From sound to print in pre-war Britain: the cultural and commercial interdependence between broadcasters and broadcasting magazines in the 1930s.

Abstract

This thesis is a study of key broadcasting magazines published in the United Kingdom prior to the Second World War. At its centre is the premise that the relationship between broadcasting and the magazine industry evolving around it was symbiotic in nature. The relationship was complex because the broadcasters provided much of the material for the magazines to publish and therefore could potentially use this as a tool for influence and publicity, as they sought to stimulate the demand for their output in the British public. However, the magazines were the mediators of the flow of communication. Their editorial content not only provided a critical commentary on material broadcast but also represented a direct conduit between the readers/audience and the broadcasters by providing a forum for the readers/audience to publish their views. Exploring the history of early broadcasting from the perspective of this material reveals the interdependency between the radio stations/broadcasters, the magazines and ultimately, how they connected to the readers/audience. While there have been other partial studies of broadcasting magazines, particularly the Radio Times, these have not assessed the magazine against other contemporary magazines, nor have they placed the magazine within a broadcasting history context. This study not only considers the magazines against the background of the growing broadcasting industry, it also explores what wireless meant to its first audience. This was a crucial element for understanding how the public responded to the developments which were taking place in the 1930s, when commercial enterprises encroached on the BBC’s monopoly and attempted to poach its listeners.