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 The Third Programme headquarters was atBroadcasting House inLondon. | |
| Country | |
|---|---|
| Radio stations | 647kHz, 1547 kHz |
| Headquarters | Broadcasting House, London, England |
| Owner | BBC |
| Established | 29 September 1946; 79 years ago (1946-09-29) |
| Dissolved | 29 September 1967; 58 years ago (1967-09-29) |
| Replaced by | BBC Radio 3 |
TheBBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced byBBC Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces inBritain, playing an important role in disseminating the arts, broadcasting music (mainlyclassical), plays, documentary features and talks.[1] It was theBBC's third national radio network, the other two being theHome Service (mainly speech-based) and theLight Programme, principally devoted tolight entertainment andmusic.
When it started in 1946, the Third Programme broadcast for six hours each evening from 6.00 pm to midnight, although its output was cut to just 24 hours a week from October 1957, with the early part of weekday evenings being given over to educational programming (known as "Network Three"). The frequencies were also used during daytime hours to broadcast complete ball-by-ball commentary ontest match cricket, under the titleTest Match Special.
The Third's existence was controversial from the beginning, partly because of perceived "elitism" – it was sometimes criticised for broadcasting programmes of "twodons talking" – and also for the cost of its output relative to a small listenerreach. Its existence was against the corporation's founding principles, asReith himself had during his time at the BBC been against segmenting audiences by splitting programming genres across different networks. From the start, though, it had prominent supporters: theEducation Secretary in theAttlee government,Ellen Wilkinson, spoke rather optimistically of creating a "third programme nation". When it faced those 1957 cuts, the Third Programme Defence Society was formed and its leaders includedT. S. Eliot,Albert Camus, andSir Laurence Olivier.
This situation continued until the launch on 22 March 1965 of the BBC Music Programme, which began regular daily broadcasts ofclassical music (with some interruptions for live sports coverage) on the Network Three / Third Programme frequencies between 7.00 am and 6.30 pm on weekdays, 8.00 am and 12.30 pm on Saturdays, and 8.00 am and 5.00 pm on Sundays. The Third Programme continued as a distinct evening service, and this continued to be the case for a short while after the inception ofBBC Radio 3 on 30 September 1967, before all the elements of the BBC's "third network" were finally absorbed into Radio 3 with rebranding effect from Saturday 4 April 1970.
The network was broadly cultural, aLeavisite experiment dedicated to the discerning or "high-brow" listener from an educated, minority audience. Its founders' aims were seen as promoting "something fundamental to our civilisation" and as contributing to "the refinement of society".[2][page needed] Its musical output provided a wide range of seriousclassical music and live concerts, as well as contemporary composers andjazz; popular classical music such asBeethoven,Mozart andTchaikovsky primarily remained on theHome Service until 1964. Voice formed a much higher proportion of its output than the later Radio 3, with specially commissioned plays, poetry readings, talks and documentaries. Nationally known intellectuals such asBertrand Russell andIsaiah Berlin on philosophy orFred Hoyle on cosmology were regular contributors.
The network became a principal patron of the arts, within commissioned many music works for broadcast by the BBC Music Department, playing an important role in the development of the career of composers such asBenjamin Britten. Particularly notable were its drama productions, including the radio plays ofSamuel Beckett,Henry Reed (theHilda Tablet plays),Harold Pinter,Wyndham Lewis,Joe Orton andDylan Thomas, whoseUnder Milk Wood was written specially for the programme.Philip O'Connor discoveredQuentin Crisp in his radio interviews in 1963. The seriesInventions for Radio aired in 1964 and 1965, withsound collages byDelia Derbyshire of theBBC Radiophonic Workshop.[3]Martin Esslin, BBC Director of Drama (Radio), was associated with the network's productions ofEuropean drama, andDouglas Cleverdon with its productions of poetry and radio plays.
The Third Programme's contribution to contemporary poetry and criticism was significant, under producers and presenters such asJohn Wain,Ludovic Kennedy,George MacBeth andPatrick Dickinson. It promoted young writers such asPhilip Larkin andKingsley Amis, as well as the "difficult" work ofDavid Jones andLaura Riding. The Third Programme was for many years the single largest source ofcopyright payments to poets.
The decision to close down the Third Programme was opposed by many within the BBC, some of them senior figures. Within the music division, a "BBC rebellion" gathered force, with its most vocal members includingHans Keller andRobert Simpson. Ultimately however, the attempt to prevent the culture-conscious Third being replaced by what Keller called "a daytime music station" proved unsuccessful.[citation needed]
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