1920's- 1922- Private companies were the first to introduce the use of television, with private broadcasting. The BBC, british broadcasting company, was established. 1929: John Logie Baird, a scottish engineer, broadcasted television using the BBC’s London transmitter. |
1930's- 1930: The first British television drama was introduced, called Pirandello’s The Man with a Flower in his Mouth. 1932: The British broadcasting became the established programme-making for television, with a 30-line television service. All TV channels were under the BBC. 1939: British television is shut down due to the announcement of WWII. |
1940's-1946: The war ends and Television is re-established. 1948: The London Olympics were broadcasted on TV. 1949: The Midlands became the first area of the UK outside of London to receive BBC Television. |
1950's 1951: The BBC TV North transmitter opens, making TV broadcasting available in the North of England. 1952: The BBC TV Scotland transmitter opens. December 17, 1953- colour tv invented 1955:By this time, up to 95% of the british population had access to television. 1953- 27 million people in the UK watched the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II which was broadcasted on TV. |
1960's- 1964- BBC 2 is broadcasted to over 600 television lines. 1967- Colour transmissions are broadcasted on BBC 2. 1969- Colour transmissions become regularly broadcasted on BBC One and ITV. The world watches the broadcast of the moon landing. |
1980's- 1980- by the 1980’s TV became a part of everyday life for the UK population, with almost 100% of the population having watched TV in some time of their lives. 1981: The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was broadcasted worldwide, with up to 750 million viewers in 74 countries. 1982- Channel 4 begins to broadcast across the United Kingdom. ITV begins a new contract with companies such as TVS, TSW and Central Television. 1989- Satellite television broadcaster, Sky, was officially launched. |
1990's- 1990: Launch of British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) 1997- Channel 5 begins broadcasting across the United Kingdom. |
2000's- 2002-The UK's first Freeview DTT service begins. 2006: The BBC begins broadcasting in high-definition (HDTV) 2007: The BBC iPlayer is launched |
2010's- 2010- Freeview is broadcast to the entirety of the UK, including Channel 4 HD. 2011- Product placement advertising is permitted on UK television 2012: Netflix launches its movie and TV streaming service in the UK. 2012: London hosts the 2012 Olympics, and the BBC wins the UK contract to broadcast all Olympic tournaments up to 2020. 2016: BBC Three becomes online-only. 2018- BBC One airs The Coronation, a documentary in which Queen Elizabeth II gives a rare insight into her personal experience of her Coronation. A new feed of ITV3 is launched on Freeview, on Channel 788. 2019- Channel 4 takes full control of Box Plus Network. It had previously operated Box Plus Network in a 50/50 joint venture with Bauer Media. |
2020- The government announces plans to hold daily televised press conferences to update the public on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Disney+ launches in the UK. It is also the first streaming service in the UK to feature The Simpsons after Sky and Disney secured a deal to make disney+ available on Sky Q. ITV announced that due to the suspension of production of soap operas such as Coronation street due to the Coronavirus, that their ITV3 re-runs of Classic episodes of both soaps respectively will be made available on the streaming catch up ITV Hub. |