The Wimbledon Tennis Championships of 1 July 1967, shown on BBC Two, marked the beginning of regular colour television in Britain. Journalists who attended a special viewing at Television Centre were impressed with the new technology and the quality of the picture. David Attenborough, Controller of BBC Two, announced that the channel would initially broadcast in colour about 5 hours a week. By December, 80% of programmes were in colour.
The original December launch date was brought forward to July so the BBC could claim to be the first colour broadcaster in Europe. France, Germany and Holland - who had planned an autumn launch of their colour services - were all beaten to air, but in Britain, with fewer than 5000 colour sets in circulation, the audience was very small.
However the period up to the full launch exposed audiences to the new service, gave time for BBC staff to get used to the technology, and offered manufacturers a chance to fully prepare for the sale of the new sets that were required.
Wimbledon has always been the focus for advances in broadcast technology, being among the earliest outside broadcasts. In 2011 the BBC broadcast the final in 3D.
Wimbledon and the BBC
Oh, I Say! Wimbledon and the BBC
Charles Runcie looks back at the enduring relationship between the BBC and Wimbledon and some of the events and characters that helped shape it.
50 Years of BBC TV Colour
Amanda Murphy tells the story of how the ADAPT TV project reunited a pioneering television crew 50 years after the first colour outside broadcast.
Wimbledon and the BBC
Tennis on the BBC 1927 to 2017
