On this day, 2 November 1936, the BBC launched the nation’s first regular TV service from Alexandra Palace. Apart from WWII when its transmitters were used to help defend against bomb attacks by jamming signals. Alexandra Palace was the main location for the BBC’s television broadcasts until the 1950s. The single channel, regular television service continued until it was joined by another channel in 1964, then taking on the names BBC One and BBC Two.
Since those days, picture quality has continually improved, programmes are now much better produced and television now reaches a global audience of millions on every continent. However, we are now in a similar period of fundamental change as when the first programmes moved from radio to television with the advent of then-new technologies. For the first time, audiences viewing programmes over the internet are starting to reach similar levels to those viewing on televisions in living rooms, while new technologies like 4k and HDR are set to revolutionise the quality and realism of programmes in homes and cinemas. We should take a note from the pioneering spirit of the BBC in 1936 and make sure we are delivering the wonder of these new innovations to the next generation of viewers around the world.
