Jamie Medhurst – författare

Despite the growing body of work on the media in Wales, very little exists on the history of commercial television in Wales. This book seeks to address this imbalance by tracing the growth and development of ITV in Wales and assessing its contribution to the life of the nation. ITV has been a powerful force in British broadcasting since its inception in 1955. When commercial television came to Wales for the first time in 1958, it immediately got caught up in with matters of national identity, language and geography. Compared with the BBC, it is a relative newcomer; its growth was slower than that of the BBC and it took until 1962 to complete the network across the UK. Once it had arrived, however, its impact was considerable. The book will provide an historical narrative and critical analysis of independent television (ITV) in Wales from 1958 up until the present day.

Despite the growing body of work on the media in Wales, very little exists on the history of commercial television in Wales. This book seeks to address this imbalance by tracing the growth and development of ITV in Wales and assessing its contribution to the life of the nation. ITV has been a powerful force in British broadcasting since its inception in 1955. When commercial television came to Wales for the first time in 1958, it immediately got caught up in with matters of national identity, language and geography. Compared with the BBC, it is a relative newcomer; its growth was slower than that of the BBC and it took until 1962 to complete the network across the UK. Once it had arrived, however, its impact was considerable. The book will provide an historical narrative and critical analysis of independent television (ITV) in Wales from 1958 up until the present day.

The British journalist C. P. Scott once said of television, ‘Not a nice word. Greek and Latin mixed. Clumsy.’ From its earliest days, when people began to discover ways of ‘seeing at a distance’ through to the multi-platform media environment of today, television has shown itself to be a resilient and adaptable method of communication. Based on detailed archival research, The Early Years of Television and the BBC explores the relationship between the BBC and television from the mid-1920s through to the outbreak of the Second World War. Jamie Medhurst provides an account of the oft-forgotten 30-line television service (1932–5) and re-evaluates the belief that Sir John Reith, the Corporation’s Director-General until 1938, would have nothing to do with television.

The British journalist C. P. Scott once said of television, 'Not a nice word. Greek and Latin mixed. Clumsy.' From its earliest days, when people began to discover ways of 'seeing at a distance' through to the multi-platform media environment of today, television has shown itself to be a resilient and adaptable method of communication. Based on detailed archival research, The Early Years of Television and the BBC explores the relationship between the BBC and television from the mid-1920s through to the outbreak of the Second World War. Jamie Medhurst provides an account of the oft-forgotten 30-line television service (1932 5) and re-evaluates the belief that Sir John Reith, the Corporation's Director-General until 1938, would have nothing to do with television.