Among all the national radios, British radio has always enjoyed a unique position, probably because of the role of the British Broadcasting Corporation—best known as the BBC. This is partly because of its continuing production of first-class programs of all sorts, whether news, music, or sports. Even more important, in times of crisis or when people abroad cannot trust their own national radio, they tune in to the BBC, which has always proven to be more reliable and still transmits worldwide. But there is more to British radio than the BBC, much more, because it also has a remarkable tradition of commercial radio and public radio, ranging from the early “pirate” stations to more specialized ones of today. This being said, British radio is not without its problems, nor is the BBC, but the industry is adapting to the new technologies, taking on and learning to live with (if not actually defeating) new competitors, and maintaining a distinctive and welcome presence.
The A to Z of British Radio draws a broad picture in several different ways. The chronology traces a long history, from the earliest technical breakthroughs, through the landmark broadcast of Nellie Melba in 1920, and through to the most recent developments. The introduction sums up its role, assessing the many achievements and also the many challenges, from one period to another, with the BBC clearly in charge at first and gradually sharing the field with countless others, and looking toward the future. The dictionary section offers a wealth of detail, with entries on the enabling legislation, the BBC and its many rivals, key persons in the administration and on the creative side, many of the more memorable programs and those who appeared in them, and much of the technical paraphernalia. Last but not least is a bibliography permitting students and radio fans to find further reading.
This sort of book could only have been written by someone with a particularly broad view of British radio, someone who has also approached it from different angles. Seán Street is, among other things, an academic who is currently professor of radio at Bournemouth Media School, Bournemouth University. He has written on radio history, including the recent Concise History of British Radio, and is director of the Centre for Broadcasting History Research. But Dr. Street has also written on literary history and several of his plays have been performed, so he knows the creative side. In addition, he is familiar with radio production because that is what he teaches at Bournemouth, where he founded the Bournemouth Internet Radio Station (BIRSt). He is on the boards of two radio stations, and finally, he frequently makes his own features on BBC Radios 3 and 4. This is a rather exceptional foundation for writing a much-needed reference work on British radio.