So you like your Telly? 1936 Following mechanical television test transmissions starting in 1926, and the first official broadcast in 1929,
electronic
the BBC launches television broad-
casts, the BBC Television Service, from Alexandra Palace. The service rebrands to BBC TV in 1960. 1938 Community Antenna TV launches in Bristol and Kingston upon Hull. 1939 The BBC Television Service ceases from September 1939 to June 1946, during World War II 1955 The Independent Television Authority (ITA) is appointed to oversee the creation of ITV by the Television Act 1954 ITV, the UK's
second channel, begins when Associated-
Rediffusion, the first ITV franchise, launches. 1964 BBC Two launches, BBC tv rebrands to BBC One 1966 The 1966 World Cup Final broadcasts on BBC One and ITV, with 32.3 million viewers in total making it the most watched broadcast. 1967 Colour transmissions begin on BBC Two. 1969 Colour transmissions begin on BBC One and ITV The Apollo 11 moon landing broadcasts on BBC One, BBC Two and ITV,
listed as the Greatest TV Moment in a 1999 list
compiled by Channel 4 1972 The Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 reconstitutes the ITA as the Independent Broadcasting Authority 1974 Ceefax and ORACLE, the UK's first teletext services are introduced. 1975 Fawlty Towers firsts broadcasts, listed as the Greatest British Television Programme in a list compiled by the British Film Institute in 2000 1979 Almost all ITV broadcasts and production ceased due to a 10-week industrial dispute. When programming resumed on 24 October, there was a lack of original programming, so ITV showed repeats of 3-2-1. 1982 ITV franchise changes took effect: A new national ITV franchise is created for breakfast tv and awarded to TV-am Late 1980s Issue of franchises to local cable operators, which will merge to become Virgin Media, Smallworld and WightCable 1989 Sky launches a subscription satellite service, with pay-per-view movies and events 1990 BSB launches, a subscription 5-channel satellite service 1991 Two ITV regions and Channel 4 broadcast stereo sound transmissions using NICAM, with the rest of the ITV network following in the next couple of years. 1992 After merging with Sky, BSkyB ceases transmissions on BSB's old satellite Ghostwatch
broadcasts on BBC One, listed as the Most
Controversial TV Moment in a 2005 list compiled by Channel 4. The programme had 2,215 complaints following the broadcast 1993 Good Morning Television replaced TV-am; 1997 Channel 5 launches; it is the UK's first terrestrial broadcaster to also launch on Sky 1998 BSkyB launches SkyDigital, now marketed as Sky TV, the UK's first digital satellite service. 1998 Launch of OnDigital subscription digital terrestrial service 2002 Launch of Freeview, a free digital terrestrial service to replace ITV Digital 2003 The Communications Act 2003 abolishes the Independent Television Commission and replaces it with Ofcom 2004 Launch of Top Up TV, a new service on digital terrestrial. 2006 Cable Merger of NTL and Telewest; they will later merge with Virgin Mobile and relaunch as Virgin Media The UK's first public high-definition broadcasts, as BBC and ITV show the 2006 FIFA World Cup in high-definition. Launch of BT Vision, a subscription video on demand service combined with a Freeview receiver BSkyB launches Sky Anytime for subscribers to Sky TV 2007 The digital switchover begins as a consequence of switching off analogue terrestrial UHF transmissions The BBC launches BBC iPlayer, a tool for watching BBC programmes online. Digital satellite Freesat launches, a free satellite tv service 2009 Analogue cable Virgin Media closes the last analogue cable areas. 2012 Analogue terrestrial UHF transmissions will cease in all regions. But will they work in the rain ?
List of most watched television broadcasts In 2005, the British Film Institute compiled a list of programmes with the biggest audience since 1955. The top 10 are: 1. 1966 World Cup Final 32.30 million 30 July 1966 BBC/ITV 2. Funeral of Princess Diana 32.10 million 6 Sept 1997 BBC1/ITV 3. British Royal Family documentary 30.69 million 1969 BBC1/ITV 4. EastEnders Den divorces Angie 30.15 million 25 Dec 1986 BBC1 5. Apollo 13 splashdown 28.60 million 17 April 1970 BBC1/ITV 6. FA Cup replay: Chelsea vs. Leeds 28.49 million 29 April 1970 BBC1/ITV 7. Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana 28.40 million 29 July 1981 BBC1/ITV 8. Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips 27.60 million 14 November 1973 BBC1 9. Coronation Street Alan Bradley killed by tram 26.93 million 8 December 1989 ITV 10. Coronation Street Hilda Ogden leaves 26.00+ million 25 December 1987 ITV
11.
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