Samuel James Cross
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‘Did Anglians Dream of Electric Screens?’ A history of broadcasting in Norfolk and East Anglia from 1923-1960. Samuel James Cross PhD Thesis University of East Anglia School of History Date of Submission: March 2017 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. Abstract This thesis re-examines broadcasting history in Britain through the lens of the experience in Norfolk and East Anglia rather than via the nation state as has usually been the case in prior academic investigations. Using a combination of archival sources, secondary literature and selected extracts from original oral history interviews it aims to introduce a greater level of nuance into the historiography of broadcasting in Britain. These archival sources include the BBC Written Archives, the ITA Archives, Hansard and the archive of the most popular newspaper in Norfolk – the Eastern Daily Press. The first half of the thesis concentrates on the BBC’s policies towards the region in respect of both wireless and television broadcasting before the outbreak of war and in the immediate aftermath of the war’s end, highlighting the short and long term legacies of these policies and the reaction of the press and public in the area. The second half of the thesis includes a discussion of the opening of the regions first permanent television transmitter in 1955, a detailed and original analysis of the applications for the East Anglian ITV programme station contract in 1958 and an analysis of the arrival of both Anglia Television and a BBC Television local news bulletin during 1959. Utilising the results of this investigation it becomes possible to assess the extent to which the history of broadcasting in East Anglia both fits into, but also deviates from, the accepted historical timeline of British broadcasting, particularly in relation to supposedly pivotal events such as the 1953 Coronation and the launch of ITV in 1955. It also raises questions about how this new knowledge might change existing theoretical understandings of the relationship between broadcasting and society, specifically with respect to the idea of television and public service/the public sphere. 2 Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements. ................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 8 The Case Study: East Anglia. ............................................................................................ 10 The Objectives of the Study. .............................................................................................. 11 Literature Review, Research Aims and Method. ................................................................... 12 Introduction. ....................................................................................................................... 12 Non-Historical Investigations: Critical Theory. ................................................................. 12 Prior Historical Investigations: Broadcasting Institutions. ................................................ 14 Prior Historical Investigations: Politics. ............................................................................ 14 Prior Historical Investigations: Events and Personalities. ................................................. 15 Prior Historical Investigations: The Nation and the Local/Regional. ................................ 16 Research Aims. .................................................................................................................. 18 Sources and Methods. ........................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 1: Broadcasting in Norfolk: 1923-1939. ................................................................... 21 Introduction. ....................................................................................................................... 21 Getting Started. .................................................................................................................. 21 The Sykes Committee Report. ........................................................................................... 22 Another investigation. ........................................................................................................ 25 ‘The Regional Plan’. .......................................................................................................... 27 The Regional Plan becomes a Regional Scheme. .............................................................. 29 Time for one more investigation. ....................................................................................... 32 A Parallel Development. .................................................................................................... 34 Television: The First Three Years. .................................................................................... 38 Launch Time. ..................................................................................................................... 38 Growth. .............................................................................................................................. 39 Conclusion. ........................................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 2: All regions are equal but are some regions less equal than others? ..................... 47 Introduction. ....................................................................................................................... 47 Preparing for Resumption. ................................................................................................. 47 A Temporary Boost. ........................................................................................................... 55 The BBC’s Expansion: Sound and/or Vision? ................................................................... 58 The Midland Television Transmitter Opens. ..................................................................... 61 Conclusion. ........................................................................................................................ 62 3 Chapter 3: You Can’t Always Get What You Want… .......................................................... 64 Introduction. ....................................................................................................................... 64 The State of Broadcasting in Norfolk. ............................................................................... 64 Wireless. ............................................................................................................................ 64 Television. .......................................................................................................................... 66 The Beveridge Committee: The beginning of the end? ..................................................... 69 The BBC makes its Case. ................................................................................................... 71 The Final Report. ............................................................................................................... 72 Reception to the Report in Norfolk. ................................................................................... 74 A Crowning Glory? ............................................................................................................ 76 The Coronation in Norfolk: Who saw what and when? ..................................................... 78 The Experience. ................................................................................................................. 81 Conclusion. ........................................................................................................................ 83 Chapter 4: The End of a Monopoly ....................................................................................... 85 Introduction. ....................................................................................................................... 85 The Origins of Dissent. ...................................................................................................... 85 The Immediate Political Reaction to the Minority Report. ................................................ 86 Driving Forwards. .............................................................................................................. 87 Reaction in Norfolk. ........................................................................................................... 90 A Campaign begins. ........................................................................................................... 92 The Pressure Mounts. ......................................................................................................... 95 Decision Time. ................................................................................................................. 100 No such thing as a free lunch. .........................................................................................