The book charts the evolving relationship between cinema and radio during the heyday of the two media and compares and contrasts their development in Britain and America

This book is a classic and authoritative introduction to the history, sociolgy, theory and politics of students and teachers of media and communication studies.

First Published in 1969. Written in 1950, this book seeks to answer the three questions of how is it that broadcasting in Great Britain came to be organised on a monopolistic basis? What has been the effect of the monopoly on the development of, and policy towards, competitive services such as wire broadcasting and foreign commercial broadcasting intended for listeners in Great Britain ? Finally, what are the views which have been held on the monopoly of broadcasting in Great Britain?

An Introductory History of British Broadcasting is a concise and accessible history of British radio and television. It begins with the birth of radio at the beginning of the twentieth century and discusses key moments in media history, from the first wireless broadcast in 1920 through to recent developments in digital broadcasting and the internet. Distinguishing broadcasting from other kinds of mass media, and evaluating the way in which audiences have experienced the medium, Andrew Crisell considers the nature and evolution of broadcasting, the growth of broadcasting institutions and the relation of broadcasting to a wider political and social context. This fully updated and expanded second edition includes: *the latest developments in digital broadcasting and the internet *broadcasting in a multimedia era and its prospects for the future *the concept of public service broadcasting and its changing role in an era of interactivity, multiple channels and pay per view *an evaluation of recent political pressures on the BBC and ITV duopoly *a timeline of key broadcasting events and annotated advice on further reading.

“The unique story of a radio broadcasting pioneer and war correspondent, told with affection by his son.” —Firetrench With the outbreak of World War II, Charles Gardner became one of the first BBC war correspondents and was posted to France to cover the RAF’s AASF (Advanced Air Strike Force). He made numerous broadcasts interviewing many fighter pilots after engagements with the Germans and recalling stories of raids, bomb attacks and eventually the Blitzkrieg when they all were evacuated from France. In late 1940 he was commissioned in the RAF as a pilot and flew Catalina flying boats of Coastal Command. After support missions over the Atlantic protecting supply convoys from America, his squadron was deployed to Ceylon which was under threat from the Japanese navy. Gardner was later recruited by Lord Mountbatten, to help report the exploits of the British 14th Army in Burma. He both broadcast and filed countless reports of their astonishing bravery in beating the Japanese in jungle conditions and monsoon weather. After the war, Gardner became the BBC air correspondent from 1946-1953. As such, he became known as “The Voice of the Air,” witnessing and recording the greatest days in British aviation history. But perhaps he will best be remembered for his 1940 eye-witness account of an air battle over the English Channel when German dive bombers unsuccessfully attacked a British convoy but were driven off by RAF fighters. That broadcast is still played frequently today.

Traces the history of broadcasting and the infludence developments in broadcasting have had over our social, cultural and economic practices. Examining the broadcasting traditions of the UK and USA, 'The Television History Book' make connections between events and tendencies that both unite and differentiate these national broadcasting traditions.