Happy birthday ITV - 48 years old

Damn! I knew ABC was second to launch though. Just got their two regions mixed up I guess.

Which ABC is Digifiend describing as starting in second place?

My understanding is the following :

The first to launch its service was Associated Rediffusion. (Mon - Fri)

The second to launch its service was ATV London (but appeared on air for the first few days as ABC) (Sat - Sun)

However technically, the opening program on independent television from the Croydon transmitter was a joint venture between AR and ATV (nee ABC).

The third to launch its service was ATV Midlands. (Mon - Fri)

The fourth to launch its service was ABC Midlands. (Sat - Sun)

The fifth to launch its service was from the North, Granada. (Mon - Fri)

The sixth to launch was ABC North, from Didsbury. (Sat - Sun)

Please castigate me if this is not correct.

Why ABC changed its named to ATV can be found at

<http://www.sub-tv.co.UK/atvhistory.asp>

I was wondering - is the ITV Digital mess the cause of ITVs downfall? If ITV had not lost so much money on ITV Digital, would things still be as bad as they are now? I still enjoy ITV programmes, but whilst reading the MediaGuardian ratings section last night I realised how much trash they show: phrases such as "The BBC's Canterbury Tales beat another of ITV's makeover shows" and "...BBC winning over ITV reality show..."

When will variety return? I reckon a good old fashioned 'talent show' would be a ratings winner in the current 'reality TV craze' - a very simple concept - people come on and show off their weird talents. It'd be like the Pop Idol auditions but not just singing. I know it's been done before, but I'd welcome it's return.

First of all, it's best not to take much notice of how MediaGuardian describes ratings...

Secondly, I think that ITV Digital damaged the reputation of ITV more than its finances. However, I believe that we are on the verge of a golden era in television. There's a lot of talent in the up and coming generation of twenty somethings. In the last ten/fifteen years there has been a strong emphasis on creativity and imagination in schools, and I think we've got a lot to look forward to.

The reason for the widely varying launch dates was due to the transmitters needing to be built around the country - London was obviously the first in 1955, followed by the Midlands in 1956 and other regions around the North. Others slowly followed, but surprisingly coverage had not reached the whole country until as late as 1983!

One of my claims to fame is that my Great Grandfather, along with Sidney Bernstein, started Granada Television 1956. Granada had actually formerly been a Cinema company (owned and run by Bernstein) - running several very extravagant and plush cinemas with very low entrance costs - for poorer people to be able to enjoy. The whole business of starting up an ITV region was incredibly difficult - after applying for the licence and winning, it the company would have only 12 months to set the whole thing up. Studios would need to be aquired, equipment, employees etc. This meant money would be tight. In the case of Granada, they struggled for the first few years. However, eventually they started to make more money than it cost to set it up - their first profit. One of the main reasons for the success of Granada was its emphasis on regional programming, something instigated by Bernstein (who was Jewish). I was talking about this with my Grandfather the other day, and he said that Bernstein and my Great Grandfather would be turning in their graves if they knew what was going on in ITV at the moment, especially with the possible American takeover...

Anyway - a short history of Granada/ITV there for you!

Note that one of the money problems they did have at the start was that they were the first ITV Station to have purposely built studios made for them, while most other stations were using converted Cinemas and Theatres, plus god knows how much they spent on equipment too.

I have a guide somewhere from Granada Studios tour from 1998, which has a cronological timeline of Granada's history, and apparently The Bernsteins named the company after the Spanish town called Granada, as they apparently liked it. But Granada wasn't the only region to be Cinema owners, ABC were too and they were successful, I think they still had a few cinemas until a few years ago.

(My home town of Warrington had one until 1982, then in 1986 it became "The Hit Man and Her Scally Club" (Thanks for that one TVDragon!))

I seem to remember this being mentioned before, and it's an impressive claim to fame for this forum. What was his name?

He was called Victor Peers. He's mentioned quite a lot in Sidney Bernstein's Biography, and in a few other books about the history of Independent Television. I was very surprised too when I found out a few years ago - very proud of it though!

From <http://www.ketupa.NET/granada.htm>



So let me guess, Benjy == Benjamin, but his surname is not Bernstein, because he would at least know how to spell it correctly.

NB Your search - "Victor Peers" granada - did not match any documents.

OK? I didn't know that, I knew they ran the Service Stations on the motorways until a couple of years ago, I assume they must have a stake in Little Chef or Burger King.

Nice to know I live in the "English Midlands." Now I am certain that Granada was proud that it was from The North of England.

Sorry about the spelling mistake. Bernstein was always at the forefront of the business - so although Victor did play a large part in it, he didn't have any share in it. I suppose this is why he isn't documented that much (I've done that search on the internet before as well). Look him up in Bernstein's Biography though - he's there.

And despite Granada now being inextricably linked with the North, it was actually very much a southern company before ITV. They had cinemas in the south, so applied for an ITV licence in the north to avoid competing with themselves.