and rival broadcaster ITV. Seeing The Listener’s eclecticism as a lack of focus, the new company appointed Alan Coren from Punch as editor in 1987 to try to establish a clearer identity as a humorous weekly, moving slightly away from the more intellectual and artistic aspects for which the magazine had also been known.

The attempt did not work, perhaps because the change of direction alienated subscribers who had valued the eclecticism, and the company replaced Coren with Peter Fiddick in 1989. In 1990 ITV pulled out of the joint deal, the BBC found itself unable to support it on its own, and the last issue of The Listener was published on 3 January 1991.[3][4]

2010s

In 2011 the magazines were scanned[1] for digitally preserved archiving. Issues are available via the educational publisher Gale,[5] behind a paywall.

Contributors

In its early decades The Listener attracted celebrated contributors including H. E. Bates, E. M. Forster, T. S. Eliot, Julian Huxley, George Orwell, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, G. K. Chesterton, Herbert Read, Hans Keller and John Kenneth Galbraith. It also provided an important platform for new writers and poets. W. H. Auden, Edwin Muir, Christopher Isherwood, Stephen Spender, Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin all had early works published in The Listener. Later, regular columnists included John Cole, Stephen Fry and Roy Hattersley. Barry Fantoni provided the magazine with cartoons and illustrations for twenty-one years.

Crossword

The Listener crossword puzzle, introduced in 1930, is generally regarded as the most difficult cryptic crossword to appear in a national weekly. It survived the closure of The Listener and now appears in The Times on a Saturday, along with other puzzles and game articles on the last four pages of the "Saturday Review" section.

Solvers are invited to send in their solutions, with each of three randomly drawn correct solutions winning a prize of a book provided by the sponsors, Chambers. An annual list of statistics is also compiled for regular solvers to compare their performances. In most years only a handful of solvers are able to complete and submit all 52 puzzles correctly. The leading solver each year is awarded the Solver Silver Salver, and the all-correct solvers vote for the best puzzle of the year — the setter of which is awarded the Ascot Gold Cup.[6]

Editors

Arts and literary editors included J. R. Ackerley 1935–1959, and Anthony Thwaite. Assistant Editors included Janet Adam Smith 1930–1935.

References

  1. ^ a b Kiss, Jemima (31 March 2011). "BBC Launches Online Archive of The Listener Magazine". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2011. [...] all 3,197 issues are to be made available online as part of a major new digitisation project. Initially due to be opened to universities, schools, libraries and research institutions, BBC Worldwide has spent 18 months collaborating with digital archive specialists Cengage Learning to scan and index [...]
  2. ^ The London Mercury, Vol. XIX No. 112
  3. ^ "Timeline". Magforum. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ^ https://thetvroom.com/on-this-day-in-tv-history/[dead link]
  5. ^ "The Listener Historical Archive". Gale. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Listener Crossword Awards". Retrieved 2 October 2012.

External links

  • Official website for The Listener Crossword
  • A scan of the first issue of the magazine

January 10, 2023
listener, magazine, this, article, about, british, magazine, zealand, magazine, zealand, listener, listener, weekly, magazine, established, january, 1929, which, ceased, publication, 1991, entire, digitised, archive, made, available, purchase, online, librarie. This article is about the British magazine For the New Zealand magazine see New Zealand Listener The Listener was a weekly magazine established by the BBC in January 1929 which ceased publication in 1991 The entire digitised archive was made available for purchase online to libraries educational and research institutions in 2011 1 The ListenerCategoriesCultureFrequencyWeeklyFirst issue16 January 1929 1929 01 16 Final issue3 January 1991CompanyBBC MagazinesCountryUnited KingdomBased inLondonLanguageEnglishISSN0024 4392It was first published on 16 January 1929 under the editorship of Richard S Lambert and was developed as a medium of record for the reproduction of broadcast talks It also previewed major literary and musical broadcasts reviewed new books and printed a selected list of the more intellectual broadcasts for the coming week Its published aim was to be a medium for intelligent reception of broadcast programmes by way of amplification and explanation of those features which cannot now be dealt with in the editorial columns of the Radio Times The title reflected the fact that at the time the BBC broadcast via radio only The BBC version of The Listener was preceded by another magazine with the same title which was the Journal of the Wireless League The first issue was published as a four page insert in the Wireless World magazine on 24 March 1926 The Listener was described as The Journal of the Wireless League and was edited by Prof A M Low A comment from the BBC was included The B B C welcomes The Listener We have always before us the need for constant progress and we gladly listen to constructive criticism and help from the large body of listeners you represent The Listener should be a milestone in the advance of British Broadcasting Contents 1 History 1 1 1980s amp early 1990s 1 2 2010s 2 Contributors 3 Crossword 4 Editors 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditThe Newspaper Proprietors Association considered its launch to be an illegitimate stretching of official activity and after consultation between Reith and the Prime Minister a number of compromises were agreed to including an upper limit of 10 original contributed material not related to broadcasting Another compromise was a limit to the amount of advertising it could carry 2 It came to be seen as one of a trio of weekly magazines the other two being The Spectator and the New Statesman though it was distinguished from them by not being associated with a political party The management of the other two magazines were occasionally critical of what they saw as the privileged financial position of their subsidised rival Above all The Listener represented the BBC s cultural mission strongly emphasised by John Reith It gradually declined after 1960 as British society changed the BBC became more plural and other sources of information became more readily available The first editor Richard S Lambert left in 1939 after successfully suing Sir Cecil Levita for slander over allegations that he was unfit for his job because of his credulity in believing in Gef the talking mongoose 1980s amp early 1990s Edit Following the report of the Peacock Committee in 1986 all the BBC s commercial activities including The Listener were moved into BBC Enterprises Limited Management was now mainly answerable for the magazine s commercial performance rather than its literary standards citation needed In 1987 The Listener was spun out to a new company jointly owned by the BBC and rival broadcaster ITV Seeing The Listener s eclecticism as a lack of focus the new company appointed Alan Coren from Punch as editor in 1987 to try to establish a clearer identity as a humorous weekly moving slightly away from the more intellectual and artistic aspects for which the magazine had also been known The attempt did not work perhaps because the change of direction alienated subscribers who had valued the eclecticism and the company replaced Coren with Peter Fiddick in 1989 In 1990 ITV pulled out of the joint deal the BBC found itself unable to support it on its own and the last issue of The Listener was published on 3 January 1991 3 4 2010s Edit In 2011 the magazines were scanned 1 for digitally preserved archiving Issues are available via the educational publisher Gale 5 behind a paywall Contributors EditIn its early decades The Listener attracted celebrated contributors including H E Bates E M Forster T S Eliot Julian Huxley George Orwell Bertrand Russell George Bernard Shaw Virginia Woolf G K Chesterton Herbert Read Hans Keller and John Kenneth Galbraith It also provided an important platform for new writers and poets W H Auden Edwin Muir Christopher Isherwood Stephen Spender Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin all had early works published in The Listener Later regular columnists included John Cole Stephen Fry and Roy Hattersley Barry Fantoni provided the magazine with cartoons and illustrations for twenty one years Crossword EditThe Listener crossword puzzle introduced in 1930 is generally regarded as the most difficult cryptic crossword to appear in a national weekly It survived the closure of The Listener and now appears in The Times on a Saturday along with other puzzles and game articles on the last four pages of the Saturday Review section Solvers are invited to send in their solutions with each of three randomly drawn correct solutions winning a prize of a book provided by the sponsors Chambers An annual list of statistics is also compiled for regular solvers to compare their performances In most years only a handful of solvers are able to complete and submit all 52 puzzles correctly The leading solver each year is awarded the Solver Silver Salver and the all correct solvers vote for the best puzzle of the year the setter of which is awarded the Ascot Gold Cup 6 Editors EditRichard S Lambert 1929 1939 Alan Thomas Maurice Percy Ashley 1958 1967 Karl Miller 1967 1973 George Edwin Scott 1974 1979 Anthony Howard 1979 1981 Russell Twisk 1981 1987 Alan Coren 1987 1989 Peter Fiddick 1989 1991Arts and literary editors included J R Ackerley 1935 1959 and Anthony Thwaite Assistant Editors included Janet Adam Smith 1930 1935 References Edit a b Kiss Jemima 31 March 2011 BBC Launches Online Archive of The Listener Magazine The Guardian Retrieved 30 November 2011 all 3 197 issues are to be made available online as part of a major new digitisation project Initially due to be opened to universities schools libraries and research institutions BBC Worldwide has spent 18 months collaborating with digital archive specialists Cengage Learning to scan and index The London Mercury Vol XIX No 112 Timeline Magforum Retrieved 19 August 2015 https thetvroom com on this day in tv history dead link The Listener Historical Archive Gale Retrieved 30 November 2011 Listener Crossword Awards Retrieved 2 October 2012 External links EditOfficial website for The Listener Crossword A scan of the first issue of the magazine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Listener magazine amp oldid 1115336184, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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