| Popis: |
After the Second World War, the BBC sought to return to pre-war normality, broadcasting a wide range of radio programmes, reinforcing British and imperial identities, and cutting back on American content and influences. However, it proved hard to restore old certainties. While the BBC’s pre-war imperial role continued, it now had to repurpose propaganda weapons used to fight fascism and deploy them against communism in the Cold War. This entailed close links with other elements of the British state, and a major clash with the government during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Moreover, domestic listeners demanded more choice and more fun: they were given a wider selection of BBC programmes, including almost non-stop entertainment on the Light Programme. The BBC restarted television, but only developed the medium slowly, due to financial constraints and a continuing belief in the superior artistic merits of radio. This fuelled demands for the introduction of commercial television, and in 1955 the first ITV station was launched in London. The BBC’s monopoly of British broadcasting was over. Despite helping to popularize television with its broadcasts of live sport and the Coronation of Elizabeth II, the BBC now lost out to the competition. If it were relegated permanently to the status of minority broadcaster, it would be hard to justify licence fee funding in future. Senior managers and programme makers thus began to seek ways to bring the audience back to BBC television. |
