Birmingham was the first British city outside London to have a radio service from the newly formed British Broadcasting Company, with 5IT starting regular broadcasting from its Witton base at 17:00 on 15 November 1922,[1]Шаблон:Rp one day after 2LO started daily BBC broadcasting from London[1]Шаблон:Rp and one hour before the 18:00 launch of Manchester's 2ZY.[1]Шаблон:Rp 5IT pioneered many innovations in early broadcasting, launching Children's Hour in 1922,[2] developing sophisticated methods of programme control and employing the first full-time announcers in 1923.[3] The station's first announcer on its opening night was its general manager Percy Edgar,[3] who was to be the dominant figure in Birmingham broadcasting and the BBC's most influential regional director until his retirement in 1948.[4]Шаблон:Rp
5IT moved its studios from Witton to a former cinema in New Street in 1923, moving again in 1926 to a completely new building in Broad Street with two studios – one of the largest the country,[5] if not Europe. The Broad Street studios now controlled and made programmes for a region stretching across central England from The Potteries to Norfolk.
