Robert Hudson (broadcaster)

Robert Hudson (born 30 January 1920) is a former broadcaster for the BBC, primarily on radio but also on television, between 1947 and 1981. He commentated on cricket and rugby union, as well as on many state occasions. He also covered a number of royal tours abroad. He was particularly noted for the thoroughness of the research that he conducted in preparation for his broadcasts. He was responsible for the launch of Test Match Special (TMS) in 1957, having written to his boss Charles Max-Muller the previous year, proposing the broadcasting of full ball-by-ball coverage of Tests instead of the existing coverage of limited fixed periods.

He worked as a freelance for TV and radio from 1947 to 1954, when he joined the BBC North Region staff in Manchester. He covered as many as 55 rugby Internationals between 1947 and 1977, 46 on radio and 9 on TV. He commentated on cricket Tests for TV in 1949–1950 and 1962–1964. For radio, he became a regular TMS commentator in 1962, having made his debut on the programme in 1958, and continued till 1968. He also covered the Boat Race on three occasions.

He broadcast from 31 countries, covering six Royal Tours by The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh between 1961 and 1967, four State Visits and four independence ceremonies.

State, Royal and public events that he covered for radio included:
* Silver Jubilee, St Paul's 1977
* Trooping the Colour (21 successive years to 1981)
* The Cenotaph Remembrance Day Service (16 times)
* State Opening of Parliament four times (Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher)
* Queen Mother's 80th birthday service, St Paul's 1980
* Royal Weddings: Princess Margaret (1960), Princess Alexandra (1963), Princess Anne (1973), Prince Charles (1981)
* Funerals: Sir Winston Churchill (1965), Duke of Windsor (1972), Field Marshal Montgomery (1976)
* Coronation of Pope Paul VI

For TV he covered the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet, the First and Last Nights of the Proms, the funeral of Dag Hammarskjöld and U.S. President John F. Kennedy's visit to the Pope in 1963, as well as presenting "Songs of Praise".

He presented the radio "Today" Programme on over 200 occasions between 1964 and 1968. He also presented "Pick of the Week" and "Down Your Way", as well as "Christmas Bells" on Christmas morning every year from 1965 to 1981. His feature programmes included "The Royal Family" (a special Silver Jubilee programme), "40 Years of Television" and "The Life of Learie Constantine".

He became a senior radio Outside Broadcast (OB) producer, the Head of Administration for the BBC North Region, and then Assistant Head of OBs in 1960. He was Head of Radio Outside Broadcasts from 1969 to 1975. Amongst the events for which he was responsible for organising the coverage were:

* Investiture of the Prince of Wales (1969)
* World Cup (1970 and 1974)
* Commonwealth Games (1970 and 1974)
* Olympic Games (1972)
* Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips (1973)

He wrote the following book: "Inside Outside Broadcasts", R & W Publications (Newmarket), 1993, ISBN 978-0951660454

LPs that he recorded for the BBC included:
* "Vivat Regina": BBC's Official Silver Jubilee LP (script and narration)
* "50 Years of Royal Broadcasts": narrator
* "Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill": with Richard Dimbleby
* "Summer of '45": ('Victory' LP), narrator

References

* Christopher Martin-Jenkins: "Ball by Ball: The Story of Cricket Broadcasting", Grafton Books, 1990, ISBN 0-246-13568-9, pp90-1.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/test_match_special/legends/2939052.stm TMS Legends: Robert Hudson]
* [http://www.birth-of-tv.org/birth/pdfFileDownload.do;jsessionid=36AE084084A6E0CE6676F281EDD9AAFE? List of his BBC broadcasts]