Discuss The Ways In Which The BBC Has Changed In The 1970's

In order to write about ways in which the BBC has changed in the period between 1922 and 1972, an introduction to the BBC, the first broadcasting cooperation in the UK, is required.

Started as a wireless radio, the BBC was the brain child of John Reith who saw the immense potential that broadcasting could have. It was formed in 1922 by the British General Post Office (GPO) and a group of six telecommunications companies—Marconi, Radio Communication Company, Metropolitan-Vickers (MetroVick), General Electric, Western Electric, and British Thomson-Houston titled as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd. From the very beginning the BBC was set up in a way which would ensure its financial independence from the Government and advertising revenue, thereby creating a unique broadcasting corporation which was to be free of influence from third parties. This was achieved by creating a license fee payable by all users at a cost of 10 shillings per household.

I will initially concentrate on the influence of political events on the BBC’s history and development, followed by a closer look at how the BBC changed with the shift in attitude towards women and finally I will look at how the change in popular attitudes and cultures helped to shape the BBC into the organization that it became in the 1970’s. All of these arguments will be considered in the context of technological advances which, of course, will need its own mention in considering the principal changes that the organization has