Institutional negotiations

B. S. Johnson and the BBC (1959-73)

Valérie Butler

pp. 117-131

in: Philip Tew, Glyn White (eds), Re-reading B. S. Johnson, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Abstract

B. S. Johnson recognised the significant impact the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) could have on his literary career as a potential platform for his writing. During the 1950s and 60s it was a hugely influential cultural institution, maintaining its radio monopoly throughout, though it was forced to restructure its radio provision in 1967 (adding Radio 1 once the popular offshore pirate stations had been forced to close by Government legislation), and gaining a second television channel (BBC2 in 1967). The BBC's institutional inclinations were, however, artistically and politically conservative and Johnson's relationship with the Corporation was destined to be a volatile one.