Rediffusion
Rediffusion were a cable TV company that operated worldwide, starting in 1927, when an engineer in Clacton-on-Sea devised a method of transmitting audio down wires to speakers in subscribers homes, the company forming later in 1931. At the outbreak of WW2, many towns in England were cabled, the system proving to be useful for transmitting information and instructions to civilians at times when transmitter sites had to be turned off (it was feared that the transmitters could be utilised by enemy aircraft as 'beacons' to navigate).
The 1950s saw Rediffusion begin to provide television programming over the cable network (originally just the programming from the BBC - two black and white television channels as a concession). The network grew rapidly, and the company started to rent television sets compatible with the cable network[1] as well as sets that could run via an aerial.
By the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, Rediffusion were a global company, and out of the regional branches in England, Hastings had the largest number of subscribers to the audio service in any one town of the Region, namely 26,300, out of a total of 40,300 dwelling-units. 33,500 of which were touched by wire. The network of cabling in the Hastings area was over 110 miles of high-level transmission cabling run underground and some 920,000 yards (520 mi) of cabling to houses[1].
In order to comply with the terms of the concession agreement it was essential to have the service in Hastings operational, at extremely short notice, by Coronation Day 1953. This was achieved by installing and pre-wiring the necessary equipment in a trailer caravan in Thanet and towing the complete unit to a site in Hastings where aerials had been erected. The service opened on the appointed day with a demonstration on fourteen sets in the Royal Victoria Hotel[1].
Fibre Optic Trials
Rediffusion were pioneers in Fibre Optic cabling which today carries the backbone of the internet worldwide. The first trial of it for carrying video was in Hastings during 1976 between Blackman Avenue and the offices on the Ponswood Industrial Estate. The fibre was laid in the pre-existing duct-work that carried existing cable TV services between the Ponswood offices and Blackman Avenue and on to Hollington (a total run of some 1,400 meters of fibre). The service was demonstrated to the national media on the 19th of March 1976[2].
At the demonstration, the then Managing Director of Rediffusion, Lord De-la-Warr said:-
- "The idea that a glass fibre of very small diameter might one day be able to carry a light signal for a considerable distance has fascinated the telecommunications world for some years. The fact that ordinary glass which is only a few inches thick is difficult to see through is an everyday observation, so that the task of sending light through a glass rod a mile long seemed formidable indeed. However, the resources of modern technology are very great, and with many scientists working in many laboratories the problem has been solved in an astonishingly short time. So the official spokesman of the Bell Laboratories was saying only in October last year that practical application of glass fibres would not arrive before the 1980's. Well be that as it may, glass fibres are here now in March 1976, entering the day-to-day service of our 34,000 subscribers to cable television in Hastings[2].
Once the connection was established and tested, it replaced the pre-existing cabling which had previously carried the TV signals. This is believed to be the first ever usage of fibre-optic cabling to carry television signals[2].
Shift of Over-the-Air reception and decline
Set-top boxes were available to enable the cable televisions to receive transmissions via radio signal as the cable network became superseded by over-the-air transmissions with more channels available via the television mast at Summerfields.
Rediffusion were superceded by Granada TV, who took over both the cable television service and the television/video rental shops which existed in Queens Parade, Robertson Street and London Road at various times with customers being supported by a warehouse/repair facility on the Ponswood Industrial Estate.
Images
- Images
Rediffusion laying first fibre optic cable in Hastings
