Wireless pictures and the fultograph

Ideas for the electrical transmission and reproduction of drawings, maps, printed matter and the like date from 1843. Several attempts were made from 1862 to 1872 to establish a commercial facsimile telegraphy service. Later, much work was undertaken on phototelegraphy and in 1907 a Paris-London service was inaugurated. By about 1925, the principles of wireless picture transmission and reception were well known and several large companies in the USA, Germany, France and the UK were developing commercial systems. In addition, several persons considered that the time was opportune for the introduction of a picture broadcasting service for the domestic market. The paper examines the factors, technical, commercial and political, which led to the establishment of such a service in the United Kingdom and advances reasons why it failed to be a success.