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!
• A Brief History Docume...
AMTV Sequences - JuanTheMC
/ @juanthemc1544
AMTV Ratings Card - Jacob Furrier
/ @jacobfurrier
With Thanks To:
- TV Ark - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System - BBC
(and to anyone and everyone who has helped preserve television history!)
Follow me on Twitter! - @AdamMartynActor
Follow me on Instagram! - adammartynsmith9
Please like, comment, share, subscribe and check out my other videos! :D

[@starsnstuff842]

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

[@Agnethatheredhairkid]

@ Stars n Stuff: I noticed that myself.

[@CypherSonic]

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

[@CLG_Films]

He talked a bout the switchover a little In his ceefax video

[@wisteela]

Yes, that would be great.

[@creynolds094]

@@wisteela I agree!

[@rsc9520]

Me too!

[@davidtownson1476]

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.

[@tgarvis7120]

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.

[@anonUK]

The word you're looking for in the case of Channel 5 is crap.

[@richardbrown-gt3dq]

​@@anonUKPfft, more like modern. It was good to have finally have somewhat of a movie channel. Poor signal where I was, though.

[@jonavene12]

​​​​@@richardbrown-gt3dqa poor signal up until dso (digital switch-over)

[@locutus155]

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.

[@testcardsandmore1231]

That's similar to when TV4 was launched here in Sweden. Our neighbors had to wait until early 1993 but I managed to pick up the signal from Gothenburg transmitter 95 kilometers away already in late 1991. Have a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5uZgamwjqprgsU

[@jackcrawford3921]

Did you ever get Channel 5 on analogue as well?

[@locutus155]

@@jackcrawford3921 no, all we got was a lot of fuzz, rather like a 10th generation porn video. Didn't get Channel 5 properly until the digital era. Didn't miss anything though.

[@NigelDixon1952]

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.

[@d2dar459]

Thank u for sharing, sir. Its great to read a comment from the perspective of someone who remembers certain things!

[@anonUK]

Were you in the Granada TV/ ABC North region between 1956 and 1968?

[@NigelDixon1952]

@@anonUK That's right! We were in the Granada region, getting news from their studies in Manchester, together with all the day's programming. The news show was called Granada in the north, with Bill Grundy and Gay Burn. I think there were news items for our area intermingled with the news for the North West. And, yes, your spot on, the other lot took over for the weekends with all the entertainment type shows. I think we got our BBC programmes from Manchester too. I was overjoyed when Yorkshire Television took over the region for ITV! Unbelievable as it might sound, ITV HD views in the Yorkshire region STILL have Granada forced onto them, even though it's broadcast from Emley Moore! Yorkshire viewers with SKY, get ITV Yorkshire, with all its regional programming in HD! Hoping this helps you.

[@joannedixon-jackson7348]

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.

[@ChadElk88]

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

[@gcooper642]

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.

[@dearone1]

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

[@AdamMartyn]

Thank you Roz!

[@chikamotokenji3217]

Adam BBC one is oldest Channel 5 is yongest

[@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 🙂

[@AdamMartyn]

Thank you so much for these lovely comments pal! Glad to have you aboard 😊

[@ICanPlayPiano]

You're forgetting the channel that launched on the day before Channel 4, on the 1st of November....that being Sianel Pedwar Cymru, or S4C. This channel was as unique as the other mainstream channels as it provided a home for the BBC and HTV's Welsh output, leaving other channels available to concentrate on output for non-Welsh speakers. So Welsh television/teledu Cymraeg had a natural home. This of course was in lieu of Channel 4 and disadvantaged choice for non Welsh speaking viewers so we began to see intricately designed metal sculptures appearing on rooftops all over the Valleys and in North Wales as far west as Anglesey designed to receive programmes from English transmitters such as Winter Hill, Mendip The Wrekin and Ridge Hill rather than use local transmitters radiating S4C! I used to wonder if anyone in Wales actually watched BBC Wales or HTV Wales!!

[@bartomiejklimek6428]

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.

[@docksider]

Of course S4C beat channel 4 by a day!

[@hebneh]

Actually, Germany began television broadcasting in 1935, the year before Britain did. And TV sets were sold to the public in the USA in 1929, the Visionette, But regular daily scheduled broadcasting from one of the national commercial radio networks didn't begin in America till 1939. After WWII, TV in US exploded. Since the government only issued licenses for stations, nearly all of which were independent, the USA soon had hundreds. Many were affiliated with one of the three commercial networks but they all showed a lot of their own unique programming as well. So in addition to the familiar national primetime series there was a huge amount of material coming from each station on its own.

[@valeriedavidson2785]

But as you indicated the BBC transmitted the first regular scheduled programmes in the world in 1936. John Logie Baird is credited as the inventor.

[@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.

[@Tripp1993]

Really?! You saw first hand the development of British television Mark II in the '50s?! *_Can't believe it._*

[@tonysuffolk]

@@Tripp1993 I saw TV as a small child at the Science Museum in South Kensington. My father bought our first TV in 1953. So I guess I saw TV develop from fuzzy grey images right up to today. My uncle was a radio ham and he built a CRT television in preparation for the resumption of TV in 1946. I think I remember being amazed by the tiny image reflected by a mirror.....it may be a false memory as I would have been very young, but I think I saw it in 1950. He also owned a Baird Televisor from the pre-war era of mechanical television. Inspired by my Uncle Charlie I later became a radio ham and took particular interest in the development of 405 and 625 television receivers.

[@Tripp1993]

@@tonysuffolk Amazing thing, huh?

[@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.

[@johnkeepin7527]

And when BBC2 started it used 625 (actually 576) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) transmission, so many people could not receive it until they bought new equipment that could receive it, and for quote a while BBC1 & regional ITV carried on using 405 (VHF), until they moved to colour transmission.

[@davidlally592]

Mm I was told that the original BBC1 405 lines Band 1 vhf was still being used..but for (if it still exists) citizens band radio transmissions...??

[@belleooo]

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

[@jwilliamsproductions]

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

[@LegendaryKenneth]

Channel 5 didn't cover the whole country until the digital switchover. I was 9 when it launched and I remember being really miffed because we lived in one of the areas where it wasn't broadcast.

[@stephengray1344]

And even when you could get Channel 5 in your area, you frequently couldn't get good reception.

[@anonUK]

You didn't miss anything. The early years of Channel 5 were football, films and fornication- and the films weren't much good.

[@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 :)

[@VHSArtifacts]

@The Old Bad Gamer I have not, I can check it out :)

[@BHAFCboy3456]

The premier the day ago

[@ScoutSunset]

The BBC should really release a model of that batwings logo.

[@jacharv]

I agree. It'd be cool.

[@Tripp1993]

I'd really like to see that.

[@writer_novice.]

Yes

[@ScoutSunset]

no. it’s not what I want my channel to be.

[@Agnethatheredhairkid]

I love that logo!

[@MarkAJAgi]

It took over 15 years for Channel 5 to be transmitted from all transmitters. Most or all relays did not get it until digital switchover in 2012. That was one reason I got a satellite dish. 2012-1997=15

[@EdgyNumber1]

It'll be interesting to see you do a retrospective of independent regional television - at least the big 3: Thames, Granada and Lew Grade's ATV. Another thing to look at is the company Rediffusion. I remember seeing that logo on the Basildon Cable TV equipment but I believe they had something to do with television advertising? Also a possible retrospective of Pebble Mill, effectively - at the time - a back up BBC Television Centre but one that also helped to produce iconic programming.

[@adid.5585]

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!

[@RustyViewer]

Never quite understood why there had to be such aggressive competition between the BBC and ITV. Normally, TV stations are competing for advertising revenue but the BBC is commercial-free so why would they care about their ratings? Was it just a matter of pride?

[@mxbx307]

I remember Channel 5 starting up and some of the early shows that were on. There was a pilot of a show called 'Hospital' which seemed not bad, there was also a Saturday sports show with a tasty female presenter. It was also the first time I'd heard the news read in a regional accent. Also have memories of people coming round to your house to tune your VCR and leaving a promotional sticker affixed to the top.

[@old.not.too.grumpy.]

Missed out the most important event that brought TV to many UK homes. The corronation of Queen Elizabeth was broadcast live thpusends of people perchesed TVs for the first time, thus making commerical TV viable in the UK and the birth of ITV

[@lowstaar]

Imagine you bought an expensive TV set and then the broadcast stops for almost 7 years

[@NPGLAMB]

I love how much info is out there about these old British stations

[@edcola6671]

Can’t wait to see how it changed from the OG, which I was watching.

[@TVperson1]

Here in Australia, the History is much different, TV first launched in 1956. we had 2 commercial stations and one Public/State broadcaster. A Third commercial station launched in the 1960s. Colour TV launched in 1975, later than most other countries, but the adoption was so rapid that most people had a colour TV by the early to mid 80s. A fifth station launched in the 1980s know as the Special Broadcasting Service or SBS for short. Up until Digital TV we pretty much had 5 stations.

[@freeman10000]

Australia was a late adapter for TV and colour but It caught up very quickly. As a kid my family moved back to Australia from the UK in 1981 and was thrilled that Down Under had 5 TV stations and morning television.

[@OpinionesDeJACCsOpinions]

What's interesting is that Australia is as big as the contiguous U.S., but about a 1/70 of the population. For it to adopt TV as rapidly as it did is impressive, but by the time they did prices were probably very affordable in comparison to when other places adopted TV.

[@pablobratcat]

I grew up in the 70s and I wonder if Rainbow was specifically designed for when more people were buying colour tellys.

[@heene]

That was very interesting. Grade thought ahead by making Thunderbirds in colour before coulor Televisions were available. Channel 5 didn't like it when people referred to them as Channel 5, they wanted to be known as 5! Similar to Tesco who don't like being called Tescos.

[@TheFokker03]

Rhythm is a dancer,by Snap,speeded up is the title music.btw,by dad had the first tv set in his village back in 1938!

[@G6JPG]

Nicely done - covered most things, and unlike several others covering the same events, no glaring inaccuracies. (Might be worth inserting "-~1998" or similar into the clip title, though.)

[@CreightonRabs]

10:19 Is it wrong that the BBC2 inaugural program reminded me of a Monty Python sketch with the presenter having an uncanny resemblance to John Cleese?

[@weridarchivething6407]

You know, Channel 5 in the places outside the orange areas was too fuzzy :)

[@British_m]

I love how I’m the toothpaste ad for once they are 100% honest about the ingredients

[@newforestpixie5297]

Young People - in the 1980s when I was in my 20s in Southern England , we had 4 channels plus video...on a Sunday afternoon and you hadn’t a local video shop and didn’t like b & w movies for old folks or snooker , you were stuffed. One winter Sunday afternoon my mate Beaver & I we’re so frustrated that some of the folks living 20 miles away could actually watch soccer highlights, we rigged up a ladder and battled the rusty Ariel bolts and clamps to rotate the thing around to watch a grainy version of “ The West Match “ coming from the neighbouring itv region ( they had different programming sometimes ) . Even that was better than Meridians’ b & w films ....Kids don’t know they’re born today 🙄❤️from the new forest

[@samthecbeebiesscissorseven3536]

Hey i like the way u put BBFC ratings on your yt vids m8:)

[@martinhughes2549]

To get BBC2 you would need a UHF aerial, a dual standard TV and of course a transmitter broadcasting UHF! Dont know how many people in greater London in 1964 would have all those. Only 50% of the population had a UHF signal in 1969. It was a about 70% by the end of 1970 however. Interesting video though.

[@whatamalike]

BBC2 was sort of the satellite of it's day I guess! You needed new equipment, and only a handful of people could even receive it.

[@martinhughes2549]

@@whatamalike Yes there right. Another thing, when the ITV network began on band iii VHF, many people had to upgrade their TVs AND get a new aerial pointing at the ITA(ITV) transmitter, which often was in a different direction to the BBC VHF signal! So in 1964 you could in theory have 3 TV aerials!!

[@thought-drops]

Really good work and great voice for docos!

[@AdamMartyn]

Cheers Wesley! 😁

[@mikey1313saveukraine]

@@AdamMartyn can you do a history of Disney Channel

[@caeserromero3013]

Parental Guidance...I tried to get into an 18 movie when I was 12. I told the ticket usher that I had sought parental guidance and my parents recommended that I watch Freddy Kreuger...it didn't work....

[@janetbloor9838]

Mention the designers of these iconic idents. Before switching careers to be a lawyer. I worked for BBC Wales, TV-am, MBC, BBC, Central TV.

[@GUCFan]

Honestly a great video, being Canadian myself i do like learning about how the first TV channels came to be and what started TV as a whole. If i may ask though, do you happen to have a list of the songs that you used throughout the video? Some of them are quite catchy!

[@randomlad8753]

If I remember correctly down in the south coast of England we also had a channel called 6tv or six TV but it didn't last long as it was aired not long before the digital switch over

[@blueswingdown]

i'd love to see a brief history of british digital television

[@debbiemckeown7626]

Not all itv regions took the itv 1 branding in 2002, Scottish, Grampian, UTV and Channel tv didn't. UTV and Channel are now part of itv plc and STV is independent.

[@JohnnyUDoe]

Do not forget the Scottish TV-Grampian TV merger, creating the present-day STV.

[@jackcrawford3921]

Don’t forget analogue viewers in Wales had S4C instead of Channel 4!

[@martinhughes2549]

Which started one day before Ch4 went on air of course!

[@davidtownson1476]

The second and third adverts on ITVs opening night after Gibbs S.R. toothpaste were Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate and Summer County margarine.

[@davidlally592]

Mm the NFT at BFI some years ago did a broadcast of all of those ITV 1st nite adverts..

[@AlexSolander]

0:21 you should use that more

[@BCJ1985]

The launch of channel 5 had less impact because many couldn't receive it until the digital switchover.

[@MrSpengler1234]

I remember being miffed about that at the time. I think (at least in the southeast) it was something to do with it causing interference with channels in France. Had to wait until the arrival of DVB before it was available. By that time the novelty had worn off.

[@BCJ1985]

@@MrSpengler1234 Dunno about that. I'm based in the north west and couldn't get it. Seemed to be pot luck depending on the transmitter.

[@davidprice5563]

@@BCJ1985 If I remember right (in my area itself) you could pick up Channel 5 but you'd be watching 50pc picture - 50pc snow, mainly snow up until the digital switch over.

[@NetzDotCom]

It’s a great remastering thing

[@sofialadune9351]

At first, chanel5 was from luxembourg (CLT) company...But it didn't work. In France or germany many chanels are coming from CLT luxembourg ( M6/RTL9/RTL TELEVISION ETC) and it works.

[@redm91]

happy birthday to Channel 5

[@RyanGonTV]

16:09 press ‘tv’ then ‘3’ for ITV

[@RyanGonTV]

I smell rivals of ITV digital 😉

[@paulmcconville2115]

Yes if you had a black & white set to recieve Colour. You could use your B/W to view programing Some sets you needed to tune to 625/ UHF to recieve'. Colour

[@ben_fpyt]

This series was missed!

[@speakertreatz]

great stuff Adam thanks. I was sure the Red Triangle went on for longer than '86 to '87, then again a year is a long time in the life of a young teenager trying to watch the films on the sly and change channel in a hurry when the folks appeared. Betty Blue (37d Le Matin) was shown during this season I remember that cos the film itself went on to be one of my favourites. Most of the rest were just kit-off escapades barely pretending to be arthouse.

[@jordanhowell7798]

This is great Adam!

[@abandoned---channel-o7b]

I was a little bit late to the livestream, but still a great video!

[@itzliamnow]

BRO WE NEED ANOTHER VIDEO LIKE THIS

[@old.not.too.grumpy.]

Also missed out the actisly 5th channel S4C was the Welsh language channel was introduced at the same time Channel 4

[@Plutobug2468]

Great video btw

[@Plutobug2468]

Thanks Adam

[@HyperDaveUK]

Great video!!

[@lennyschiavone5907]

2:46 The Giggle in everyone's head...

[@Foebane72]

You failed to cover S4C, that's as relevant as C4, I would say.

[@megaangelic]

It's a shame you didn't include S4C, which launched the day before Channel 4, as the result of protests and civil disobedience.

[@EdEditz]

@3:07 In fact the Germans started a year earlier.

[@luisreyes1963]

An interesting story about British Television. BTW: Do they still have snooker on TV? 🎱

[@AdamMartyn]

They do! Not as often but it still pops up here and there!

[@taterowe904]

9:55 At Least My Local ABC Affiliate (WTAE Channel 4) Had No Problems With Their Very First Broadcast On September 14, 1958! That's Unlike The First Ever Broadcast Of BBC Two!

[@jackcrawford3921]

I also remember that with the exception of BBC2 (probably because it was being shown on BBC1), all the analogue channels earlier this year showed Boris Johnson’s address to the nation announcing the coronavirus lockdown (even tho analogue tv doesn’t exist anymore)

[@LeoHodges]

Wait...they switched analouge back on? Wow!!!

[@jackcrawford3921]

@@LeoHodges no, I meant as in all the 5 main channels - hence why I mentioned analogue (i do explain at the end of my comment that analogue tv doesn't exist anymore!)

[@LeoHodges]

@@jackcrawford3921 Ah okay, so did the 5 main channels switch back on for a few minutes then?

[@jackcrawford3921]

@@LeoHodges no they didn't switch back on at all, what I mean by analogue is just the five main channels

[@LeoHodges]

@@jackcrawford3921 Oh right, I understand now.

[@sglenny001]

Such an impressive logo

[@DJFVLOGS]

Brilliant Video, I Love The Brief History

[@nazarenoperez4092]

3:52 This is probably what the British accent used to be spoken in the 30s

[@taterowe904]

12:50 Ah Yes! Channel Four! I Heard A Lot About Them! Hey From Pittsburgh, My Name Is "Tate"

[@nigelkthomas9501]

Excellent video.

[@JohnnyUDoe]

I noticed that ITV is always configured to channel 3, despite it being the second free-to-air channel to launch, around 9 years before BBC2. Why is that the case?

[@elihillman8758]

Because channels started at 2, not 1.

[@andrewsvonja1039]

I think it was a number thing ie BBC 1 Ch 1. BBC 2 Ch 2 etc....

[@andrewsvonja1039]

Also I think newer TVs after BBC 2 had the channel name on the button or next too

[@Phil-Sands]

Not all independent stations became ITV, what about STV?

[@holydiver73]

Excellent video Adam. I love nostalgia TV and the history of TV broadcasting. I used to watch that guy TR3X, until his biased and embittered political laden commentary got too much to tolerate. His loss is your gain. I shall look at your past and future videos from now on. 👍🏻

[@vincentwhitehead]

Not to mention that ITV also had the Muppets on ATV during the 70s :D

This Will Be Fun

[@thefrecklepuny]

Nice channel. Just subbed!

[@annehobson2481]

when i saw channal 4 i was like NOSTALGHA

[@clivegchesterman]

I have some vague recollection when I was quite young, that in the middle 60s we had to have a separate aerial to receive BBC2 ???

[@chikamotokenji3217]

BBC 1 (globe) BBC 2 (2 symbol splash) ITV (gradient text) Channel 4 (forming an 4) Channel 5 (squares)

[@agentblueuk]

Very long video with lots of adverts that told me very little. Like no mention of why it took so long for channel 5 to come along or what was required to launch. No mention of S4C etc

[@davidtownson1476]

Wonder if this (6:55) was the reason The Fast Show chose Chanel 9 as their spoof South American TV channel!

[@maganhassan2627]

I am curious as I wasn't alive before 1995 to recieve colour tv from those channels did you need to change your TV to ones that have colour was the process to colour television automatic?

[@gplunk]

Channel 5 debuted on my 38th birthday; but I don't recall the Spice Girls sending me a card....

[@rah62]

When was this program originally broadcast?

[@DavidDoom95]

Could you do Episodes of the Ident History for Disney Channel, Nckelodeon and CBBC Idents from 1991, please?

[@saudiarabiaabadi6170]

For Those Thinking That The First Broadcast On Television In World History Was Done By BBC! Well, That Is Not True! BBC Started Broadcasting On November 2, 1936! The First Broadcast In World History Was Done By NBC, And NBC-MDE! This Was On July 7, 1936! By The MDE In NBC-MDE Stands For "Middle East" So, NBC Middle East Is What NBC-MDE Stands For! NBC Middle East Is Only Available In My Borders Though!

[@RanFire]

STV and UTV did not use ITV branding as they were independent of ITV takeover of the English regions. No idea about Grampian don't know if they had been bought by STV by then.

[@whatamalike]

Woo! fantastic redux of your original video.

[@sirkastic]

You should rename your channel to TV-AM!

[@scentedcandles1236]

I loved this video.

[@jalaneperry7643]

Adam Martin I left. The UK in 1979 as channel 4 was beginning I never knew about channel 5 Thank you for this brief history

[@johng8pef11]

Can anyone tell me the name of (or prefereably provide a link to) the original documentary piece that contains the clip included at around 3' 13" with the line "the station goes on the air" - It's preceded, IIRC by a couple of other memorable one-liners: "Engineers stand by..." and "Switches are thrown..." - I've seen it a couple of times, many years ago, but have failed to track it down more recently.... that'll teach me to keep tidier notebooks, I guess :(