In the early days of the BBC, virtually all broadcast entertainment would be considered light by today's standards, as great pains were taken not to offend audiences—which is not to say that they always succeeded in this.
Many future household names, including The Beatles, were given their first public airings during these programmes, which attempted to cater for varying tastes through staging variety acts.
An example of this phenomenon is found in the name of a lesser-known panel show Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment (which is also a pun on a broadcasting job description).
[1] In spite of critical reaction, light entertainment continues to be popular, perhaps because it provokes no awkward questions when the viewing is shared by different generations of the same family.
[2] During the 1970s, CBC Television introduced Sunday at Nine, a time slot where '"dramas [such as Corwin] alternate with light entertainment [such as The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour] and special documentaries.