BBC Television News was 50 years old at 7.30pm on July 5th, 2004.

Since its launch half a century ago BBC Television News has maintained its

core commitment to strong, impartial, distinctive journalism covering

events both here and across the globe.

The broadcasting landscape may have changed beyond all recognition but in today’s multi-channel world it continues to be a trusted voice in the UK and across the globe. 

Television News now belongs to the wider stable of BBC News - the largest broadcast news operation in the world with more than 2,000 journalists and over 40 newsgathering bureaux, the majority of which are overseas. It is responsible for the BBC One bulletins, Breakfast and Breakfast with Frost, Newsnight, 60 seconds on BBC Three and the news output on BBC Four. It is also responsible for the two BBC continuous news channels, BBC News 24 and BBC World.

The size and scope of BBC News, its journalists and specialists, means that it can cover stories and issues that sometimes other broadcasters can’t. More than 18,000 hours of programming originate from BBC Television News every year.That equates to an average of almost 50 hours of output every day.

Over the past five decades this has included reports on all the major news stories and pivotal moments from the first man on the moon, the assassination of John F Kennedy, to famine in Ethiopia, the Vietnam war, and the current war in Iraq. BBC Television News has been there for moments of great historical change such as the fall of communism and the end of apartheid as well as tragic stories, including the death of Princess Diana and the September 11th attacks.

An impressive cast of presenters, correspondents and reporters have brought these stories, and many many more, into the lives of millions of people across the globe. We cannot know what the future will bring but what is paramount is that BBC Television News continues to uphold its core values, always seeking to act in the public interest.

1954 – 1963

The first ever Television News bulletin transmitted on July 5th, 1954 at 7.30pm.

The 22-minute programme started with an announcement by Richard Baker. Newsreader John Snagge then read the news, starting with the first report on truce talks in Indo China. Baker was not in vision as at that time presenters did not appear on screen; Kenneth Kendall was the first presenter to do so in 1955. Other items on the running order included: French security measures in Tunisia, the resumption of the Petrov Enquiry and the end of rationing.

1954 First nightly TV bulletin

1955 Kenneth Kendall appears as the first newsreader in vision

1955 Arrival of commercial TV in the form of Independent Television News.This prompted the establishment of a separate TV news department at the BBC as part of a reorganised News Division

1956 Reporting of the Suez crisis leads to major row between the Conservative Government and the BBC

1957 First regional news bulletins

1957 Launch of Tonight - the first major topical programme to transmit five times a week

1960 First BBC female newsreader

1962 Launch of That Was The Week That Was

BBC TV’s Nine O’Clock News launched on September 14th, 1970. The newsreader on that first evening, Robert Dougall was not impressed with the set and described the bulletin itself as “rather jumpy” but audiences were high - and the Nine O’Clock News was to go on for thirty years. The many changes included the appointment in 1975 of the first woman presenter, Angela Rippon. Later additions saw the arrival of John Humphrys and John Simpson. It was a Nine O’Clock news report that perhaps had more repercussions than any other. It was Michael Buerk's report of the Ethiopia famine that inspired Bob Geldof to organise Live Aid.

1964 News Review - first news programme for the deaf

1968 Launch of Newsroom - first half hour bulletin transmitting at 7.30pm on BBC Two.Within weeks became the first programme to switch from black and white to colour 

1969 News moves from Alexandra Palace to Television Centre. Final BBC One bulletin from Alexandra Palace was read on Friday 19th September

1969 Nationwide appeared for the first time

1970 Nine O’Clock News begins

1972 John Craven’s Newsround launched as the first regular news bulletin for children

At half past six on the morning of January 17th, 1983, Breakfast Time became Britain’s first early-morning TV news programme. The programme broadcast for two-and-a-half hours from the BBC’s Lime Grove studio and was presented by Frank Bough and former ITN newsreader Selina Scott. Breakfast Time lasted more than six and a half years, broadcasting for the last time on September 30, 1989. Now called Breakfast, the programme is presented by Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinsky. The decade also saw another BBC first - Newsnight.The BBC’s flagship current affairs show started on an inauspicious note when it failed to come on air as planned on January 23rd, 1980 due to trade union objections.Twenty four years later, however, the programme is still going strong with presenters Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark and Gavin Esler.

1974 CEEFAX starts regular transmission on September 23rd

1980 Launch of Newsnight

1983 Launch of Breakfast Time

1983 Final edition of Nationwide broadcast on August 5th 1983

BBC One’s Six O’Clock News first appeared in September 1984, with its launch followed two years later by the first ever broadcast of the One O’Clock News on October 27th, 1986.The One O’Clock News is the most watched lunchtime TV news programme regularly beating its competition by more than a million viewers a day, and the Six O’Clock News is the most watched daily news bulletin, attracting more than five million viewers. Continuous news on the BBC came to television in October 1991 with the advent of BBC World. Aimed at an international TV audience, the channel took to the air as World Service Television. It re-branded into its current form as BBC World in January 1995 and by the end of 2002 it was reaching 222 million homes across 200 countries and territories.

1984 Six O’Clock News begins

1986 One O’Clock News launches

1989 First TV coverage of proceedings of House of Commons

1991 Launch of World Service TV news

BBC News became a tri-media provider of news in November 1997 with the launch of BBC News Online. The service has gone on to become the most popular news site outside of America, winning every major award available including a prestigious Webby award for Best News site. Just one week after the launch of BBC News Online, BBC News 24 began as the Corporation’s first digital channel on November 9th, 1997. At 6pm, the launch presenter Gavin Esler opened with the words: “Hello, and welcome for the first time to BBC News 24”. Audiences to News 24 coverage reached an all-time high during the War in Iraq.With simulcasting on BBC One and BBC Two, the service was watched by 23 million people on one day alone. Another tumultuous change took place on October 16th, 2000. After 30 years in the nine pm slot, BBC One's main late evening bulletin moved to Ten O’Clock. The BBC Ten O’Clock bulletin is now presented by Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce and, like its early evening counterpart, regularly attracts more than five million viewers a day.

1995 Panorama attracted 22.8m viewers for Martin Bashir’s interview

with Princess Diana on November 20

1997 Launch of BBC News Online

1997 Launch of BBC News 24

2000 Main news moves from 9 to 10pm

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