TODAY at 19:30 hrs, 60 years ago, the first ever British television
news broadcast was aired. From a site inside our
charitable trust, Alexandra Palace.
This milestone is part of the rationale for the restoration of the first- or studio- floor of the South East wing.
The main reason for this refurbishment is the beginning – 18 years earlier
– of regular, scheduled broadcasts in "high-definition".
That was "HD"
for the 1930s: 405 lines, versus the earlier transmission of the 1936
Berlin summer Olympics at 180 lines.
These compare with today's 1,080 lines and tomorrow's 2,160 lines (AKA 4K).
The first floor contained Studios A and
B.
Studio A housed equipment supplied by Marconi-EMI. For a few short months, until February 1936, Studio B was known as The Baird Studio and it used John Logie Baird's hybrid Intermediate Film Technique.
Here is The Telegraph's article, BBC television news celebrates its 60th birthday
This morning, Michelle Husain interviewed newsreader Richard Baker on the Today programme (Radio 4).
A little over two years ago, our Trust Board formally adopted the
goal of UNESCO World Heritage for our South East wing, which is an
important part of Haringey Council's (successful) Heritage Lottery Fund
bid. This should see the whole east side of our building – including the
Victorian Theatre – dramatically improved.
“This is direct television from Alexandra Palace”
Caption for top photo
"Hello Radiolympia. This is direct television from the studios at Alexandra Palace!" *
THESE were the immortal words spoken to camera by Elizabeth Cowell and received at the big Radio show at Olympia, in West London. This was amongst similar test transmissions during August 1936, prior to the beginning of regular broadcasting just a couple of months later, on 2 November 1936.
Alexandra Palace was the birthplace of scheduled public, "high" definition television broadcasting in the UK and arguably, the world.
The American Modern Mechanix magazine of May 1935, described this as, England Will Broadcast First Chain Television Programs, to "Lookers".
BBC Studios A & B are the world's oldest surviving television studios.
YET in 2007, our People’s Palace was to be sold down the river by its very guardians – the Trustee – the London Borough of Haringey. The TV studios were to be destroyed with the connivance of the local council. Here is raw uncensored opinion and information about the scandal of the attempted fire-sale of our Charitable Trust’s asset, for property development. It includes letters sent to local papers, published & unpublished.
AFTER receiving a slap-down from the High Court (2007, October 5), two and a half years went by before the council finally abandoned its 15-year-old policy of "holistic" sale (i.e. lock stock and barrel). Then there was an attempt at partial sale ("up to two-thirds") to a music operator but without governance reform. To tart the place up for a developer, the council blithely sought about a million pounds towards this goal, a further sum of cash to be burnt.
THE local council has proved itself, to everyone's satisfaction, to have been a poor steward and guardian for over 20 years. Now, the master plan (below) developed under the new CEO Duncan Wilson OBE deserves to succeed.
It would be also be a big step forward to have a Trust Board at least partly independent of Haringey Council. 'Outside' experts would be an advantage. They'd likely be more interested, committed, of integrity and offer greater continuity. Bringing independent members onto the board and freeing it from political control would be the best assurance of success, sooner.
