Engineering Information Bulletins
Engineering Information programmes were broadcast by both the BBC and ITA/IBA during
the 1960s, 70s and 80s and were intended for the trade to find out which transmitters were
undergoing maintenance and when new transmitters would come on line. They were regularly
scheduled "ghost" programmes, as they never appeared in programme listings, or
for example the Radio Times.
BBC "Service Information"
The BBC programmes went under title "Service Information" and originated on
BBC2 in the late sixties. There were three broadcasts a day, Monday to Friday at 10am,
11.30am (after Play School) and 2.30pm. The theme music was called "Walk and
Talk". The main bulletin was the first in the morning, the later ones were short
updates of which transmitters were being serviced. "Service Information"
introduced those members of the general public to the terms "Reduced Power" and
"Liable to Interruptions"
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In the seventies, after the three day week, Service Information was reduced to one
programme once a day at 10.30am. It is clear from my postbag that a lot of people tuned in
to see this programme, despite it not officially existing. It typically lasted only five
minutes, but the Thursday programme was often extended, and in addition to the regular
transmitter news, they had a "feature" about some new technology or event.
Stereo FM radio, teletext, experiments with stereo television sound, and the possibility
of dual language transmissions were some of the topics I remember being covered. |
"Walk and Talk" remained the theme tune until Sept 1978, when it was replaced
by "Swirly". This was a delightful electronic tune, by Roger Limb of the BBC
Radiophonic Workshop.
| This RealAudio clip is the announcement
in 1969 on Service Information that BBC1 Colour transmissions were due to begin. |
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| This RealAudio clip is also from 1969,
and announces the arrival of BBC UHF television on the Mendip transmitter. |
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In the eighties, Ceefax had a regular Engineering Information page, which duplicated
much of the content of the regular Service Information programme. It was not surprising
that eventually the programme was dropped, as daytime TV encroached. Does anyone know the
exact date it ended? One thing that Ceefax cannot show however, are the neat little
coverage maps that demonstrated the service area of each new relay transmitter.
IBA "Engineering
Announcements"
The ITA, soon to be the IBA, started their programme "Engineering
Announcements" was first broadcast at 9.45 am on November 23, 1970 when it was
networked on ITV after `Mondays Newcomers' (a magazine programme showing the first run of
new advertisements).
| In September 1972 it moved to Tuesdays at 9.10 am where it
remained for 11 years. The words "Crawley Court" shall be remembered by many who
tuned in to the delightful Gilbert and Sullivan piece that was played at the start.
Engineering Announcements had a slightly more "magazine" programme feel than the
BBC offering, and they regularly had on screen presenters, however it was only once a
week. We have a very short RealAudio sound clip of the opening announcement. |
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During the industrial dispute in the summer of 1979, Engineering Announcements was the
only programme on the ITV network, the sole break from the white on blue caption displayed
throughout the dispute.
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In 1983, with TV-am ready to launch breakfast television, "Engineering
Announcements" transferred to Channel 4, at the same time of 9.15am on Tuesdays with
a repeat at 12.15pm. With the expansion of programme hours, it has was progressively moved
earlier to its final resting spot of 5.45 am. In 1990, the IBA was abolished, to be
replaced by the ITC, the Radio Authority and a privatised transmission company (NTL). |
| The final `normal' edition of Engineering Announcements was broadcast on C4 at 5.45
a.m. on 24th July 1990, followed by a farewell edition on 31st July 1990 and a sort of NTL
corporate video on 7th August 1990. NTL continued to maintain Engineering Information
pages on Oracle, until they lost the teletext franchise in 1992. |
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| Our third edition of Engineering Announcements is quite a
historic one, as it was the first programme on ITV to be broadcast in NICAM digital
stereo. The programme describes in detail what NICAM is and how it works. The programme
lasts over 13 minutes and includes the classical music before the programme. |
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| The above information has been pieced together from my memories,
and those of various contributors who either emailed me or posted to the various
newsgroups in response to my requests for memories. If you have something to add or
correct, then please get in touch, either by email to darren@meldrum.co.uk or via mhp-chat |
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Last Update 06 Apr 2000
