BBC Light Programme


The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the longwave frequency which had earlier been used – prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 – by the BBC National Programme.
The service was intended as a domestic replacement for the wartime BBC General Forces Programme which had proved popular with civilian audiences in Britain as well as members of the armed forces.

History

The longwave signal on 200 kHz/1500 metres was transmitted from Droitwich in the Midlands, and gave fairly good coverage of most of the United Kingdom, although a number of low-power mediumwave transmitters were added later to fill in local blank spots. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, the Light Programme gradually became available on what was known at the time as VHF, as the BBC developed a network of local FM transmitters.
From its first day of broadcasting in 1945 until Monday, 2 September 1957, the Light Programme would be on the air from 9 am until midnight each day, apart from Sundays when it would come on the air at 8 am. From Monday, 2 September 1957, the Light Programme's broadcasting hours would start to increase, with a new early morning start time of 7 am, later moving to 6:30 a.m. from Monday, 29 September 1958. In 1964, broadcasting hours were increased even more, with a new morning start time of 5:30 am from Monday, 31 August 1964. Up until September 1964, the Light Programme would always end its broadcasting day at midnight; however, this changed on Sunday, 27 September 1964, when a new closedown time of 2:02 a.m. was introduced.
The Light Programme closed down for the last time at 2:02 am on Friday, 29 September 1967. At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, 30 September 1967, it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 on its longwave frequency and VHF.
The long-running soap opera The Archers was first heard nationally on the Light Programme, on 1 January 1951, although a week-long pilot version had been broadcast on the Midlands Home Service in 1950.

Notable former programmes