BBC Quadraphonic & Matrix H/HJ Format Radio Broadcast Main Page

(Updated 09/14/15)

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BBC Quadraphonic & Matrix H/HJ Format Radio Broadcast Index

[Note: To Minimize Reader Confusion, Please Be Aware That All Referenced Dates Are In MM/DD/YY Format.]

This index is a new addition to the quadraphonic radio show broadcast indices that I posted to my site in June 2015. On the BBC main page of my initial radio show pages, I attempted to offer a brief historical summary of BBC radio, to put the creation and distribution of the media based radio shows in context. In it I stated my awareness of these unique, radio shows that were direct only broadcast in matrix H and then HJ formats, but had little else to offer, except a limited acknowledgement of their existence.

Overview/History

For this new Matrix H/HJ broadcast index, I thought it might be helpful to add a little more specific history of the development of radio broadcasting in the UK. (See my BBC Transcription Service & BBC Rock Hour Radio Show Main Page link above for my original UK radio history overview.)

With the evolution of sound format in prerecorded music in quadraphonic, along with all of the competitive encoding and presentation formats, there came a parallel effort to explore options for commercial radio broadcasts in four channel surround sound in the UK and U.S.

Whereas American radio began transitioning to stereo broadcasting in 1961, the BBC was largely still broadcasting in mono up through 1971. At that time, with some creative experimenting by UK programmers, they began convincing their management of the benefits of broadcasting their radio programs in stereo. This also happened to coincide with the introduction of the BBC Stereo Pop Special (aka Pop Spectacular) series, which kicked off with the legendary performance by Led Zeppelin.

During this period, all shows were recorded and released in stereo, but due to the transition from mono to stereo broadcasting on regional networks, in the early years of the series, they were only heard in mono over the air in some locations. By the Spring of 1973, most of the broadcast listings were stated as being in stereo, including repeat shows not listed as such before. Presumably they were originally broadcast on FM in mono and repeated in stereo as stereo coverage became more widespread.

When the BBC began its 'experiment' with quadraphonic radio broadcasting, it chose to release their show LPs in SQ matrix format. With the 1st known BBC quad release, BBC TS Pop Special LP #66, with Procol Harum, the accompanying cue sheet stated "This recording is in CBS/Sony SQ matrixed quad and is compatible in stereo and mono when played with a stereo pick-up. A Sansui QS matrixed version or discrete quad version can be made available. Cost on request."

In these early days of radio station broadcasting, (in the U.S. and UK) the major quadraphonic format utilized for distributed radio show media was SQ.

In the U.S. with the introduction of consumer quadraphonic media in 1969, there began various efforts to broadcast discreet quad music on commercial radio stations. Many of the early attempts involved the simultaneous use of two radio stations to broadcast the front and rear pairs channels on their respective stereo signals. These efforts required the listener to have two stereo receivers and pairs of speakers to set up to receive and air both stations, to recreate the four channel sound experience. In most cases these were limited time experiments, as the cost and logistics to the stations and the listener were difficult to maintain.

Realizing that this was not likely to be a successful direction to pursue, others began experimenting with a manipulated stereo signal that would imbed a recoverable second signal within each stereo channel. This became known as 'matrixing' and was developed by various engineering groups, taking varying paths. As these progressed, these groups then approached the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the hopes of being possibly deemed as the 'standard' for quadraphonic broadcast in the U.S. If that was granted, then that group's format process would allow them to have a significant marketing advantage in the promotion of quadraphonic matrix format broadcasting. Unfortunately, the technical limitations, conflicting aspects of the formats and the competitive nature of these groups pursuit of this standard status, resulted in their never being a decision on this by the FCC during the commercial quadraphonic era.

Similarly, in the UK as early as 1974, the BBC began its own efforts to design a quadraphonic matrixed broadcast signal that would be compatible with its current radio transmissions via subscriber networked electrical lines. Since the BBC was government owned, there were no FCC-like petitions or approvals to secure and it could experiment at will.

So beyond the initial use of the SQ format LPs, the BBC UK developed and initiated some direct quad broadcasts utilizing what they called a Matrix-H format. Matrix H was the first "public" matrix system and was solely a BBC creation. It was introduced to the British radio subscribers as part of an announced 'year-long BBC experiment' in quad that formally commenced in April 1977 and lasted until July 1978.

During this period, the initial Matrix H format was altered slightly, which then became known as HJ. Subsequently the BBC started to work technically with Nikon/Denon (UD4/UMX etc). This then morphed into 45J, then Ambisonics, which was when the NRDC took over commercial development and eventually Nibmus became involved.

As part of the BBC’s broader experiment in quadraphonic broadcasts, in the second half of 1977, show producer Tony Wilson initiated a quad program concept to support specific DJ show series. He remixed some of the sessions in quadraphonic that had been originally recorded for the John Peel and Alan ‘Fluff?Freeman radio shows. These were then subsequently broadcast on Alan’s three-hour Saturday rock show. One significant aspect regarding these quad mixes was that they were mostly of songs by these artists, which had never been commercially released in quad. This made them even more unique and desirable for listeners of these shows.

To support this effort, the major record labels supplied copies of the multi-track LP master recordings to the BBC Engineering Dept. for subsequent?Matrix H/HJ mixing and encoding for broadcast. Due to the nature of these radio programs, the tracks were mostly from rock-pop artists. The one known exception was the provision by EMI of the Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here album, which was formally mixed in quad.

And since these programs were not committed to vinyl for distribution to BBC affiliate stations like the BBC Transcription Disc series, these were ethereal musical artifacts, and only existed for the moment they were conceived and aired.

Fortunately, eager fans of these matrixed quadraphonic broadcasts used the means of the time at their disposal, and recorded many of them on reel to reel and cassette audio tapes, so that they could be subsequently enjoyed. Amazingly and fortunately, many of these rare, 'off-air' recordings still exist today.

Index Scope/Research Approach

As I have subsequently learned, these programs were a mix of musical genres and presentation styles. Many of these were classical music presentations or theatrical performances, often as part of a series like the annual Proms concert series. Others were episodic, radio soap operas like 'The Archers'. They also included a small number of contemporary rock concert performances.

One of the most intriguing series of programs, was that of a couple of DJ hosted, contemporary music shows, that during this era offered LP tracks from various artists remixed in quad, from albums that had not been commercially released in this format. This made them really unique presentations and desirable for listeners of these shows. And since these programs were not committed to vinyl for distribution to BBC affiliate stations like the BBC Transcription Disc series, these were instantly rare musical experiences, and technically only existed for the moment they were conceived and aired. And even if they had been developed and presented on tape at the time, with the then current BBC policy of tape reuse, they would soon have been 'wiped' and gone from the BBC's hands forever.

After posting my initial indices, as expected and desired, I received feedback from various members of some forums I belong to. In one I was directed to a discussion group regarding these unique, ephemeral radio broadcasts and began to understand the number of programs that had aired and the scope of what had existed. With that I decided that with the assistance of others, to attempt to collect and index the known programming that had been produced and aired on the BBC radio network for these Matrix H and HJ format shows.

As I had openly acknowledged in my initial pages, being from the U.S., clearly puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to researching, indexing and commenting on BBC radio from back in the 1970's. As I have done thus far with the shows distributed by BBC Transcription Services on various media, there is a collectors network to mine for information, and other informative sites regarding the history of British radio that I have been able to leverage for content accuracy.

The newly linked index is the outcome of this effort. It is important to state that this index is assumed to be neither accurate nor complete, and like my other indices is an intentionally, perpetual a "work in progress" project. While I have spent many hours gathering input from a number of individuals and then searching and sifting through some identified website and archived print media of the era, I know that there are inaccuracies contained within these indices.

From a reference standpoint for the UK radio broadcasts, the usual print listing for shows scheduled to be aired, was listed in a UK publication called Radio Times. For Americans this was the equivalent of the TV Guide weekly magazine. Shows as listed by Radio Times were the anticipated schedules and therefore not necessarily accurate, due to cancellations or when last minute schedule changes occurred.

As UK radio has gone through its signal format evolution from mono, to stereo, to various forms of quadraphonic, to digital surround sound broadcasts, the programs during the period of the 1970's were usually notated in Radio Times if it was broadcast in a region in quadraphonic (SQ) or subsequently Matrix H or HJ quad.

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As also known, during this period there were a few experimental 'Stereo & Quad' transmissions as listed in the issues. There were also varied editions of Radio Times covering a number of different receiving regions throughout the UK, so it was likely that some regions got stereo and/or quad coverage before others. This was reflected in the respective regional issues of Radio Times as being only listed in stereo and/or quad broadcasts, where they were likely to be received.

For my research on the programs listed in this index, I was fortunate to be able to utilize a BBC database known as the BBC Genome Project, with chronologically indexed programs of BBC Radio 1 thru 4 as listed in Radio Times. This database was text searchable and this allowed me to identify those programs originally listed as being broadcast in "quad", "Matrix H" and "Matrix HJ", along with a few other variations.

My BBC Matrix H/HJ Format Radio Broadcast Index

My linked companion index of Matrix H/HJ broadcasts is presented in the same manner as my others and I clearly recognize the risk, that while I have done the best research that I could, that by publishing a list like this, that I could perpetuate and give validity to erroneous information. That is certainly not my intention. Where I do not have a reasonable verification, I have listed information (dates, venues, etc.) followed by a "?", meaning that I am looking for verification of what I have listed, or of verified information that refutes or corrects what I have listed.

That is why I am sincerely requesting any feedback in this effort, to help refine this list with any corrections, clarifications, or additions to this data that you can offer. Please be specific regarding which reference you are commenting on, if already listed. Please send me any supporting information, including articles, images or scans of show ads, etc., that I can review to substantiate your feedback. I will gladly revise my listings in the hope of improving it for all users.

Therefore, as part of the requested feedback from viewers of this site, I would greatly appreciate receiving any additional images (.jpg, .pdf, .bmp, etc.) at 200 - 400 dpi, if possible.?Please send any that you can offer to me at my mailto:radioshowindex@ori.net? address. Please use a subject line of 'Radio Show Info' in your messages, so as to help me sort out your real messages from the inevitable spam. Or if you wish, you can send me photocopies or images on disc at Radio Show Index, P.O. Box 501, Noblesville, IN 46061, USA. My sincere thanks in advance.

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Early UK articles announcing the introduction of BBC Matrix H

(and subsequently HJ) quadraphonic radio programming.

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Thanks/acknowledgements:

As part of the creation of this index, I have received invaluable input from a number of QQ members from around the world and I would like to thank the following in particular for their generous assistance:

- fizzywiggs41

- DuncanS

- kronos77