Happy 20th Birthday Channel Five

I heard that, when they sold the playout facility to Ascent (later taken over by Encompass), there was also a fairly long contract that went with it - which is why the main C5 playout remained there until late last year. The two spin-off channels have always been played out by Ericsson at White City, and now all three are in the same suite.

Do you mean the five-coloured stripe across the screen between each ad, the 'break-flash'? It went when they rebranded in September 2002, I believe, when the whole on-screen look changed. Or maybe it as a year or so earlier when they had a part-rebrand?

It was the only channel at the time using a break-flash, but they had been around in some form or another since the early days of ITV. ITV1 (as if was then called) introduced a 'four squares' flash between ads in 2002, or just after, but only in the regions played out from the South Bank - Leeds's kit couldn't generate them (or something, due to the short duration).

What was particularity unique about the Channel 5 break-flash? Or are we talking at cross-purposes and you do mean a bumper?

Yes I think Pearson's playout was the Thames engineering department rebadged. We discussed this before but I can't quite remember what the company was called originally - Thames TV Engineering or something like that.

C5 continued to use a break-flash until the small refresh in September 2014.

Yes, sorry.... break flash or 'optical'



They still had one when it became 'five'






You answered your own question there.

Though yes as you say 'opticals' were common in some ITV regions until the 70's. I certainly don't remember seeing them before Channel 5 started

In the 50s and 60s they were there to prevent the video APL dropping between ads, and resulting in instability at the start of the next ad, owing to no DC clamp in most receivers, and poor EHT regulation

APL Average Picture Level

Yes it was.... what was left of it anyway. It then became (I think) 'Pearson Television Broadcasting' and was later spun off as the London Playout Centre before becoming part of Ascent, now Encompass


Pearson Television acquired their premises in Stephen Street and moved from Teddington around the time of Channel 5's launch (nicely it's not that far from where Thames Euston and it's Tottenham Court Road premises were). The technical areas for Channel 5 were finished first and they started testing them and getting them up and running in the January. They put in two small studios on the ground floor - one was used for 5's Company, later Gloria Hunniford's show, and the other I think was used (or at least intended ) for UK Living's daytime magazine show. Next to 5's TX suite was an in-vision studio. I think there was an idea for invision continuity but eventually it was just used for Milkshake, I think the announcers still used it though I think... probably the largest voice over booth in London if so

They had big plans for the place, as well as Channel 5 and the handful of channels that they played out from Teddington (including UK Living and Disney) they were hoping to get more business. They had the Flextech channels and I think some/all of Discovery there at some point. No idea what Encompass transmit from there now - all those have gone elsewhere. Freemantle Media are still in the building, handily the original Talkback offices are just round the corner.

Were Flextech there in 1997? I thought all its channels were played out from Maidstone, or was that just Challenge and everything else including TCC/trouble etc was in London?

There's a bit about Stephen Street studios on the excellent TV Studio History website

http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/independent%20tv%20studios.htm#stephen%20st

They definitely were there at some point, that's where they were before they went to Red Bee. Where they moved from I don't know.


I remember seeing the plans for the technical areas and the suites were already labelled with their intended channel use, it stuck in my mind as in the case of Flextech and UK Gold they didn't have the contract to do them at that time. I don't know whether this was optimistic or they'd already won the contract. They already TX'd UK Living from Teddington which became a Flextech channel in the rejiggle when UKTV launched later that year.

There was this as well. But what was it called?

I remember seeing the concrete being poured into them in the brief period I worked there. They're odd windowless areas either side of the reception with all the offices etc on the first floor and upwards. Perfect for TV studios, but made me wonder what the space was used for with the previous tennants