A detailed treatment of a subject.
Category: Features
Pronunciation 101
Last updated: 7th June 2020. In the past, broadcasting organisations – particularly the BBC – were quite strict about standards of pronunciation among on-air talent, such as presenters, announcers and voiceover artists. Regional accents were rarely heard. Received pronunciation was …
How did TCF become such an iconic BBC image?
It is an iconic BBC image – part of the brand heritage and as much a statement of the BBC of the 70s and 80s as the globe or the famous weather symbols. But the BBC is not the sole owner …
The history of the BBC trade test transmission
First published in 2008. Last updated: 4th August 2020. This page contains examples of the various tuning signals and test cards used on BBC Television since the 1930s. The feature remains a work-in-progress and we’d be delighted to hear from …
RTÉ TV daily start-ups
Last updated: 6th June 2020. Long after elaborate daily start-up routines were dispensed with on British TV, the tradition continued on Irish TV – until c. 1997 in fact. Though it must be said, RTÉ’s daily ritual was a fairly …
Early in-vision teletext in Ireland
Until the late-1980s, the test card filled most of the daytime hours on RTÉ One and RTÉ Two. And actually, even by the 1980s, the RTÉ One analogue transmitter network only came back online at 10am (weekdays) after the overnight …
When major events impact broadcasting
There have not been many occasions when extraordinary events or national crises have had a fundamental effect on broadcasting. Normally the impact of a news story is limited to specific schedule changes to allow for extended coverage or to remove …
The history of Pages from Ceefax
First published in 2008. Last updated: 17th March 2020. The world’s first teletext service, BBC Ceefax (“See Facts”), was launched on 23rd September 1974. The technology was developed out of a desire to create a subtitling solution for deaf viewers. …
ATV brand needlessly consigned to history?
Today station rebrands are ten a penny but the most radical rebrand of all came at the instigation of the regulator. Central was not a brand new company when it took to the air in the Midlands in 1982 – …
Mid-80s BBC One: the benefits of one big relaunch over piecemeal changes
18th February 1985 was a red letter day for BBC One. A “new look” to the channel was heavily promoted. Leading the troops into action, Terry Wogan with his new chat show. The following night came the much anticipated launch …
Engineering information for the TV and radio trade
Last updated: 30th December 2019. Other than TV and radio tradesmen and engineers – and presentation enthusiasts – few members of the public will have known about, or paid much attention to, a short unbilled programme broadcast regularly by the …