1926 in British radio

This is a list of events from British radio in 1926.

Events

• 16 January – A British Broadcasting Company radio play by Ronald Knox about workers' revolution in London causes a panic among those who have not heard the preliminary announcement that it is a satire on broadcasting. ^[1]
• 4 May – The British Broadcasting Company broadcasts five news bulletins a day as no newspapers are published due to the general strike. John Reith, the BBC's general manager, resists government attempts to take it over during the strike. ^[2]
• 4 September – Opening of first Radiolympia show of consumer radio apparatus at Olympia, London. The first mains-powered (AC) radio receiver, the Gambrell Baby Grand, is launched. ^[3]
• 7 October – The first edition of Choral Evensong is relayed by the British Broadcasting Company from Westminster Abbey; it will still be broadcast regularly as of 2024 as the BBC's longest-running outside broadcast programme. ^{[4] [5]}
• 31 December – The British Broadcasting Company is dissolved and its assets transferred to the non-commercial and crown-chartered British Broadcasting Corporation. ^[6]

Births

• 27 January – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born flautist, radio broadcaster, writer and theme tune composer (died 2003)
• 22 February – Kenneth Williams, comic actor (died 1988)
• 19 May – David Jacobs, broadcast presenter (died 2013)
• 23 May – Desmond Carrington, disc jockey and actor (died 2017)
• 27 August – Pat Coombs, comic stooge (died 2002)
• 8 September – Ronald Mason, radio drama producer (died 1997)
• 31 October – Jimmy Savile, disc jockey, broadcast presenter, philanthropist and serial sex offender (died 2011)

References

1. "The BBC Radio Panic, 1926". Museum of Hoaxes . Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
2. Heffer, Simon (2023). Sing as we go: Britain between the wars. London: Hutchinson Heinemann. pp. 256–8. ISBN   978-1-529-15264-7.
3. Hill, Jonathan (1993). Old Radio Sets. Shire Album 295. Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. pp. 12–14. ISBN   0-7478-0219-X.
4. "Choral Evensong". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
5. "Radio Times listing". BBC Genome Project. 23 July 2018.
6. "A Message from the Earl of Clarendon | The New B.B.C. -- 'A Transition Simple and Efficient.'". Radio Times. Vol. 14, no. 170. 31 December 1926. p. 85.