Rediffusion

Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercial television) franchisee to go on air in the UK. Rediffusion also spawned a record label, Rediffusion International Music, in 1968 (which was also responsible for the short-lived Koala label).[1][2]

Redifon was the name used, until 1981, for companies in the capital goods businesses of Rediffusion, namely Redifon Computers, Redifon Flight Simulation and Redifon Telecommunications.

The Rediffusion brand has been revived and is currently used in China on consumer electrical products and on LED televisions in the UK.

Early history

Rediffusion was the trading name of Broadcast Relay Service Limited, founded in March 1928 for Joshua Powell[3] (9 May 1871 – October 1946).[4]

In January 1929, the company introduced its first cable radio service in Hull to customers frustrated with the difficulties of tuning in weak radio broadcasts. In the customer premises, nothing more than a selector switch and loudspeaker were needed. Initially, the service consisted primarily of rebroadcasts of the BBC Radio service, which was reflected in the trading name: Rediffusion simply means "broadcasting again".

Rediffusion quickly branched out into making, renting, and selling radios, both receivers for its cable services and conventional models. With the arrival of the first experimental television broadcasts in the 1930s, Rediffusion began manufacturing TV sets and supplying "Piped TV", an early form of cable TV service, to its customers, until the cessation of television broadcasts during the Second World War.

The first British colony to have the Rediffusion service was Barbados in 1934, when Radio Distribution (Barbados) Limited was formed.

A year later, Rediffusion started operating in Malta. Transmissions in Malta started from

Post-war

In 1947, British Electric Traction (BET) acquired a substantial minority interest in Rediffusion. BET then acquired a controlling interest in 1967, and the remaining 36% of equity in 1983.[6]

In 1948, Rediffusion established Redifon Ltd as a manufacturer of naval (and later flight) telecommunications equipment.

After the war, Rediffusion began operations in several of the then British colonies. These included holding the concessions for wired and over-the-air radio and television stations. A subsidiary company, Overseas Rediffusion, operated these stations and also sold advertising time and programming for them. Stations included the radio station Rediffusion Barbados,[7] Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the wired television service Rediffusion Television in Hong Kong, the latter later known as Asia Television. It also opened a company in Jersey in 1949, Rediffusion (Channel Islands) Limited, which obtained a licence to relay radio broadcasts from the States of Jersey in 1950. It also opened a manufacturing division in Jersey, Television Research Limited (TVR) which also provided research facilities for the wired network.

Expansion into broadcasting

With the passage of the Television Act 1954, Rediffusion joined forces with Associated Newspapers, a subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust, to form Associated-Rediffusion, and won the coveted London weekday ITV broadcast franchise. They began broadcasting on 22 September 1955.

During the partnership's first year, Associated-Rediffusion was losing money so fast that by the end of 1956, Associated Newspapers sold 80% of its stake back to BET and Rediffusion at a severe loss. Around this time, Associated-Rediffusion struck a very lucrative deal with Granada Television, the franchise holder for weekday broadcasts in the North of England. Granada was also losing money, and lacked the financial resources of BET; the deal guaranteed Granada a certain level of financial security, at the cost of Associated-Rediffusion receiving the vast majority of future profits from their arrangement.

On 29 September 1962, Rediffusion (Malta) Ltd. inaugurated a television service covering the Maltese islands.[8]

By 1964, when Associated-Rediffusion changed its name to Rediffusion London, the efforts of the owners had left them sitting on a substantial cash pile, and it is arguable that this success may have led to the 1967 decision by the Independent Television Authority to effectively break up the company. Rediffusion London was ordered to merge with ABC Weekend TV, the holder of the weekend

Other ventures

Last years

Rediffusion's television sale and rental operations continued to grow, particularly following the start of colour television broadcasts in 1967.

On 14 February 1975, the employees of the Rediffusion (Malta) Ltd staged a sit-in strike at the company's premises in Malta[10] and they even started to run the company.[11] On 30 July 1975, an agreement was reached between Rediffusion Group of Companies and the Dom Mintoff led Labour Party government of Malta for the transfer of all Rediffusion's assets in Malta to the Maltese government.[12]

The company also experimented with its local cable operations: a local community station in Bristol ("Bristol Channel") from 1973 to 1976, and an optical fibre system in Hastings in 1976.

Redifon, established in 1946, became a manufacturer of aircraft simulation in 1948, located at Crawley, West Sussex, UK. A subdivision was established at Arlington, Texas, US in 1968. In 1981, BET changed Redifon's name to Rediffusion Simulation to capitalise on the name. The company was sold in 1988 to Hughes Aircraft, which kept the Rediffusion name until it sold the company in 1994 to Thomson-CSF

See also

• Associated-Rediffusion
• Rediffusion Singapore
• Rediffusion Television (Hong Kong)

External links

• History of Radio and Television Relay Services in Jersey
• Revived Rediffusion brand