Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a historic entertainment venue in Alexandra Park, London. It is located between Muswell Hill and Wood Green, in the north of the city. It was originally opened in 1873 but rebuilt in 1875 following a destructive fire. It was designed to serve as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment and as north London's counterpart to The Crystal Palace in south London.

Intended as "The People's Palace" and later nicknamed "Ally Pally" (supposedly by Gracie Fields), in 1936 it became the home of the world's first regular public "high-definition" television service, operated by the BBC. Although other facilities soon superseded it after the war, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years and its radio and television mast is still in use. The original studios 'A' and 'B' still survive in the south-east wing with their producers' galleries and are used for exhibiting original historical television equipment. The original Victorian theatre with its stage machinery also survives. The theatre and stage structure is on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register. Alexandra Palace became a listed building in 1996, at the instigation of the Hornsey Historical Society.

Alexandra Palace television station

The Alexandra Palace television station in North London (grid reference TQ297901) is one of the oldest television transmission sites in the world. What was at the time called "high definition" (405-line) TV broadcasts on VHF were beamed from this mast from 1936 until the outbreak of World War II. It then lay dormant until it was used very successfully to foil the German Y-Gerät radio navigation system during the last stages of the Battle of Britain. After the war, it was reused for television until 1956, when it was superseded by the opening of the BBC's new main transmitting station for the London area at Crystal Palace. In 1982 Alexandra Palace became an active transmitting station again, with the opening of a relay transmitter to provide UHF television service to parts of North London poorly covered from Crystal Palace.

The transmitter is owned and maintained by Arqiva.

Channels listed by frequency

Analogue radio (FM)

Digital radio (DAB)

Digital television

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other enterprise, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits (broadcasts) content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Broadcast television systems standards are set by the government, and these vary around the world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel, but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. The term "television station" is normally applied to terrestrial television stations, and not to cable television or satellite television broadcasting.

Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines the broadcast range, or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast, and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages, among other conditions.

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop.

The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, the hill which housed the Imperial residences in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to other uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels or office buildings. The word is also sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions.

Etymology

The word "palace" comes from Old French palais (imperial residence), from Latin Palātium, the name of one of the seven hills of Rome. The original "palaces" on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the "capitol" on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a desirable residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two laurel trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his "Golden House" enlarged the house and grounds over and over until it took up the hill top. The word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill.

Alexandra

Alexandra (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρα) is the feminine form of the given name Alexander, which is a romanization of the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb ἀλέξειν (alexein) "to defend" and ἀνήρ (anēr) "man" (GEN ἀνδρός andros). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "protector of man". The name was one of the titles or epithets given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save warriors". The earliest attested form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀩𐀏𐀭𐀅𐀨, a-re-ka-sa-da-ra, written in the Linear B syllabic script.

Feminine variants