Larry the Loafer post_id=48647 time= user_id=990 Wrote:What I still find really odd was how much coverage this got at the time. It predates me by a few months, so the significance outside of our little circle is lost on me. I would've thought it was important to something like Working Lunch from a business perspective, but how and why was it a lead story on many news programmes on the day? Was the public's interest in ITV's politics really that strong?
Calling it "interest in ITV's politics" understates the situation. Each regional company was a household name (each consistently found to be the most recognised brand in their region), a significant employer and provider of programmes on the most watched TV channel in the country. On top of that it happened as a direct result of a change in the law brought in by the government. I fail to see how it wouldn't have made a big splash.
And this was a time really before big international brands, and even national brands, were rivaling them for the viewers attention. The local cinema, video store, music shop etc. was probably more likely to be independent, or a small local chain, than a big national name.
Back then most companies that advertised on ITV were probably smaller than many of the regions. Nowadays I suspect many are bigger than ITV as a whole.
I wouldn't necessarily say that for cinema. There was a chain called ABC. And yes, that's ABC as in the pre-1968 ITV franchisee. Granada had cinemas as well I think?
The others though, sure. I assume you won't remember Pharaoh Video or the Sydney Scarborough record shop, unless you're in Hull. Both were around 30 years ago but are now long gone.
JAS84 post_id=48836 time= user_id=881 Wrote:I wouldn't necessarily say that for cinema. There was a chain called ABC. And yes, that's ABC as in the pre-1968 ITV franchisee. Granada had cinemas as well I think?
The others though, sure. I assume you won't remember Pharaoh Video or the Sydney Scarborough record shop, unless you're in Hull. Both were around 30 years ago but are now long gone.
Yep. I used to go to the Granada cinema in Chichester. I was always disappointed it didnt have the iconic 'G' logo on the front
https://images.app.goo.gl/CYhGQyyj4kTNu4Lj8
That of course was why Granada chose the northern franchise, their cinemas were mostly in the south so they wanted their TV station in the North so not to compete
Markymark post_id=48703 time= user_id=1078 Wrote:... TIYL went back to the BBC ?
As the Beeb said at the time, "We're not poaching it, it's coming home."
Will Wyatt says in his book that before the results were announced, Richard Dunn from Thames asked him if the Beeb might be interested in both This Is Your Life and The Bill, so they were already working out a Plan B.
Whataday post_id=48786 time= user_id=1029 Wrote:Calling it "interest in ITV's politics" understates the situation. Each regional company was a household name (each consistently found to be the most recognised brand in their region), a significant employer and provider of programmes on the most watched TV channel in the country. On top of that it happened as a direct result of a change in the law brought in by the government. I fail to see how it wouldn't have made a big splash.
Yes, the equivalent would be something like the announcement of Great British Railways, which was indeed the top story on the news - because it was something that affects everyone to a greater or lesser extent and involves a lot of familiar brands disappearing. I was in school at the time and it genuinely was talked about, and not just in the nerd circles that I moved in, I remember everyone wondering what would happen to Mr Bean (because there'd been a new episode of that the night before the announcement, when that was a huge show).
Inspector Sands post_id=48956 time= user_id=1003 Wrote:That of course was why Granada chose the northern franchise, their cinemas were mostly in the south so they wanted their TV station in the North so not to compete
In a piece of company serendipity the Bernstiens would have approved of, I was staying with my grandmother in Chichester summer 1973. I was watching
Granada's excellent children's film review programme, Clapperboard. They were reviewing the new Bond film
Live and Let Die. My Gran asked whether I'd like to see it, so off we went to the
Granada cinema to watch it ! (She fell asleep after 5 mins)
Markymark post_id=48980 time= user_id=1078 Wrote:Inspector Sands post_id=48956 time= user_id=1003 Wrote:That of course was why Granada chose the northern franchise, their cinemas were mostly in the south so they wanted their TV station in the North so not to compete
In a piece of company serendipity the Bernstiens would have approved of, I was staying with my grandmother in Chichester summer 1973. I was watching Granada's excellent children's film review programme, Clapperboard. They were reviewing the new Bond film Live and Let Die. My Gran asked whether I'd like to see it, so off we went to the Granada cinema to watch it ! (She fell asleep after 5 mins)
But did you watch Clapperboard on a Granada rented TV? (I expect you didn’t stop off at the Granada service station on the way home.)
They really did have their fingers in all the pies back then, didn't they?
Inspector Sands post_id=48956 time= user_id=1003 Wrote:That of course was why Granada chose the northern franchise, their cinemas were mostly in the south so they wanted their TV station in the North so not to compete
I thought Sidney Bernstein famously chose the region as it had the highest average rainfall because he thought it would ensure more people would be indoors watching TV.
Or perhaps that’s an urban myth! :lol:
JAS84 post_id=48836 time= user_id=881 Wrote:I wouldn't necessarily say that for cinema. There was a chain called ABC. And yes, that's ABC as in the pre-1968 ITV franchisee. Granada had cinemas as well I think?
We still had an ABC cinema up until it became Odeon in 2002 (bar a period from the the mid-80s to mid-90s when it became a Canon, before changing back).
There was a Granada cinema too until it was demolished to make way for the shopping centre. And Granada bingo until it became Gala in the early 90s.
Spencer post_id=49060 time= user_id=891 Wrote:Inspector Sands post_id=48956 time= user_id=1003 Wrote:That of course was why Granada chose the northern franchise, their cinemas were mostly in the south so they wanted their TV station in the North so not to compete
I thought Sidney Bernstein famously chose the region as it had the highest average rainfall because he thought it would ensure more people would be indoors watching TV.
Or perhaps that’s an urban myth! :lol:
That was possibly a factor too. It was Bernstein who had the studios given even numbers only to make it seem like there were more
Someone mentioned above, about the regional ITV companies being household names. They were production companies, some, such as Granada, also making programmes for the BBC, and most contributed programmes to Channel 4, albeit with changes to endcaps, such as Thames.
Above all though, certainly as a child in the 80s, my parents, our neighbours, never referred to channel 3 as ITV; it was always STV, or Scottish, and that would've been the same for other regions. When ITN ran a report about the last day of Thames, TV-am, TSW and TVS, the boss of TVS said "we still hear people say 'Let's see what's on Southern', so we don't think people will refer to it as Meridian".
And that was despite the 1989 Get ready for ITV campaign.
What was Granada making for the BBC in 1991 - I don't recall anything back then?
commseng post_id=49807 time= user_id=1125 Wrote:What was Granada making for the BBC in 1991 - I don't recall anything back then?
What The Papers Say ?