The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

Paul Kerensa

100 Years of the BBC, Radio and Life as We Know It. Be informed, educated and entertained by the amazing true story of radio’s forgotten pioneers. With host Paul Kerensa, great guests and rare archive from broadcasting’s golden era. Original music by Will Farmer. www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio

  1. 10月17日

    #106 6BM Bournemouth: The End of the Beginning at the BBC... and James Cridland

    "6BM Bournemouth sends hearty greetings to the world... We do hope you can smell the pines!"   On 17 October 1923 (oh and look at the date this podcast landed - 102 years apart), the BBC opened its eighth station: 6BM Bournemouth.   It was the last of the first, after the original plan for eight station. Now the map atop the Radio Times cover would be proven correct! When the magazine launched, it featured eight stations... but only six were in operation.   For perhaps the first time, we'll unite some of the first voices from each station - from London's Arthur Burrows to Bournemouth's Auntie Lulu - as well as hear some of pioneering voices from 6BM, thanks to Seán Street, Emeritus Professor of Radio at Bournemouth University. Seán's wonderful recent article and 1973 documentary are essential further reading and listening - and any early voices you hear on this podcast are from interviews he recorded then. We're so glad he did.   Hear the children's presenter in trouble for mentioning religion and booze in her children's tales (no 'Yohoho and a bottle of rum' here...) and the offers from France to pay a licence fee, so enamoured were they with the Bournemouth station.   As for radio's future, who better than the radio futurologist to enlighten us? James Cridland is in-demand as a radio consultant and speaker, and has both intriguing thoughts on where radio (or audio) is going, and wonderful tales of working in radio, including being at the cutting edge of radio's move online two decades ago. I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did (and yes he will be back).   Elsewhere, we talk about not only this podcast's survey, but the BBC's survey, and its results. What do we want the BBC to be? The people have spoken... We dig into that a little.   And our next clue in our audio Christmas gift. What will it be? Keep listening to puzzle it out. (Email me any guesses by all means - or feedback generally on the podcast, or any queries we can ponder on a future episode)    I like all the episodes I make for this podcast. But I REALLY like this one. Hope you do too.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Professor Seán Street's wonderful 1973 documentary on 6BM Bournemouth is a must-listen: https://soundcloud.com/seans-wireless/6bm-calling His brilliant article on 6BM Bournemouth is here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/celebrating-centenary-bbc-our-work-creative-industries/question-of-anniversaries James Cridland's website is james.cridland.net, and his daily podcast newsletter is the excellent Podnews. Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - do please spare 5mins to let me know your thoughts: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey The BBC's slightly bigger survey has its results now in: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ourbbcourfuture/ Thanks to Andrew Barker, our Newspaper Detective, for finding the press extracts. Copyright may belong to a newspaper conglomerate somewhere that bought up old newspapers. I can't tell. I just know it's not mine. But fair use, right? Paul's latest Substack is on the Boat Race and the BBC: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-boat-race-drifts-from-the-bbc Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. And occasionally what's ahead. Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc. Coming soon to the podcast: a dramatic re-enactment! That involves me paying a producer for this one-off episode. I intend to give her one month's Patreon £. So now's a great time to chip in, and she'll get a good £... and might then do more for us! If you'd consider? Thanks. Guilt trip over. (...FOR NOW) Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast going. Next time: Episode 107: The early BBC criticism programmes: Drama, Music, Film, Books... More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    42 分钟

  2. 10月3日

    #105 2BD Aberdeen and R.E. Jeffrey: From First Gaelic Broadcast to First Sci-Fi

    "Aberdeen Calling!"   On 10 October 1923, the BBC opened its seventh station: 2BD Aberdeen.    Its station director R.E. Jeffrey was fresh from the success of Rob Roy - a drama he'd produced and starred in - and in later years he'd head up BBC drama, with contributions arguably including radio's first sci-fi and first sitcom (not at the same time - Red Dwarf was a while away yet).   Our experts include author Gordon Bathgate (whose book Aberdeen Calling is recommended - link below)... academic Dr Aleksandar Kocic of Edinburgh Napier University on why the BBC doesn't really do local radio in Scotland... plus notes from Prof Tim Crook on R.E. Jeffrey's later career... and much more.   We recreate for you Aberdeen's opening night - hear the songs and some of the voices. We look at the challenges of the weather, and the shrinking nature of BBC local radio - both in 1923 and in 2025.   Thoughts on any of this? Email me: paul at paulkerensa dot com. And see the below links for more on this marvellous tale...   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Gordon Bathgate's excellent book Aberdeen Calling: 100 Years of the BBC in Aberdeen is available for your bookshelf: https://amzn.to/42mDDuJ Dr Aleksandar Kocic's thesis - 'What perceptions of local radio by its journalists and listeners tell us about its role and future' - is here: https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/handle/1893/35995?mode=full Graham Stewart's website Scotland On Air has more on the 2BD Aberdeen story here: https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/2BD Prof Tim Crook's article on R.E. Jeffrey and his pioneering sci-fi dramas is here: https://kulturapress.com/2022/08/29/r-e-jeffrey-pioneer-science-fiction-audio-playwright/ Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - do please spare 5mins to let me know your thoughts: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Paul's latest Substack is on the Boat Race leaving the BBC... and how it first arrived: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-boat-race-drifts-from-the-bbc Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Y'hear? Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos etc. Coming soon: a thing that involves me paying for a few things to make a one-off fuller bigger episode. Help fund it? Thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat. Next time: Episode 106: The launch of 6BM Bournemouth, and an interview with radio futurologist James Cridland. More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    50 分钟

  3. 9月11日

    #104 The Radio Times is Launched! A Browse Through Issue 1

    On 28 September 1923, a new magazine hit news-stands.   The Radio Times was a BBC publication, born out of a listings ban seven months earlier, when the press tried to charge the Beeb advertising rates to print what was on. The BBC’s General Manager John Reith saw an opportunity: they’d just print their own.   We previously (on episodes 75 and 76) brought you the history of the Radio Times for its centenary, but as our moment-by-moment timeline of British broadcasting finally reaches September 1923, we just had to zoom in a little further on issue number one.   So join us for a look at the first listings, the first letter (a listener from Spain!), ads including headphones and - oddly - height-lengthening, the first cartoon (about listening to the wireless en masse in a village hall), plus listeners complaints mourning the “murder” of composer Tannhauser at the hands of the London Wireless Orchestra. Everyone’s a critic…   Our guests include Radio Times editor Shem Law, Radio Times collector Dr Steve Arnold, Radio 4’s Justin Webb and Dr Martin Cooper author of Radio’s Legacy in Popular Culture.    SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Books referred to include Those Radio Times by Susan Briggs and The Radio Times Cover Story by Tony Currie. Martin Cooper’s book is Radio’s Legacy in Popular Culture https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radios-legacy-in-popular-culture-9781501360442/ Steve Arnold’s website is radiotimesarchive.co.uk/. Martin Cooper’s website is prefadelisten.com Paul's latest Substack is here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171149075 Paul's live show on the BBC origin story - at time of writing, soon in Ealing, Petersfield, Norfolk, Hertfordshire: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC.  Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat Next time: Episode 105: The launch of Aberdeen 2BD. Advance reading: see Gordon Bathgate’s book Aberdeen Calling: https://amzn.to/4pi9FBW More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    36 分钟

  4. 8月21日

    #103 Sept 1923 on the BBC, Rob Roy and Gavin Sutherland

    Back in 1923, between SB and RT - that's 'Simultaneous Broadcasting' (networking nationally via landline) and The Radio Times (the BBC listings mag still had the 'The' back then), a month went by... ...But did nothing happen in that month? Of course not! So between these two bigger landmarks, on this episode we bring you some smaller but notable ones. Also on the Beeb in Aug/Sept 1923: Rob Roy live from Glasgow - with fight scenes Reith reads the news... again. Because his mum forgot to listen. Sir Ernest Rutherford: first public figure to broadcast nationally. New time signal: weights, counting and a bell on the hour Sheffield, Aberdeen and Bournemouth prepare for the air Newcastle's beloved boss heads south Reith has his height measured at the Postmaster-General's house. Reith wins. Announcer sacked, while another commended for "an impression of virility, keenness, and a suggestion of fresh breezes on the moors".  The Radio Times gets an editor The first cat on radio? (Thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker for most of these) ...I think that's everything we cover. You don't have to listen now... Oh but wait! Then you'd miss our amazing guest. Conductor and arranger of note (and of notes) Gavin Sutherland has a new album out of old TV themes: The Next Programme Follows Shortly. It's a joy. Hear Gavin guide us through half a dozen or so tracks, from Grandstand to the Channel 4 ident, from the first song on television to the secret code hidden in The Two Ronnies theme. Have a listen, buy his album - and enjoy our chat. And the first cat on radio. Miaow.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Gavin's music is by various writers, and reproduced here with kind permission of Gavin Sutherland and Fast Tunes Ltd. Buy Gavin's album The Next Programme Follows Shortly from Bandcamp: https://fasttunes.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-programme-follows-shortly Paul's latest Substack is on 37,451 days of BBC vs politics: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171149075 Paul's live show on the BBC origin story: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Paul's walking tour of old BBC sites: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539 (or get in touch to request the next - paul at paulkerensa dot com) This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat Next time: Episode 104: The Radio Times is launched! More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    49 分钟

  5. 7月15日

    #102 SB: Simultaneous Broadcasting... and Mary English

    On 29 August 1923, the BBC officially launched SB: Simultaneous Broadcasting.  They'd been testing SB for months, via crossed lines and cross conversations with the General Post Office. It would dramatically change the shape and big idea of what broadcasting was and could be. Using landlines, they linked stations - so a Covent Garden concert could be heard nationally for the first time, as other stations gave over the schedules to big concerts, or news bulletins, or... whatever London wanted. Generally speaking. Yes, other stations could take over too - Birmingham or Glasgow might offer a concert of play. But questions were asked, even back then, of whether listeners would prefer their regular local programming, or news/concerts from the capital. Oh but we can provide you big stars, said the Programme Department. It's a move forward. But a move backward for local programming, alas - even if it was pitched to them that they could enjoy a night off. Hmm... As we explore and unpack that, we also welcome a guest - Mary Englsh, who began at the BBC in 1973 as a studio manager, wrote for The Two Ronnies, and nearly bled over Margaret Thatcher thanks to an editing accident. We hear from her, including the timely observation that the BBC perhaps win trust by "broadcasting their defeats". (In the week this podcast lands, the BBC has broadcast two of their defeats - with news reports about their Gaza documentary and Gregg Wallace. Would another channel amplify their failures quite so much? Should they? Answers on a postcard...)   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Paul's recent talk at the Early Recordings Conference, on the earliest BBC recording and what happened to it: https://youtu.be/JdJVGhPKtjM Our Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com Paul at Camden Fringe with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio, in August 2025 - come! https://camdenfringe.com/events/an-evening-of-very-old-radio/ Paul on elsewhere on tour: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Our walking tour of old BBC sites, 9 Aug and 6 Sept 2025 - come! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539   This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! ...Latest Patreon video is an even deeper dive into the Sykes Report - we read the lot (well, most of it): https://www.patreon.com/posts/vid-1923s-sykes-132182661 Next time: Episode 103: Aug/Sept 1923 - Rob Roy and the first cat on radio! More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    50 分钟

  6. 6月26日

    #101 The Sykes Report + Early Recordings Association

    Episode 101 finds us in late August 1923...  The first government inquiry into the BBC has just finished four months of interviewing dozens of interested parties about what the Beeb should/would/could be. Should it have a competitor? How do you solve the licence problem? Did the BBC have a monopoly? And isn't it time 'listeners-in' were just called 'listeners'? We give you a potted summary of Sir Frederick Sykes' inquiry, committee and report - somehow known as The Sykes Inquiry, The Sykes Committee and The Sykes Report.  And our special guest, talking about three decades earlier, is Dr Inja Stanović of the University of Surrey, Surrey Future Senior Fellow, Director of Performance, and most crucially for us, Director of the Early Recordings Association. She brings reconstructed recordings and info about the Early Recordings Association (join free, click below) and its Conference.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Early Recordings Association - join! https://www.surrey.ac.uk/early-recordings-association Early Recordings Association Conference - come! https://www.surrey.ac.uk/events/20250701-early-recordings-association-era-conference-2025 The album 'Austro-German Revivals: (Re)constructing Acoustic Recordings' by Inja Stanović & David Milsom - listen for free! https://unipress.hud.ac.uk/plugins/books/30/ Paul Kerensa on Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com Paul Kerensa at Camden Fringe with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio, in August 2025 - come! https://camdenfringe.com/events/an-evening-of-very-old-radio/ Paul Kerensa on elsewhere on tour: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Paul's walking tour of old BBC sites, 9 Aug and 6 Sept 2025 - come! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539   This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! ...Latest Patreon video is an even deeper dive into the Sykes Report - we read the lot (well, most of it): https://www.patreon.com/posts/vid-1923s-sykes-132182661 Next time: Episode 102: Simultaneous Broadcasting, on the BBC in August 1923. More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    48 分钟

  7. 5月28日

    #100 The Century! British Broadcasting's Story So Far, 1895-1923

    It's The British Broadcasting Century's century! Thanks if you've joined us for the story so far, from Morse and Marconi to Reith and the Pips (before Gladys Knight took over lead vocals). This special 100th episode is for both the newcomer and the seasoned veteran - being the previous 99 episodes in summary form, BUT with lots of new bits. So this is no best-of... (alright it's a bit of a best-of) ...this is packed with new things we didn't know, old things we hadn't found yet, new perspectives on the areas we've covered previously, things we left out completely, and much more, or less, depending on how you look at it. New things include: The first song Marconi played via wireless (thanks John Hannon) New (corrected!) info on Marconi's first sports report by wireless - not 1899 in America, but 1898 in Ireland... Long clips of Britain's first DJ Gertrude Donisthorpe, Marconi engineer William Ditcham, first broadcast singer Winifred Sayer, Marconi man R.D. Bangay, and more, that we haven't played you before. News on the Melba recording (er, not good news) A 6min-long never-before-heard reminiscence by Arthur Burrows, reflecting on the first BBC broadcast, with new info - including the 2LO orchestra being accused of electoral bias because of their song choice. The first accusation of BBC on-air bias... in musical form! The opening words of the first BBC children's broadcast New info on Harry Tate's 'Broadcasting' sketch (thanks Alan Stafford) The first singer of Cardiff 5WA The Sykes Committee look into the BBC (just to keep the story moving forward, a bit) And we've been asking you for your favourite moments so far. So we re-bring you: Peter Eckersley on 2MT Writtle Tales from 2ZY Manchester and 5IT Birmingham More Peter Eckersley on 2MT Writtle Even more Peter Eckersley on... ...You get the idea. Thanks for joining us for our first 100 episodes - here's to our next 100. Do share this with people to help make that happen! . SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Our re-enactment of the first BBC broadcast is on Youtube. Dr Andrea Smith's new book is Shakespeare on the Radio, published by Edinburgh University Press. Alan Stafford's book is Bigamy Called the Radio Star, published by Fantom. Paul's latest Substack article is about Arthur Burrows (first voice of the BBC) and his link with the Eurovision. I claim there's no Eurovision with him! Find it on paulkerensa.substack.com See Paul Kerensa on tour, with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. The Early Recordings Association Conference takes place at The University of Surrey, Guildford this July. I'll be presenting on 1 July. Details here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/events/20250701-early-recordings-association-era-conference-2025 Also catch Paul at the Religion Media Festival on Monday 9 June: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/events/religion-media-festival-2025/ This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Next time: Episode 101: The Sykes Inquiry, and the Early Recordings Association. More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    54 分钟

  8. 4月17日

    #099 Godfrey Isaacs - The Man Behind The BBC Idea

    On the day of episode 99's release, it's exactly 100 years since the death on 17 April 1925 of Godfrey Isaacs - Managing Director of the Marconi Company. More than that - new evidence shows that he came up with and championed the idea of the one BBC. For years, the British government (via the Post Office) has been credited with the plan for a singular British broadcaster. But lost meeting minutes have been rediscovered.... The academic who found these minutes - misplaced for decades - is David Prosser of the University of Bristol. He joins us to tell us about the 18 May 1922 meeting where Godfrey Isaacs proposed that the Marconi Company share patents and collaborate with its rivals to form one (British) Broadcasting Company. And Robert Godfrey - Isaacs' great-great-grandson - joins us to give new insights into the life of this under-heralded pioneer in the ways of wireless. Hear tales of the Marconi Scandal, Titanic, business wrangling, broadcasting innovation, battles with the press, and a life cut short. There's a lot to tell, so this is a longer episode than usual - sorry! Actually I'm not sorry... these chaps know their stuff, and it's an incredible tale. . SHOWNOTES: Read David Prosser's article: 'Marconi Proposes: Why it's time to rethink the birth of the BBC' - on the University of Bristol website: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/193478467/Prosser_Marconi_Proposes_Why_it_s_time_to_rethink_the_birth_of_the_BBC_26_Sep_2018.pdf Original music is by Will Farmer.  Paul is now on Substack - for more in-depth-but-lighthearted broadcasting history, subscribe at paulkerensa.substack.com See Paul Kerensa on tour, with The BBC and Me: Then and Now, aka An Evening of (Very) Old Radio: www.paulkerensa.com/tour - come and hear about the first firsts of broadcasting, live. The Early Recordings Association Conference takes place at The University of Surrey, Guildford this July. I'll be presenting on 1 July. Details here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/events/20250701-early-recordings-association-era-conference-2025 Also catch Paul at the Religion Media Festival on Monday 9 June: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/events/religion-media-festival-2025/ This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do!   Next time: Episode 100! Your highlights of the British broadcasting origin story - Marconi, Melba, Eckersley, Reith and more. And maybe the Sykes Inquiry, if we get time (unlikely!) More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

    56 分钟
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100 Years of the BBC, Radio and Life as We Know It. Be informed, educated and entertained by the amazing true story of radio’s forgotten pioneers. With host Paul Kerensa, great guests and rare archive from broadcasting’s golden era. Original music by Will Farmer. www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio

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