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This created a market for dual standard receivers which could switch between the two systems.

Unlike BBC1 and ITV, BBC2 was broadcast only on the 625 line UHF system, so was not available to viewers still using sets only capable of receiving the 405-line VHF system. Critically for the future of the fledgling channel, the BBC's gamble was hugely successful, with an average of six million viewers tuning in per episode: a feat made more prominent by the fact that only 9 million were able to receive the channel at the time. The production chosen was The Forsyte Saga (1967), a no-expense-spared adaptation of the novels by John Galsworthy, featuring well-established actors Kenneth More and Eric Porter.

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To establish the new channel's identity and draw viewers to it, the BBC decided that a widely promoted, lavish series would be essential in its earliest days. In reference to the power cut, the transmission opened with a shot of a lit candle which was then sarcastically blown out by presenter Denis Tuohy. The launch schedule, postponed from the night before, was then successfully shown that evening, albeit with minor changes. īy 11:00 on 21 April, power had been restored to the studios and programming began, thus making Play School the first programme to be shown officially on the channel. There was believed to be no recording made of this bulletin, but a videotape was discovered in early 2003. As the BBC's news centre at Alexandra Palace was unaffected, they did in fact broadcast brief bulletins on BBC2 that evening, beginning with an announcement by the newsreader Gerald Priestland at around 19:25. At 22:00 programming was officially postponed until the following morning. Associated-Rediffusion, the London weekday ITV franchise-holder, offered to transmit on the BBC's behalf, but their gesture was rejected. BBC1 was able to continue broadcasting via its facilities at Alexandra Palace, but all attempts to show the scheduled programmes on the new channel failed. However, at around 18:45 a huge power failure, originating from a fire at Battersea Power Station, caused Television Centre, and indeed much of west London, to lose all power. The channel was scheduled to begin at 19:20 on 20 April 1964, showing an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts, a performance from Soviet comedian Arkady Raikin, and a production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, culminating with a fireworks display. Prior to, and several years after, the channel's formal launch, the channel broadcast ' Trade Test Transmissions', short films made externally by companies such as Shell and BP, which served to enable engineers to test reception, but became cult viewing. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots 'Hullabaloo', a mother kangaroo, and 'Custard', her joey. Prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service: the soon-to-be-renamed BBC1. It therefore decided that Britain's third television station should be awarded to the BBC. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any culturally relevant programming.

Both channels had existed in a state of competition since ITV's launch in 1955, and both had aimed for a populist approach in response. įurther information: Timeline of BBC Two Launch īritish television at the time of BBC2's launch consisted of two channels: the BBC Television Service and the ITV network made up of smaller regional companies. In general, publicly funded television was rated higher than commercial channels.

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It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, now tend to appear on BBC Four instead.Ī major global study by the polling organisation Populus for the BBC found that BBC Two is rated as the third highest quality television channel in the world, behind Brazil's TV Cultura and BBC One. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide.

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Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit 'to broadcast programmes of depth and substance' in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. BBC Two is a British free-to-air television network owned and operated by the BBC.