:-(
A former member
Who is the newsreader? He doesn't come across as an experienced presenter.
From the youtube video:
Quote:
A little research finds that Donald Cullimore was Thames' PR director around this time, so they must have been clutching at straws to find a half-decent newsreader!
BY treffynnon19
BY treffynnon19
SC
From the youtube video:
I'm surprised they didn't just get the duty announcer to read the headlines bulletin. This was the norm in many regions.
Who is the newsreader? He doesn't come across as an experienced presenter.
From the youtube video:
Quote:
A little research finds that Donald Cullimore was Thames' PR director around this time, so they must have been clutching at straws to find a half-decent newsreader!
BY treffynnon19
BY treffynnon19
I'm surprised they didn't just get the duty announcer to read the headlines bulletin. This was the norm in many regions.
GO
I didn't realise that ITV/C4 were supposed to do the 84 Olympics. I knew they did 88 and judging by that article they had some poor coverage in 1980.
There's some background to the strike in this article http://www.transdiffusion.org/tmc/thames/strikeout.php
JJ
jjne
Who is the newsreader? He doesn't come across as an experienced presenter.
From the youtube video:
Quote:
A little research finds that Donald Cullimore was Thames' PR director around this time, so they must have been clutching at straws to find a half-decent newsreader!
BY treffynnon19
BY treffynnon19
I'm surprised they didn't just get the duty announcer to read the headlines bulletin. This was the norm in many regions.
Was the duty announcer even there? It's unclear from the videos -- it could have been a recording.
But yes, I completely agree that in the absence of a newsreader, using an experienced presenter (and you don't get much more experienced than the like of Elsmore and Edwards it has to be said) is infinitely preferable to what they ended up with.
I would guess that contractual/Union agreements came into play here, if the announcer was present.
MA
I didn't realise that ITV/C4 were supposed to do the 84 Olympics. I knew they did 88 and judging by that article they had some poor coverage in 1980.
I seem to recall the Moscow 1980 coverage was pretty good. They were to have presented everything from Moscow, but scaled back because the USA and other countries refused to send teams, after the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in Dec 1979.
The coverage was fronted by Dickie Davies at LWT, and Fred Dinenage in Moscow. (The Beeb opted to host all of their coverage from Moscow).
There's some background to the strike in this article http://www.transdiffusion.org/tmc/thames/strikeout.php
I seem to recall the Moscow 1980 coverage was pretty good. They were to have presented everything from Moscow, but scaled back because the USA and other countries refused to send teams, after the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in Dec 1979.
The coverage was fronted by Dickie Davies at LWT, and Fred Dinenage in Moscow. (The Beeb opted to host all of their coverage from Moscow).
NW
I didn't realise that ITV/C4 were supposed to do the 84 Olympics. I knew they did 88 and judging by that article they had some poor coverage in 1980.
Indeed, I think the mood at the time being that as ITV now had Channel 4 and TV-am it could go head to head with the BBC for the amount of coverage it provided and that it could have really brought in some viewers. But I believe TV-am pulled out first, then Thames did too.
There's a clip from the 1984 Christmas tape from TV-am that features the titles to 'TV-am OLYMPICS 84' in the style of Midweek Sport Special at the time, so obviously plans were quite advanced and almost ready to go.
They did what they wanted to do in 1988, but the rest is history.
There's some background to the strike in this article http://www.transdiffusion.org/tmc/thames/strikeout.php
Indeed, I think the mood at the time being that as ITV now had Channel 4 and TV-am it could go head to head with the BBC for the amount of coverage it provided and that it could have really brought in some viewers. But I believe TV-am pulled out first, then Thames did too.
There's a clip from the 1984 Christmas tape from TV-am that features the titles to 'TV-am OLYMPICS 84' in the style of Midweek Sport Special at the time, so obviously plans were quite advanced and almost ready to go.
They did what they wanted to do in 1988, but the rest is history.
MA
I didn't realise that ITV/C4 were supposed to do the 84 Olympics. I knew they did 88 and judging by that article they had some poor coverage in 1980.
Indeed, I think the mood at the time being that as ITV now had Channel 4 and TV-am it could go head to head with the BBC for the amount of coverage it provided and that it could have really brought in some viewers. But I believe TV-am pulled out first, then Thames did too.
What sparked it off, was a dispute over the number of Production Assistants to be based in LA. The unions wanted more than ITV Sport felt necessary, so the ITV companies threw the towel in, and cancelled the coverage.
It may well have been the last straw of a load of other issues though. I think Greg Dyke made a reference to the problem in his autobiography ?
There's some background to the strike in this article http://www.transdiffusion.org/tmc/thames/strikeout.php
Indeed, I think the mood at the time being that as ITV now had Channel 4 and TV-am it could go head to head with the BBC for the amount of coverage it provided and that it could have really brought in some viewers. But I believe TV-am pulled out first, then Thames did too.
What sparked it off, was a dispute over the number of Production Assistants to be based in LA. The unions wanted more than ITV Sport felt necessary, so the ITV companies threw the towel in, and cancelled the coverage.
It may well have been the last straw of a load of other issues though. I think Greg Dyke made a reference to the problem in his autobiography ?
Last edited by Markymark on 13 May 2012 4:18pm
MA
It was not at all uncommon for 'simultaneous' networked programmes to be played out from two or more sources. There were many reasons for this. Some parts of the network would (for example) take 'Crossroads' and the start time of the next programme was determined by the length of the end break. Stations not taking "Crossroads" may have had a different break pattern. Depending on how the company spread the load of its commercials and what rates they charged (and whether they fell within our outwith the peak) the 7pm break might be anything from 2' 30 to 3' 40. This mnaterially affected the start time of the programme, hence the need sometimes for staggered starts. It's still a common opractice - nowadays, BBC TWO Scotland will often run all the afternoon network programmes 30 - 40 seconds early in order to fit a longer local programme in a later slot.
Thanks Tony, very interesting. Of course with server based playout, it's far simpler to arrange today, than it was 30 years ago !
It was not at all uncommon for 'simultaneous' networked programmes to be played out from two or more sources. There were many reasons for this. Some parts of the network would (for example) take 'Crossroads' and the start time of the next programme was determined by the length of the end break. Stations not taking "Crossroads" may have had a different break pattern. Depending on how the company spread the load of its commercials and what rates they charged (and whether they fell within our outwith the peak) the 7pm break might be anything from 2' 30 to 3' 40. This mnaterially affected the start time of the programme, hence the need sometimes for staggered starts. It's still a common opractice - nowadays, BBC TWO Scotland will often run all the afternoon network programmes 30 - 40 seconds early in order to fit a longer local programme in a later slot.
Thanks Tony, very interesting. Of course with server based playout, it's far simpler to arrange today, than it was 30 years ago !
NW
Interesting. That reminds me of something I've read before. When Dyke was head of LWT in 1987 they had some big drama in production with Lulu being the lead actress, they had trouble with the unions, rather than cave into demands Dyke cancelled the whole production. And it was the only year he got a christmas card from Mrs Thatcher too.
It may well have been the last straw of a load of other issues though. I think Greg Dyke made a reference to the problem in his autobiography ?
Interesting. That reminds me of something I've read before. When Dyke was head of LWT in 1987 they had some big drama in production with Lulu being the lead actress, they had trouble with the unions, rather than cave into demands Dyke cancelled the whole production. And it was the only year he got a christmas card from Mrs Thatcher too.
:-(
A former member
And then this happened months later:
WE
Interesting. That reminds me of something I've read before. When Dyke was head of LWT in 1987 they had some big drama in production with Lulu being the lead actress, they had trouble with the unions, rather than cave into demands Dyke cancelled the whole production. And it was the only year he got a christmas card from Mrs Thatcher too.
Thought that was Twiggy, not Lulu?
It may well have been the last straw of a load of other issues though. I think Greg Dyke made a reference to the problem in his autobiography ?
Interesting. That reminds me of something I've read before. When Dyke was head of LWT in 1987 they had some big drama in production with Lulu being the lead actress, they had trouble with the unions, rather than cave into demands Dyke cancelled the whole production. And it was the only year he got a christmas card from Mrs Thatcher too.
Thought that was Twiggy, not Lulu?