TI
Michael Leapman’s ‘ Treachery? The Power Struggle at TV-am’ is an excellent account of the formation of TV-am and the troubles it faced in the first year.
NL
I had a look at how much a copy was on amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0047910410?pf_rd_r=CQJ878R3X1F6KZ9KPNAY&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4e
Pass!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0047910410?pf_rd_r=CQJ878R3X1F6KZ9KPNAY&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4e
Pass!
BL
I don’t think Elstree had any circuits in or out by the mid 70’s.
Weren't ATV one of the applicants too, running a service from Elstree?
I don’t think Elstree had any circuits in or out by the mid 70’s.
SP
Is that necessarily a problem? I doubt that Henley's Old Garage had any circuits at the time the franchise was awarded.
MA
I don’t think Elstree had any circuits in or out by the mid 70’s.
I wonder if they ever had any ? I don't think I've ever seen the studios mentioned on any historic GPO circuit maps of the London area ?
Although pre Birmingham Broad St, didn't The Golden Shot come from there ? Perhaps there was an SHF link ?
As Steve implies above, there was nothing to stop them getting BT to dig up the roads, (all the way back to Soho !)
Weren't ATV one of the applicants too, running a service from Elstree?
I don’t think Elstree had any circuits in or out by the mid 70’s.
I wonder if they ever had any ? I don't think I've ever seen the studios mentioned on any historic GPO circuit maps of the London area ?
Although pre Birmingham Broad St, didn't The Golden Shot come from there ? Perhaps there was an SHF link ?
As Steve implies above, there was nothing to stop them getting BT to dig up the roads, (all the way back to Soho !)
IS
The TV Studio History website mentions a couple of live programmes from Elstree including one in colour the day after the 1966 World Cup final.
It also mentions the idea of an ATV breakfast bid, it would have come from studio A at Elstree but it was abandoned early on
It also mentions the idea of an ATV breakfast bid, it would have come from studio A at Elstree but it was abandoned early on
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 6 July 2020 6:26am - 3 times in total
VA
From memory, that website also mentions some form of Dave Allen show being TX'd live from Elstree (maybe Tonight with Dave Allen ?)
The TV Studio History website mentions a couple of live programmes from Elstree including one in colour the day after the 1966 World Cup final.
From memory, that website also mentions some form of Dave Allen show being TX'd live from Elstree (maybe Tonight with Dave Allen ?)
IS
From memory, that website also mentions some form of Dave Allen show being TX'd live from Elstree (maybe Tonight with Dave Allen ?)
Indeed, I may as well as well just link to the relevant section: http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/studio%20history.htm#bbc%20elstree
EDIT, re-reading that page reminds me that Elstree appeared in the winning bid for Channel 5
From memory, that website also mentions some form of Dave Allen show being TX'd live from Elstree (maybe Tonight with Dave Allen ?)
Indeed, I may as well as well just link to the relevant section: http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/studio%20history.htm#bbc%20elstree
EDIT, re-reading that page reminds me that Elstree appeared in the winning bid for Channel 5
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 6 July 2020 6:27am
RI
It's a long time ago but I can vaguely remember that teletext worked whilst the testcard was shown and (shortly?) after the closedown in the years before TV-AM.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
Before breakfast TV came along, the ITV and C4 transmitters used to appear at about 8:30am, so there was obviously no Oracle teletext until then.
The BBC were often up from about 06:15 with OU progs starting at 06:40, so Ceefax was available.
I don't recall it was big deal either way ?
The BBC were often up from about 06:15 with OU progs starting at 06:40, so Ceefax was available.
I don't recall it was big deal either way ?
It's a long time ago but I can vaguely remember that teletext worked whilst the testcard was shown and (shortly?) after the closedown in the years before TV-AM.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
MA
It's a long time ago but I can vaguely remember that teletext worked whilst the testcard was shown and (shortly?) after the closedown in the years before TV-AM.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
Oracle will have worked all the time either your local ITV company or Tv-am were connected to the transmitters. When there was the IBA ETP1 test card, that was generated at the transmitters, so no Oracle. On C4 there were two ETP1s, one at Charlotte St, that had horizontal bars above and below the ident, and the version that had no bars, that was at the tx sites. Again Oracle only available during the former
Before breakfast TV came along, the ITV and C4 transmitters used to appear at about 8:30am, so there was obviously no Oracle teletext until then.
The BBC were often up from about 06:15 with OU progs starting at 06:40, so Ceefax was available.
I don't recall it was big deal either way ?
The BBC were often up from about 06:15 with OU progs starting at 06:40, so Ceefax was available.
I don't recall it was big deal either way ?
It's a long time ago but I can vaguely remember that teletext worked whilst the testcard was shown and (shortly?) after the closedown in the years before TV-AM.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
Oracle will have worked all the time either your local ITV company or Tv-am were connected to the transmitters. When there was the IBA ETP1 test card, that was generated at the transmitters, so no Oracle. On C4 there were two ETP1s, one at Charlotte St, that had horizontal bars above and below the ident, and the version that had no bars, that was at the tx sites. Again Oracle only available during the former
SW
Yes, teletext required a channel to be on air. I've got a Radio Times from 1982 where someone writes in to say that they were renting a teletext TV and had enjoyed being able to read the news on Ceefax at around 7am before they left the house, but it had now stopped. And the reason was because the Open University was on its break (as it was between October and January) and hence there were nothing on air to allow Ceefax to be broadcast.
It's a long time ago but I can vaguely remember that teletext worked whilst the testcard was shown and (shortly?) after the closedown in the years before TV-AM.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
Oracle local news pages during the time while TV-AM was broadcast were for London. Outside of the London ITV region you had to wait until the regional ITV company started up before the local news pages for your area were available.
Yes, teletext required a channel to be on air. I've got a Radio Times from 1982 where someone writes in to say that they were renting a teletext TV and had enjoyed being able to read the news on Ceefax at around 7am before they left the house, but it had now stopped. And the reason was because the Open University was on its break (as it was between October and January) and hence there were nothing on air to allow Ceefax to be broadcast.
BL
But physically HOG was a lot nearer to the PO tower than Elstree.
Is that necessarily a problem? I doubt that Henley's Old Garage had any circuits at the time the franchise was awarded.
But physically HOG was a lot nearer to the PO tower than Elstree.