This is a timeline of the history of television news in the UK.
1930s
1936 2 November – The BBC opens the world's first regular high-definition television service from Alexandra Palace. Television news coverage consists of cinema newsreels from British Movietone News and sound-only news bulletins from BBC Radio.
1937 12 May – First use of a TV outside-broadcast van to cover the procession that followed the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
1938 No events.
1939 1 September – The BBC Television Service is suspended, owing to the imminent outbreak of the Second World War.
1940s 1940 to 1945 Television is closed for the duration of the Second World War..
1946 7 June – BBC Television broadcasts resume. BBC Radio bulletins start being simulcast on television with a still picture of Big Ben.
1947 9 November – The first use of telerecording of an outside broadcast, the Service of Remembrance from the Cenotaph is televised live and a telerecording shown that evening. 20 November – The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh is televised by the BBC. It is watched by an estimated 400,000 viewers.
1948 5 January – The first edition of Television Newsreel is broadcast. The weeknight programme, broadcast at 7:30pm runs for fifteen minutes.
1949 No events.
1950s 1950 23 April – The first edition of Children's Newsreel is broadcast.1950s British TV Milestones Whirligig 50s British TV
1951 A Sunday version of Television Newsreel, Newsreel Review of the Week is launched.
1952 No events.
1953 2 June – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey is televised by the BBC and watched live by an estimated audience of 20 million people in the United Kingdom.
1954 5 July – BBC newsreader Richard Baker reads the first televised BBC News bulletin. The new bulletin replaces Television Newsreel.
1955 January – A consortium of the initial four Independent Television broadcasting companies launch ITN which will provide ITV with its news service. 22 September – The first ITN news bulletin is broadcast at 10pm on ITV's launch night. September – Kenneth Kendall becomes the first in-vision newsreader.
1956 No events.
1957 18 February – The first episode of Tonight is broadcast. 30 August – BBC Scotland launches a weekday five-minute news bulletin and a Saturday teatime sports round-up. They launch one day before the start of broadcasting by Scottish Television which provided its own regional news service from the outset. September – The first broadcasts of regional news bulletins on the BBC take place and bulletins also start being broadcast in Wales and Northern Ireland.
1958 No events.
1959 The BBC North East and Cumbria region is created with localised bulletins from Newcastle-upon-Tyne aired for the first time. Previously, the area was part of a pan-Northern region based in Manchester.
1960s
1960 No events.
1961 September – The final edition of Children's Newsreel is broadcast.
1962 17 September – BBC Wales launches Wales Today. The programme is seen by viewers in both Wales and the west of England until February 1964 when the BBC Wales and BBC West regions are created.
1963 22 November – Regular programming is interrupted to report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
1964 20 April – BBC2 beings broadcasting and BBC News launches a new news programme for the channel called Newsroom. 26 April – Another new news programme for BBC2 is launched. Called News Review, the programme is a summary of the week's news with subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
1965 18 June – The last edition of Tonight is broadcast on BBC1.
1966 5 April – The Money Programme debuts on BBC2. It continued to air until 2010.
1967 3 July – News at Ten is launched as a 13-week trial of a nightly 30-minute bulletin. The programme is an immediate success with the audience and is soon made permanent.
1968 7 March – Newsroom on BBC2 becomes the first UK news programme to be transmitted in colour.History of the BBC – key dates page 5 BBC Heritage 1960s. 25 March – BBC regional television from Leeds begins and the first edition of Look North is broadcast. Previously, the Yorkshire area had been part of a wider North region based in Manchester. 1 April – The first edition of BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland is broadcast.
1969 No events.
1970s 1970 14 September – Robert Dougall presents the first edition of the BBC Nine O'Clock News. The programme was launched in response to ITN's News at Ten.
1971 No events.
1972 4 April – The first edition of Newsround is broadcast. Presented by John Craven. 1 October – LWT launches the UK's first Sunday politics programme Weekend World. 16 October – Following a law change which removed all restrictions on broadcasting hours, ITV is able to launch an afternoon service. As part of the new service ITV's first lunchtime news programme, First Report, is shown. 29 December – The final edition of BBC2's news programme Newsroom is broadcast. It is replaced by a five-minute news summary.
1973 2 January – A new late evening extended news bulletin News Extra begins broadcasting on BBC2.
1974 7 January – A two-minute mid-afternoon regional news summary is broadcast on BBC1 for the first time. It is transmitted immediately before the start of the afternoon's children's programmes. 23 September – The BBC's Teletext service Ceefax goes live.
1975 1 September – Tonight returns to BBC1 after ten years off air. The new programme airs as a late evening news and analysis programme. BBC2's late evening news bulletin is renamed Newsnight.
1976 6 September – News at One replaces First Report and the teatime news bulletin programme is extended by five minutes and renamed News at 5.45. 17 September – The original incarnation of Newsnight is broadcast for the final time. It is replaced three days later with a shorter bulletin called Late Night News on 2.
1977 No events.
1978 ITV's teletext service ORACLE launches and as with the BBC's service, news is at the forefront of the new service.
1979 5 July – The final edition of Tonight is broadcast on BBC1. 25 September – The first edition of Question Time is broadcast on BBC1.
1980s 1980 28 January – Newsnight is launched on BBC2. March – The very first in-vision Ceefax transmissions are broadcast. News pages are included as part of the sequence of pages shown in each Ceefax transmission.
1981 29 July – The Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer is produced by BBC Television & Radio with an audience of 750 million viewers and listeners in over 60 countries. 4 September – The final edition of the Midday News is broadcast. 7 September – News After Noon is launched on BBC1 as a 30-minute lunchtime news programme.
1982 BBC News and ITN provide extensive coverage of the Falklands War with newsflashes supplemented by additional and extended news bulletins. 1 November – The first edition of Welsh-language news bulletin Newyddion is broadcast on the first night of broadcasting of Wales' new fourth channel S4C. 2 November – On the day of the launch of Channel 4, Channel 4 News is broadcast for the first time. The ITN-produced 60-minute programme is broadcast each weeknight at 7 pm with a brief news summary broadcast at weekends. However, the new channel's teletext service does not feature news pages, apart from a headlines page.
1983 17 January – Breakfast Time, the UK's first national breakfast television service, is launched. News bulletins and summaries are broadcast every 30 minutes. 1 February – ITV launches its breakfast service TV-am and again news is a major part of the output. TV-am produces its bulletins in-house. 5 August – The final edition of Nationwide is broadcast. 24 October – Sixty Minutes launches as the new evening news programme to replace Nationwide.
1984 27 July – The final edition of Sixty Minutes is broadcast. 3 September – BBC1's teatime news hour is relaunched and now runs from 6 pm until 7 pm. A new 30-minute long news programme the Six O'Clock News is launched and this is followed by a longer regional news magazine, which is expanded to 25 minutes. 18 November – The BBC launches its first Sunday lunchtime political interview show, called This Week, Next Week. December – BBC1 stops broadcasting a late night news summary and BBC2 stops a late evening Saturday night news summary, meaning that the channel now only broadcasts a single 15-minute news and sport bulletin on Saturdays.
1985 23 January – Television coverage of proceedings in the House of Lords begins. 30 August – The weekday lunchtime Financial Report, broadcast on BBC1 in London and the south east, is broadcast for the final time ahead of the launch of a lunchtime regional news bulletin for viewers in the BBC South East region. 2 September – A regional news bulletin following the Nine O'Clock News is launched. 22 December – Having been broadcast every Sunday teatime since the launch of BBC2 in 1964, News Review is broadcast for the final time.
1986 4 January – The first edition of NewsView is broadcast on BBC2. The new Saturday early evening programme lasts 40 minutes and combines the day's news and sport with a look back at the week's news. 8 May – Television and radio broadcasts coverage of the local elections for the first time. The BBC airs coverage until around 2.30am. ITV's coverage is not a networked ITN special but is instead produced by individual companies. 9 June – The BBC launches its first parliamentary highlights programme when the first edition of The Lords This Week (renamed The Week in the Lords later in 1986) is shown on BBC2. 13 September – David Frost on Sunday launches on TV-am. 17 October – BBC2 broadcasts a teatime news summary with subtitles for the last time. For the past three years this bulletin, which had been broadcast at around 5.25pm, had been the first programme of the day (apart from educational programmes and sports coverage). 24 October – The final edition of News After Noon is broadcast. 27 October – BBC1 starts a full daytime television service. Among the new programmes is a new lunchtime news bulletin – the One O'Clock News. The programme continues to this day. 10 November – Breakfast Time is relaunched with a more formal news and current affairs format. 8 December – Six weeks after launching its daytime service, BBC TV starts broadcasting hourly news summaries. Morning bulletins are shown on BBC1 and early afternoon summaries (at 2pm, 3pm and 3:50pm) are shown on BBC2. Each bulletin is followed by a weather forecast. This is the first time that hourly news bulletins have been broadcast on British television.
1987 ITN World News is launched as part of the launch of pan-European Super Channel. 20 July – The lunchtime news programme moves to 12.30 pm and is renamed accordingly. 7 September – ITV launches a full morning programme schedule, with advertising, for the first time. The new service includes regular five-minute national news bulletins. 21 September – Channel 4 broadcasts the first edition of a weekday business and financial news programme Business Daily is broadcast.
1988 15 February – An early morning 60-minute news programme – ITN Early Morning News – is launched but is only available in areas which have 24-hour broadcasting. The first 30 minutes of the programme includes a full broadcast of ITN's international news bulletin ITN World News. In addition, brief news summaries are broadcast at various points through the night. 7 March – The lunchtime news returns to the 1pm slot. 18 September – On the Record replaces This Week Next Week as BBC1's Sunday lunchtime political discussion programme. 31 October – For the first time, Newsnight is given a fixed starting time, of 10.30 pm. The final edition of Weekend World is broadcast on ITV.
1989