REDIFFUSION LIMITED
Carlton House, Lower Regent Street
London SW1Y 4LS
Remembering Rediffusion By:
Gerald Clode
Rediffusion, originally called Broadcast Relay Service Ltd was incorporated in 1928 and started to relay radio programmes to subscribers utilising the urban power supply networks belonging to city tram operator British Electric Traction to carry their audio cables.
The following year, 200 subscribers in Braintree, Ramsgate and Hull were paying 3 shillings a week for the service. It soon flourished because the depression meant that most people could not afford a 'wireless set' and many houses did not even have electricity.
The name was based on re-diffusing or re-broadcasting audio signals via a Wired Network. This was later developed to include television relay and to be generally known as Cable Television. Rediffusion manufactured it's first television set in 1947.
In 1947 British Electric Traction (BET) acquired a minority shareholding in Rediffusion and in 1967 BET became controlling shareholder concluding outright purchase in 1983. ( Read More )
In 1954, the broadcasting company Associated-Rediffusion was formed in collaboration with Associated Newspapers and became the first commercial television station to go on the air in 1955 from the ITV transmitters at Croydon in south London. The station was the mainstay of commercial television broadcasting for the London and south east area through to 1968 and is fondly remembered for the Rediffusion Star which became the symbol for the whole group in 1967.
Rediffusion set up their wired networks in many UK towns and cities during the 1940's and 1950's and carried interference-free Radio and later, Television channels from the BBC and ITV to thousands of homes. Subscribers selected their Radio or TV channel using a Rotary Selector Switch located adjacent to the Television Set or Radio Speaker.
The white and yellow Service Vans were a common sight in most cities around the UK. Rediffusion became multi-national company with over 170 branches in the UK and divisions worldwide. In 1976 the Groups Assets were £ 130,000,000 with 13,100 UK employees and 2800 overseas employees.
By the mid 1980's BET decided divest it's electronics interests and the Rediffusion Group was subsequently broken up and sold off. The TV rental business was acquired by Granada with the property and networks going to Maxwell Communications All other group companies and overseas interests were disposed of by the early 1990's.
Little evidence remains relating to Rediffusion and it's Cable Distribution and Television Rental business. Other divisional companies both in the UK and Overseas have since been absorbed.
The name Rediffusion is now generally remembered as the ITA Programme Contractor which provided television programmes for the ITV network from 1955 to 1968.
I would be most pleased to hear from anyone who worked for Rediffusion at any time. What are your memories? Your branch details, dates etc.
Contact:
Updated: Aug. 2010
Tel: 01-930-0221
Quick Links To Some Pages of Interest
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Maxwell Communication Corporation plc (MCC) was formerly one of the world's ten largest media groups, with interests in information services and electronic publishing.
Maxwell changed BPC's name to the British Printing and Communications Corporation (BPCC) in March 1982. This change reflected his wish to expand into areas such as cable and satellite television, computers and data banks, electronic printing, and communications high technology that were being developed in the 1980s.
Associated Newspapers is a large national newspaper publisher in the UK, which is a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust. The group was established in 1905 and is currently based at Northcliffe House in Kensington.
The Croydon transmitting station is located in Upper Norwood, London, England in the London Borough of Croydon. It was founded in 1955 and initially used a small lattice tower. The tower present on the site today is 152 metres (499 ft) high and was built in 1962.
The Croydon Transmitter was originally used to broadcast the London ITV signal on VHF Band III.
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