The First TV Weather Report

Rerun. A weather map was first broadcast on TV on 18th August, 1926 - but there were no fancy graphics, no on-screen forecaster, and only one intended recipient: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC.

In the UK, the Met Office had been producing weather forecasts since 1861, but the BBC didn’t bring a ‘weatherman’ to British screens until 1954.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Charles Darwin’s connection to weather-forecasting; review the first weather forecast on NBC’s Today programme, and reveal exactly how much time the Brits spend discussing the weather… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Weather forecast facts: the first forecast in Britain, the birth of the Met Office and the first TV weatherman’ (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/facts-history-weather-forecast-weatherman-tv/

• ‘BBC Television Weather at 60 - A Celebration’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/television-weather

• ‘TODAY's First Weather Forecast: Jan. 14, 1952’ (NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiAyWYCcAI0

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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