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Eurovision Live

The simple B-B-C jingle used between every 5 or so pieces of testcard music as a tuning signal.

BBC jingle

The BBC Home Service's news at 10pm on 14 August 1967 reports on the closedowns of the offshore stations as the Marine Offences Act comes into force.

BBC Home Service on the offshore radio closedowns

In 1941, the BBC began prefixing their transmissions to the European mainland with 'V' in morse code, a practice that was so successful they kept it up long after the end of the war. http://www.transdiffusion.org/2015/07/16/dot-dot-dot-dash

BBC 'V for Victory' tuning signal

ITN's News at Ten from 14 August 1967 devotes 10 minutes of its programme to the closure of the offshore stations and the forthcoming launch of BBC Radio One.

ITN's News At Ten on the closure of the offshore stations

It's 1971 and Ireland is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. Terry Wogan is there, ready to commentate for BBC Radio 2, but clearly with very little bandwidth. Someone manages to get a better feed - but one, Radio 2 continuity discover, with no Wogan attached...

BBC Radio 2 coverage of the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest

BBC-1 on a Sunday afternoon in 1965 is repeating the imported US series "Arrest and Trial" when the sound disappears. Continuity put on a record and apologise.

BBC1 lost of sound during "Arrest and Trial" in 1965

We come out of The Sam Costa Show on BBC Radio 2 in 1968 into the Greenwich Time Signal - but not the one we're used to these days.

The Sam Costa Show into the old-style Greenwich pips

In the 1970s, our honorary president was Geoffrey Lugg, head of presentation at ABC and Thames. He recorded many hours of tapes from 1970 onwards detailing how Thames was formed and what its presentation practices were, as well his memories of ABC and of Rediffusion in 1956 and 1968. Here's a brief excerpt from his first tape, in February 1970, where he talks about the importance of presentation and how Thames hands over to LWT on Fridays at 7.

The Geoffrey Lugg Tapes - 001

David Hamilton closes ABC North down for the very final time on Sunday 28 July 1968 with this special trip down memory lane, also featuring Keith Martin with the final weather forecast.

Transdiffusion Broadcasting System

Goodbye to ABC, final programme on ABC, 28 July 1968

The independent broadcasting authority since 1964