International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

The BBC started life not as a public corporation but as a private company. Formed in 1922, the early BBC operated as a cartel, consisting of several wireless manufacturers, including the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, one of the main pioneers of wireless telephony. Though it was to all intents and purposes a private enterprise, its license to broadcast in Britain was regulated by the state, under the auspices of the Post Office. A further peculiarity of British broadcasting was that, just as broadcasters required permission to broadcast, so too were the listening public required to obtain an official license for listening in. While these regulatory provisos conferred certain economic benefits upon the BBC, not least an exclusive monopoly to broadcast and an entitlement to half of the license fee, broadcasting was subject to what was then an unusual degree of public control and officialdom by comparison with other media. This was especially so during the early years of the BBC when it had to weather a number of national crises (e.g., the General Strike in 1926), during which it was expected by the government of the day to represent the national interest, taken to be synonymous with the government's aims and objectives. Having said this, for reasons of political tact it was important that the BBC maintain an appearance of neutrality. The answer was to reshape the Company into ... log in or subscribe to read full text