
2022 marked 100 years of the BBC - the first broadcaster in the world to provide a regular high-definition television service. Ryan Kamata, senior marketing manager at Canon Europe, looks back at some of the significant developments over the century and what this tells us about the future of television
By Contributor
Published: January 12, 2023
2022 marked 100 years of the BBC the first broadcaster in the world to provide a regular high-definition television service. Ryan Kamata, senior marketing manager at Canon Europe, looks back at some of the significant developments over the century and what this tells us about the future of television
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
One of the key moments in the history of the BBC is the first large-scale outside broadcast (OB), when it took its cameras to the Coronation of King George VI in 1937 using a mobile control van. Many other triumphs for the BBC's Outside Broadcast Department soon followed, with the televising of the Olympic Games for the first time in 1948 and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 which crowned the 50s the decade of television'. Fast forward to 1958 and Canon introduced its first broadcast lens the IF-I 60-400mm zoom which helped to push the landscape of outside broadcast even further, reaching previously unheard-of focal lengths.
These key milestones in outside broadcast, alongside World War II reporting, ignited a demand for dedicated news services. The BBC's first rolling TV news service was launched in 1997 as BBC News 24. This paved the way for the future of news consumption, which is today driven by online websites, mobile apps and social media.
With a plethora of news available at our fingertips and many broadcasters competing in this space, quality and timeliness have become major focus points for Canon. Over the years, we have prioritised innovations that pushed technical boundaries and enabled broadcasters to better capture the story. With image quality at the root of what we do, this has allowed us to make the leap from black-and-white to the impeccable colour reproduction capable of our cameras now, and from SD, to HD and then on to 4K.
Since the BBC website officially launched a month after BBC News 24, we have entered a new age of television driven by the rise of on-demand streaming, which began with YouTube in 2005. The rise in streaming has meant that broadcasters and suppliers alike have had to incorporate cloud-based technologies and servers to keep up with an increased volume of content available to viewers globally, as well as higher expectations when it comes to image quality. To put into perspective how far we've come, BBC engineers invented the first means of recording live TV in 1947 and now, streaming services such as BBC iPlayer mean programmes are available to watch on demand as soon as they are broadcast.
During its history, the BBC has had to weather many storms, but most recently it, like other broadcasters and streaming services, had to contend with the pandemic. To keep pace with the content demand, they would have adopted remote production practices to overcome travel restrictions and the inability to work from one place. During this time, we saw the demand for PTZ cameras increase as broadcasters used them to connect remote studios with the main studio, using IP technology, and within multi-camera settings so that broadcasters could operate with streamlined crews. Their efficiency means PTZ cameras have become and will continue to be a mainstay in the broadcast industry.
Broadcasters have also started to notice the benefits of virtual and extended reality production. The use of high-resolution LED walls has become an alternative way to replicate life-like backdrops and therefore produce powerful content across a range of applications, without having to leave the studio. Over the next few years, VR production will remain high on the agenda as the industry continues to experiment with different virtual scenes while keeping travel costs low.
Streaming platforms are also exploring a range of new storytelling formats, such as interactive films and VR headsets, which will require greater agility and investment in futureproofed technologies. Broadcasters and suppliers alike will need to operate similarly and evolve their VR and Metaverse offerings to stay competitive in a content-rich world. Some broadcasters are already taking an interest in Canon's Free Viewpoint Video System, which creates an immersive experience for viewers.
However, when it comes to competing against agile streaming platforms that have access to a global market of content creators and talent, broadcasters have a trump card - regularly scheduled sports broadcasting. This year's FIFA World Cup has delivered record-breaking TV audience numbers, with almost 20 million Britons watching the final and BBC once again beating ITV in the ratings. It is clear that investing in futureproofed technologies that provide this high-quality content while maintaining efficient and versatile broadcast workflows will be the key to retaining viewers in the foreseeable future.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
18/07/2025
Blanche Barton, Peter Gilmore, Scott Cummings, Sundance Institute Director of Programming Kim Yutani, and Peggy Nadramia throwing horns. (Stephen Lovekin/Shutte...
18/07/2025
By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fest...
18/07/2025
BOSTON Sports network NESN today relaunched the NESN 360 app with a redesigned user experience and upgrades....
18/07/2025
Berklee Singers Wow the Competition on Netflixs Building the Band Netflixs new music competition show features two Berklee artists looking to make their pop b...
18/07/2025
As the House of Representatives voted early Friday morning to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting, advocates warned that the elimination of $1 bil...
18/07/2025
DENVER Imagine Communications has announced that it is deepening its commitment to the North American sports and live events market with investments in its prod...
18/07/2025
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix once again reported strong financial growth, with revenue increasing 16% year-over-year to $11.079 billion in Q2 2025 as net income s...
18/07/2025
Live from the 153rd Open Championship: SMT Enhances Video Board Experience; Enab...
18/07/2025
ShotTracker's Davyeon Ross on Revolutionizing Basketball On the Court and ...
18/07/2025
Home Pitch: How the Danish League Brought Its Live Match Production In-House Matchday Production produced 800+ matches across Denmark in its first year By Geor...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: EMG Debuts Spidercam for Golf, Expands Su...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: Bringing the fight to life with state of the art cameras and ...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: DAZN's head of boxing Chris Glanville talks helicopters, ...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: NBC Expands Unilateral Effort; Shared Stu...
18/07/2025
Warner Bros. Discovery's Anne Graham on Training New Professionals to Ensure...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: How R&A Spidercam Became a Reality for Go...
18/07/2025
ESPN Bulks Up Onsite Studios, Cameras, Player Mics for WNBA All-Star Weekend Besides the game, four studio shows will be produced onsite By Jason Dachman, Edit...
18/07/2025
Friday 18 July 2025
Credit: Marc Sethi
The Sky Arts Awards will return on 16 September, once again taking place at the iconic Roundhouse in London. Produced b...
18/07/2025
This month, players can dive into special crossover events featuring SpongeBob SquarePants in Snake.io+ and Crossy Road Castle, available exclusively on Apple A...
18/07/2025
Up for the Match brings the fun, the passion-and a bit of Riverdance- tomorrow n...
17/07/2025
Blanche Barton, Peter Gilmore, Scott Cummings, Sundance Institute Director of Programming Kim Yutani, and Peggy Nadramia throwing horns. (Stephen Lovekin/Shutte...
17/07/2025
Spotify's goal with audiobooks is to help grow the publishing industry and create the best possible experience for booklovers, which is why we're launch...
17/07/2025
An advanced large solid rocket motor hot fire test conducted at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, site....
17/07/2025
L3Harris payloads and components have been on board every U.S. GPS satellite-more than 70 missions since the 1970s. Our technology is at the core of GPS availab...
17/07/2025
L3Harris' pack of launched effects is comprised of multi-role vehicles that ...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 17, 2025 - Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has announced the appointment of Ryan Moore to the new role of Chief Business O...
17/07/2025
READING, Pa. Network technology startup Miri Technologies has added David Cohen as vice president, business development. He'll be tasked with expanding the ...
17/07/2025
Berklee Wins CASE Award for Standout Digital Campaign The Alumni Affairs team's Variations Signature Series earned recognition for offering an authentic p...
17/07/2025
Early Thursday morning, the U.S. Senate voted to cut federal funding for PBS and NPR in a bill that also included cuts for foreign aid. In a 51-48 vote, the act...
17/07/2025
GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions across IBC2025 (12 15 September, RAI Amsterdam) feature a remarkable 34 companies, each providing unique, innovativ...
17/07/2025
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers today introduced its Content Provenance and Authenticity (CPA) in Media Study Group (S...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Despite widespread concerns about a soft advertising market, NBCUniversal said it closed its 2025-26 upfront negotiation cycle with a record ad sales v...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Television advertising remains an effective means to market and influence younger baby boomer and Generation X consumers approaching retirement age, ac...
17/07/2025
ALLENTOWN, Pa. & JERSEY CITY, N.J. Service Electric Cable TV and OpenVault have announced that the operator is deploying the OpenVault Proactive Network Manage...
17/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following up on his first major policy speech just two ago, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is promising to buck the usual summ...
17/07/2025
Luxembourg, 14 July 2025 - SES received the final regulatory approvals for the SES-Intelsat transaction, including the US Federal Communications Commission.
O...
17/07/2025
Berklee Alumni Nominated for 2025 Emmy Awards Twenty-seven Berklee alumni received nominations across categories in sound mixing, sound editing, and compositi...
17/07/2025
Back to All News
What We Watched the First Half of 2025
Entertainment
17 July 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Today, we're sharing our latest Eng...
17/07/2025
Cast your vote in 2 categories for Ivory 3 American Concert DIvory 3 American Concert D is in the 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards and we are honored to be nominated...
17/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: OpenDrives' Sean Lee, Michael Wilsker, and Jason Matousek on E...
17/07/2025
Oracle's Geoff Tognetti on Staying Ahead of the AI Curve Through Further Ado...
17/07/2025
NBA's Summer League Is a Hot Bed of AI, Immersive Innovation Testing Audio mixing, intelligent camera framing are among AI-driven efforts By Ken Kerschbaum...
17/07/2025
SVG's TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 21; Register Today! By SVG Staff
Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 8:29 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
St...
17/07/2025
Gravity Media chosen as group name for merged OB business By George Bevir
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 11:30
Print This Story
Gravity Media executive chairm...
17/07/2025
SES Closes Deal to Acquire Intelsat, Creating New Giant in Satellite Connectivit...
17/07/2025
How MLB Pulled Off That Unforgettable Hank Aaron Tribute at the All-Star Game Vintage content, state-of-the-art projection/processing combine in marvelous mile...
17/07/2025
Wuppertal July 17, 2025
Riedel Communications Powers Handa Opera on Sydney Har...