# 2LO: connecting a transmitter with the people who listened

Canonical: https://worldradionow.top/museum/articles/2lo-and-regular-broadcasting/
Language: en
Author: World Radio Now
Published: 2026-10-19T11:10:01.169Z
Updated: 2026-10-19T11:10:01.169Z

London station 2LO provides a specific starting point for exploring the relationship between broadcast equipment and regular programmes.

## A date with a defined meaning

The Science Museum marks 14 November 1922 as the first British Broadcasting Company broadcast using 2LO. This is a specific institutional milestone, not a claim that broadcasting everywhere began on the same day.

## From equipment to a service

A transmitter is an essential object, but broadcasting also needs a programme, people to make it and listeners able to receive it. Looking across those elements helps us understand how a technical system became a regular cultural activity.

The equipment record and the broadcaster's history can be compared with receiver instructions, programme listings and memories of listening. Each contributes a different view of the same developing system.

## Continue from the object

Our exhibit links to the Science Museum account. It also offers a route back to present-day stations from the United Kingdom. Current live streams are clearly separate from historical recordings: hearing a station today does not recreate the sound or experience of 1922.

When exploring other countries, use the same approach. Ask which event a date describes and whose perspective is represented. A worldwide history of radio will contain many local beginnings.

## Sources

- [Science Museum: This Is 2LO, London Broadcasting Station Calling!](https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/this-is-2lo-london-broadcasting-station-calling/)