Hello,
I'm hoping some of you might be able to help with the latter stages of my current project which is concerned with the history of the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide (and its various earlier incarnations). For the past few years I've been gathering material by working mainly at the archives in Caversham, tracking the development of such things as development of radio and television transcriptions during the 1940s, Hugh Greene's attempts to get financing to sell BBC TV abroad in the 1950s, Ronald Waldman and Gerald Beadle's efforts to develop a commercial arm and the beginning of co-productions with series such as The Third Man (and others) in the 1960s and 1970s; the setting up of Television (later incorporating Radio) Enterprises, right up to its incorporation as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1979. Thereafter, as many of you will know, the research has had to take a different turn, leaving the archives - because of the embargo on consulting post-79 files - and turning to more publically available records - newspapers, trade magazines, press releases (as well as the usual secondary material). So there is an imbalance as I come to the writing-up between an 'archive-heavy' pre-79 account, and the rest up to the present day which increasingly takes on the form and tenor of PR and marketing discourses. Ideally I'd really like to talk to anyone who can shed light and provide an inside perspective on this post-79 period. Any suggestions or thoughts welcome.
Thanks!
Best
Jason
Associate Professor Jason Jacobs
Reader in Cultural History
School of English, Media Studies & Art History,
The University of Queensland, St. Lucia Campus,
Brisbane, Queensland, 4072
Australia
ph: +61 7 3365 2960
fax: +61 7 3365 2799
email: [log in to unmask]
www.emsah.uq.edu.au
CRICOS No: 00025B
|