Regulator of UK commercial television until 1972
Independent Television Authority
ITA logo 1969?1972
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Formed
| 1954
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Dissolved
| 1972
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Superseding agency
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Headquarters
| United Kingdom
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The
Independent Television Authority
(
ITA
) was an agency created by the
Television Act 1954
to supervise the creation of "
Independent Television" (ITV)
, the first commercial
television network
in the
United Kingdom
. The ITA existed from 1954 until 1972. It was responsible for determining the location, constructing, building, and operating the transmission stations used by the ITV network, as well as determining the
franchise
areas and awarding the franchises for each regional commercial
broadcaster
. The Authority began its operations on 4 August 1954, a mere four days after the Television Act received
Royal Assent
, under the Chairmanship of Sir
Kenneth Clark
. The Authority's first Director General,
Sir Robert Fraser
was appointed by Clark a month later on 14 September.
The physics of
VHF
broadcasting meant that a comparatively small number of
transmitters
could cover the majority of the population of Britain, if not the bulk of the area of the country. The ITA determined that the first three franchise areas would cover the
London
area, the
English Midlands
, and
Northern England
(the
Lancashire
/
Yorkshire
belt of industrial cities from
Liverpool
to
Hull
and the surrounding countryside). All three franchise areas would be awarded on a divided weekday/weekend basis, and it was planned that the franchise holders for these areas would produce the great bulk of network programmes, while the companies given the smaller franchises would produce mainly local programmes for their area only.
Franchises
[
edit
]
The ITA awarded franchises to applicant companies, selecting between applicants on the basis of the financial soundness and structure of the company, the proposals for the service to be offered, and often on connections between the applicant company and the area to be served.
Franchises were awarded initially between 1954 and 1961, with the new television stations usually beginning their broadcasting one-to-two years later. During September 1963 the ITA invited new applications for franchises to operate from July 1964 for three years or until the arrival of a
second commercial channel
, whichever came first, but in fact no changes were made to any franchise holders at that time, except for confirming the merger of the
South Wales and the West
franchise held by
TWW
and the
Wales West and North
franchise held by
WWN
following the financial collapse of WWN. (In the event, a second commercial channel did not begin until 1982, under the guise of
Channel 4
.)
Initial franchises awarded in 1954
[
edit
]
In January 1955 the ITA authorised the creation of
ITN
(Independent Television News), a company owned and operated by the ITV companies collectively, to provide a news service for the new network.
On 22 September 1955 the ITV service opened in the London area, where the ITA transmitter could reach a population of nearly 12 million. The first commercial on British television was for "Gibbs SR" toothpaste.
Franchises awarded in 1956
[
edit
]
- The Central Scotland franchise was awarded to
Scottish Television
(STV), from three applications.
- The South Wales and West of England franchise (on both sides of the Severn Estuary) was awarded to
Television Wales and the West
, TWW, from ten applications.
Franchises awarded in 1957
[
edit
]
Franchises awarded in 1958
[
edit
]
- The East of England franchise was awarded to
Anglia Television
, from eight applications.
- The Northern Ireland franchise was awarded to
Ulster Television
(UTV), from four applications.
Franchise awarded in 1959
[
edit
]
- The South West England franchise was awarded to
Westward Television
, from fifteen applications.
Franchises awarded in 1960
[
edit
]
- The franchise for the Channel Islands was awarded to
Channel Television
, from two applications, following the extension of the Television Act 1954 to the Islands by
Order in Council
, as it normally would not apply there.
- The franchise for the English-Scottish Border and the
Isle of Man
was awarded to
Border Television
, from two applications.
- The franchise for North East Scotland was awarded to
Grampian Television
, from seven applications.
Franchise awarded in 1961
[
edit
]
- The franchise for West and North Wales was awarded to the Wales Television Association, Teledu Cymru, transmitting as
WWN
, Wales (West and North) Television.
When WWN went on the air on 14 September 1962, the ITV Network was completed. However, due to the late commissioning of two of WWN's three transmitters, the company never received more than half the projected income and the company failed in January 1964; the two Welsh franchises were consequently merged, with TWW broadcasting to the whole of Wales.
Franchise review 1967
[
edit
]
The 1967 franchise review involved substantial changes:
- All weekday/weekend split franchises were ended except in London.
- The
North of England
franchise was split between
North West England
, awarded to
Granada Television
, and the
three Ridings of Yorkshire
to create
Yorkshire Television
.
- The new 7-day franchise in the Midlands was awarded to
(ATV)
.
- The ITA asked
ABC
and
Associated-Rediffusion
to merge, forming
Thames Television
which was awarded the London Weekday franchise.
- LWT
was awarded the London Weekend franchise (from 7 pm on Fridays).
- Most controversially,
TWW
lost its franchise for Wales and the West of England to
Harlech Television
, which soon became known as
HTV
.
The 1967 franchises were subsequently extended in stages to expire in 1976, then 1979, and finally to expire on 31 December 1981. See the entry for the
IBA
for details of the 1981 and 1991?2 franchise rounds.
Changes from 1972
[
edit
]
The Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 gave the ITA responsibility for organising commercial radio in the UK, and reconstituted the ITA as the
Independent Broadcasting Authority
(IBA) with effect from Wednesday 12 July 1972. The IBA was subsequently replaced by the
Independent Television Commission
(ITC) and the
Radio Authority
under the provisions of the
Broadcasting Act 1990
, which themselves were replaced by the Office of Communications (
Ofcom
) at the end of 2003.
Chairman
[
edit
]
- Status
Denotes Acting Chairman
[1]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Sendall, Bernard
Independent Television in Britain: Volume 1 - Origin and Foundation 1946-62
London: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1982 (reprinted 1984)
ISBN
0-333-30941-3
Communications regulation and maintenance
|
Regulation of
ITV
4 August 1954 – 11 July 1972
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Succeeded by
|
Maintenance of ITV Transmitters
4 August 1954 – 11 July 1972
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ITV
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Channels
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Companies
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Divisions,
brands and
services
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ITV
(network)
franchises
and
regions
| National
franchises
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Current
regional
franchises
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Former
regional
franchises
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Unsuccessful
franchise bids
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Non-franchise
regions
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Timelines
| Franchises
and regions
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Other
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Regulators
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Other
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Active
members
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Associate
members
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Approved
participants
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