A Brief History - British Television (BBC1, ITV, BBC2, Channel 4 & Channel 5)

A Brief History: British Television

In 1924, John Logie-Baird begins his experiments...
In 1926, Baird first demonstrates his new idea... Television
In 1936, the BBC begins its Television Service...
British Television is born...

Join me as we look at the origins of the five main TV channels that occupied the British airwaves during the analogue era of television. These being:
- BBC1 - ITV - BBC2 - Channel 4 - Channel 5

CHECK OUT THE BRIEF HISTORY PLAYLIST!

AMTV Sequences - JuanTheMC
AMTV Ratings Card - Jacob Furrier

With Thanks To:
- TV Ark - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System - BBC
(and to anyone and everyone who has helped preserve television history!)

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[starsnstuff]

The embarrassing blackout of BBC2's opening night is made even more amusing due to the fact that the announcer looks like John Cleese!

[tgarvis]

The premieres of BBC 1 and ITV were simple. BBC 2's premiere was eventful. Channel 4's, awesome! And Channel 5's premiere was... something.

[CypherSonic]

You should do a retrospective on the UK digital switchover it would be awesome, also great video, I enjoyed watching it!

[NigelDixon]

Thanks Adam, I really enjoyed this one. At 68 I don't go all the way back to the dawn of British TV, but I do remember, just, when the BBC was all there was to watch. Although I was only 3 I remember the start of ITV. My dad's workmate came round and adjusted our TV's tuner so that ITV worked well on channel 3. Countdown was on air for quite a while before the start of Channel 4. It was produced by our regional broadcaster, Yorkshire TV, and known as Calendar Countdown. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all you do.

[davidtownson]

Regarding the Mickey Mouse cartoon: according to the BBC website it was called "Mickey's Gala Premiere" and was not stopped halfway through but was broadcast in full. It was then repeated as the first programme when television restarted in 1946.

[ChadElk]

This is great, thank you. As an American, all this "bbc1, bbc2, bbc7, bbc-heaven" hadn't made much sense to me. Great video.

[dearone]

This is so good it could easily have been broadcast on actual TV. Great video!

[joannedixon-jackson]

Brilliant video! I remember watching Channel 4 come on air for the first time back in 1982 - it’ll be 40 years old this November!

By the time Channel 5 started, though, as you rightly said, it didn’t really have the same impact as the launch of the other 4 terrestrial channels as we already had satellite TV by then and a huge range of channels to choose from, something we didn’t have when the previous four first came on air.

[belleooo]

Thanks for the video. We watched mainly ITV in our house growing up, but when channel 4 came on I was instantly hooked.

[nicholaskalogris]

Thanks for giving us a glimpse into Broadcasting History!

[locutus]

Just like ITV, Channel 4 was not available in all areas from the outset. Where I lived in North Devon, Channel 4 was not due to be available for about a year, EXCEPT the housing estate my family lived on. This was due to the fact that the communal aerial (which served the whole estate as opposed to individual aerials for each house) was pointed to a different transmitter than everyone else in the village. This transmitter did get Channel 4 from the off.

[tonysuffolk]

I saw first hand the development of TV from the 50s. Your précis is excellent. Your choice and editing of clips is impressive. Thank you for this.

[bartomiejklimek]

Great video Adam ;)
Also, Channel 4 launch is something. Really, I feel a nostalgia for a moment that was 20 years before I was born.

[SteveHopperTV]

That was superb! Clearly passionate about the subject, well presented, well put together and easy to get lost in, which is a rarity in today's over saturation of media entertainment. It was like watching an old school television programme itself! Great work Adam, I can't wait to see more. I've subscribed 🙂

[gcooper]

I've just realised my late Grandparents were old enough to have been around when TV was first broadcast. I just took TV for granted and never asked them about it. I wish I had. I wonder when they got their first TVs.

[jwilliamsproductions]

I absolutely love this channel. Don’t stop making these videos.

[VSwede]

You’ve outdone yourself with the editing here! Very lovely remake. This was absolutely worth the wait.

[VHSArtifacts]

Although it hasn't even started yet, I can already tell its going to be a good video :)

[wisteela]

Excellent video. It's amazing that 405 line was not switched off until 1985. It would be great if you could do a technical one about the history of TV, and yes, more like this would be fantastic.

[adid.]

1st of all. Amazing choice for background music!
2nd, I love that you take the whole thing with TV broadcasting and its history seriously. Very few people care about it.
And 3rd. You got my subscribe!