Local Radio - keeping communities happy

One of the founding fathers of local radio in Britain died a few weeks ago. Maurice Ennals worked on the introduction of the BBC local radio network, and was one of the managers responsible for deciding whether many of the stations were to be set up. He was the first manager of the first BBC local station, BBC Radio Leicester, which began broadcasting in 1967. He went on to launch BBC Radio Solent. Andy Griffee, the BBC's controller of regions, told BBC Online Maurice Ennals was one of the visionary pathfinders on local broadcasting. Along with the other founding fathers of BBC local radio, he saw the true value of the BBC connecting with its local community.

Today, BBC local radio in Britain reaches eight million people. Independent local radio reaches even larger numbers. But, for a country which prides itself on the quality of its broadcasting, there is a certain irony in the fact that they pinched the idea from the United States.

Early days

By the end of the Second World War, radio in Britain was solely in the hands of the BBC networks. Although there were regional variations - for instance, there might be a few programmes broadcast in, say, the English Midlands, which would not be heard in London - radio had a national mind set.

In 1949, the Government commissioned a report into broadcasting. The Beveridge Report proposed the reintroduction of local radio. When broadcasting first started in Britain, there was no national network - just a series of local transmitters which gradually were tied into a bigger set-up. Beveridge suggested local radio could be a viable proposition, perhaps using the as-yet barely used VHF frequencies.

It was thanks to Maurice Ennals' eventual collaborator in local radio, war correspondent Frank Gillard, that local radio moved any further. A trip to the United States introduced him to the way local broadcasting worked American-style. Gillard was impressed by the way local stations had become part of their community, and the way they had thrown off formality and become 'part of the family'. This was very different to the BBC, where it was only recently that newsreaders had been allowed to stop wearing formal dinner jackets to read the news - even though nobody could see them. And while many of the programmes were groundbreaking, they were presented within a format which had more to do with the civil service than entertainment. His report landed on the BBC bosses' desks in 1954.

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