[44], The loss of Thames's franchise was seen as controversial by many, and highly significant by most, given Thames's history within ITV, as a long-standing franchisee in its own right, its heritage from the start of the network through its founding parents ABC and Rediffusion London, and the fact that it was one of the major contributors of content to the ITV network. The revised ident retained the London landmarks but contained them in a blue and orange triangle, pointing downwards, with three wavy blue lines to represent the river and the words 'Thames XXI' in the orange part of the triangle and it was this logo which was used on the first ITV branding idents on 4 September 1989.[49]. Lawrence McGinty - former Science and Medical Editor for ITN. [35], During 1989 reports appeared that talks were taking place with Carlton about an agreed merger,[36] which resulted in no action. As time went on more revenue meant the company could invest more money in news coverage. This station was more highly regarded by the ITA (amongst others) than Rediffusion whose programming was seen as downmarket and whose management-style was viewed as high-handed. Its northern base in Didsbury, Manchester was used by Yorkshire Television prior to its Kirkstall Road studios in Leeds being completed, and eventually sold to Manchester Polytechnic in 1970, with a lease on sales offices in central Manchester being surrendered. Carlton was forced to advertise on LWT to promote its new programme line up until December 1992, following an acrimonious High Court dispute between Thames and Carlton over the selling of rights of hundreds of films in Thames's library. "[5] The resultant company was awarded the contract to serve London on weekdays. Thames sitcoms during the 1980s and early 1990s included Keep it in the Family, Never the Twain, After Henry, and Mr. Bean. This series, produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, was followed by the company sponsoring Thames Silents, a project undertaken by Brownlow and Gill of the restoration and screenings (in a limited number of cinemas and on television) of major films from the silent era. BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT. Thames's subsidiary production company Euston Films continued to produce many of Thames's highest-profile drama contributions to ITV network programming to the end of its ITV franchise. The flotation was not a great success, EMI and BET only managing to reduce their shares to 56.6%, with management acquiring much of the new stock. [40] Thames bid £32.5 million while Carlton Television placed a bid of £43.2 million,[41] and since both Thames and Carlton were deemed to have passed the quality threshold, the franchise was awarded to Carlton for having submitted the higher cash bid. To mark the centenary of the caravan and the start of National Camping and Caravanning Week, former Countryfile host Julia Bradbury spent a night in the middle of the Thames near Tower Bridge. The interview filled two minutes at the end of the programme, but the production team feared trouble in the studio if they stopped the programme mid-air. ABC had majority control of the new company and the make-up of its board predominantly (and eventually fully) came from ABC. Clare Dobie. Michael Clark. Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation—soon taken over by EMI—owning 51%. The use of ABC's old studios at Teddington meant the workforce was predominantly ex-ABC, although those at Kingsway were ex-Rediffusion. Melinda Wittstock "And now for Channel 5". ABC's Midlands base in Aston, Birmingham (see Alpha Television), co-owned with ATV, was sold in 1971 when ATV moved to new colour television facilities. Born in Sheffield Jayne Irving was a radio reporter and regional TV reporter before joining TV-am from Thames News. The station continued formats inherited from its predecessors. He later taught at London College of Fashion, 'colour and display'. Thames has a strong reputation as an awards winner, with our programmes celebrated by a whole host of industry and national awards. It was widely expected that the company would be awarded the London weekend franchise. The Times, Saturday, 27 December 1980 pg. In 1978, Thames secured a contract with Morecambe & Wise. [29] Thames made a further 297 employees redundant as part of its restructuring plan to reduce its staff to 1,500 in preparation for the 1991 ITV franchise round. On Wednesday 17 October, another strike was instigated, as talks failed to reach agreement. The first ident was used to signify programmes made at Rediffusion's old studios at Adastral House, the latter, shows that came from ABC's former Teddington Studios. Two of its post-franchise sitcoms found more success when they transferred away from ITV – Men Behaving Badly, which moved to the BBC in 1994 and Is It Legal?, which moved to Channel 4 in 1997. Today was launched on 30 July 1968 when ITV switched from their ATV/Rediffusion contracts to the new Thames Television/LWT model. The ITA ordered ABC's managing director Howard Thomas and its director of programmes Brian Tesler to be appointed in similar capacities at the new station, the only individuals named or specified in all 15 franchise awards. "[42] The Times quoted a spokesman the day after the announcement: "We can be more profitable this way, being forced out of broadcasting will save us £32.5m a year in bid payments, £30 million a year in advertising revenue taxes and about £10m in transmitter cost. The deal was blocked by both Richard Dunn, chief executive of Thames, and by the IBA, which concluded 'the proposal would lead to a major change in the nature and characteristic of a viable ITV programme company'. These cards would have been given out to fans writing to the show or by the presenters themselves. Melinda Wittstock "Thames, a wounded Phoenix, takes flight into production", Thames wins ITV dispute. This is sometimes attributed to the culture of the company, which could be claimed to be a continuation of that at ABC. "[42], The transition of ITV companies was never smooth, but Thames's bitterness stayed until the very end. Bitter Thames signs off but rejects talk of closedown. A few years after The World at War, Thames broadcast Hollywood (1980), a 13-part documentary series about the era of the America silent cinema. Programme 2018. . Thames produced the daily live entertainment and information programme to reflect “what is going on in London”. The original host was Eamonn Andrews, with Bill Grundy taking over in 1976. Thames at Six was launched, later Thames News. Euston made the police series The Sweeney (1975–78), Danger UXB (1979), and Minder (1979–94), plus the last appearance of Nigel Kneale's best known creation in Quatermass (1979). Itv billing may fail to attract bidders. Another sitcom, Man About the House (1973–76), was successful enough for two spin-offs, George and Mildred (1976–80) and Robin's Nest (1977-81). [2] Questioning the ITA's decision, Rediffusion attempted to slow down the merger: only the threat of giving the licence solely to ABC made it relent. His retained popularity in the UK was confirmed following his death, when Thames (which had refused to air his shows since the cancellation) gave in to public demand to rerun the shows. Thames was the main shareholder in a consortium (alongside Warner Bros. Television and others) called Channel Five Holdings. ITV Confirms ‘Family Fortunes’ Reboot From Fremantle’s Thames. Additional episodes of network productions were screened to help clear the backlog, since no outside programmes were broadcast. During the hours after Rainbow and before the children's slot, Good Afternoon was transmitted, a magazine programme. [15] In October, Thames paid the BBC, via the IBA, £300,000 in compensation to make up the shortfall in additional cost for new episodes of Dallas.[16]. It continued as an independent production company until 2003. It was believed that the comedian was dismissed because his shows were considered offensive, but Thames said the decision was taken because of falling ratings. Through the early 1980s, Thames experienced a series of local disputes while management deliberately confronted contractual ‘rackets’, and pursued the introduction of new technologies based on operational requirements rather than precedent. The Times, Wednesday, 29 August 1984; Thames strike is called off. Both were written by Simon Nye and co-produced by independent company Hartswood Films. [46][47] Some programmes recorded at Teddington, such as some episodes of the 1969 series of "Callan" did, however, use the "from Thames" caption, indicating that they may have been edited at Adastral House rather than Teddington. "[1] Thames covered a broad spectrum of commercial public-service television, with a strong mix of drama, current affairs and comedy. The consortium became the only bidder for the licence in December 1992 after two other groups dropped out. On 16 October 1991, Thames Television lost its weekday London ITV franchise from the beginning of January 1993 as a result of losing the silent auction used to renegotiate the new franchises. A programme on Harold Lloyd (The Third Genius) followed in 1989. Les worked as a [23][24], During the period of the management operated emergency schedule, viewers in the Thames Television region would see the ITV breakfast service TV-am from 6.25am until 9.25am, however once TV-am concluded, when the rest of the UK received schools programmes, Thames viewers were left with a blue screen showing their upcoming emergency schedule which would normally start at around 1.30pm and conclude around midnight. The company believed it would become "Europe's most powerful Independent producer and programme distributor. As the oldest commercial television network in the UK, ITV has employed many journalists and newsreaders to present its news programmes as well as to provide news reports and interviews during its history. ATV also won the weekday service in the Midlands, wh… From its formation in 1954, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) offered broadcasting licenses to different companies for weekday and weekend service in its first three Independent Television network locations, the London area, the Midlands, and the North. The last broadcast date of the main weekday evening edition of Thames Valley Tonight was on Friday 6 February 2009 with the very last Thames Valley news bulletin broadcast on Sunday 8 February 2009. From its formation in 1954, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) offered broadcasting licenses to different companies for weekday and weekend service in its first three Independent Television network locations, the London area, the Midlands, and the North. It began after the IBA allowed non-schools broadcasting in this period of the day, when the government relaxed the regulations around daytime television and featured interview editions undertaken by such broadcasters as Mavis Nicholson, and a weekly consumer programme, which eventually became a programme in its own right; Money-Go-Round. By Kenneth Gosling. The comedy Do Not Adjust Your Set, though, originated with Rediffusion, and if nominally a children's show, was one of the forerunners of Monty Python's Flying Circus. On 30 July 1968 Thames began broadcasting to London. Please select a value from the dropdown. Sort by Date. Hill himself said "I didn't mind them sacking me; but I did expect a bit more of a pat on the back, after all I had been there for 20 years". [19] On Monday 27 August, ATTC technicians walked out again over the new shift patterns;[20] the strike ended on 3 September 1984, at 1p.m. Melinda Wittstock, Media Correspondent. Consequently, the franchise loss became a subject of political debate, with changes brought about by the 1990 act being cited as 'The primary reason for an operation such as Thames being able to lose its licence to broadcast'. The Guardian; 24 October 1984; TV film editors end strike. These included the variety show Opportunity Knocks, Armchair Theatre, the last series of The Avengers and the detective thrillers Callan and Public Eye, all inherited from ABC. That the then Conservative government had passed such an act caused accusations of direct responsibility to be levelled at former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in particular, who had presided over its creation. The presenters of the Thames TV afternoon programme 'After Noon', which was restructured into what the producers called 'a totally new concept in afternoon programming', involving news, personalities... Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images The following year, in 1989, Thames ended the contract of Benny Hill, a stalwart at the station since 1969. NTA AWARDS. Thames said: "We are delighted in the outcome of the dispute which we believe is in the best interests of everyone who works at Thames". The initial six contracts were parcelled out to different companies. The company took over the This Is Your Life format in 1969, several years after the BBC had dropped the show in 1964. The technicians walked out, but the station was off the air for just one day as management and administration staff took over their roles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ITV_journalists_and_newsreaders This article is about the former ITV franchise holder and production company. The series, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier, was commissioned in 1969, took four years to produce, and cost a record £4m (approx £47m in 2018). The 10 x 60-minute series will be a remake of the much-loved gameshow and will return in a prime-time weekly slot. The main presenters of the pan-regional successor service are Fred Dinenage and Sangeeta Barbra, … To assist Rediffusion financially, the ITA insisted that the new company have two sets of shares: voting shares which would allow ABC to have control (with 51%) and 'B' shares which were to be split equally between the two, thus sharing profits fairly. The Bill (1984–2010) began as a one-hour series of separate stories in 1984, but from 1989 until 1998 was broadcast several times a week, usually in a 30 minute slot. Grundy was suspended and Today ended soon afterwards; his career never recovered. Other presenters on show included Anneka Rice, … A new ident was launched on 3 September 1990, featuring a redesigned triangle logo containing Big Ben, the British Telecom Tower, the dome of St Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge. BAFTA TELEVISION AWARDS. Thames Television's most famous skyline ident consisted of a selection of London landmarks reflected over water. When so many people long for a career in television, I feel a little guilty admitting that , for me, TV was Plan B. After management restored power, the technicians walked out. Initially she was the Bristol based reporter … View by 4:3. By 1987 TV-am saw itself as the “third force in TV news”, alongside ITN and the BBC. The Times, 11 October 1990; Legal threats follow biggest ITV shake-up. Weekend ITV schedules for the London region were not affected by the strike, with London Weekend Television coming on air on Fridays at 5.15pm as usual. Ultimately, pressure from several ITV companies (especially Yorkshire Television) to the IBA, forced Thames to sell the series back to the BBC at a loss. When Thames was formed, the new company acquired numerous other properties of the former franchise holders. Richard Evans and Richard Ford and Dominique Searle "Trial by TV' row over IRA killings film", Dunn to Thames Board, July 1983 (uncatalogued deposit), ITVA Archive from, Cherry, S. ITV: The People's Channel, Reynolds and Hearn, 2005, p196. after the union agreed to rostering according to need, while the management dropped plans for ending six-day working fortnights. [25]The strike finally ended on 3 November 1984, after 62 film editors agreed to the new conditions, while the ACTT agreed as well to start negotiations about the introductions of new technology. These included Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983), Jack the Ripper (1988), Capital City (1989–1990), and Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1992). The most controversial programme Thames broadcast was the documentary "Death on the Rock", part of the current affairs This Week series. SPARK. David Hewson "Thames TV head leaves in dispute over Dallas". The Times (London, England), Thursday, 25 October 1984; Thames TV to join market with value of £91.2m. The Times, Wednesday, 31 October 1990, "Names of companies awarded new ITV franchises will be announced tomorrow" By David Hewson. For the production company since 2012, see, Thames "London Skyline" ident, featuring London landmarks, The Thames Television region when it lost its franchise in 1992, Industrial relations up to the end of 1979, Independent Television in Britain Vol. [12] The comedians had worked for the BBC since 1968 with major national success, but the decisive factor leading the duo to leave the corporation was Thames's offer to feature them as main leads in a film made by the company's Euston Films subsidiary. After Thames was acquired by FremantleMedia it was merged with another Fremantle company, Talkback Productions, to form a new independent production company, Talkback Thames; consequently, Thames ceased to exist as a separate entity. 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