Tuesday Apr 23, 2024

#085 The Earliest BBC Recording and The First Monarch On Air

On 23 April 1924, a landmark broadcast took place - the biggest so far. And on day of podcast release, it's the centenary!

100 years ago at time of writing, King George V opened the Empire Exhibition at Wembley, becoming the first monarch to broadcast.

It also stands as the oldest surviving recording of a BBC broadcast - and the only excerpt of the BBC from the 1920s.

The BBC couldn't record anything until 1932, when the Blattnerphone came along. So how did this 1924 broadcast manage to be retained?

For decades, it wasn't. A 1964 episode of Desert Island Discs tells the tale, of how their 1936/1955 Scrapbook for 1924 programme aired without the recording, but with a sad admission that there was none... till a listener got in touch. Dorothy Jones' husband had recorded the king off-air via a home-made device. Thanks to him, and her, and Scrapbook producer Leslie Baily, we have this sole recording of the 20s' Beeb.

It's quite a tale. The broadcast alone was revolutionary - with 10 million people listening via loudspeakers on street corners, brand new radio sets for their homes... even Downton Abbey hired in its first wireless set (but will Lord Grantham keep it? Oh go on then...)

Hear all about the momentous exhibition, the broadcast, the recording, and a rundown of royals who ruled the airwaves - and it goes back further than you might think.

Hear too of brand new research into an unheralded royal radio encounter from 1906 - before even 'the world's first broadcast' took place, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (Palace) were enjoying a 'radio' whistling solo and a personalised greeting.

Thanks for listening.

Do share, rate, review, rant, rave, tell people about the podcast. It's a solo operation - not made by the BBC, just by comedian & writer Paul Kerensa. So thanks!

SHOWNOTES:

If you enjoyed this, make sure you've listened to our episode on The History of Coronation Broadcasts and A Brief History of the BBC Archives.
Listen to the 1924 recording of the Prince of Wales and King George V.
Listen to the 1923 gramophone record of King George V and Queen Mary.
Listen to the 1923 recording of President Woodrow Wilson - the world's earliest recording of broadcast radio.
See the picture of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra encounter 'the talking arc' via our Facebook group or on Twitter. (search for 'talking arc')
Original music is by Will Farmer.
Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), and gain bonus videos and writings in return - we're reading the first book on radio, Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting from Within, for example. Hear all instalments read to you: patreon.com/posts/patron-vid-savoy-75950901
...Interested in joining a live actual walking tour around those first BBC landmarks? I'm thinking of running one, summer 2024. Email paul at paulkerensa dot com for details of when.
Paul's on tour: An Evening of (Very) Old Radio could be playing in your town. If not (likely), book it! Details: www.paulkerensa.com/tour

#085 The Earliest BBC Recording and The First Monarch On Air

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