#063 Glasgow 5SC: The BBC Launches in Scotland

The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

On episode 63, we've reached 6th March 1923: Glasgow 5SC launches - the BBC's first station in Scotland.

It's not Scotland's first radio station (see episode 48 for the tale of how Daimler, Glasgow Motor Show and a couple of electrical shop owners made a couple of pre-BBC pop-up stations).

But this sixth BBC station mattered to John Reith more than any other. He'd grown up in Glasgow. His mum came to visit the radio station. He opened the station himself - apart from the bagpipes playing Hey Johnny Cope.

You have two fantastic guides through this episode:

GRAHAM STEWART, a BBC journalist whose new book Scotland On-Air is out very soon. Details at https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/Main_Page

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TONY CURRIE, of Radio Six International, and author of The Radio Times Story. Details at https://www.radiosix.com/

SHOWNOTES:

- I mention an early 1980s children's retrospective that Kathleen Garscadden appears on. It's called Jubilee! 60 Years of Children's Programmes, it's from 1983, it's got Floella Benjamin, Sarah Greene, Mike Read, Keith Chegwin. Tony Hart and many more, including Auntie Cyclone herself, it's fab, and it's here to watch: https://youtu.be/tNZD70HiFsw

- My novel on all this, Auntie and Uncles, is out soon! But not yet. Depending when you read this. More info may be here, unless I've missed Amazon's deadline to upload it, in which case Jeff Bezos might delete this from sale. But it will return! When ready. It's going to be great... https://amzn.to/3EODANc

- Support us on www.patreon.com/paulkerensa to keep us afloat and in return get extra writings, videos and ample more! Thanks to all who support us there.

- We're on www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, where our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker is chronicling newspapers on this day 100 years ago.

- Follow us on www.twitter.com/bbcentury, where I post LOTS of old radio things.

- More on this entire project at www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio

- This is not a BBC podcast - we're talking about them (though very much from a favourable viewpoint), not with them.

- BBC content is used with kind permission of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved...

- ...and preserved. This podcast is the origin story of British broadcasting, told the very slow way - but hopefully in a way that informs, educates and (winks, clicks fingers like the Fonz) entertains.

Next time: We're still in March 1923 (a lot happened in March 1923) with broadcasts from the Ideal Home Exhibition, tales of touring variety acts around the early BBC stations, and a fab guest in Hi-de-Hi's Jeffrey Holland.

Subscribe to get this podcast as soon as one's uploaded - we plan on being here a while yet: www.podfollow.com/bbcentury