The Media Network Vintage Vault 2024-2025

MN.23.01.2023 Interview with Dr Graham Mytton

·54 min·5 clips

Jonathan Marks reunites with Dr. Graham Mytton to uncover how the BBC researched its African radio audiences during the Cold War.

This episode features an interview between host Jonathan Marks and Dr. Graham Mytton, focusing on the history of BBC World Service's audience research in Africa. Marks introduces the episode by reflecting on his time at Radio Netherlands and the philosophy of putting audiences first. Mytton explains how he joined the BBC as a studio manager in 1964 and later pursued a PhD at Manchester University, inspired by his supervisor Ken Post to study the link between transistor radios and African independence. He conducted fieldwork in Tanzania in 1967, surveying media use and discovering radio's dominance. The conversation covers early radio in Africa, including the 'saucepan special' radio developed by Harry Franklin in Northern Rhodesia for African-language broadcasts. Mytton discusses the importance of shortwave for both domestic and international broadcasting, noting how African listeners used it to access stations like the BBC. He describes his work at the BBC's International Broadcasting Audience Research department, debunking myths about letter counts correlating to audience size and highlighting the Tamil service's high mail volume due to cultural pride. Mytton shares stories about audience participation, such as contests for African proverbs and creative listener contributions. He reflects on the political influence of radio, comparing it to newspapers in nationalist movements, and notes how African countries inherited monopolistic broadcasting systems post-independence. The episode includes mentions of key figures like Peter Frankel, Tom Chalmers, and Bernard Bumpus, as well as stations like Radio Voice of the Gospel. Mytton concludes with an anecdote about a Tanzanian village where illiterate residents engaged in sophisticated political debates fueled by radio listening.

As heard by us

Audience research and language choices give this radio history real shape.

Jonathan Marks broadens his conversation with Dr. Graeme Mitton into a wider look at how international broadcasters listened to their audiences.

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Why you'd press play

You hear how audience research, language choices, and broadcast rivalry collided.

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