30th anniversary of the 1991 ITV franchise auction

[commseng]

Ah yes, that's triggered the memory, and a quick look at the interweb says it moved to the BBC after being on Channel 4 in May 1990.
Hadn't remembered that it was that long ago!

[Robertclark125]

This is the final day, and the close of Oracle, from 1992.

http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/oracl...gone.shtml

[Humphrey Hacker]

The loss of Thames et al was inevitable in my opinion. Yes other franchises could have altered as well. From what I understand YTV and Tyne Tees' bid were over the top and they came close to being thrown out.

The roots of this IMO lie with the Peacock report. From that point on it can be argued that Television became a business. ITV knew that it's old cosy existence was running out of time. The metamorphosis of the IBA to the ITC removed a safety net for the franchises. They knew that reputations would mean nothing in 1990, it was down to cold hard cash.

Yes TV-AM was screwed due to it's status as the "black sheep" and TVS' adventures in the USA scuppered them. Thames's shareholders were looking for an "out" and I think "Death On The Rock" may have formed a large part of that escape route and I'm not sure about why TSW lost. All the in situ companies placed their heads under the Guillotine.

[JAS84]

TSW failed on their business plan, looks like they overbid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of...e_auctions

[Night Thoughts]

They really did have their fingers in all the pies back then, didn't they?

ATV’s music publishing arm (which bought the Lennon-McCartney catalogue in the late 60s) far outlived its original parent - ATV Music was sold to Michael Jackson and later merged into Sony/ATV Music. The ATV name was only dropped at the start of this year.

[Night Thoughts]

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?

Here's a decent indication of what a big deal the old ITV companies were to many ordinary viewers - a piece in this week's Radio Times with people's memories of continuity announcers! A very different time.

https://twitter.com/Radiojottings/status...0819042308

[russty_russ]

This is the final day, and the close of Oracle, from 1992.

http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/oracl...gone.shtml

Have you seen this link before? https://www.transdiffusion.org/2017/12/3...g-the-page

This has the transition from Oracle to Teletext and what came inbetween.

[what]

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?

Here's a decent indication of what a big deal the old ITV companies were to many ordinary viewers - a piece in this week's Radio Times with people's memories of continuity announcers! A very different time.

https://twitter.com/Radiojottings/status...0819042308

And they mention ITV becoming "one ITV" in 2004. :roll:

[JAS84]

That date isn't wrong as it's when Carlton and Granada merged.

[Brekkie]

I'd say they were largely gone in most regions by the early 90s though -- in some cases as part of modernising presentation as franchises were renewed in 1993. I don't think any new franchises ever had it.

[Neil Jones]

And they mention ITV becoming "one ITV" in 2004. :roll:

ITV plc was formed in 2004. 2nd of February 2004.
A unified look (or relatively anyway) did appear on screen in October 2002, but that was still Carlton and Granada behind the scenes.

I'd say they were largely gone in most regions by the early 90s though -- in some cases as part of modernising presentation as franchises were renewed in 1993. I don't think any new franchises ever had it.

The table on Wikipedia suggests most companies had dumped IVC by the late 1980s. The same table says Meridian did use it but only on weekend overnights. Apparently Yorkshire dropped it altogether in 1970, followed (it says here) by HTV who then changed their minds and bought it back again, and then LWT dropped it in 1982. Apparently the only post 1993 companies not to use it were Carlton and Westcountry (apparently TSW hung onto it until the last possible moment).

[Brekkie]

The only memory I have of it is it being used occassionally on Granada in the early 90s in the white stripe era, and seemingly only with Colin Weston.

[Andrew]

And they mention ITV becoming "one ITV" in 2004. :roll:

ITV plc was formed in 2004. 2nd of February 2004.
A unified look (or relatively anyway) did appear on screen in October 2002, but that was still Carlton and Granada behind the scenes.

I'd say they were largely gone in most regions by the early 90s though -- in some cases as part of modernising presentation as franchises were renewed in 1993. I don't think any new franchises ever had it.

The table on Wikipedia suggests most companies had dumped IVC by the late 1980s. The same table says Meridian did use it but only on weekend overnights. Apparently Yorkshire dropped it altogether in 1970, followed (it says here) by HTV who then changed their minds and bought it back again, and then LWT dropped it in 1982. Apparently the only post 1993 companies not to use it were Carlton and Westcountry (apparently TSW hung onto it until the last possible moment).

I’m not sure overnights really counts in people’s memories, as few will have seen that, and it was probably done like a branded zone like Children’s ITV was

[Richard]

I think that to do an article like this and not mention Julian or UTV is a big omission.

[russty_russ]

I'd say they were largely gone in most regions by the early 90s though -- in some cases as part of modernising presentation as franchises were renewed in 1993. I don't think any new franchises ever had it.

Did Meridian have it for their through the night programming?