As you probably know (I’m assuming you are all huge broadcasting buffs and know your stuff, and if you don’t there is a brief guide in the About this Project section at the front of the Genome website) the BBC began broadcasting regularly on 14th November 1922, but as Radio Times did not begin publication until September the following year, the Genome website does not feature more than 10 months of BBC broadcasts.

Before you get excited, no, I am not announcing that the listings for those months are about to be added to Genome, that is just one of a number of major tweaks that are on our to do list. It’s more that I have a sneaking suspicion that I feature TV more often than radio in these columns, so I thought I would take a look at the very first schedules published in Radio Times (or ‘The Radio Times’ as it was known, until January 8th 1937 – coincidentally that issue previewed the programme Scrapbook for 1922, which featured reminiscences of the start of the BBC.)

By 1923, the main stations of the BBC (then the British Broadcasting Company) were established, with broadcasts coming from London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow. A few things are particularly noticeable about the first published day of listings, for 30th September 1923: one, the programmes are mainly composed of music, the only exceptions being religious talks (it being a Sunday) and the news.

The news itself is a single short bulletin at 10pm, and it is the only networked programme that day – the rest of the content is produced locally. Another thing is the hours of broadcasting: only London and Newcastle provide afternoon programmes, from 3pm to 5pm (London in fact does not list the closedown time but it is a reasonable assumption). Most of the other stations start their transmissions at 8.30, when London and Newcastle also resume; Cardiff though begins at 8.15.

The nature of the content is noticeably sober too, the music is all serious and ‘improving’, in line with the views of the then General Manager of the BBC, John Reith (later Managing Director, and then the first Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation), whose strict Presbyterian upbringing left him determined to protect the Christian religion, which he felt would be compromised by the inclusion of jazz or variety (in the showbusiness sense, though other senses apply) on the Sabbath. One of the most light-hearted offerings anywhere that day were numbers performed on the Newcastle service by the South Shields Corporation Tramways Band.

The rest of the week, 1st – 6th October, saw things lightening up a little, with a greater range of programmes, and more hours of broadcasting – London begins with a Morning Concert from 11.30 am to 12.30, though the other regions start around 3.30 pm – London itself does not restart until 5pm with Women’s Hour (Manchester follows this pattern as well on Thursday 4th). Most of the programmes still originate locally, but on the Monday at 7.30pm there is a Symphony Concert from 2LO London which is taken by all the regions except Cardiff – Manchester is listed as providing a Special Operatic Night performance of Carmen, starting at 8.15, but elsewhere in the magazine there is an erratum note to the effect that this would not take place.

Apart from the national news, the only other networked programmes appear to be a simultaneous broadcast of speeches at the Royal Colonial Institute Dinner from the Hotel Victoria in London on Tuesday 2nd , and a play, Rob Roy, produced in Glasgow on Saturday 6th October, although Birmingham transmitted their own programmes in the latter slot – mostly a concert by the Band of the Royal Air Force, with talks and a comedian in the intervals.

On a technical note, it’s interesting to see that the mode of transmission is mentioned occasionally – the Rob Roy production is specified as being ‘transmitted by wireless’, while several broadcasts by Mr Paul Rimmer’s Orchestra from Lozells’s Picture House in Birmingham, and the Oxford Picture House Orchestra in Manchester, are billed as being by landline (they were not being heard outside their own regions, this is presumably a reference to the programmes being outside broadcasts rather than coming from the studio).

It’s unfortunate that we are not yet able to share all the articles from Radio Times on the Genome site, perhaps this will one day be possible – but the earliest pieces in the magazine are fascinating for the historical information they give. The first edition includes an article by the BBC’s Chief Engineer, Captain P.P. (Peter) Eckersley, about the problems of these ‘simultaneous transmissions’, alongside an alarming picture of him alongside the current equipment to achieve this in the “experimental room” at the BBC headquarters, an arrangement that would make Heath Robinson throw in the towel…

The first edition of Radio Times is more than just a publishing landmark, it gives so many insights into the state of broadcasting then, both in the articles (sorry about that, again) and the listings. Various Children’s Hours under various names were well established, concerts were being given by in-house musicians such as the 2LO and 2ZY Orchestras, and Glasgow’s ‘Wireless Trio’. There was even a talk Seen on the Screen with Mr. G.A. Atkinson reviewing the latest films (silent of course – the films, that is, not the talk).

Every now and again, you can come across something that makes you realise people were not entirely straight-laced – for example, Manchester’s programme Keyboard Kitty and Klavier-Klash on 5th October wouldn’t sound too out of place at Glastonbury…