1946 in British radio
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This is a list of events from British radio in 1946.
January
- 3 January – American-born Nazi propagandist William Joyce is hanged, unrepenting, at HM Prison Wandsworth in London for high treason for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio.
- 20 January – Composer Granville Bantock writes to fellow composer Rutland Boughton criticising the BBC Music Department's attitude towards some newer composers.[1]
February
- No events.
March
- 5 March – Have A Go with Wilfred Pickles and his wife, Mabel, is introduced; it is the first British quiz show to offer prizes (although these are limited to a few pounds and some home-made produce).[2] Initially broadcast as Have a Go, Joe! on BBC Home Service North until August, from 16 September it is produced by BBC Manchester for national transmission on the Light Programme.[2]
- 24 March – BBC Home Service radio in the UK broadcasts Alistair Cooke's first American Letter. As Letter from America, this programme will continue until a few weeks before Cooke's death in 2004.
April
- No events.
May
- No events.
June
- The BBC's regional director for Wales tells Welsh MPs that there is "not enough talent... to sustain a full continuous programme".[3]
July
- No events.
August
- No events.
September
- 29 September – The BBC Third Programme launches at 6pm. The evenings-only service is devoted to broadcasting cultural and intellectual content, serious classical music and programming about the arts.[4] Its first controller is George Barnes and its chief announcer is Alvar Lidell.[5]
October
- 7 October – The BBC Light Programme transmits the first episodes of two daily programmes:
- The magazine Woman's Hour (initially presented by Alan Ivimey), which will still be running nearly 80 years later.
- The early-evening 15-minute serial thriller Dick Barton, which will achieve a peak audience of 20 million, predominantly schooboys.[6]
- The BBC begins broadcasting a 2-month comedy series Heigh-Ho, its first script by Frank Muir, featuring Peter Waring, Kenneth Horne and Charmian Innes, and produced by Charles Maxwell; no further series is commissioned after Waring's criminal convictions come to light.[7]
November
- No events.
December
- December – BBC correspondent Edward Ward with a sound engineer is landed on Bishop Rock lighthouse to give a report on life there but is trapped there for a month by the weather.[8]
- 31 December – BBC General Forces Programme closes down.
Unknown
- The BBC adopts the Paris Theatre, a former cinema in London's Regent Street, as a studio for recording comedy and other shows before a live audience.[9]
- Bush DAC90 bakelite radio introduced in the UK: it becomes the best-selling model for some years.[10]
Station debuts
- 29 September – The BBC Third Programme
Closing this year
- 31 December – BBC General Forces Programme
Debuts
- 4 January – Housewives' Choice (1946–1967)
- 5 March – Have A Go (1946–1967)
- 24 March – Letter from America (1946–2004)
- 7 October
- Dick Barton – Special Agent (1946–1951)
- Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
- 29 December – Down Your Way (1946–1992)
Continuing radio programmes
1930s
- In Town Tonight (1933–1960)
1940s
- Music While You Work (1940–1967)[11]
- Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
- Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
- Family Favourites (1945–1980)
Births
- 25 January – Pete Price, Merseyside media personality and radio presenter
- 4 February – Peter Allen, radio broadcaster
- 18 February – Michael Buerk, journalist and broadcast presenter
- 22 March – Jonathan James-Moore, radio comedy producer (died 2005)
- 5 April – Russell Davies, journalist, jazz musician and broadcast presenter
- 11 April – Bob Harris, broadcast music presenter
- 17 April – Henry Kelly, Irish-born broadcast presenter
- 7 May – Michael Rosen, children's poet and radio presenter
- 26 May – Simon Hoggart, journalist and broadcaster (died 2014)
- 2 June – Sean Street, radio broadcaster and poet
- 26 August – Alison Steadman, comedy actress
- 7 October – Jenny Abramsky, BBC Director of Audio and Music
- 13 October – Edwina Currie, Conservative politician, author and radio personality
- 31 December – Eric Robson, broadcast presenter
- Sue Limb, scriptwriter
