Cultural What If #1: The BBC and British telly without WW2

Thande

Donor
Two 20th-century cultural WIs for the evening. Here's the first.

Britain was one of the first countries to adopt television, the BBC beginning to broadcast from Alexandra Palace in 1936. However, only a small number of TV sets were bought, by the rich, and then when war came in 1939 service was suspended for the duration of the war. It came back on in 1945, but by that point everyone was dirt poor and luxuries like a TV set were not on the table, meaning that rich America soon surpassed us in number of TV sets (and broadcasters). TV didn't really catch on until the coronation of 1952 being televised resulted in a buying spree.

So, WI: WW2 is avoided. Doesn't matter how. Something like Weimar World or something. The Weimar state survives, or a military junta takes power in Germany instead of the Nazis, rapproaches with France, bullies Eastern Europe into being part of a German-led anti-Soviet alliance and then tries for territorial revisions later on, that kind of thing.

Anyway, the point is: What does British TV look like in this TL? The BBC will still have been broadcasting from 1939 to 45, more people will have bought tellies thanks to the lack of the war bankrupting everyone and the slow recovery from the Depression, etc.

On the flip side, I believe the BBC got a lot of its foreign language services originally due to broadcasting propaganda to occupied Europe during the war, so it might not be such a global information superpower as it is in OTL.

Thoughts?
 
First of all, let me congratulate you on your choice of subject - it's rare to see a subject other than the usual military and politics being considered. Cultural analysis can be just as interesting, and fewer opportunities exist to try out the possibilities contained therein.

Secondly, I must admit that I am not really an expert on this topic. I hardly know anything at all about British television, beyond the basics, but I will try to make as much of a contribution as I can.

In my opinion, the existence of a proper BBC throughout that era would no doubt lead to a greater role for television in British life. The same can be said, of course, for the bit you outlined, about how there would be more television sets out there. The end result could well be a sort-of American version of television-related life. One might imagine the family gathering around the television. TV trays might catch on far earlier than historically - the same can be said of TV Diner type frozen meals.

As for politics, an interesting point can be made. In America, when the first televised debates came around, the whole way that American politics functioned was fundamentally changed. Before, appearance had had very little to do with politics - after that point, it had quite a lot to do. I have heard an interesting figure from a professor of political science whose statements I trust (not least because he is my father) on this topic, which came to mind since it had been the subject of some diner conversation this evening. Apparently, and here I will do my best to get across his point, since the introduction of televised presidential debates, a significant majority of presidential elections have gone to the taller candidate, a good deal more than half. This can be considered as part of a greater whole, that of appearance. The more physically attractive candidate gets a boost from how he looks better than his opponent.

I am not really a student of British politics in that era, and so I cannot say how that would affect the elections which would occur. Especially since the British people do not vote directly for their Prime Minister, as Americans do for their president. Still, the phenomena would likely have had an impact on the election of some MPs, I just can't really think of what form that impact would take. The need to raise additional money for television advertisements might become an issue - if advertising becomes a big thing.

If it does, then there could be real money to be made, and advertising could become a big industry like it did in the USA.

Of course, another issue is that with more people owning TVs, there would almost without question be a bigger push towards the development of more TV channels. I don't really know which form this would take - there is the problem of interference from other nation's TV channels to consider, after all - but it could well lead to an early development of some sort of cable television - indeed, the restrictions imposed by the limited number of channels which could be used would actually be a bonus here, since they would lead to an earlier need for the extra channels which cable could provide.

All of this relies on a few things, though. If BBC keeps its monopoly on broadcasting, there would be less of a push for access to more channels to broadcast on than there would be if it was a private enterprise that was exploring the possibilities. The BBC might still remain in existence, in a form like it's in today, where it isn't the only TV out there, but is a big news source and so on, and a really massive presence in the whole industry. Or this POD could actually lead to the elimination of the BBC, perhaps as part of some alternative government's program to widen the market of ideas by increasing the number of views that can be heard or something like that. Or, one can imagine a sort-of compromise similar to how things were for a while done in Italy, where one television station was controlled by each of the major parties, and provided news favorable to that party and programming of a sort that would appeal to its viewers. The possibilities are, of course, nearly endless. But then, that's what makes alternate history so much fun.

Anyways, those are my ideas. Any thoughts on that, or other ideas?
 
Hmm, that's interesting.

So with no WW2, the BBC might go in a number of ways after this. Radio-wise (though not mentioned in the OP), there is going to be no Home Service and Light Programme, which means no Radio 2, no Radio 1, and probably no Radio 5/FIVE LIVE. Oh, and you can say bye-bye to Radio 3 as well. The old manner of the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme (where they tried to offer something for everyone) is probably going to remain.

As such, television is probably going to be an experimental format that follows the same pattern as radio. Thus, the "first channel" is probably going to be a TV equivalent of the BBC National Programme (with a modified version, programmed from Glasgow, for Scotland), which means it might be like BBC ONE in OTL. Likewise, there is also the possibility for a "second channel" to emerge that would follow the same pattern as the BBC Regional Programme. Likewise, there is probably going to be some duplication of programming, but I can tell you that BBC TWO (as we know it in OTL) is not going to exist, since it goes against Reithian principles of specializing different programming to different audiences. Instead, it's probably going to be something like Radio 4 and Local Radio - two stations, each with identical types of programming, but with a different emphasis.

As you said yourself, when the BBC transmitted their television service, very few people bought television sets at first. This was, in part, due to the transmission range of the Alexandra Palace transmitter, but I could probably see that not being an issue. This was because of how the Regional Scheme operated, which I could see being retained. (More at Transdiffusion)

Just my two cents for now.
 

Thande

Donor
Very nice analyses, you two! Interesting that it's only Americans that are replying to this thread :confused:

RCTFI - re the commercial television question, I think if television is more pervasive then the idea of ITV will be raised sooner rather than later. I don't think the idea of commercialising the BBC would be tabled, but I suppose you could argue that without WW2 (wartime broadcasting etc) some of the nobility of the BBC's image might not exist.

Dan1988 - excellent point re radio :eek: I hadn't thought about the fact that the lack of the war will wipe out half the wonderful radio comedies of the 1950s - which again has serious knock-on effects later on (no Goon Show = no Monty Python, for example).
 
There are also something with technical side. In this case television is more likely to remain mechanical, which already was very advanced at that time.
 
@abas: By this point, actually, television has gone all-electronic, though not necessarily the Marconi-EMI 405-line system (remember the French 819-line near-HD television system? Yes, it's post-war, but still.) and thus the mechanical disc was being obsolete.
 
Dan1988 - excellent point re radio :eek: I hadn't thought about the fact that the lack of the war will wipe out half the wonderful radio comedies of the 1950s - which again has serious knock-on effects later on (no Goon Show = no Monty Python, for example).

Then again, it could something similar to OTL, but different. So the Goon Show could exist in TTL, but be confined to, say, Yorkshire, for example.
 
To resurrect an interesting thread:
Wouldn't the IBC remain a rival in this case? Pirate radio stations would thus maybe join the IBC instead of setting up alone. I think Radio 1/2 would come into being in much the same way as OTL Radio 1, but as a single station or as a regionalised one. Radio 3 would also probably still come into existence, just later. I agree local radio would be less low-key, and BBC Two would be regionalised. I don't agree the Reithian principles would remain unchanged; they'd just change by evolution rather than revolution.
That's all I can think of for now.
 
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