Contents
List of Figures and Tables viii
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
Outline and structure of chapters 4
1 Historical Background: Broadcasting in the 20th Century 7
The early days of broadcasting 7
Early clashes between the state and broadcasters 9
The power and appeal of radio 10
Radio in wartime 12
Broadcasting as part of the rituals and routines of life 13
Continued conflicts between broadcasters and the state 17
Continued debate over the purpose and potential of television 18
The demands and rewards of ‘the golden age of television’ 21
Television transformed by technology and politics 22
The most-watched TV programmes of the 20th century 24
Radio finds a new role 25
2 Broadcast Output and Consumption 28
How much broadcasting is there? 28
How audiences are measured 30
What type of output is being most viewed and listened to,
when and how? 32
Fragmentation and convergence 34
Implications in changes of financial models and audience behaviour
for the funding of programmes 36
Quantity versus quality 38
How people ‘really’ use broadcasting 39
3 Does More Mean Worse? 46
The continued importance of PSB in the UK 46
Comparing PSB in the UK over a 30-year period 48
Declining audiences for news and current affairs 50
Children’s broadcasting 54
v
4 Radio: The Chameleon Medium 59
Why studio radio? 59
The uses and gratifications of radio 62
The enduring importance of ‘breakfast shows’ and on-air personalities 63
The declining importance of radio in the consumption of music 66
Radio’s continued appeal in a ‘screen world’ 67
Radio’s continued importance as a trusted source of news and current
affairs 69
A matter of life and death 70
The successful campaign to save BBC 6 Music – and what it tells us
about radio’s unique appeal 71
5 Reality Television 76
The life and death of Jade Goody – as seen on TV 76
When is ‘real’ really real? 83
Reality, perceptions and comedy – when fake becomes more ‘real’
than real 85
Life on Mars 88
6 Truth and Trust: Broadcasting’s Greatest ‘Weapon’ 93
The ‘voice of the people’ 93
The Gilligan Affair 94
‘Sachsgate’ 98
How could this have happened? 101
Can there be such a thing as too much ‘truth’? 104
7 Broadcasting Bias 108
Creatures of the dominant ideology, or part of a liberal–left conspiracy? 108
Bias in wider cultural/societal attitudes 113
America, too! 114
Impartiality and the limits to ‘free speech’ 115
Talk radio 118
Pay attention … here comes a bit of science 121
Science lacks the ‘fizz’ demanded of news ‘events’ 123
8 Moving Time 127
Free at last! 127
The timeless appeal of ‘pirate’ (unlicensed) radio 132
Kenny Everett’s Radio Days 135
9 Local and Global 140
Community radio – very local or global? 140
Importance of radio as an international broadcaster:
the BBC World Service 142
Some other international radio broadcasters 145
vi CONTENTS
Al Jazeera and its challenge to ‘western’ journalistic narratives and
state propaganda in the Middle East 146
Other world views 148
Censorship of news – and countries’ portrayal in fiction 150
International appeal of coverage by local radio stations in London
to events of ‘7/7’ 151
10 International Television 156
Programmes and formats 156
A two-way flow? 157
Time travelling and cultural combinations 158
How much broadcasting of non-domestic output is there? 160
The impact of international TV sales 163
Same formats, different cultures 164
The impact on the Chinese population of Super (Voice) Girl 165
How much do ‘we’ learn about ‘them’? 167
11 Convergence and Citizens’ Journalism 171
What do we mean by ‘convergence’? 171
Types of broadcast convergence technologies and usage 173
Web 2.0 and the two-way flow 174
Radio and convergence 175
Platform-neutral content 177
New media, new content 179
Convergence and news production 180
The role of the citizen in news coverage 182
Comment is free but how ‘real’ and ‘nasty’ should we let it be? 185
12 The Power and Effects of Broadcasting 188
Mass murder in England’s lakelands 188
Does television ‘encourage’ mass killings? 189
The leaders’ debates and the UK 2010 General Election:
did Sky News change the course of British political history? 194
Two-screen audience involvement 196
‘Bigot-gate’ 198
How MTV and community radio turned a crisis into a drama and
helped prevent many deaths from AIDS 201
Conclusion 205
Chronology 212
Bibliography and Further Reading 218
Index 221
CONTENTS vii
Historical Background:
Broadcasting in the 20th
Century
This chapter considers the development of broadcasting in the 20th
century. In particular it discusses:
The early debates about what broadcasting should be and how it
should be funded.
Clashes between the state and broadcasters
The role of radio in the Second World War.
The popularity of television in both the factual and entertainment
areas and the most-viewed programmes in the UK and the USA.
The impact of technological innovations, including satellite transmissions
and receiver and development of multi-channel, digital
radio and television.
How radio found a new role in the television age.
The early days of broadcasting
The first scheduled transmissions in the world in a recognisable ‘one to many’
form of broadcasting were probably in the Netherlands, but historians have
also credited the USA with setting up the first full-time radio station, KDKA
in Pittsburgh, which went on air in time to broadcast the results of the 1920
Presidential election. Asa Briggs’s authoritative account of the development of
the BBC1 describes the rapidity of the transition from the ‘discovery’ of the
technological ability to transmit speech and music over long distances – which
was described as ‘radio telephony’ – to fully fledged broadcast services in the
UK. From the very earliest days, in addition to technical and economic issues,
there were in fact questions about what broadcasting – initially of course,
radio, or ‘the wireless’ – was for. Was it simply to broadcast events and material
that had originated somewhere else – such as relaying an orchestra or a
7
1
play, or reading aloud words that had already been produced from the print
media – or should it have a particular and unique form? (Many of the early
accounts of radio listening, including those very first ones of the BBC, use the
term ‘listening in’: the audience is characterised as eavesdroppers.) What
should be its ‘grammar’ and conventions? How should the audience be
addressed: singly or collectively? Indeed, what involvement, if any, should the
audience have in the making of the programmes or their consumption? The
fascinating thing about this period in broadcasting history is, of course, there
were no rules and no templates from which the pioneers could work. They
were literally making it up as they went along.
One aspect though was immediately apparent and beyond argument.
Unlike the print media, the means of distributing the output – the wavelengths
– was limited. This was especially true at night-time, as AM transmissions
travel further as the upper atmosphere cools. So unless there was some control
over the number and power of transmitters, the airwaves would be a cacophony
of inaudible noise, as each station battled to be heard over the others. So,
from the start, there was a need to control and regulate the transmissions and
from this, most countries concluded that as only a relative few would be able
to broadcast, those that were committed were subject to regulation not only
of transmission power but of content.
Nevertheless, as radio broadcasting developed in the 1920s and 1930s,
different countries with a variety of different political systems and histories
adopted different approaches to the new medium, especially its ownership and
control. Even in the 21st century, broadcasting in different territories can still
be categorised as falling into one or more of these broad definitions:
1. Public service broadcasting (PSB), funded either by a licence fee as with
the BBC, or directly through a government grant funded by general taxation,
subscription by listeners/viewers and/or controlled and limited
advertising. A strong element of independence and separateness from the
state and its elites is essential, or the broadcasting would be better
described as:
2. Financed and run directly by the state (such as in France), though often
(especially post-1990) partly or wholly funded by advertising broadcasting,
often proclaimed to be in the national interest, but in reality has
strong links with:
3. An arm of state propaganda and control naturally favoured by, and
common in, authoritarian states. Here there is little or no pretence that
broadcasters have independence but that their broadcasting was under the
‘dictatorship of the proletariat’.
4. Run on a commercial basis and funded by advertising and sponsorship,
generally ‘free to air’: although there may be some PSB requirements as in
(1), perhaps especially in times of emergency, and requirements for accuracy,
fairness balance and impartiality in news programmes and discussion
of public affairs – such as in the ‘Fairness Doctrine’ in the USA. In
8 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
general, the aim is to maximise audiences by producing mostly popular
entertainment shows and broadcasting popular sports and movies in
order to produce the greatest profits for the private companies – in some
countries these may be partly or wholly owned by the state.
5. Subscription services: the listener/viewer pays either a regular fee for
access to certain channels – mostly by cable, or direct broadcasting by
satellite (DBS), or on a pay-as-you view/listen basis. Income from this may
also be supplemented by advertising.
Broadcasting in the pre- and immediately post-Second World War period
tended to be mostly of the type defined in (1) above in the English-speaking
countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. For example, Australia
had its ABC and Canada the CBC, both modelled very much on the BBC.
Most Western European countries in the pre-and post-Fascist period tended to
adopt a model described in (2), whereas of course the Fascist states in the prewar
European era and those in the Socialist/Communist post-Second World
War era – up to approximately 1991 – tended to follow (3). The type described
in (5) is dependent on technology – the broadcasters have to find a way of
ensuring that only those who pay the required fees are able to access the material
and this has tended to be via cable services or direct broadcasting by satellite.
Until the beginning of the 21st century this was mainly confined to
television.
The best-known development of (4) is, of course, in the USA and is often
portrayed as being diametrically opposed to (1). However, many of the radio
pioneers in the USA thought that the medium should remain essentially a
public utility. Later, the public broadcasting system (PBS) and national public
radio (NPR) used a combination of public funds and voluntary subscriptions
to keep alive the idea of broadcasting as a public service.
Early clashes between the state and broadcasters
In the UK, the 1920s and 1930s were especially eventful, with clashes between
organised labour, capitalism and government and, in May 1926, the only
General Strike in the country’s history. Radio broadcasting was still then in the
hands of an amalgamation of private operators under the single British
Broadcasting Company. With nearly all newspapers affected by the dispute the
government was, naturally, eager to use the new medium to communicate with
the population and there was pressure inside the Cabinet for a government
takeover. The BBC’s then General Manager, John Reith, persuaded the Prime
Minister, Stanley Baldwin, to resist this but in doing so assured him that nothing
would be broadcast that would inflame the situation. Key figures supporting
the strikers’ cause were kept off the airwaves, but information which many
trade unionists thought was helping to undermine the effectiveness of the strike
was broadcast. This led to an enduring suspicion, even downright hostility,
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 9
towards the BBC, with some activists urging the sabotage of the transmitters
of ‘the government wireless’.
Reith was keen to maintain government support and realised that if he
upset ministers there would be pressure to either take over the company and
run it as a state broadcasting service – as was already the case in many other
countries – or, even worse in Reith’s view, there would be commercial competition,
and what Reith called (with pride) ‘the brute force of monopoly’, would
be broken. He argued that competition would inevitably mean a race to the
bottom in quality and content, in a bid to attract the most listeners. Reith
believed that few people knew what they wanted and fewer still what was
good for them, and was determined the BBC should be just ahead of the centre
point of public taste, so that broadcasting would be challenging and elevating.
He believed in a ‘balanced’ programme schedule – there would be light entertainment,
but it would be almost impossible for a listener to select only the
‘lollipops’ from the output, because the times and days of these programmes
were constantly shifted. Reith’s BBC also thought that listening should not be
passive – the public was expected to engage with the output. He later equated
the introduction of a TV commercial network to an outbreak of smallpox.
Reith’s view prevailed and a monopoly company became a public monopoly
corporation from the start of 1927, with Reith as its first Director-General.
Reith had realised from the start that there was bound to be trouble if the
BBC operated its own news, as governments and other powerful interest
groups would object to the perceived ‘slant’ of the bulletins. He therefore
ceded control of the limited service it did provide to the national news agencies,
who compiled summaries of news for the national radio service, but only
in the evenings, and with no information which had not already been printed
in that morning’s newspapers. This also placated the powerful newspaper
proprietors – who had greatly feared the impact of radio on newspaper sales.
Crucially, the news was announced in strictly neutral tones and without
commentary – indeed, the announcers did not even give their names until the
Second World War, and then only because it was thought that, if the country
was invaded and the studios taken over, the audience would be alerted to unfamiliar
voices posing as BBC staff.
The power and appeal of radio
The terrible human cost of the economic Depression in the decade or so before
the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and the period of
Appeasement towards Nazi Germany before this, as well as the Abdication
Crisis of 1936, led to many such disputes about just how ‘neutral’ the BBC
was in its treatment of highly controversial matters of public policy and
debate. However, Reith, the BBC, nor the government could limit the reception
of radio waves, which respected neither geographic nor political borders.
Spotting a gap in the market and a market in the gap, entrepreneurs set up
10 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
English-language entertainment-driven, commercially funded stations broadcasting
from the European Continent, such as Radio Luxembourg and Radio
Normandy. These became hugely successful in Britain in the 1930s, especially
on Sundays, which the BBC had determined should be dominated by religious
programmes and ‘serious’ music and talk, which it thought befitting of the
Lord’s Day. For the working classes though, Sunday was often the only day of
rest and surprisingly, these citizens sought more diversionary fare; ‘the wireless’
provided a cheap way of receiving entertainment, and the continental
operators were happy to provide it. Such recordings as survive however indicate
that even the commercial operators – who grew to be highly sophisticated,
with top-notch recording studios in London, just around the corner
from the BBC – were also presented by rather ‘plummy’ announcers and the
tone was set to be ‘respectable’, so as to attract the middle classes, who would
be in a position to buy the advertised products. Furthermore, the programme
content was often integrated with its sponsorship – one of the things to which
Reith was most opposed – most memorably with Radio Luxembourg’s children’s
show The League of Ovaltineys.
The physical limitation on frequencies meant that even in the USA there
was a large element of control and regulation, most particularly in the broadcasting
of partial, biased coverage of news and current affairs. The partisanship
and sensationalism of newspapers may be an important part of a free
society but equally, it was widely thought, for radio, a measured and neutral
approach was both necessary and desirable. Therefore, radio had the unique
power of being both an entertaining and distracting medium, yet one that was
thoroughly trusted. It was this power and authority of the medium that led to
the extraordinary public reaction to the broadcasting of Orson Welles’
Mercury Theatre production on CBS of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds on
Hallowe’en night 1938. The production begins with a clear announcement
that what is to follow is a drama, played by actors. However, two factors – at
least one of which Orson Welles must have been very aware of – led to the
confusion, and in some cases outright panic, of perhaps millions of Americans,
who thought they were listening to coverage of a real invasion from space.
First – and a factor which all radio producers have to bear in mind – is that
audiences often tune in to a production after it has started, and in this case
many did not hear the opening announcement. Second, the devices, conventions
and ‘grammar’ of real radio reporting were used in a fictionalised
context. Breathless announcers handed over to ‘reporters’ supposedly on the
spot, interviewing ‘eyewitnesses’ and ‘experts’, just as they would for a real,
dramatic news story. Whatever the intentions, the production caused a
complete sensation during and immediately after its broadcast and in the
coming days and weeks. At the very least, it may have been responsible for
several premature deaths from heart attacks and even suicide.
The rise of a mass audience absorbing the same content at the same time in
radio’s so-called ‘golden age’ of the 1930s interested a number of academics,
as well as other commentators who became concerned about the power of
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 11
radio to mould opinion and attitudes. Those on the left of the political spectrum
believed that a mass audience, listening to and absorbing the same material
at the same time over large distances, could be manipulated into thinking
and acting in ways conducive to the state and the economic and political elites
behind it. Even when the influence was thought to be rather more benign and
prosaic, such as the way that women, in particular, engaged with ‘soap operas’
(so called because they were often sponsored by the manufacturers of detergent
powders) the effects were usually regarded as undesirable; radio being
used as a distracter from the individual and group’s ‘real’ economic and political
situation. Prominent in this view were those from the Frankfurt School –
many of them intellectuals who fled from Nazi Germany and set up or joined
research establishments in the USA. They believed that, although the USA was
not an authoritarian state, the mass media acted in a more or less uniform way
that supported a single, homogenous ideology and there was clearly a danger
that this ideology could be used against the interests of the working classes,
and indeed the wider world. In addition, some complained that the BBC was
far too keen to convey the opinions and interest of other nations and peoples.
It certainly did connive with the government’s then policy of appeasement in
the late 1930s and kept a number of prominent voices from the airwaves,
including those of Winston Churchill, then in his ‘wilderness years’ and warning
of the dangers of Nazi Germany.
Radio in wartime
In 1914 the British public learned they were at war, via the newspapers, some
hours after the fateful declaration. In 1939 the whole country heard the news
at the same time in a ‘live’ broadcast by the Prime Minister, Neville
Chamberlain, from the Cabinet Room at Number 10 Downing Street. Radio
now provided the ways in which political leaders and royalty could address
their people simultaneously. Winston Churchill – British Prime Minister from
May 1940 – adapted his style perfectly for the medium. Radio also boosted
morale and helped production of armaments at home by giving airtime to
comedians who could provide topical gags, mock Hitler and other leading
Nazis, develop catch-phrases so beloved of the British, and in broadcasting
music, both ‘live’ and recorded. And the broadcasts were not confined to the
domestic audience: from its beginnings it was clear that radio could permeate
geographical and political barriers far more effectively than any other
medium. There were high hopes that radio could lead to greater understanding
between peoples and reduce the likelihood of conflict – ‘nation shall speak
peace unto nation’ as the (English translation of) BBC’s motto puts it, and the
Corporation began its Empire Service in 1932, connecting the citizens and
leaders of the UK’s far-flung territories. In the Second World War, carefully
framed news and propaganda of various sorts were also broadcast overseas,
to three main audiences. First, to British civilians, especially children, some of
12 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
whom were evacuated to Canada – the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret
made a famous broadcast to them; second, to the potential fighting men in
the British Commonwealth and Empire – notably Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean countries – many of whom
travelled thousands of miles to fight for Britain and her Allies; and, finally, and
perhaps most thrillingly, to the Resistance movements and those who had been
shot down or escaped from prison camps in occupied Europe. British listeners
became accustomed to hearing strange and clearly coded messages. Exiled
leaders, such as France’s De Gaulle, were able to address their people from the
BBC’s studios in London and encourage them to rise up against the occupying
forces.
By the end of the War the status of radio could hardly have been higher.
Wartime led to the rapid development of the BBC’s own, independent
(although subject to official censorship during the war), news service. Radio
correspondents had been in the thick of the action – indeed often on the front
line or, notably in the case of Richard Dimbleby, in a bomber over Germany.
The integrity of the BBC was exemplified by Dimbleby when he accompanied
Allied troops as they entered Belsen concentration camp. Dimbleby’s account
of what he had seen seemed so extraordinary and shocking to his masters back
in London that they at first declined to broadcast his report, saying they
needed confirmation from other sources. Dimbleby threatened to resign unless
his report was broadcast; never had the claim that ‘journalism is the first draft
of history’ been made more forcibly.
It was also quickly realised that radio could be used to spread hatred,
mistrust and divisions, as well as sapping morale of the people and military in
hostile countries. During the Second World War, William Joyce, a failed actor
from Britain, though with strong Irish connections and dubbed ‘Lord Haw
Haw’ because of his aristocratic accent and sneering approach, broadcast from
Germany to the UK, telling the British that their leader was a drunk, that the
war was going badly and that they were being lied to, not least about civilian
casualties in the blitz. Opinion surveys showed people who heard the broadcasts
did have a markedly less positive view of the progress of the war from
Britain’s perspective, compared with those who had not listened. In the Cold
War period (1949–89) both sides used radio for propaganda purposes.
Broadcasting as part of the rituals and routines of life
Sometimes governments with influence over public service broadcasters could
‘encourage’ the use of popular forms of radio, such as the daily serial or ‘soap
opera’, in a benign way to spread important public service information. So it
was that, a few years after the Second World War, BBC radio launched The
Archers, (originally only in the English Midlands region, where it continues to
be produced) to provide important agricultural information along with plotlines
about farmers and villagers in rural England for a country still subject to
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 13
food rationing. The programme lost its educational purpose in 1972 but it
continues to engage a significant and much-devoted audience, most of whom
are not employed on the land or indeed live in rural villages. In an increasingly
urbanized – or perhaps more accurately – suburbanised population, the melodramas
of the story-lines involving both familiar and newer characters, linked
to a supposedly more ‘natural’ way of living through the rhythms and routines
of agrarian society, hold continued appeal and the show celebrated 60 years of
national broadcasting in January 2011.
The post-war broadcast schedules tended to follow a regular pattern and
sought to both support and blend in with the routines and rhythms of the
everyday lives of audiences, so that, for example, weekend schedules tended to
feature more entertainment and diversionary programmes than those on week
(working) days, although Sundays became established as the ‘natural’ day for
TV costume dramas. But radio, then (also) television, also helped to unite the
nation and solidified the rhythms of the year through the broadcasting of state
and sporting annual events and rituals. In the UK, these ranged from the rather
quintessentially British (perhaps specifically English) annual boat race on the
Thames river in the spring between teams from Oxford and Cambridge
universities, followed within a month or so by the climax of the football
season with the Football Association (FA) Final, the Wimbledon lawn tennis
championships in early summer and the Test and County cricket matches,
through to the State Opening of Parliament and national Remembrance Day
commemorations in the autumn. Christmas became one of broadcasting’s
most important periods in the calendar. Not only did the season often produce
the biggest audiences of the year but families and nations could be united
through the airwaves, by linking domestic and overseas transmitters, with
music request programmes for kith and kin in far-flung corners of the earth,
and the annual Christmas message from the monarch, the first being in 1932;
the first on television – ‘live’ – in 1957. Although there was some initial resistance
from the establishment, broadcasting quickly came to be regarded as a
vital part of state rituals such as the weddings and funerals of royalty; in
Britain, the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II becoming the ‘tipping
point’ in the public’s adoption of television.
Moreover, broadcasting did not just relay existing national rituals and
cultural and sporting events: it created its own fixtures in the nation’s calendar,
or, in the case of the Promenade classical concerts (‘the Proms’) – performed in
London in the late summer – the BBC ‘acquired’ and so saved an important
cultural season, which was facing collapse. The Corporation devised competitions
for writers, musicians and budding scientists; it funded its own ‘house’
orchestras covering both classical and ‘light music’ repertoires, its own choral
singers, its own radio repertory drama company – and a separate one for children’s
plays and serials. In other words, the BBC became a patron and creator
– not just a disseminator – of the arts, culture, science and debate.
Of slightly more dubious cultural value was the annual Eurovision Song
Contest, held every spring since 1956 – which was originally devised to ‘show
14 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
off’ the network formed by members of the European Broadcasting Union,
designed to enable easy exchange between European countries of a wide variety
of television material. The contest – the butt of many jokes and much cynicism
in the UK, partly due to the increasingly quixotic voting patterns – rather
than bringing together the peoples and nations of the continent seemed, if
anything, to magnify the cultural and political differences in Europe and
produced surges of nationalistic fervour.
Children were thought to be needy and worthy of distinct programmes
from early in the establishment of radio – the BBC had a Children’s Hour
(1922–61)2 featuring stories and drama serials and younger listeners had their
own entertainment programmes, as well as more ‘worthy’ and educational
fare, from pre-school age through to adolescence. Television followed a similar
development and (astonishing as it seems now) there was so much anxiety
about the near-hypnotic attractiveness of the medium to younger viewers that
both the BBC – from the resumption of television broadcasting after the
Second World War in 1946 – and then also ITV – imposed a ‘Toddlers’ Truce’;
an hour (6–7 p.m.) on weekdays when there were no programmes at all, in
order that parents were able to prise their young children away from the sets
and to bed. This was imposed until 1957, when it was abolished by both
networks.
Television took hold of the public imagination and purse remarkably
quickly after the Second World War. In the beginning it mostly adapted radio
genres and formats – with the addition of being able to show movies although,
in the UK’s case, only some years after their theatrical release – but it soon
developed its own conventions and ‘grammar’. The control and financing of
television generally followed the same pattern as had been established for
radio.
The BBC’s careful, deferential, unemotional and unimaginative approach to
news, presented by telegenic announcers, was challenged though by the introduction
of Independent Television News (ITN) in 1955. This service of
national and international news bulletins for the new commercial network
employed journalists as its newscasters (not newsreaders), many of whom had
come from the country’s famously robust national newspapers. Their challenging,
probing, persistent approach in interviews in particular, as well as their
human-interest approach tone and style, combined with (unlike the partisan
newspapers) impartiality and fairness, gave it both credibility and popularity.
Politicians found it hard to decide their attitude towards television: they
courted it, resented it, and feared its impact on public support and voting
behaviour. There was constant tension between the broadcasters and the
politicians about the extent of legitimate enquiry and criticism, and for control
of the ‘news agenda’. Naturally, when politicians had important announcements
to make to the nation, they did so on television.
In the UK, the political parties were given free airtime during and between
elections, but in the USA politicians and parties had to pay for their slots, leading
to a sort of arms’ race, with campaigns costing hundreds of millions of
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 15
dollars and resulting in candidates without access to big financial ‘war chests’
and who weren’t backed by wealthy individuals and/or corporations being
squeezed out of the political system. The first TV US Presidential campaign
debates took place in 1960. Surveys showed that those that listened to the
radio relay thought that the then Vice-President, Richard Nixon, ‘won’ the
crucial first debate; the larger audience that watched it on television favoured
the relatively youthful, tanned, and extremely wealthy John F. Kennedy. Given
that the final result was so close it seems likely that television may have influenced
the outcome of a hugely important political contest at a time of great
world tension between the nuclear superpowers. Moreover, it ‘proved’ to
politicians and their advisors that, in the television age, image was more
important than substance.
Elections and broadcasting seemed made for each other. As it happened, the
first radio broadcasts – at least in the USA – were made just at the time of the
1920 US Presidential election and two years later in the UK the then British
Broadcasting Company came on air just in time for that year’s general election.
The Times recounts special ‘listening-in parties’ parties being held,3 with
guests gathering around the set for what must have been the extraordinary,
novel experience of hearing election results across the country announced to
the whole nation within minutes of their declaration. By the late 1950s the TV
‘election night special’ became established. Not only could the reactions of the
victorious and defeated be shown at the time of reckoning, and their speeches
relayed from the count, but studio guests could react to this fast-changing
event and, using increasingly sophisticated polling sampling and computer
software, predict the eventual outcome. Indeed, the use of exit polls – which
in the 21st century were to be banned in the UK on the day of the election
across all media until the close of polling – led to US networks ‘calling’
Presidential elections even before many citizens on the west coast, with a time
zone three hours behind that in the east, had even cast their vote.
In Britain, the unusually swift transfer of power when the ruling party had
been defeated (often less than 18 hours after the close of polls) provided
further, live and dramatic evidence of the power of the voters, with television
showing history as it was being made. As a guest on BBC television’s
programme for the 1970 election (when the Labour government was unexpectedly
defeated by the Conservatives) noted however, at that time only
perhaps 20 countries in the world were able to boast of such a peaceable,
democratically induced transfer of power. Much of the world, notably the
huge Communist countries, China and the Soviet Union, remained closed to
the prying eye of the TV news reporter and camera, but when President John
F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963 the nation’s citizens
coast to coast learnt of his death minutes after it had been confirmed by the
local hospital. Although transatlantic satellite time was expensive and had to
be pre-booked – meaning that viewers in Europe initially had little more than
newsreaders intoning information gleaned from the press wires – once satellite
links were scrambled the continents were united in grief for the slain President.
16 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
However, the only pictures of the assassination came (some time later) from
the home movie of a bystander; never again would a US President be in a
public place – no matter how much the occasion lacked news value – without
TV crews being present, ‘just in case’.
Television took over from the weather as the main starting point – sometimes
the whole point – of conversations. Public discourse was moulded and
stimulated by the ideas and imagination of creative programme makers who
used the medium to entertain, enlighten, educate and sometimes to provoke.
The British also seemed to be especially fond of catch-phrases, used in comedy
and entertainment shows and some dramas, as well of course as a deliberate
ploy in advertising slogans (although these would often be ‘reproduced’ in an
ironic or facetious manner in social discourse). A society still riven by class
divisions – often nuanced to an extraordinary degree – industrial disputes, and
tensions caused by differences in manners, dress and accents, found a common
ground in using such phrases in all manner of conversations.
There were tensions in some countries, including the UK, about the balance
between national and local/regional broadcasting. John Reith forcibly merged
the many local stations that his new company inherited in the early 1920s, and
developed a National Programme, imposing the accents, views and attitudes
of the English upper middle-classes across the nation or nations. Some variety
was allowed in the ‘Regional Programme’, which led to some ground-breaking
features and documentaries, but many parts of the UK, such as in northern
England and most especially in what the BBC referred to as ‘the national
regions’ of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, continued to feel throughout
the 20th century that their cultures and languages/dialects were being
suppressed, or at least not being given sufficient airtime. This was partly dealt
with by regional ‘opt-outs’ on TV and radio, the establishment of a commercial
TV network based on regional franchises, a Welsh-language channel
formed from a unique partnership between commercial operators and the
BBC, the development of local radio on the BBC from the late 1960s and
commercial (or ‘independent’) local radio from the early 1970s – which was
generally more successful the further the location from London, and especially
so in the central belt of Scotland, south Wales and in Northern Ireland.
Nevertheless, the tensions remained between the national and the
local/regional – as they did over the larger constitutional question of the
proper relationship between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom.
Continued conflicts between broadcasters and the state
National and international radio broadcasts from the BBC infuriated the
British government during the Suez Crisis of 1956. In an uncanny parallel to
the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the British – this time with the French, and without
the support, or even knowledge, of the Americans – used a pretext to
invade the Suez Canal, a hugely important conduit of oil from the Middle East
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 17
to Europe, which had been nationalised by the Egyptian President, Colonel
Nasser. Like Iraq nearly 50 years later, the action divided the nation. The BBC
sought to reflect opposition to the invasion but the Prime Minister, Anthony
Eden, thought the Corporation should uncritically support government policy,
especially after ‘our boys’ were sent into action, and threatened to cut the
Foreign Office grant that funded the Corporation’s external services. The military
action quickly ended when a furious US President threatened to bring
down the UK economy – the country was still hugely in debt to the Americans
due to loans given during and after the Second World War. Eden resigned soon
afterwards, supposedly due to ill health, and, as in the aftermath of the Iraq
war, public opinion surveys indicated that it was the government’s reputation
that was tarnished and the broadcasters’ enhanced.
Politicians, the military and (often self-appointed) ‘moral guardians’
constantly fretted about the impact of television, which was blamed, amongst
many other things, for eroding the American public’s support for the Vietnam
War (1963–75). When, in February 1968, CBS TV news’ main ‘anchor’,
Walter Cronkite – whom polls had shown was the most trusted person in
America – returned from visiting the front line in Vietnam and told his viewers
that, in his opinion, the country was involved in a conflict which it was not
winning and could not win, the then US President declared that he knew he
had ‘lost America’ and, within a month, announced he had decided not to
contest another term in office. This was a lesson not lost on the British military
who, some 15 years later, in the relatively small war over the Falklands
(Malvinas) Islands – British territory in the South Atlantic which was invaded
by Argentina in 1982 – told broadcast journalists that they would not enable
them to ‘do a Vietnam’, and greatly restricted access to, and broadcasting
from, the front line, or from ships that had been bombed. The military successfully
blocked the transmission of moving pictures until the British forces had
successfully recaptured the islands. In the age of television ‘live’ satellite feeds,
the Falklands conflict was a ‘radio war’.
The British government was also concerned regarding broadcasters giving
legitimacy to ‘terrorists’ involved in the 30-year period (1969–98) of ‘The
Troubles’ between Britain and (Northern) Ireland. Most countries had debates
about the medium’s ‘responsibility’ for increasing licentious behaviour and use
of ‘bad language’ – especially by the young. And there was concern for the
erosion of communities and deference towards authority and institutions –
secular and religious – and all manner of psychosocial phenomena.
Continued debate over the purpose and potential
of television
Throughout the 1950 to the 1970s there were continued tensions over the
purpose of television: was it simply a ‘goggle box’, there to provide light relief
and entertainment, or did it have a higher purpose; to educate, inform, stimulate
18 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
debate and hold the powerful to account? Perhaps both – but who decided
how much of the former compared with the latter? Overall, three main types
of output attracted mass audiences and, even in many authoritarian states,
tended to dominate the airwaves, certainly at peak times. These were: dramas
or ‘soaps’, quiz shows and sport. Most television in most of the world
consisted either of government-sponsored propaganda, both covert and overt,
or of mass entertainment programmes. In South America Telenovellas or soap
operas produced the highest audiences. In Asia the Japanese-made drama
Oshin was broadcast by 26 countries, including China and India. The Hindu
story Ramayana was so popular that riots occurred when a power cut
occurred during one of the transmissions, and the opposition BJP persuaded
one of its stars to stand for election. In the USA, the drama Roots (1977)
promoted better understanding about its racist history and thus creating
greater empathy by its white citizens of European origin towards
African–Americans, and the sitcom M*A*S*H (1972–83), although ostensibly
about the Korean War of the 1950s, was ‘really’ about the Vietnam War,
which was still in progress during the first couple of seasons of the show and,
through dialogue and situations which provoked laughter and tears, helped
heal a very divided nation.
In the UK, the commercial broadcasters, as well as the BBC, were required to
be public service broadcasters in ethos and practice – and this was specified to a
large extent through particular requirements for quality and quantity of, for
example, news and current affairs, and in catering for a wide variety of taste and
interests. Advertising on the commercial network was limited to ‘natural breaks’
between and within programmes and advertisers could not sponsor the output
or directly influence programme-making decisions and both the BBC and
commercial channels demonstrated that they could be both educational and
entertaining. Even the ‘soap operas’ reflected many of the changes and debates
in society. Many also contained profundity and wit, not least Coronation Street,
which began in 1960, networked from the following year and which has rarely
been out of the top 10 most viewed programmes ever since. The 50th anniversary
celebrations in 2010 (by then the longest-running programme of its type in
the world and shown in some 35 countries) not only included many tributes
from politicians, artists and other commentators, but a dramatisation – on the
BBC – of its beginnings.4 This highlighted the conflict between its writer and
creator and some of the executives and shareholders at the network that
produced it, Granada Television, based in Manchester, as to whether a show
about ‘ordinary’ people, who had strong north of England accents (which had
until then had mostly been heard in the national media only in a comedic
context) would have resonance over the whole nation – or even be understood.
It may have been designed to appeal – and certainly did appeal – to ‘ordinary’
working-class viewers, but it was admired by many from the cultural elites who
compared its writing and performances to the best that has ever been achieved
in any medium and, most impressively, the standard was achieved not just a few
times in the life of the artistes and producers, but week after week.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 19
Its theme tune, as with those of other popular shows, became like trumpet
calls to the nation’s citizens, who gathered around the television set, which
mostly had pride of place in the main living room. The TV became the electronic
fireplace of the 20th century; the equivalent of the gathering of family
and tribe around the fire in pre-industrial times; a place in which stories would
be heard, songs would be performed and where discussions on matters of the
moment would be generated and conflicts resolved. In TV’s case, however, the
same entertainments, the same debates and the same instruction and transfer
of knowledge took place simultaneously in homes across the country at the
same time. The impact of entertainment programming being seen across a
nation was exemplified by the appearances of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan
Show on the US network CBS in February 1964. So large was the audience (for
the first of the three consecutive Sunday night appearances this was estimated
to be 73 million, then the highest on record) and so intense the interest in the
‘Fab Four’ young men from England that in many American cities recorded
crime fell to almost zero!
Although it is usual to discuss the medium’s reception in group form, there
is no doubt it was also a tremendous alleviator of loneliness, boredom and
isolation – geographic and/or socially by those living on their own, out of
choice or necessity and whether forcibly confined to the home through disability
or other factors. The ‘baby boom’ generation who entered their teens and
twenties from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, benefited from post-war affluence.
However, many did not live in or near the big cities, so programmes
featuring the latest music, fashion and dance steps could be followed through
programmes such as Ready, Steady, Go!, broadcast early on Friday evenings
from 1963–66 on the UK’s commercial TV channel, which kept the youth of
the country connected to the fast-changing cultural scene, wherever they might
live. The BBC’s Top of the Pops (1964–2006) did the same job for a much
longer period – although arguably with less flair and zest.
Debates and controversies, as well as the ‘pleasures’ of entertainment
programmes and dramas, could be followed in the ensuing press coverage.
Some of these had a strong ‘message’ about aspects of society; one BBC play,
Cathy Come Home (1966), led directly to the start of a national charity for
the homeless. By the end of the 1960s, television was the main conduit
through which intellectuals, artists, writers, historians and scientists, as well
as entertainers, were able to obtain a mass public impossible in the prebroadcasting
age.
Television was especially effective in bringing the natural world into living
rooms and, in many countries, education in the broadest sense was augmented
in television (as it had been from the early days of radio) by formal education
programmes, both to support school curricula, then for adult education, and
in Britain, from 1971, by the Open University. This new form of distance
learning, supported by written materials and some traditional lectures at
weekend and summer schools, allowed many people who, for a variety of
reasons, were unable to attend traditional universities to acquire a degree –
20 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
and one which was internationally respected. Moreover, the TV and radio
programmes provided a first-class higher education teaching to those who
were not enrolled on the course but nevertheless were able to learn about
diverse subjects, from astronomy to sociology. This was broadcasting that met
the highest purposes that Reith and other originators of broadcasting systems
would surely have approved. Indeed, the original meaning of ‘broadcasting’
was to spread seeds – so broadcasting can be seen to be spreading seeds of
knowledge and promoting debate, based on rational discussion, something
that was also true to the spirit of the European Enlightenment.
The demands and rewards of ‘the golden age of television’
Television, like radio, gobbled up material and comedians, in particular, realized
that, in contrast to a career in theatrical and club performances where
they could build a whole career on perhaps a thirty minutes’ routine, in radio
and then television they needed fresh material each week, so writers and
producers became hugely important in the entertainment industry. The
performers also needed to realise that, just as radio required a very different
speaking style (intimate and conversational, rather than the declamatory and
hectoring approach often used for public meetings), so the use of exaggerated
gestures and strong vocal performances, essential to reach the back rows of a
theatre audience, were completely unsuitable for television. Some, some such
as Britain’s Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, took a while to realise this. Their
early TV forays were a disaster. One critic wrote that a TV set could be defined
as ‘the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise’ – and they nearly gave
up the business. But when a strike denied them their usual big stage sets and
cast they were forced to work close to camera and to rely on their charm and
personal relationships to engage the audience, who were watching them on a
flickering black and white screen at home. They then became so successful that
their Christmas TV Shows on the BBC (1969–77), by then in colour, were
watched by the end of this run by half the population, including the Royal
Family who, in the days before video cassette recorders, would, like millions
of their subjects, organise their Christmas Day activities around the show.
Eddie Braben, Morecambe and Wise’s scriptwriter in this period, later talked
about the pressure he felt for being responsible for the success and happiness
of so many people’s Christmases.
Situation comedies (sitcoms) often had the most impact both in audience
ratings – and often come top in polls of the most fondly remembered television
and because, in most cases, the comedy derived from the characters and
situations, rather than ‘gags’ or visual set-ups, they had a vitality and relevance
to the politics and culture of a nation. One of the most significant of these in
the UK was the BBC sitcom Till Death Do Us Part, which ran from 1965 to
1968 and then in various forms, including a spin-off, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Recorded as close as possible to transmission in order to ensure topicality, it
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 21
centred on clashes between the generations (forced by economic circumstances
to live under the same roof), and discussed politics, attitudes towards race
issues, immigration and other highly controversial issues at a time when society
was in flux. Its use of ‘strong’ language and its rawness in the attitudes of
its characters led to opposition by ‘moral’ campaigners, as well as questions in
Parliament. And this was not a purely British phenomenon; there were
versions in many other countries, including Germany, Brazil and Hong Kong
and the USA (All In The Family), which was also shown in the UK.
Traditional variety shows continued to flourish for the first three decades
or so of television as a mass medium. In the UK, jugglers, magicians, acrobats
and ventriloquists found employment on both BBC and commercial networks,
especially at the weekends, with the BBC featuring a Saturday night show,
‘live’ from its own television theatre – a converted former music hall (vaudeville
theatre) in west London – often hosted by a ‘pop’ star; the old and new
popular cultures often sitting uneasily with each other. The BBC gave its
support and airtime to the surreal and cerebral comedy of Monty Python’s
Flying Circus (1969–74) and the more eclectic end of the rock/folk/blues
genres in The Old Grey Whistle Test (1971–88), but it also featured the easylistening
music and whimsical comedy of The Val Doonican Show (1965–86)
and the singing and dancing of white singers ‘blacked up’ in The Black and
White Minstrel Show (1958–78), featuring – although not limited to – the
Dixieland routines (complete with period costumes) of an earlier period in the
deep south of the USA. The artistes and producers said they were both baffled
and hurt by suggestions that the performers used racist gestures and mannerisms,
but in the end the Corporation accepted that, despite the programme’s
enduring popularity – it reached audiences of 18 million – in an increasingly
multi-ethnic country, which was becoming more sensitive to the portrayal of
racial and other minorities, it had to go.
Television transformed by technology and politics
The broadcasters’ use of satellite communications and the use of increasingly
lightweight cameras, video replacing film – meaning material no longer had to
be developed and processed – and synchronised sound meant that reports had
an increasingly ‘real’ feel to them and could either be sent ‘live’ or completed
shortly before transmission. Now, the tragedies of mankind were laid bare on
the evening news. Consciences were stirred, protests organised and, sometimes,
politicians and military leaders were shamed into relieving suffering, and gathered
round the peace table. Television provided a truly global, communal experience
– an extraordinary development in human history – for everything from
the viewing of the Moon landings (1969–72), to the Olympics and other international
sporting events and the Live Aid pop/rock events in 1985. The impact
of ‘live’ worldwide transmission of events did not go unnoticed by those with
malign intent, and just as revolutionaries, counter-revolutionaries and invaders
22 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
quickly learned that the occupation of broadcast stations provided both legitimacy
and confirmation of their success, so terrorists realised that the taking
of hostages, the blowing up of aircraft and the planting of bombs would have
far more impact if they could be sure it would be broadcast on ‘live’ TV. The
abduction and murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics
provided the grisly and tragic proof that television did indeed have the power
to show the greatest and worst aspects of humanity.
For the viewer, the most important single change was the arrival of colour
television. There was rapid take-up of new sets in the late 1960s through to
mid-1970s and although the move to colour did create considerable extra cost
for the TV companies, public service broadcasters such as the BBC benefited
from a huge increase in income through a higher colour licence imposed on all
households with such a set, and commercial broadcasters were able to raise
their rates as advertisers found the medium was now even more effective in
selling their wares. International sales of programmes increased, especially
from the USA, but some from the UK went in the reverse direction; certainly
the UK television industry fared better than its movie equivalent in persuading
the Americans of the value of British cultural production.
The 1970s saw the high point of television as a medium in which the population
watched the same programmes at the same time. Only by the end of the
decade did the domestic video cassette recorder (VCR) offer the prospect for
‘time-shifted’ viewing. The launch of music television (MTV) in 1981, featuring
the fast-moving pop promo videos, linked by video jockeys (VJs) led to a
host of imitators and challenged radio’s dominance as the chief way that
young people would have access to music any time of the day or night.
The UK then initiated another form of PSB. Channel 4, which began broadcasting
in 1982, was designed to complement the main ITV commercial channel
by providing different perspectives, forms and attitudes. This included the
UK’s first daily hour-long news programme. Supervised by a non-executive
Board of ‘the great and the good’ and funded by advertising, with airtime
initially sold by the regional ITV companies, who also subsidised it in its early
years, it revolutionised the UK television industry because nearly all its output
was commissioned from independent producers. No longer did you have to be
directly employed by an ITV company or the BBC to work in television.
Ironically, given that it was created by the first of the governments under Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher – the most right-wing since the Second World
War – the station quickly became known as the most subversive antiThatcherite
channel. Even the news, although maintaining due impartiality in
strict terms, in tone and attitude had a clear leftish approach.
By the end of the decade, the BBC and ITV companies were also compelled
to offer a significant portion of airtime to independent producers. ITV companies
were then auctioned to the highest bidder – subject to a ‘quality’ test – and
commercial radio was freed of its PSB obligations, with new, national stations
also auctioned to the highest bidder, but all British broadcast news, on
whichever channel/medium, had continued obligations to be fair, accurate and
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 23
impartial. The 1990s saw market forces, de-regulation and other political,
economic and technical factors having a major impact on most broadcasting
systems. By the end of the century, direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS) in the
UK and a multiplicity of channels afforded by cable in the USA, including a
‘rolling news’ channel, CNN, meant that the dominance of the free over-theair
broadcast networks would be greatly eroded.
The most-watched TV programmes of the 20th century
Identifying the most watched TV programmes of the 20th century can provide
a useful indication of the attractiveness of different types of output – of genres
and the sort of programmes that have brought the public to the TV sets en
masse at the same time. Such tables do not necessarily reflect the mostwatched
programmes week in and week out – generally in the UK, aside from
the occasional sports’ event, these tend to be the ‘soaps’ and other popular
dramas – but rather tend to reflect the extraordinary pull of ‘special events’
(see Tables 1.1 and 1.2).5
Although there is a preponderance in the USA of ‘live’ coverage of the Super
Bowl finals, supplemented by coverage of two days of a Winter Olympics,
with only the final episodes of two enormously successful sitcoms and the
most talk-about episode of the most successful ‘soap opera’ otherwise making
it to the list, it is the UK that has a sporting event at the very top; a figure that
is unlikely ever to be surpassed (and not just because, at the time of writing, it
seems unlikely, in my opinion, that England’s soccer team will ever again reach
24 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Table 1.1 All-time most watched TV programmes in UK to 2000
Programme Year Audience
(millions)
1* World Cup Final 1966 1966 32.30
2* Funeral of Princess Diana 1997 32.10
3* The Royal Family 1969 30.69
4 EastEnders 1986 30.15
5* Apollo 13 splashdown 1970 28.60
6* Royal Wedding – Prince Charles and Princess Diana 1981 28.40
7* Royal Wedding – Princess Anne and Capt. Mark Phillips 1973 27.60
8 Coronation Street 1989 26.93
9 Only Fools and Horses 1996 24.35
10 EastEnders 1992 24.30
11 Royal Variety Performance 1965 24.20
12* News – assassination of President Kennedy 1963 24.15
* Aggregate of audiences from BBC1 and ITV. Nos. 4, 9 and 10 were shown on BBC1; 8 and 11
on ITV.
Source: ‘BFI most watched’ 1950s–1990s.
the final of a world tournament). Aside from that World Cup Final, four from
the UK chart are aggregate figures from ‘live’ coverage of events – a brace of
royal weddings, the funeral of Princess Diana, the dramatic Apollo 13 splashdown,
when the American astronauts were in mortal peril, plus the (never
repeated) documentary on the Royal Family, one sitcom and three ‘soap’
episodes. Perhaps surprisingly, according to these figures, only one Christmas
Day show makes the list – the 1986 episode of EastEnders. The latest date for
a top-12 rated programme was 1996 (USA) and 1997 for the UK, but in the
latter case this was for the extraordinary circumstances of the funeral of
Princess Diana and, despite the ever growing coverage of TV and the ownership
of sets, half of the most-watched programmes date from 1973 or earlier.
Further audience figures, comparing those at the peak of television’s ‘golden
age’ with figures from thirty years later, are discussed in Chapter 3.
Radio finds a new role
In the meantime, the senior broadcast medium needed to find a new role,
purpose and attraction in the latter part of the 20th century. Fortunately, two
developments provided salvation. First, the invention of the transistor radio
meant that the medium could now be truly heard ‘anytime, anywhere’.
Second, was the development of a new form of popular music – rock ’n’ roll
– and the post-war affluence in the west, which created new identities and
patterns of consumption. The radio companies developed formats that could
accompany daytime activities and provide companionship, whilst at nighttime
many geared themselves towards teenagers and young people. In the
USA, network programming with a full and varied schedule of programmes,
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 25
Table 1.2 All-time most watched TV programmes in USA to 2000
Programme Year Audience
(household/millions)
1 M*A*S*H (last episode) 1983 50.15
2 XV11 Winter Olympics 2nd Wed. 1994 45.69
3 Super Bowl XXX 1996 44.15
4 Super Bowl XXV111 1994 42.86
5 Cheers (last episode) 1993 42.36
6 Super Bowl XXX1 1997 42.00
7 Super Bowl XXV11 1993 41.99
8 XV11 Winter Olympics – 2nd Fri. 1994 41.54
9 Super Bowl XX 1986 41.49
10 Dallas (Who Shot JR?) 1980 41.47
11 Super Bowl XV11 1983 40.48
12 Super Bowl XV1 1982 40.02
Source: Nielsen Media Research, 1961–1999.
gave way to locally based (although the 50,000 watt clear-channel stations
could be heard over much of the continent after dark) mostly music-based
services, hosted by high-energy disc jockeys; so programmes were largely
replaced by programming of a single genre. Unlicensed radio from international
waters broadcast to many European countries from 1958, such stations
peaking in the British case in the period of 1964–70 but not finally extinguished
until 1990, and to New Zealand from 1966 to 1970. Both north and
south of the equator the ‘pop pirates’ led to the breaking of monopolies and
to licensed commercial radio. Nevertheless, public service broadcasters, such
as the BBC, maintained high-quality, well-produced radio news and current
affairs, documentaries, music concerts, comedy, quizzes and drama – with the
‘mixed speech’ network, Radio 4, continuing to achieve a mass audience,
indeed becoming the most listened-to station in London – the most competitive
radio market in Europe. Radio was still the entry point for many people
to types of music, drama, science and philosophy, which might otherwise have
remained closed to them. BBC radio continued to nurture writers, producers
and performers, with many (especially in the comedy sketch-shows and
sitcoms’ genres) transferring shows first established on radio to television –
where the financial rewards were greater.
The lack of representation of ‘ordinary people’ though exercised many,
including BBC radio producer Charles Parker, who, from the late 1950s,
produced a series of ground-breaking documentaries on various aspects of the
lives of working people and those – such as ‘travelling people’ – whose experiences
and perspectives are hardly ever reflected on mainstream media. The
work of Charles Parker and his associates continues to inspire radio producers
and educationalists – there is an annual prize for radio-feature making in
his name, and his archive, contained in Birmingham Central Library, receives
many appreciative visitors. The talk-back or radio phone-in type of
programme took off in the 1970s, becoming a staple of most local radio
stations and seemingly provided radio with a democratic flavour, often lacking
in television.
Mirroring the much later development of digital audio broadcasting (DAB),
broadcasts on FM from the mid-1950s and then the advent of stereo, greatly
improved the listening experience, as well as enabling many new stations to
take to the air. The early development of FM in many countries – including the
USA – meant that a greater variety of ‘voices’, music and opinions, especially
those of African–Americans, were given airtime, but gradually, as FM listening
matched then overtook AM, most of the stations became incorporated into
the mainstream. In the UK, the ‘rationing’ of recorded music on licensed
stations forced the broadcasters to seek new, unsigned talent, or bring in established
artists to record new material in specially recorded sessions. This
enabled DJs such as John Peel on BBC Radio 1 to provide a much wider range
of material for his listeners than was usual on commercial stations, which
tended to rely on records from artists who were already successful. As will be
argued in Chapter 4, the death of radio, so often predicted from the beginnings
26 BROADCASTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
of television, was to be disproven not only in the latter part of the 20th
century, but well into the 21st.
Notes and references
1. Briggs, A. (1961) The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume 1
– The Birth of Broadcasting, London: Oxford University Press.
2. It continued until 1964 under the title For The Young.
3. The Times (16 November, 1922) Broadcasting Results – Listening-In Parties, p.12.
4. (BBC, 2010) The Road to Coronation Street, first transmitted BBC4 and BBC HD,
16 September.
5. There is a problem of inconsistency with the different methods of ratings: the USA
continues to quote the numbers of households from their sample viewing particular
programmes, and ranked in order of percentage of TV-owning households
tuned in to the programme, whilst Britain quotes the total audience. Not only that,
but Britain’s ratings aggregate the total viewing audiences when either the same
programme is being simulcast, the same event is being covered, or – as in the case
of no.12 – when they are news broadcasts on the same approximate time period
following the same event (the assassination of President Kennedy). The figures
from the USA do not take into account any of these factors, but as there is not the
‘tradition’ of simulcasting the same programme and there is more likely to be
exclusivity in the coverage of sporting events, there could well be higher figures
and a change in the rankings if, for example, news programmes across the
networks had been amalgamated. This might also have skewed the eras represented
in the ratings; the UK’s includes programmes from 1963–97; whilst in the
USA the earliest show represented is in 1982.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 27
ABC (Australia), 9
ABC (UK), 158
ABC (USA), 50, 89, 115, 202
Absolute Radio, 176
Adie, Kate, 150
‘adult’ broadcasting, 32–3 (see also
sex)
Adventures of Robin Hood, The, 157
advertising, 8–9, 17, 19, 23, 32–3,
35–6, 46–7, 53–5, 61, 67, 101,
129, 138, 153, 176, 179–80, 196,
201, 207
Afghanistan, 147
Africa, 13, 68, 116, 144–6, 150, 168,
188, 201–2, 204
African-American(s), 19, 26, 119
African-Caribbean(s), 133, 178
agenda (setting), 15, 51, 79, 97, 109,
144, 181, 200, 206
AIDS, 135, 167, 188, 201–4, 209
Airport, 79, 82, 182
Aitken, Robin, 110–12, 114, 124
Al Jazeera, 140, 146–8, 154–5
All in the Family, 22, 158
Allen, Gavin, 117
AM (radio broadcasting), 8, 26, 43, 46,
170, 183
American Idol, 165
Amnesty (human rights group), 211
Analysis, 103
Andrew Marr Show, 50
animation, 65, 89, 157
Apollo 13, 24–5
Apprentice, The, 80, 82, 166
‘Arab Spring’, 211
Archers, The, 13
Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old?,
168
Argentina, 18
Asia, 19, 146, 162, 169–70
Assange, Julian, 86
Attenborough, David, 207
Audience Appreciation Index (AI), 39
Australia, 9, 13, 36, 48, 89, 140, 157,
160–3, 169
Australian Companies Institute
(Ausbuy), 160
authority (of broadcasters), 11, 94, 189,
196
Avengers, The, 158
BAFTA, 54, 58
Baldwin, Stanley, 9
Ball State University, 39
BARB, 31, 35, 57 (see also ratings)
Barnard, Stephen, 60, 73
Baudrillard, Jean, 88, 92 (see also truth)
Bazalgette, Peter, 78 (see also Reality
TV)
BBC Editorial Guidelines, 204 (see also
regulation)
BBC Empire Service, 12, 213
BBC Home Service, 129
BBC Light Programme, 135, 213
BBC News Channel, 51, 183
BBC Radio Cumbria, 188 (see also local
radio)
BBC (Radio) London, 152–3
BBC Radio 1, 26, 71, 214
BBC Radio 1 Xtra, 133
BBC Radio 2, 62, 64, 98, 136, 177
BBC Radio 3, 130
BBC Radio 4, 63, 86, 95, 103, 107, 109,
124–6, 139, 196,
BBC Radio 4 Extra, 136
BBC Radio 5 Live, 67, 176
BBC (radio) 6 Music, 59, 71, 73–4
BBC Radio 7, 136, 172
BBC Third Programme, 130, 213
BBC 2 (television), 116
221
Index
BBC World Service, 140, 142–3, 154,
211, 215
BBC Worldwide, 150, 163, 169
BEA (Broadcast Education Association),
202
Beatles, The, 20, 133, 135
Bebo, 179–80 (see also technology, social
networking)
Beck, Glenn, 85, 115, 125 (see also bias,
truth)
Beckham, David, 87
bias, 11, 47, 96, 109–15, 117, 121–2,
183, 208 (see also truth,
propaganda)
Big Brother, 76–9, 81, 90, 104, 169,
177, 179, 216, 218
Bird, Derrick, 189, 191 (see also media
effects)
Bird, John, 86
Birmingham Central Library, 26
Black and White Minstrel Show, The, 22
(see also multi-cultural/ism)
Blair, Tony, 85, 87, 95, 125, 147, 163
blogs (blogging), 63, 72–3, 79, 89–90,
103, 111, 117, 177, 181, 184, 186,
197, 209 (see also social media)
Boat that Rocked, The, 132 (see also
‘pirate’ radio)
Bones, 35
Bournemouth University, 61
Boyle, Susan, 80, 83, 91 (see also
celebrity/ies)
Braben, Eddie, 21
brand(s)/branding, 35–6, 39, 43, 56, 67,
139, 143, 153, 163–4, 172, 184
Brand, Russell, 63, 98–102
Brass Eye, 86, 91 (see also satire)
Brazil, 22, 74
Bremner, Rory, 86, 91
Bremner, Bird and Fortune, 86, 91 (see
also Reality TV, satire)
Briggs, Asa, 7, 27, 218
Britain’s Got Talent, 80, 91
British Empire, 9, 164
British Library, 61
British Life and Internet Project, 106 (see
also ratings, technology)
British National Party (BNP), 115 (see
also bias, ethnic minorities)
Brooker, Charlie, 190, 192, 203 (see also
media effects)
Brookside, 56, 160
Brown, Gordon, 72, 77, 195, 197–200,
218 (see also media effects)
Burley, Kay, 112
cable, (TV), 4, 9, 24, 28, 31, 36, 41,
53–5, 56, 78, 85, 146–7, 172,
207, 213, 215–16 (see also
technology)
Cable, Vince, 106
Candid Camera, 81
Cambridge University, 14, 158
Campbell, Alastair, 87, 96, 113, 125 (see
also bias, journalism, truth)
Canada, 9, 13, 29, 33, 91, 130, 140,
155, 159–61
Capital Radio (London), 136–9
Captain Kremmen, 137–8
Caribbean, 13, 133, 168, 178
catch-phrases, 12, 17
Cathy Come Home, 20
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation), 9, 33, 161
CBS, 11, 18, 20, 39, 45, 50, 91, 114–15,
158, 166
celebrity (ies), 76, 79, 114, 207 (see also
Reality TV)
cell phones, see mobile phones
censorship (inc. self-censorship), 13, 112,
137, 150, 191
Center for Media Design, 39
CERN (European Organisation for
Nuclear Research), 124
Chakrabarti, Shami, 120
Chamberlain, Neville, 12, 213
Channel 4, 23, 48, 56, 72, 76, 79, 86–7,
104, 117, 122, 177–8, 204, 215–16,
218
‘chat shows’ (TV), 64, 83, 101, 104
Cheers, 25
Chicago Public Radio, 66 (see also
NPR)
Chignell, Hugh, 109, 124
children’s broadcasting, 11–12, 15, 32,
50, 54–6, 58, 87, 89, 102, 131, 147,
157, 207
Children’s Hour, 15
222 INDEX
China, 16, 19, 28–9, 150, 156, 162,
165–7, 170
China Central Television, 150
Chipmunk, 133
Chomsky, Noam, 87, 108, 219 (see also
propaganda)
Churchill, Winston, 12
class (social), general, 32–3, 73, 94,
130
middle, 11, 17, 54–5, 87, 146, 158,
178
working, 11–12, 19, 119, 135, 164,
206
citizens’ journalism, 1, 5, 175, 182–4,
209 (see also social media)
Clifton, Pete, 181, 184, 187 (see also
digital/production)
climate change, 122–3, 206 (see also
truth)
Clinton, Bill, 85
Clinton, Hillary, 62
CNN (Cable News Network), 24, 50,
88, 91, 98, 115, 146–7, 192, 215
Coalition Government, 200, 217 (see
also leaders’ debates)
Cohen, Sacha Baron, 87 (see also satire,
truth)
Colbert, Stephen, 86 (see also satire)
Colbert Report, The 86
Cold War, 13, 146
comedy, 17, 21–2, 26, 32, 37, 65, 68,
76, 83, 85–6, 88, 97, 114, 128–30,
136, 158, 175, 179–80
commercial radio, 23, 26, 47–8, 60, 67,
69, 71, 131–3, 136–8, 195, 215
Community Radio, 38, 140–2, 201–3,
210
Communism (Communists), 9, 16, 113,
137, 142, 149, 150, 157
Conservative Party, 111
Contract Rights Renewal (CRR), 52 (see
also advertising)
Conversations with a Working Man, 94
(see also class/working, bias,
documentaries)
convergence, 1, 5, 34, 171–2, 175,
180, 185 (see also fragmentation,
multi-media, multi-platform,
technology)
Coronation Street, 19, 24, 27, 49–50,
80, 159, 164
corporations (influence of), 16, 108 (see
also censorship, propaganda)
Countdown, 43
creativity, 53, 65, 159, 206
CSI: Criminal Justice, 39
Crisell, Andrew, 63
Cronkite, Walter, 18, 85, 91 (see also
truth)
Crook, Tim, 65, 74, 154
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 39
culture, 1, 14, 17, 21–2, 29, 47, 53, 55,
68, 76, 83, 85, 87–8, 110, 113–14,
118, 121, 130, 132–4, 142–3,
148–9, 156–7, 161–2, 165, 168,
173, 178, 201, 208, 210
Curtis, Richard, 132
Da Ali G Show, 87
Daily Show, The, 64, 85–6, 91
Dancing on Ice, 82
Danger Man, 157
Dann, Trevor, 3–4
David, Andrew, 141, 210
Day Today, The, 86 (see also satire)
democracy/democratic, 16, 26, 47, 111,
117, 119, 147, 150
De Gaulle, Charles (General), 13
Dexter, Felix, 87
Diana, Princess of Wales, 24–5 (see also
Royal Family)
Dietz, Park, 192–4 (see also media
effects)
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), 26,
42, 73 (see also digital radio)
digital: production, 119, 172, 179, 181
radio, 7, 26, 31, 42–3, 54–5, 62,
66, 71, 73, 133, 136, 161, 172,
209
television, 7, 30–1, 35, 143, 163,
167, 172, 176, 178, 181, 216
Dimbleby, David, 116
Dimbleby, Richard, 13 (see also truth)
Direct Broadcasting by Satellite (DBS), 9,
24, 37, 215 (see also satellite
broadcasting)
Dispatches, 117
Dizzee Rascal, 133
INDEX 223
disc-jockeys(s) (djs), 62, 71, 130, 132–3,
135, 137
Doctor Who, 38, 45, 58, 84, 124, 131,
139, 156, 158–9, 163
documentaries, 17, 26, 61, 66, 77, 93,
95, 136
Domor, Koma, 144
Douglas, Lesley, 100, 102
drama, 11, 14–17, 19–20, 24, 26, 32,
35–7, 39, 53–6, 61, 65–6, 78–9,
83–5, 89, 113, 124, 127–31, 136,
143, 157–9, 161–3, 177–9, 184,
201
Dragon TV, 166
Dubstep, 133
DVD, 36
Dyke, Greg, 96–7 (see also bias)
EastEnders, 24–5, 56, 200
Ed Sullivan Show, The, 20
Eden, Anthony, 18, 214
Egypt, 1, 74
emergency/ies, 8, 47, 70 (see also
Klinenberg, nuclear weapons)
Emotional Bonding Index, 39
Endemol, 104, 179
Epstein, Brian, 133
ethnic (minorities), 22, 89, 116, 137,
142, 168, 178
Europe 1, 69
Europe(an), 9, 11, 13, 15–16, 18–19, 21,
26, 29, 42, 49, 69, 113–14, 132,
134, 140, 149–50, 161–2, 184, 198,
207
European Broadcasting Union, 15
European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR), 120
EU (European Union), 111, 113, 125,
142
Eurovision Song Contest, 14, 214
Evans, Chris, 65, 100, 203
Everett, Kenny, 127, 135–9, 219
FA (Football Association), 14
Facebook, 1, 41, 101, 193, 196, 210 (see
also social media)
Falkland Islands (Malvinas), 18
Fawlty Towers, 98, 129
feminism, see gender
FIFA (Federation of International Football
(soccer) Associations), 33, 44, 129
Fincham, Peter, 84
FIRE (Feminist International Radio
Endeavour), 60 (see also community
radio, gender)
Fireball XL5, 157
First Past the Post (FPTP voting system),
197, 200 (see also politics)
Flava FM, 133
Flex FM, 133
formats, 15, 25, 39, 79, 118, 132, 156,
158–9, 162–4
49 Up, 94
FM (radio broadcasting), 26, 42–3, 62,
66–7, 73, 75, 120, 132–3, 139–40,
142–4, 213–15
Forsyte Saga, The, 158
Forsyth, Bruce, 114 (see also multi-
cultural/ism)
Fox News, 85, 115 (see also bias)
fragmentation, 104, 205–6 (see also
convergence, technology, digital
radio/television)
France, 8, 13, 29, 32, 160–1, 163, 182
‘Frankfurt School’, 12 (see also
Communists/Communism,
corporations, Marxism)
Freeview, 35, 143, 147, 154, 172, 174,
216 (see also digital television)
Frost, David, 86, 147, 154, 219
Fry, Stephen, 51, 57, 220
Gadaffi, Colonel, 1
Gambaccini, Paul, 102, 107
games consoles/devices, 35, 41, 211 (see
also convergence)
game (quiz) shows, 19, 26, 32, 37, 54,
94, 102, 136, 156, 168
Gap Year, The, 179 (see also social
networking)
Gascoigne, Paul ‘Gazza’, 190
‘gatekeeper’ role, 119, 182, 185 (see also
bias, journalism)
Gaunt, Jon, 120–1, 126
Gavin and Stacey, 37
GCap, 136
gender (feminism/women), 12, 33, 41,
60, 89, 117, 201–2, 206
224 INDEX
General Strike, 9 (see also bias,
class/working)
George Mason University, 126
Germany, 10, 12–13, 22, 29, 32, 42,
74, 127, 146, 160–1, 168–9, 192,
214
Gervais, Ricky, 158
Glasgow Media Group, 94 (see also
agenda, bias, class/working))
Glass, Ira, 131 (see also NPR)
Glynne, Andy, 167
Goldberg, Bernard, 114–15 (see also
bias)
Goodnight, and Good Luck, 53 (see also
Public Service Broadcasting)
Goons, The, 65, 137
Granada TV, 194
Grange Hill, 56–7
Great Global Warming Swindle, The,
122 (see also climate change,
politics, agenda)
Green, Michael, 109
Greenslade, Roy, 193 (see also media
effects)
Grey’s Anatomy, 39
Griffin, Nick, 115–17, 125
Grime, 133
Guardian Media Group, 70
Gulf War(s), 88, 147
Gunter, Barrie, 97, 106
Hain, Peter, 116–17, 168
Have I Got News for You?, 114
‘Have Your Say’, 185 (see also social
networking)
Hay, Jocelyn, 55 (see also children’s
broadcasting, Public Service
Broadcasting)
HD (Hybrid Digital) Radio, 43, 161 (see
also digital radio)
HD (High Definition) Television, 27, 35,
128–9, 216 (see also digital
television, technology)
Hendy, David, 63
Henry, Lenny, 178
Heroes, 39
Haiqi, Xiang, 166
Hindi, 162, 164, 168
Holmes, Michael, 40
Home and Away, 160
Home Box Office (HBO), 36, 53, 215
(see also cable TV, ratings)
Hong Kong, 22, 162
Horrocks, Peter, 111, 185, 209
House, 39, 158
Hulu, 174, 180 (see also technology)
Humphrys, John, 95–6, 116
Hutton, Lord, 96–7, 106 (see Iraq,
bias)
Iannucci, Armando, 87 (see also truth,
satire)
I’m a Celebrity…, 81, 114
I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue, 37, 68, 74
identity, 54, 162, 168 (see also ethnic
minorities, multi-cultural/ism,
class/working))
In Band On Channel (IBOC, radio), 161
(see also digital radio)
In the Loop, 87
India, 19, 29, 74, 77, 145, 154, 162,
168–69
International Broadcasting Trust (IBT),
167
intimacy (in radio), 62, 118–19
iPlayer, (see also technology), 35–7, 45,
116, 173, 176
IPTV, 174 (see also convergence)
Iran, 155
Iraq, 17–18, 86, 88, 95, 146, 148, 151–2
Ireland , 17–18, 29, 95, 112, 168, 196,
200
Independent Radio News (IRN), 61
It’ll Be Alright on the Night, 84
Italy, 29, 32, 160–61
ITN (Independent Television News), 15,
51, 94, 195–6, 214
ITV, 15, 23–4, 49–52, 55, 57, 62, 91,
93, 129, 168, 178–80, 187, 190,
192, 195–7, 213–16, 218
ITV1, 48, 52, 80, 83, 98, 104, 129
Japan, 1, 29, 32, 162, 210
Johnson, Lyndon, 85
Joost, 180
journalism, 13, 86, 94, 96, 105, 112,
140, 145, 149–50, 182–4, 186, 193,
196, 209 (see also bias, truth)
INDEX 225
Joy Luck Street, 164
Joyce, William, 13 (see also
propaganda)
Kalemkerian, Mary, 136–8
KDKA, 7, 212
Keane, Michael, 162
Kennedy, John F., 16, 24, 27, 194, 203,
214
Kenya, 168, 201
King, David, 122
Klinenberg, Eric, 71
Knight Rider, 53
Kool FM, 133
Korea (South), 74, 162, 174
Korean War, 19
Kosovo, 149
Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain,
168 (see also formats)
Labour Party (UK), 88, 176
Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 123 (see
also science)
Laurie, Hugh, 158
Lawson, Mark, 43, 45, 190, 203
Lawson, Nigel, 122
Lazarsfeld, Paul, 108 (see also media
effects)
LBC (London Broadcasting Company),
61, 120, 151–4
League of Ovaltineys, The, 11
Leaders’ Debates (TV) (UK), 196–7, 208,
217
Liberal Democratic Party, 106
liberal-left (agenda/bias), 109–10,
112–15, 117, 120, 185 (see also
agenda, bias)
Liberia, 144
Liberty (UK human rights’ group), 120,
146
Libya, 1
Lidster, Joseph, 124
Life, Ang, 166
Life on Mars, 76, 88–9, 92 (see also
truth)
Lilly, Anthony, 174
‘Listen Again’, 31, 136, 153, 175 (see
also technology)
Live Aid, 22
‘live’ broadcasting, 1, 12, 14, 18, 22, 33,
35, 62, 67, 83–4, 95–6, 99, 101,
124, 127–30, 137, 144, 146–7, 150,
176–7, 194, 196, 211, 213, 215
Living TV, 78
local radio, 17, 62, 71, 138, 152, 190,
214 (see also Public Service
Broadcasting)
Lost Souls, 124, 126
Lynd, Helen and Robert, 40
Lyttleton, Humphrey, 68
M*A*S*H, 19, 25, 215
MacDonald, Ramsay, 194
Mair, Eddie, 103–4
Magic Lantern, 175
Malaysia, 162
Mallett, Timmy, 65
Marine (etc.) Broadcasting Offences Act,
132 (see also ‘pirate’ radio)
Marxism (critiques), 123–4 (see also
Communism/ists)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), 122
May, Anthony, 120
McDonald, Trevor, 49, 178, 216
Mclean, Gareth, 39
media effects, 1–2, 12, 105, 199, 201,
208 (see also truth)
Media Guardian Edinburgh International
Television Festival (MGEITF), 48
Mersey Television, 56
Metcalfe, Bob, 175
Middletown Media Studies, 40, 176 (see
also ratings)
Minotaur Media Tracking, 110 (see also
ratings)
Moat, Raoul, 189–93, 203
mobile (cell) phones, 1, 35, 42, 66,
173–5, 179–84, 189, 196 (see also
‘rolling news’, social networking)
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 22, 206
Moran, Albert, 162
Moore, Charles, 102–4 (see also bias)
Morecambe, Eric, 21, 62
Morris, Chris, 86–7, 91 (see also satire,
truth)
MP3, 3, 43, 55, 66 (see also podcasting)
MTV, 23, 131, 201, 204, 215
226 INDEX
multi-media, 42, 51, 104, 173, 181, 209
multi-platform, 5, 28, 56, 177, 179
Murdoch, James, 48
Murdoch, Rupert, 112, 168
Murrow, Edward R, 53, 57
music
radio, 7, 11–12, 14, 25–6, 34, 60,
62–3, 65–6, 68–9, 71–3, 100, 118,
120, 130, 133–5, 173, 177, 188,
210, 212–13
television, 20, 22–3, 83, 165, 168,
173–4, 180
Muslims, 115, 117–18, 151
Myers, John, 70, 74
MySpace, 179
Nasser, Colonel, 18
National Association of Broadcasters
(NAB), 52
National Union of Students (NUS), 1
NBC, 50, 115, 157, 166, 170, 175, 213
‘needle-time’, 130 (see also music: radio)
Neighbours, 160
Nelson, Trevor, 133 (see also ‘pirate’
radio)
Netherlands, 7, 29, 33
New York University, 71
New Zealand, 1, 13, 26, 67, 140, 159,
162
News At Ten, 50–1, 187, 214, 216
Newsnight, 50, 116, 176
Newswipe, 192, 203 (see also media
effects)
Nielsen (TV ratings’ company), 25, 36
(see also ratings)
Nigeria, 74, 144–5
‘9/11’, 147, 151–2
9 O’Clock News, 50
Nixon, Richard, 16, 194, 214
Northern Ireland, 17, 95, 112, 196, 200
NPR (National Public Radio), 9, 131
nuclear
reactors, 1
weapons, 16, 70–1, 95
Obama, Barack, 85, 115, 125, 150
Ofcom, 29, 34, 40–2, 44–5, 74, 102,
117–18, 120, 122, 125–6, 199, 204,
216 (see also bias, regulation, truth)
Office, The, 157–8 (see also formats)
Old Grey Whistle Test, The, 22
Olympic Games, 22–5, 151, 167 (see
also ‘live’ broadcasting)
Omaar, Rageh, 148–9
On The Hour, 86
Onchi, 168
One Show, The, 114
Only Fools and Horses, 24
Open TV, 34
Orsten, Tony, 180
Orwell, George, 86
Oxford University, 27, 219
Pakistan, 168, 185
Palestinian Authority, 148, 155
Palin, Michael, 49
Panorama, 49 (see also agenda)
Parker, Charles, 26 (see also truth)
Paxman, Jeremy, 116
PBS (Public Broadcasting System), 9, 85,
125, 157, 162, 214 (see also
‘quality’ broadcasting)
Peel, John, 26, 132
Perfumed Garden, The, 132 (see also
‘pirate’ radio)
Peston, Robert, 105–7 (see also truth)
Pilger, John, 94 (see also bias,
documentaries)
‘pirate’ radio, 132–3
Planet Earth, 157 (see also ‘quality’
broadcasting)
pluralist, 123
podcast(s), 31, 138, 173, 175–6, 179,
209 (see also technology)
Poland, 29, 142
politics, 21–2, 47, 78–9, 107, 112, 121,
137–8, 142, 144, 148–9, 169, 195,
211 (see also bias)
PPM (Personal People Meter), 34 (see
also ratings)
public sphere, 69, 102
presidential debates (US), 16
propaganda, 2, 8, 12–13, 19, 108, 113,
146, 201
protests, 1, 22, 62, 150
Proms, The (‘promenade concerts’), 14
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), 5, 8,
29, 46, 48, 52, 54–5, 118, 124, 161,
210
INDEX 227
Qatar, 147
QI, 54
‘quality’ broadcasting, 23, 52, 162 (see
also Public Service Broadcasting)
Queen Elizabeth II, 14, 84, 137, 200,
213–14 (see also Royal Family)
Question Time, 2, 108, 115, 125, 129,
196
Q Scores Company, 39, 45 (see also
ratings)
Radio Academy, 3
Radio-Canada, 33
Radio Caroline, 132, 135, 214 (see also
‘pirate’ radio)
racist (racism), 19, 22, 114–16 (see also
ethnic minorities)
radio telephony, 7
radiophonic newspaper, 69
Radio Festival, 65–6, 73–4
Radio Free Europe, 146 (see also
propaganda, truth)
Radio Liberty, 146 (see also propaganda,
truth)
Radio London (‘pirate’ radio station),
69, 132–3, 135
Radio Luxembourg, 11, 213, 215
RAJAR, 31, 33–4, 41–2, 57, 72, 153,
175, 187 (see also ratings)
Ramayana, 19
ratings (audience), 31–2, 35–6, 44,
49–51, 159, 161, 189, 192, 199,
203
Ready, Steady, Go!, 20
Real McCoy, The, 87
Reality TV, 2, 5, 32, 76–81, 90, 93, 114,
156, 168, 209, 216, 218–19 (see
also truth)
Redmond, Phil, 56, 58 (see also
children’s broadcasting)
regulation (and de-regulation), 8, 11, 24,
46, 67, 71, 122, 189
Reith, John, 2, 9–11, 17, 21, 38, 207,
211
religion, 124, 137, 142, 144–5, 167,
185
Resonance FM, 66
responsibility (of broadcasters), 18, 105,
117, 166 (see also media effects)
Reuters, 69, 74, 86, 196, 204
Richards, Jonathan, 151–3
Rinse FM, 133
Robbins, Tim, 52 (see also Public Service
Broadcasting)
Robey, David, 151–2
‘rolling news’, 24, 50–1, 129, 146, 191
(see also journalism, technology,
social networking)
Ross, Jonathan, 63, 98, 100–4, 106,
119, 135 (see also regulation)
Roots, 19, 82, 168–9
Round the Horne, 137
Rowe, Dorothy, 88, 92, 208 (see also
truth)
Royal Family, 21, 24–5, 205
Royal Wedding, 1, 24
Rude FM, 133
Russia (Russian Federation), 74, 150,
161
Ryley, John, 182–183, 186
satellite broadcasting, 4, 7, 9, 22, 24, 31,
36, 56, 78, 119, 135, 140, 143,
146–8, 150, 168–9, 172, 195, 215
(see also technology)
S4C, 48 (see also Channel 4)
Saatchi, Roy, 149–50
Sachs, Andrew, 2, 98–100
Saint, The, 157
Sarnoff, David, 175 (see also social
networking, technology)
satire, 86–7 (see also comedy)
science, 14, 26, 121–4, 143, 206, 208
(see also climate change)
Scotland, 17, 52, 151, 179, 196
Second World War, 7, 9–10, 12–13, 15,
18, 23, 80, 112
Serbia, 149
Sesame Street, 157 (see also children’s
broadcasting)
‘7/7’, 151–4, 184 (see also mobile
phone(s), ‘rolling news’)
Seven Up, 94 (see also documentaries,
truth)
sex (inc. sexual acts, health, orientation,
sexism), 55, 83, 87, 89, 99, 117,
119, 137, 166, 178, 201–2
Sex and the City, 36, 157
228 INDEX
Shannon, Howard, 137–8
Shetty, Shilpa, 77
Shields, Joanne, 179
Simon, David, 36, 44, 53, 207 (see also
cable TV)
Siren FM, 140, 142 (see also community
radio)
Sirius, 119 (see also digital radio)
Skins, 177–8 (see also class/middle,
truth)
Sissons, Peter, 51, 220 (see also ratings)
Sky Anytime, 35
Sky HD, 35
Sky News, 51, 98, 112–13, 129, 171,
182–3, 186, 190–2, 194–6, 198,
200, 203
Sky One, 35
Sky Plus, 35
Sky Television, 35, 48, 143
Smooth Radio, 67
‘soap opera(s)’, 13, 24, 69, 82, 90, 129,
200
‘social amplification’, 196
social networking, 63, 72, 175, 178–9,
209 (see also mobile phones)
socialism, 9, 113
‘soft power’, 142, 211 (see also BBC
World Service, Radio Europe, Radio
Liberty, Voice of America)
Somalia, 144, 148
Sopel, Jon, 190
Sopranos, The, 36
South Africa, 13, 68, 116, 202
South America, 19
Soviet Union, 16
Spain, 29, 33, 68, 120, 160
Spooks, 39, 150, 155, 163 (see also
truth)
sport(s), 9, 14, 19, 22, 24, 27, 32–4, 36,
67, 80, 84, 89, 128, 151 (see also
‘live’ broadcasting)
‘spin’ (inc. ‘spin machine’, ‘spin
doctors’), 85–7, 96, 197 (see also
propaganda)
Steel, Fraser, 109
Steemers, Jeanette, 161
Steptoe and Son, 157
Stern, Howard, 118–19 (see also talk
radio)
Stewart, Jon, 39, 45, 85–6, 91 (see also
bias, truth)
Stott, Philip, 123
Stryder, Tinchy, 133
Sugar, Alan, 82, 166 (see also formats)
Sunday Night at the London Palladium,
94 (see also ‘live’ broadcasting)
SunTalk, 121 (see also bias, truth, talk
radio)
Super Bowl, 24–5 (see also ratings)
Super (Voice) Girl(s), 165–6, 169
Supercar, 157
Surviving the Iron Age, 80
Survivor, 39, 45, 166–7, 170
Sweden, 29, 70
Syria, 211
Taiwan, 162
talk radio, 115, 120–1 (see also Stern)
talkSPORT, 34, 120–1, 126
Tangaza, Jamilah, 144
Tea Party Movement, 85 (see also bias)
technology, 2–4, 9, 22, 42, 135, 143, 148,
161, 163, 173–4, 182, 190, 209
telenovellas, 19 (see also soap operas)
Teletubbies, 43
Tennant, David, 38, 45, 159
Test Match Special, 37, 67, 68 (see also
‘live’ broadcasting, sport)
Thatcher, Carol, 114 (see also multi-
cultural/ism)
Thatcher, Margaret, 23, 137
That Was the Week That Was (TW3), 86
(see also satire)
The Thick of It, 87, 92, 148
This American Life, 66, 131 (see also
NPR)
3-D(imensional) TV, 209, 216–17
Thompson, Jeremy, 113
Thompson, Mark, 48, 57, 72, 103 (see
also Public Service Broadcasting)
Till Death Us Do Part, 158 (see also
politics)
‘tipping point’, 14, 177, 184, 216–17
(see also technology)
Today (BBC Radio 4), 2, 52, 86, 91,
95–6, 103–4, 106, 110, 116, 123,
126, 176 (see also journalism,
truth)
INDEX 229
230 INDEX
Tonight with Trevor McDonald, 49
Top Gear, 37, 45, 157, 163 (see also
formats)
Top of the Pops, 20
Torchwood, 124, 126
Trump, Donald, 166
truth, 1, 11, 41, 83–5, 88, 93–5, 97,
104, 112, 167, 178
Tunisia, 1
Twitter, 191, 197, 209
UK Funky, 133
Undercover Mosque, 117 (see also ethnic
minorities, Muslims, regulation,
truth)
University of Berkeley, 28
University of Gotenburg, 70
University of Lincoln, 140
Unsworth, Fran, 193–194
USA, 7–9, 11–12, 15–16, 19, 22–32, 34,
36, 40, 42–3, 46, 48–50, 52–3, 61,
66, 69, 71, 74, 81, 85, 89, 96, 106,
114–15, 122, 132, 135, 140, 146–7,
150–3, 156–61, 163–7, 169, 194,
205, 212–16
Val Doonican Show, The, 22
Video Cassette Recorder (VCR), 23 (see
also technology)
Vietnam War, 18–19 (see also truth,
journalism)
Vine, Jeremy, 49, 100
‘vodcasts’, 173, 209 (see also podcast(s),
MP3)
Voice of America, 146 (see also
propaganda)
Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV),
55 (see also Public Service
Broadcasting)
Waldman, Simon, 183–4
Wales, 17, 159, 196, 200
Walters, Paul(y), 65
War Game, The, 95, 106 (see also
nuclear/weapons, truth)
War of the Worlds, The 11, 89, 213 (see
also media effects, truth)
Wartime Broadcasting Service, 70
WCBS-FM, 62
Web 2.0, 174–5 (see also convergence,
social networking)
Welles, Orson, 11, 89
Wells, HG, 11
West Wing, The, 36
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, 156,
164, 169 (see also formats)
WikiLeaks, 1, 86, 91
Will and Grace, 157
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis
Championships, 14, 67, 216
Win in China, 166 (see also formats)
WINS, 45, 154
Wire, The, 36, 53, 207 (see also cable
TV)
Wise, Ernie, 21, 62, 177, 209
Wogan, Terry, 62, 64, 74, 100, 177,
187
women, see gender
Workers’ Playtime, 129
World Cup (FIFA), 24–5, 33, 44, 54, 67,
129, 179, 187, 197, 214, 217
World In Action, 49, 94 (see also
documentaries, journalism)
World Radio Network (WRN), 141
World Space, 146 (see also digital radio)
Wunsch, Carl, 122 (see also climate
change)
X Factor, The, 80, 83, 91, 205 (see also
celebrity/ies, music-television)
Yentob, Alan, 103–4
Yes, Minister, 164
YouGov, 97
YouTube, 1, 80, 90–1, 159, 164, 174,
178–79, 185, 191 (see also
convergence, social networking)
YouView, 174, 217
Zhogde, Liu, 165