ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how sound broadcasting is experienced within the Yorkshire region before John Henry Whitley's death in 1935 and the extents to which this reflected Whitley's own understanding of the BBC's aims and achievements. The presence of BBC stations across the country meant that the broadcaster played a significant role in the discovery and nurturing of local talent. Why did Whitley, despite failing health, accept the job of BBC Chairman? Whitley identified with the BBC because he judged it to be a great public service, but little is known about his own listening habits either before or after he became the Corporation's Chairman. Despite occasional guidance in the form of memorandums from London, the BBC local stations were left very much to themselves when it came to organising their own programmes.
