BBC begins daily transmissions from 2LO Station

Image: The 2LO transmitter on Marconi House on the Strand.

On 14 November 1922 the BBC began daily radio broadcasts. The first programme, at 6 pm, was a news bulletin, supplied by news agencies. This was followed by a weather forecast, prepared by the Met Office. They were read by Arthur Burrows, Director of programmes. Burrows read the bulletin twice, once fast and then slowly, so that listeners could take notes if they wished.

The broadcasts came from 2LO, the transmitter in The Strand that the new British Broadcasting Company acquired from Marconi for the purpose. 2LO got its name from the number of the Post Office broadcasting licence issued to Marconi. The BBC was initially restricted in what and when it could broadcast, amid fears from the government that it would drown out official communications, and from the newspapers that it would steal their readers. As listeners and broadcasters began to realise the potential of the radio to entertain as well as inform, the call sign "2LO calling" became well known.

BBC broadcasts from Birmingham and Manchester started the following day, adding innovations such as the first children's programme. Gradually the restrictions on broadcasting were relaxed, and radio became an integral part of life in Britain. The 2LO transmitter is now preserved at the Science Museum in London.