BBC Two to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, now tend to appear on BBC Four instead. British television at the time of BBC2's launch consisted of two channels: the BBC Television Service and the ITV network made up of smaller regional companies. Both channels had existed in a state
BBC Radio 2 with a 6:55am start up on Sundays. The station closed down at around 12:33am each day. However from Monday 29 September 1975 the closedown hours were scaled back even more, with BBC Radio 2 concluding their day at around 12:10am Mondays to Fridays, and at 12:33am on Saturdays and Sundays. There were exceptions to the rule, especially over Christmas and New Year periods when hours would be temporarily extended. Broadcasting hours would be extended to the 5am2am schedule on Saturday 1 April 1978. BBC Radio 2 became the first national 24-hour radio station in the UK in 1979. The station's