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    The radio show that changed the face of broadcasting- 90 years on

    By Adam Parris-Long | Yahoo! News – Tue, Feb 14, 2012

    It was from a cramped former military hut that 90 years ago the first 'entertainment' broadcast was made over British airwaves.

    Known as '2MT' it began reaching out to the public far beyond the its immediate surroundings in Chelmsford, Essex. While nothing like the commercial stations which compete for our attention today the informal manner in which it was presented revolutionised the way radio was perceived. This led to the realisation of what could be achieved and paved the way for the first BBC broadcasts.


    The man who enabled this leap in technology was Guglielmo Marconi, the famed Italian inventor of radio, but here in the Home Counties he saw his spotlight stolen by 2MT engineer Captain Peter Eckersley, the first DJ on British airwaves.

    Famed for his frenetic style of presenting, Captain Eckersley played some of the most popular records of the day by simply pushing a gramophone close to the microphone- using the opening doors of the gramophone as a rudimentary fader.

    2MT in action: John Kirke holds the microphone with London singer, Nora Scott in 1922. Picture- Marconi Plc.

    Capt Eckersley is heard in the clip (above) delivering a tongue-in-cheek comment about the lack of resources at his disposal. He declares: “Serious things have happened tonight, we did expect to get a famous singer, but she failed - singers fail you know.”

    His show from the village of Writtle became a fixture for listeners who could tune in on Tuesday nights between 8pm and 8:30pm.

    The series came just two years after Guglielmo Marconi first established 2MT. He used the station to broadcast one of the first ever radio shows - a concert that could be heard across the country.

    Although 2MT only ran off a paltry 250 watt transmitter, listeners on two valve receivers could pick up Capt Eckersley’s broadcasts as far away as Scotland. They were an immediate success.

    The hut is now in a museum in Chelmsford. Curator Dr Geoff Bowles told Yahoo! News: “Radio amateurs were amazed at hearing voice on the air instead of just morse code.

    “The 2MT was the start of broadcasting as we know it in this country.”

    The iconic 2MT hut pictured in 1923 (l) and the restored version (r) in Sandford Mill Museum, Chelmsford.

    The broadcasts, put together on a shoestring budget, mostly used radio engineers to perform as on-air actors, bringing with them their own distinctive personas.

    The hut that hosted the shows was a former outhouse that backed onto the Marconi laboratories in the village and were strewn with radio equipment and makeshift instruments.

    “It confirmed the idea of broadcasting at all,” Dr Bowles said. “I doubt that the BBC would have come around without it because the pressure would not have been there without the Marconi broadcasts.

    “The people who really wanted the BBC were the amateurs who listened in to 2MT. Until they knew there was a potential listening public, BBC radio wouldn’t have happened.”

    Soon after the success of the 2MT, 2LO was established in Strand, London- forming a precursor to the BBC. Capt Eckersley became the BBC’s chief engineer, eventually taking most of the team based at Writtle with him. Though 2MT only survived until January 1923, it left an indelible mark on British broadcasting.  
     

    56 comments

    • Tomcat
      Tomcat  •  York, England  •  3 months ago
      We take so much for granted....especially the under 30's. Even radio is still fascinating when you think about it....speech and music through thin air, MENTAL !
      • ALAN
        ALAN 3 months ago
        True. Also the radio is more interactive as a medium and is a great companion too and life-line for many of its listeners. I think it is preferable to t.v.
    • I Can't Believe it
      I Can't Believe it  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Why is it when I read this article talking about radio programmes before "commercial stations" I am immmediately "greeted" by an advertisment for some article I have no intention of purchasing? I don't wanted to listen to your adverts but if you insist in playing them then I shall remove you from the sites that I watch.
      • GAZZA.T.TOMPKINSON
        GAZZA.T.TOMPKINSON 3 months ago
        I advise you to do this..Make a stand for the small buisness man!!
      • Jennifer
        Jennifer 3 months ago
        If you use Firefox they have an add on called Adblock.
      • josiema
        josiema 3 months ago
        But on the other hand, I can only afford to use free sites. Did nobody warn you that there's no such thing as a free lunch?
    • ANDREW
      ANDREW  •  3 months ago
      grant the pioneer of commercial free radio a free licence to transmit to the UK and a knighthood for its creator i`m talking about Ronan O`riley and the legndary RADIO CAROLINE without whitch there would only be the BBC light, home + third programme millions of record sales revenue lost ( the only down side is we got Simon Cowel} but we all have a cross to bear sorry
      • speedway
        speedway 3 months ago
        ah radio caroline used to listen to it all the time. was a wonderful station
      • FRANK
        FRANK 3 months ago
        The cross thing offended me you are a rel`s bigot ,you need to be educated .
      • SOUTHERN LASS
        SOUTHERN LASS 3 months ago
        Ah radio caroline, Johnny Walker, under the covers sigh............
    • Biker B
      Biker B  •  Manchester, England  •  3 months ago
      From here to Lady gaga if he only knew what was to happen LOL.
    • Matt S
      Matt S  •  Kenosha, United States  •  3 months ago
      Radio show that 'really' changed comedy.........The goon show.
      • The Masked Avenger
        The Masked Avenger 3 months ago
        GOON But not forgotten!
      • BazBoy
        BazBoy 3 months ago
        If only the Russians had known. I was in the RAF in the late 50s - early 60s. This was the heyday of the Goon Show and the RAF stopped whatever it was doing at 7.30 pm, everyThursday, for half an hour, to listen to Secombe, Miligan, Sellers, etc.
      • Jon
        Jon 3 months ago
        Spike Milligan shaped my life. Its all his fault.
    • Drew K
      Drew K  •  Aylesbury, England  •  3 months ago
      why did i just get a crappy advert for ford? does antone know a really good advert killer?
    • Judge Dredd
      Judge Dredd  •  3 months ago
      I recently read of some British professor who claims to have found a way to transmit electrical power via radio waves ... he claims it's the world's first, but clearly he is in error as Nikola Tesla was doing this at Colorado Springs a century ago ... broadcast energy he called it, and could light bulbs up more than twenty miles away WITHOUT wiring inbetween.
    • up the republic
      up the republic  •  3 months ago
      eat your heart out cowell you parasite
    • MEL
      MEL  •  3 months ago
      The lack of intelligence of people is astounding. They are told facts about 2MT, about early broadcasting, and their responses to the information are moronic
    • Michael F
      Michael F  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      When we had only BBC we had quality programms not the garbage served up as entertainment today
    • Ivor Wilkinson
      Ivor Wilkinson  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Marconi didn't invent radio - Hertz and Tesler did! Marconi realised the commercial application of it for telegraphy.
    • ALAN
      ALAN  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Fascinating to see the origins of early broadcasting and how it has developed into such a multi-dimensional and faceted industry today with all its added new innovations.
    • bridget catherine racheal ...
      bridget catherine racheal ...  •  Dundalk, Ireland  •  3 months ago
      bring it back.
    • DavidF
      DavidF  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Marconi did not 'invent' radio. The scientific history of radio can be traced back to the 18th century. All that Marconi did was market it successfully for the first time. It is very sad that near-conmen such as Marconi, Edison and Tesla get the credit for discoveries that were entirely the work of scientists.
    • Leostefan v
      Leostefan v  •  3 months ago
      Who is this bloke called Marconi, you seem to have forgotten Tesla!
    • James Howells
      James Howells  •  St Albans, England  •  3 months ago
      Marconi DID NOT INVENT RADIO Nicola Tesla did ... Marconi did popularise it and developed it commercially but his patents were all revoked in favour of Tesla's in c 1943
    • AmandaG
      AmandaG  •  Fareham, England  •  3 months ago
      Brilliant
    • PAUL
      PAUL  •  Birmingham, England  •  3 months ago
      I still have the crystal set I used many many years ago and it still works. I assume it will die with digital broadcastings. Such a shame. Earphones on and working the "cats whisker" to get reception. No wires, no batteries, no mains, it just plucks the staions out of the air, almost magic.
    • JEAN HISLOP
      JEAN HISLOP  •  3 months ago
      Why is this atricle using material from a BBC4 programme shown a short while ago, slow week?
    • JIM
      JIM  •  3 months ago
      ...and it's been downhill ever since. First radio, then TV; an ever-increasing tsunami of addictive trivia. I got rid of all TV and radio years ago. Best choices I ever made.
     Post a comment
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