The Listener (British magazine)

The Listener was a weekly magazine established by the BBC under Lord Reith in January 1929. It stopped publication in 1991.

Related Topics:
BBC - Lord Reith - 1929 - 1991

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It was first published by the BBC on 16 January 1929 under the editorship of Richard S. Lambert, and was developed as a medium of record for the reproduction of Broadcast talks. It also previewed major literary and musical broadcasts, reviewed new books, and printed a selected list of the more intellectual broadcasts for the coming week.

Related Topics:
BBC - 16 January - 1929 - Richard S. Lambert

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Its published aim was to be "a medium for intelligent reception of broadcast programmes by way of amplification and explanation of those features which cannot now be dealt with in the editorial columns of the Radio Times".

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The Newspaper Proprietors' Association considered its launch to be "an illegitimate stretching of official activity" and, after consultation between Reith and the Prime Minister, a number of compromises were agreed to, including an upper limit of 10% original contributed material not related to broadcasting. Another compromise was a limit to the amount of advertising it could carry.

Related Topics:
Newspaper Proprietors' Association - Reith

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In its early decades it attracted celebrated contributors including Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf and George Orwell. More importantly, it provided a platform for many new writers, particularly poets. W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Stephen Spender and, later, Philip Larkin all had early works published in The Listener.

Related Topics:
Bertrand Russell - George Bernard Shaw - E. M. Forster - Virginia Woolf - George Orwell - W. H. Auden - Christopher Isherwood - Stephen Spender - Philip Larkin

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It came to be seen as one of a trio of weekly magazines, alongside The Spectator and the New Statesman, distinguished from them by its not being associated with any political party. The management of those two magazines were occasionally critical of what they saw as the privileged financial position of their subsidised rival.

Related Topics:
The Spectator - New Statesman

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The Listener crossword puzzle, introduced in 1930, is generally regarded as the most difficult cryptic crossword to appear in a national weekly. It survived the closure of The Listener, and now appears in The Times.

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In 1981 Richard Gott, features editor of The Guardian and former KGB agent of influence, was chosen as editor but his appointment was blocked because MI5 declared that he had "ultra-Leftist" sympathies. The job was given to Russell Twisk instead.

Related Topics:
1981 - The Guardian - Agent of influence - MI5 - Leftist

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Following the report of the Peacock Committee in 1986, all the BBC?s commercial activities, including The Listener, were moved into BBC Enterprises Limited. Management was now mainly answerable for the magazine?s commercial performance rather than its literary standards.

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In 1987, The Listener was spun out to a new company jointly owned by the BBC and rival broadcaster ITV. Seeing The Listener?s eclecticism as a lack of focus, the new company appointed Alan Coren from Punch as editor in 1989 as an attempt to establish a clearer identity as another humorous weekly, moving slightly away from the more intellectual and artistic aspects for which the magazine had also been known.

Related Topics:
BBC - ITV - Alan Coren - Punch - 1989

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The attempt failed, perhaps because the change of direction alienated subscribers who had valued the eclecticism, and the company replaced Coren with Peter Fiddick in 1989. In 1990, ITV pulled out of the joint deal, the BBC found themselves unable to support it on their own, and the last issue of The Listener was published in January 1991.

Related Topics:
Coren - 1990 - ITV - BBC - 1991

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