SW
The BBC1 clock from the Balloon era. I have always had an interest in clocks so it went hand-in-hand with my interest in news. I also used to listen to various news opening themes from the BBC and ITN, and recently I've started listening to the same from ABC, NBC and CBS.
LL
London Lite
Founding member
I had a broad interest in broadcast media from an early age, when I'd pick up different radio stations and tv regions.
Back in the 80s, I'd make a real effort to receive TVS in South London when Saturday afternoon ITV would air different US imports such as The A Team and Airwolf, this became an interest in the regional idents and logos of the time.
My interest in the news started when I was able to receive Sky News and CNN on Sky analogue and when I first got an OnDigital box, it was purely to get BBC News 24!
Back in the 80s, I'd make a real effort to receive TVS in South London when Saturday afternoon ITV would air different US imports such as The A Team and Airwolf, this became an interest in the regional idents and logos of the time.
My interest in the news started when I was able to receive Sky News and CNN on Sky analogue and when I first got an OnDigital box, it was purely to get BBC News 24!
ET
I spent half of the earlier part of my childhood (1-6) watching various things on TV, mostly my CITV, schools and Chucklevision tapes, and of course the ITN News during it's blue era. I was fascinated by most of the TV channel branding on the channels, most notably the BBC2 idents of the time, and was somehow able to realize that ITV and Yorkshire were the same thing (although the ITV name was rarely spoken of). It was interesting as well going to my grandparents house where they were watching Central instead of Yorkshire, which I recognized from the end of many CITV programmes off the 90's. The highlight of my weird obsession was when my dad was sorting out the aerial on the roof sometime just before the second ITV generic look, and we ended up receiving Tyne Tees and Granada.
I pretty much became an enthusiast during New Years Eve 2005, when I first discovered sub-TV and TVARK, after casually looking for "bbc2 logos" on Google Images.
I pretty much became an enthusiast during New Years Eve 2005, when I first discovered sub-TV and TVARK, after casually looking for "bbc2 logos" on Google Images.
Last edited by ETP1 Forever on 17 March 2014 11:18pm
BL
I'm a child of the 50's. From a very early age I pressed my nose up against the glass and wondered how this 'thing' worked. I knew there weren't people inside, and it was electronics of some sort. Come the 70's, I had learnt how it worked and joined my local ITV station as an engineer. How it worked in practice was a real eye-opener. Fast forward to the 21st century and I retired having spent decades at one of ITV's premier sites. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
ST
I was going to start off with something similar.
I was brought up in the Granada region, renowned for never changing its presentation from the 60s, so was always jealous of what the 'other regions' had got. Idents were still played before programmes then, so I would scour TV Times looking for their productions.
My uncle worked as a set designer for Granada at the time, and despite repeated requests, I never got him to take me round the studios. However, I remember getting a ticket to go round the BBC at Oxford Road, and thoroughly enjoying it! But it was the idents and graphics that I enjoyed the most.
1982 was great: brand new ITV companies. I raced home from school to watch the start of C4: then there was another franchise round and some new ITV companies in 1993 (Meridian, Westcountry, Carlton, GMTV) . In the late 90s I got access to cable TV and Sky, who changed their presentation every year for a while.
I've been hooked ever since those early days!
Probably showing my age here, but I remember seeing an ITN news report about the 3 new ITV franchises going on air (Central, TSW and TVS) and being totally transfixed by their animated idents. Then of course came the launch of Channel 4 with its great logo and theme music, and later TV-am.
I still think of it as being a golden age of UK television
I still think of it as being a golden age of UK television
I was going to start off with something similar.
I was brought up in the Granada region, renowned for never changing its presentation from the 60s, so was always jealous of what the 'other regions' had got. Idents were still played before programmes then, so I would scour TV Times looking for their productions.
My uncle worked as a set designer for Granada at the time, and despite repeated requests, I never got him to take me round the studios. However, I remember getting a ticket to go round the BBC at Oxford Road, and thoroughly enjoying it! But it was the idents and graphics that I enjoyed the most.
1982 was great: brand new ITV companies. I raced home from school to watch the start of C4: then there was another franchise round and some new ITV companies in 1993 (Meridian, Westcountry, Carlton, GMTV) . In the late 90s I got access to cable TV and Sky, who changed their presentation every year for a while.
I've been hooked ever since those early days!
Last edited by Stuart on 27 September 2013 10:02pm
NW
Probably just from the amount of TV that I watched as a child, I remember in our old old house we were lucky enough to receive all North West England channels and Welsh channels, and remember early 90s HTV and S4C rather well. Having lots of BBC videos and Video Collection videos added to the interest aswell. In terms of it being "a hobby" I only purposely started recording bits and pieces when we got Nynex Cable installed in 1997, and carried on recording for a good 6/7 years before I gave up and internet use became wide. I was glad to have recorded what I did (and upload it to YouTube for that matter) and share it with the world, and glad to see I'm not the only one who has an interest in this medium.
C8
I had an interest in TV from an early age and always got up early on a Thursday morning so I could look through the new editions of the Radio Times and TV Times when they dropped through the letterbox - they were both published on a Thursday back in the 60's and 70's.
My fascination in TV presentation and idents was kick-started with the publication of Look-In (the junior TV Times) in 1971. The third issue contained a supplement about TV including a map showing how the country was divided into all the various ITV regions. From then on I used to scour the TV Times looking for productions from the 'lesser-known' ITV companies so I could look out for them and see their 'symbol' on air.
On holidays and days out the first thing I did was find a newsagents shop so I could see and buy whichever regions TV Times was on sale - Imagine my joy when visiting Filey and seeing the Tyne Tees, Yorkshire and Anglia editions all on the shelf!
I still have many of these TV Times and early issues of Look-In somewhere.
I used to think this 'weird' fascination of mine was unique until I discovered the National Vintage Communications Fair and magazines such as 405 Alive and then the internet came along and I found like-minded people as me on sites such as this, Sub-TV and Transdiffusion.
My fascination in TV presentation and idents was kick-started with the publication of Look-In (the junior TV Times) in 1971. The third issue contained a supplement about TV including a map showing how the country was divided into all the various ITV regions. From then on I used to scour the TV Times looking for productions from the 'lesser-known' ITV companies so I could look out for them and see their 'symbol' on air.
On holidays and days out the first thing I did was find a newsagents shop so I could see and buy whichever regions TV Times was on sale - Imagine my joy when visiting Filey and seeing the Tyne Tees, Yorkshire and Anglia editions all on the shelf!
I still have many of these TV Times and early issues of Look-In somewhere.
I used to think this 'weird' fascination of mine was unique until I discovered the National Vintage Communications Fair and magazines such as 405 Alive and then the internet came along and I found like-minded people as me on sites such as this, Sub-TV and Transdiffusion.
GE
Not surprisingly for me, it was the BBC Sport globe and general BBC Sport presentation from around 1995 - music, graphics, scheduling and general pres. As a sports fan in general, I started watching Grandstand avidly and this developed over the years into a general fascination with live broadcasting - both news and sport - along with theme tunes.
From 1997, I started recording BBC Sport output on video cassette and continued to do so until around 2006/2007. I have examples of pretty much every piece of BBC Sports coverage from that era over dozens and dozens of tapes, something that I will eventually get round to uploading.
My interest in television listings/scheduling started perhaps even earlier than that, when I started reading TV Quick magazine. Then I 'grew up' and started buying the Radio Times and, again, I've kept every issue since the summer of 1996.
Geek or what . . .
From 1997, I started recording BBC Sport output on video cassette and continued to do so until around 2006/2007. I have examples of pretty much every piece of BBC Sports coverage from that era over dozens and dozens of tapes, something that I will eventually get round to uploading.
My interest in television listings/scheduling started perhaps even earlier than that, when I started reading TV Quick magazine. Then I 'grew up' and started buying the Radio Times and, again, I've kept every issue since the summer of 1996.
Geek or what . . .