Retro: BBC TV, September 1, 1939

[TVWorldwide]

As part of an article which I'll get to below, Transdiffusion.org (a British site devoted to TV history) includes a copy of the BBC's television listings for September 1, 1939:

11:00a Come and be Televised
(until 12:00)
2:00p Mantovani and His Orchestra
3:30 British Movietone News
3:40 Cartoon Film: "Touchdown Mickey"
3:45 Cabaret
4:05 Visit to Regent's Park Zoo
(until 4:30)
8:00 National (sound only) [I believe this was one of the BBC's famous sound-only newscasts, which continued well after WWII]
9:00 Variety from Olympia
9:30 Practical Household Suggestions
9:45 Joss (cartoonist)
9:50 Gaumont British News
10:00 The Jacquart Puppets
10:15 Interest Film: West of Inverness
10:20 Pas Seul with the BBC Television Orchestra
(until 10:35)

Source: The Times via Transdiffusion.org; another source has minor scheduling differences

Does the date sound familiar? Most of this day's television lineup was never broadcast because World War II began on September 1, 1939, causing the BBC to suspend its television service until 1946. You can read the rest of the story, and see the listings as they appeared in print, here:

http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/baird/tvoff/index.htm

It's a fairly long but interesting article.

 

[bpatrick]

> As part of an article which I'll get to below,
> Transdiffusion.org (a British site devoted to TV history)
> includes a copy of the BBC's television listings for
> September 1, 1939:
>
> 11:00a Come and be Televised
> (until 12:00)
> 2:00p Mantovani and His Orchestra
> 3:30 British Movietone News
> 3:40 Cartoon Film: "Touchdown Mickey"
> 3:45 Cabaret
> 4:05 Visit to Regent's Park Zoo
> (until 4:30)
> 8:00 National (sound only) [I believe this was one of the
> BBC's famous sound-only newscasts, which continued well
> after WWII]
> 9:00 Variety from Olympia
> 9:30 Practical Household Suggestions
> 9:45 Joss (cartoonist)
> 9:50 Gaumont British News
> 10:00 The Jacquart Puppets
> 10:15 Interest Film: West of Inverness
> 10:20 Pas Seul with the BBC Television Orchestra
> (until 10:35)
>
> Source: The Times via Transdiffusion.org; another source has
> minor scheduling differences
>
> Does the date sound familiar? Most of this day's television
> lineup was never broadcast because World War II began on
> September 1, 1939, causing the BBC to suspend its television
> service until 1946. You can read the rest of the story, and
> see the listings as they appeared in print, here:
>
> http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/baird/tvoff/index.htm
>
> It's a fairly long but interesting article.
>
I thought the BBC shut down on Sunday, September 3, in the
middle of a Mickey Mouse cartoon. In 1946 programming resumed
at the exact point where the cartoon was stopped seven years
earlier, preceded by an announcer saying something like,
"Before we were so rudely interrupted..."

The Internet sources I checked just now are in agreement
that the BBC did shut down its television service on Friday,
September 1, at 12:35 PM, on two hours' notice, resuming
at 3 PM June 7, 1946. (Type in "BBC television 1939" and
you'll get links to a number of articles.) When the BBC
resumed, the first thing viewers saw was a woman introducing
herself, "Do you remember me? I'm Jasmine Bligh." Ms. Bligh
was apparently the last human face BBC viewers saw in '39.
After a few remarks, she showed the cartoon that had been
stopped in '39.

So what I've read over the years about the date and time
of the BBC television shutdown is obviously wrong.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 11/07/05 01:55 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

The Transdiffusion article on the shutdown of the BBC Television Service for the duration of World War II is the best and most detailed article I have ever read about how the shutdown came about.

At the time, BBC had only one television transmitter: On top of Alexandria Palace in London (that building in turn was built on top of a hill), and the signal was 405-lines on Channel 1 of the old British VHF band. The signal had a 30-to-40 mile range, depending on the quality of the receiving antenna, terrain between you and "Ally Pally" (as the site was nicknamed), and the height of your receiving antenna. The studios were inside Alexandria Palace.

The BBC had begun regular TV broadcasting in November, 1936. For a time, they alternated the use of two different transmission systems, but eventually decided on the 405-line system developed by Marconi/EMI (the losing system was an "intermediate film" system; developed by John Logie Baird, which had something like 230 lines of resolution). In the "Baird" section of Transdiffusion.org, you will find detailed information on both early TV systems.

Until shut down in September of 1939, the BBC was considered the world leader in television broadcasting. During the Summer of 1939, they were putting together a daily broadcasting schedule that no American TV station would match (in terms of number of on-air hours and diversity of programs produced) until about 1948.

 

[mjlarochelle]

> At the time, BBC had only one television transmitter: On top
> of Alexandria Palace in London (that building in turn was
> built on top of a hill), and the signal was 405-lines on
> Channel 1 of the old British VHF band. The signal had a
> 30-to-40 mile range, depending on the quality of the
> receiving antenna, terrain between you and "Ally Pally" (as
> the site was nicknamed), and the height of your receiving
> antenna. The studios were inside Alexandria Palace.
---------
Did BBC Channel 1 ever have call letters? Since "G" can be used there, maybe GBBC-TV perhaps?<P ID="signature">______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!</P>

 

[TVWorldwide]

> Did BBC Channel 1 ever have call letters? Since "G" can be
> used there, maybe GBBC-TV perhaps?
>

While radio call letters were once used in several European countries, including the UK, I don't believe TV callsigns ever were, at least not after WWII. True, each country has its internationally allocated call letter prefix, so I suppose it's possible that different transmitters have callsigns assigned to them, but if that is the case, you'll never know that unless you decide to go digging through obscure engineering records. No-one, not technical personnel, not broadcasters, not media writers, not amateurs, not TV DXers, not television historians, not the networks themselves, etc., ever refer to callsigns in Europe. Instead, they will talk about the station's/network's name as it is known on the air, or if they want to refer to a specific channel allocation, they'll use the transmitter's name (not the city served by it) and the channel number, as you can see on this list of key "transmission centers" serving Slovenia:

http://www.rtvslo.si/modload.php?&c_mod=static&c_menu=1053500739

^ You can click on the transmitters' names to see photos.

 

[hintomedia]

> > Did BBC Channel 1 ever have call letters? Since "G" can be
> > used there, maybe GBBC-TV perhaps?
>
> While radio call letters were once used in several European
> countries, including the UK, I don't believe TV callsigns
> ever were, at least not after WWII.

Apparently the ITV station/transmitter in London did use the call sign "G9AED" during its experimental stage. However, that's the only instance I've ever seen of the use of call-signs in the UK.

(And of course, ITV in London was Associated Rediffusion on weekdays and Associated Television/ATV on weekends once the service officially began.)

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.sub-tv.co.uk/atvtestcards.asp>http://www.sub-tv.co.uk/atvtestcards.asp</a><P ID="signature">______________
Derek
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.tvvancouver.cjb.net>TV.Vancouver</a>: Covering TV stations in Vancouver, BC</P>

 

[bpatrick]

A couple pf tidbits about the early BBC (was Re: Retro: BBC TV, September 1, 1939)

> > > I mentioned Jasmine Bligh on my
earlier post concerning the BBC on Sept.
1, 1939. Ms. Bligh was one of several
(what the BBC called) "presenters," mostly
female, who acted as hosts, introducing
shows, and so forth. Whether she was the
last person seen on BBC television in '39,
I've not been able to determine. I do
know that she died in 1991, at age 78.

Also, when BBC television returned in 1946,
the Mickey Mouse cartoon that had been stopped
in '39 was run in its entirety, NOT from the
point where it was stopped as legend has it.

It sounds like the BBC already had a fairly
extensive schedule by 9/1/39. Don't forget
that commercial television in the U.S. didn't
start until July 1, 1941, and was virtually
stopped less than six months later, after
Pearl Harbor.

 

[pqgeorge]

WANNA SEE BBC-TV recorded in 1938?

Check out this URL, http://www.apts.org.uk/recording.htm

This is a 2 and a half minute snippet of BBC television recorded on THIS side of the "pond". The sunspot activity was very high at that time, thus with BBC TV transmitting on Channel 1 (around 54 MHz), the propagation was very good...considering. In this little snippet you will see Jasmine Bligh reading the news of the day. If you watch toward the end of the snippet, you might be able to distinguish that there is a little bit of a cartoon followed by the BBC Test Card at the end. ENJOY!

73,

Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts



> > > > I mentioned Jasmine Bligh on my
> earlier post concerning the BBC on Sept.
> 1, 1939. Ms. Bligh was one of several
> (what the BBC called) "presenters," mostly
> female, who acted as hosts, introducing
> shows, and so forth. Whether she was the
> last person seen on BBC television in '39,
> I've not been able to determine. I do
> know that she died in 1991, at age 78.
>
> Also, when BBC television returned in 1946,
> the Mickey Mouse cartoon that had been stopped
> in '39 was run in its entirety, NOT from the
> point where it was stopped as legend has it.
>
> It sounds like the BBC already had a fairly
> extensive schedule by 9/1/39. Don't forget
> that commercial television in the U.S. didn't
> start until July 1, 1941, and was virtually
> stopped less than six months later, after
> Pearl Harbor.
> <P ID="signature">______________
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts</P>

 

[bpatrick]

Re: WANNA SEE BBC-TV recorded in 1938?

> Check out this URL, http://www.apts.org.uk/recording.htm
>
> This is a 2 and a half minute snippet of BBC television
> recorded on THIS side of the "pond". The sunspot activity
> was very high at that time, thus with BBC TV transmitting on
> Channel 1 (around 54 MHz), the propagation was very
> good...considering. In this little snippet you will see
> Jasmine Bligh reading the news of the day. If you watch
> toward the end of the snippet, you might be able to
> distinguish that there is a little bit of a cartoon followed
> by the BBC Test Card at the end. ENJOY!
>
> 73,
>
> Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
> Whitman, Massachusetts
>
>
Quite a piece of work, if you can see it, and you can
make out Jasmine Bligh and the cartoon, as well as some
guy dressed in military gear. Too bad there's no sound
(at least I didn't have any). Could a freak of nature
make something like this possible today?
>
> > > > > I mentioned Jasmine Bligh on my
> > earlier post concerning the BBC on Sept.
> > 1, 1939. Ms. Bligh was one of several
> > (what the BBC called) "presenters," mostly
> > female, who acted as hosts, introducing
> > shows, and so forth. Whether she was the
> > last person seen on BBC television in '39,
> > I've not been able to determine. I do
> > know that she died in 1991, at age 78.
> >
> > Also, when BBC television returned in 1946,
> > the Mickey Mouse cartoon that had been stopped
> > in '39 was run in its entirety, NOT from the
> > point where it was stopped as legend has it.
> >
> > It sounds like the BBC already had a fairly
> > extensive schedule by 9/1/39. Don't forget
> > that commercial television in the U.S. didn't
> > start until July 1, 1941, and was virtually
> > stopped less than six months later, after
> > Pearl Harbor.
> >
>

 

[KeithE]

Re: WANNA SEE BBC-TV recorded in 1938?

> Quite a piece of work, if you can see it, and you can
> make out Jasmine Bligh and the cartoon, as well as some
> guy dressed in military gear. Too bad there's no sound
> (at least I didn't have any). Could a freak of nature
> make something like this possible today?

At those frequencies, very easily - but only in certain years.

The BBC was using 41.5 MHz (audio carrier) and 45.0 MHz (video carrier) for TV in 1938. When the sunspot numbers are high, F2 skip (which allows for worldwide communications on shortwave) is possible up to about 60 MHz.

The sunspots were at the peak of an 11-year cycle in 1938. Therefore communications between the US and Europe were common (at least, for those with equipment for those frequencies, which was not common in those days).

Hams who use the 6-meter band experience the same phenomina when sunspots are high, which they definitely are not right now. The next peak will be somewhere around 2011 or '12.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: WANNA SEE BBC-TV recorded in 1938?

> > Quite a piece of work, if you can see it, and you can
> > make out Jasmine Bligh and the cartoon, as well as some
> > guy dressed in military gear. Too bad there's no sound
> > (at least I didn't have any). Could a freak of nature
> > make something like this possible today?
>
> At those frequencies, very easily - but only in certain
> years.
>
> The BBC was using 41.5 MHz (audio carrier) and 45.0 MHz
> (video carrier) for TV in 1938. When the sunspot numbers
> are high, F2 skip (which allows for worldwide communications
> on shortwave) is possible up to about 60 MHz.
>
> The sunspots were at the peak of an 11-year cycle in 1938.
> Therefore communications between the US and Europe were
> common (at least, for those with equipment for those
> frequencies, which was not common in those days).
>
> Hams who use the 6-meter band experience the same phenomina
> when sunspots are high, which they definitely are not right
> now. The next peak will be somewhere around 2011 or '12.
>
I remember reading somewhere that shortwave transmissions were
especially clear during the Munich crisis in 1938. H.V. Kaltenborn,
at CBS in New York, was able to hold virtually static-free
conversations with Edward R. Murrow and William L. Shirer in
Europe. However, when the hurricane that nearly destroyed
New England formed, shortwave transmission was lost until someone
at NBC discovered a roundabout route through Cape Town and
Buenos Aires, with a delay of only a few seconds. CBS caught
on to the idea, somewhat begrudgingly (they preferred direct
New York-to-Europe transmissions).