The Coronation Broadcast

Abstract

THE modern development of radio broadcasting is among the most wonderful and at the same time the most satisfactory, of the practical applications of scientific and technical research. This was admirably demonstrated on Coronation Day, May 12, when the elaborate arrangements outlined in NATURE of May 1 were submitted to the test of practical achievement. For more than six hours, almost the entire resources of the British Broadcasting Corporation were devoted to the handling of a sound picture of the procession and coronation ceremony from start to finish. In addition, at a selected point on the route, a combined sound and vision programme was successfully broadcast from the London television station, while, later in the day, a ‘round the Empire’ programme concluding with an address from H.M. the King was also provided. All those concerned must feel a deep sense of satisfaction in the successful accomplishment of this day's difficult programmes. For the first time in history, the general public in all parts of the world were enabled to participate in very intimate detail in the elaborate ceremony of the coronation of a British king. Hitherto this experience has been confined to the few who, by virtue of rank or service, have been favoured with a position inside Westminster Abbey.