1. isaac223

    isaac223 Senior Member

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    Sources Detailing the History, Structure and Technology of 1940's-1960's British Television Studios

    Discussion in 'Research' started by isaac223, Apr 3, 2020.

    Again, I'm the hunt for some of the more out-of-the-way information for something I'm writing, but for the life of me I cannot find any sources which give me the detailed insight on British television studios as I'm looking for. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
     
  2. Necronox

    Necronox Contributor Contributor

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    If you live in the UK, you could literally see if you can find anyone that worked in that field. Try nursing homes/age care facilities and ask if there is anyone that used to be in that field. These are often the best place to find information and I find these people will literally talk your ear off with detail with half a chance. Also, I think *most* enjoy the company so why not?

    If you live outside of the UK, I would stillr ecommend seeing any aged care facilities as these are your best bet for information (seriously not joking).

    Alternatively, there are plenty of museum out there that would probably give you an idea.

    In my personal knowledge, home set TVs were relatively rare or uncommon in the poorer classes. Radios, by that point, were the most common and almost every house would of had one. The soviets even had special broadcasts through the radio (something that was kept up until 1991. Ask any former soviet about the classical music playing over the radio. :D ). Cinemas were quite common, thought I do not know the statistics.

    Also, one thing to remember is that as far as I am aware, a vaste majority of production of TV sets and the like was ceased in favour of producing war goods. Especially radios and the likes for the army. I found a statistic saying that there was only 44'000 TVs in the USA in 1946 with very few channels (source not mentioned so I don't know how true that is).

    I do know of a site called the British Vintage Wireless Society. They focus more on radios but you may find something useful as they deal moreso with the equipment itself.

    If you're looking at the equipment itself. You may want to start by looking into Camera Tubes. That was one of the early forms of TV regularly available to consumers. Colour TV only appear post-world war 2 for the most part.

    I am afraid I don't know the working of the equipment itself (i'm a historian, not an engineer/electrician), only when they got introduced for the most part. Hope it helps.


    edit: I only provided 'common' information and not so much academic sources. Most people arn't interested in the scholarly articles and academic research as it's typically very detailed and specific and of little use to the lay-person.
     
  3. More

    More Active Member

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    I don't understand why you are finding it difficult, TV is something that has been documented and is easy to find , here is something to get you going .tvstudiohistory.co.uk/old%20bbc%20studios.htm
     

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