Future of the B.B.C. [1952]

This letter to the editor of The Times, 29 March 1952, p. 7 (B&R C52.07), was published when the BBC’s monopoly over British broadcasting was facing growing scrutiny (see Briggs 1979, 423–35). Russell had long been against the licensing of rival broadcasters and the encroachment of advertising onto the BBC’s domain. Although not uncritical of the institution, Russell (e.g. 1944a) valued it highly as a bastion of intelligence and sobriety—qualities reflected in much of his own broadcast work—and feared that these standards would inevitably be eroded by the dictates of commercial interests preoccupied with ratings. Defenders of the status quo were understandably frustrated by the reappearance of uncertainty barely a year after an exhaustive inquiry into the BBC cautioned against the introduction of competition. The broader debate remained intense until 1954, when a new public authority was set up to oversee the development of commercial television (but not radio).