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BBC Two
Formerly Called None
Launched: 20 April 1964
Audience Share (Aug 2004[1]): 7.7%
Owned By: BBC
Web Address:www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo
Availability
Terrestrial Analogue:Usually Channel 2
Terrestrial Digital: Freeview Channel 2
Satellite: Sky Digital Channel 102
Cable: NTL Channel 102 Telewest Channel 102

BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC.

1 History

The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:30pm on April 20 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and a production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate. However, at around 6:45pm a huge power failure caused the Television Centre to lose all power. BBC One was able to continue broadcasting via its Alexandra Palace transmitter, but all attempts to show the scheduled programmes on the new channel failed, and at 10pm they conceded defeat postponing programming until the following morning. As the BBC's news centre at Alexandra Palace was unaffected, they did in fact broadcast brief bulletins on BBC Two that evening, beginning with an announcement by the newsreader Gerald Priestland at around 7:25.

At 11am on April 21, power had been restored to the studios and programming began, thus making Playschool the first official programme to be shown on the channel.

Unlike the other channels available at that time ( BBC OneBBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. It is the primary channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and first broadcast as the 'BBC Television Service' on November 2 and ITVThis article is about the British television network. ITV (or iTV) can also mean interactive television. Independent Television (ITV is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to) it was only broadcast on the 625 line UHFThis article is about the radio frequency. See also UHF (movie Ultra high frequency (UHF radio frequencies are those between 300 MHz and 3. 0 GHz, which is higher than those of very high frequency (VHF). UHF and VHF are the most common frequency bands for system, so was not available to viewers with 405 line VHFVery high frequency (VHF is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz (wavelength 10 m) to 300 MHz (wavelength 1 m). Common uses for VHF are FM radio broadcast at 88-108 MHz and television broadcast (together with UHF). VHF is also commonly used for terrestri sets. This created a market for dual standard receivers which could switch between the two systems. BBC OneBBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. It is the primary channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and first broadcast as the 'BBC Television Service' on November 2 and ITVThis article is about the British television network. ITV (or iTV) can also mean interactive television. Independent Television (ITV is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to later joined BBC Two on 625-line UHF but continued to simulcast on 405-line VHF until the early 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends. BBC Two became the first British channel to broadcast in colour in the summer of 1967, using the PAL system. BBC One and ITV simultaneously introduced PAL colour on UHF in late 1969.



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