Radio Times/1923/09/28/My message to "Listeners"

[Lord Gainford is the Chairman of the B.B.C. Before his elevation to the peerage in 1916, when Postmaster-General, he was the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph A. Pease, Bart.]

HE publication of The Radio Times marks a new stage in the development of the British Broadcasting Company. This periodical will each week produce in advance the Company's programmes in a compact and attractive form for the convenience of the public. There will therefore be no chance that particularly interesting or unusual programmes will escape notice.

We anticipate a closer intimacy between our lecturers and artistes and their vast unseen audiences by publishing week by week little sketches of the personalities of those who charm, entertain, or instruct us through the medium of the mysterious air. Many of these are famous people with distinguished achievement, marking the stages of their careers: others are but starting their journey on the road to fame. The world needs and awaits both with a glad welcome.

Our endeavour is to meet this need by giving the public the best at our command in a daily programme unequalled in range and quality elsewhere in the world. It is an ambitious effort. We are, however, encouraged to maintain it by the splendid support of our "listeners."

We have faced many difficulties since we set ourselves this task. Apart from the difficulties of the controversy that arose, the subject of which has now been fully discussed by a Government Committee, whose report may be published even before this first issue of The Radio Times, we have had to face misunderstandings and purblind points of view, which, to some extent, handicapped us in the early stages of our development. Happily, most of these differences have been overcome, and we look forward confidently to giving even a better service in the future than we have been able to do in the past.

The splendid work of our engineers has, within an incredibly short time, enabled us to guarantee a programme which can be broadcast simultaneously from any or every station to the rest of the country. This first issue of the Magazine contains some simultaneous broadcast programmes and indicates wonderful possibilities for the future. The individuality of local stations will still he preserved, as the nights for general broadcasting will be limited.

Our policy is a policy of development to serve the greatest needs of the public, and our faith is that the public will loyally support us. In this spirit the first issue of The Radio Times is sent out.

In conclusion, I cannot refrain from sending my best wishes, not only to those who are immediately responsible for this new venture, but also to those thousands of "listeners" to whom it will be welcome fireside reading when the evening's music is captured from the skies.