You nailed it in so few words-TVS was quality. This got me thinking about Central's £2,000 bid. Why didn't anyone challenge them? They could have easily lost the franchise. When ATV was forced to rebrand as Central, it felt like the IBA was throwing its weight around too much. In my opinion, while it’s fair to require broadcasters to meet regulatory standards, forcing them to become a completely new company was excessive. No regulator should have that much power. They should be able to revoke a license only in extreme cases, but the IBA seemed to wield this authority at will-they were too strict. Just my opinion, of course. Nowadays in Australia Network 10 has handed licences back in regions that aren't profitable. So sad. Traditional television is so important when it comes to journalism.
Think about it, that’s only about £4200 in modern money. I make the equivalent of that (in USD) in six weeks… and that’s my net income. That’s what actually goes in my bank account every payday. Just imagine someone sitting there and saying “Let’s see… I can buy my teenager a halfway decent used car for their 18th birthday, or I can bid on a TV broadcasting franchise that covers a large chunk of England…”
Exactly - NOT a similar manner to Southern,as the IBA decided it was their PROGRAMME plans, and not their business plan,that failed them. And TVS weren't d***s about losing, unlike Southern.
How Television South (TVS) DIED... 0608am 18.1.25 and haven't we all suffered since the death of genuine regional tv programming? if this nonsense is to take the same road as any other enterprise - then they will amalgamate and dissipate and so on and so forth sadly, though, i think we have lost regional tv for good.... no genuine granada tv, or Anglia, or tvs, lwt, thames..... htv - what happened to that?
I was working for the company selling airtime for all UK regions except London, Yorkshire and Granada. It was hilarious that Central won with a 2 grand bid but TVS lost with £59 mil. What a circus!
The Broadcasting Bill of 1990 was the death knell of what was ITV regional television. Once the big money came in and bought out the well-established companies that put quality over quantity, they did the complete opposite, providing more, 'choice', by diluting their output to the cheapest denomination imaginable. Effectively spreading a single dollop of jam over an entire loaf of bread. TVS didn't stand a chance. At least their farewell had more of a party atmosphere, rather than the funeral-esque sentiment of their predecessor, Southern Television.
What made me sick about the 2010-2024 Tory Government among the many endless reasons is that when they first came in they were making a song and dance about creating regional independent TV in the UK when it was their bloody party that destroyed regional ITV in the first place with that assassination bill.
Absolutely - ITV is just dire now. The last hurrah they had, was with Cracker, September Song and Prime Suspect in the 1990s. It just caters to the lowest level these days.
I’m from the South East. We’d get both TVS and Thames. I was 12 when the switch to Meridian and Carlton happened. It never even occurred to me at the time that that’s why we lost so many great shows. It actually makes me angry now. That was my childhood. I remember the shows Meridian and Carlton put out instead were a steaming pile of dung. Can’t believe they’ve lasted all this time.
TVS bowed out with much more dignity than Southern, but their final few moments were just as moving as those of their predecessors - thanking the viewers with their last breath.
I remember this very well, my dad worked for TVS at the time, it was not a good time, he lost his job, did work for Meridian for a while, then ,Maidstone studios changed to the Family Channel for a while, this also never lasted, then became The Maidstone Studios. I have very fond memories of No73, i was there on many broadcasts as a teen. Then a few years later have worked there myself as an Electrical contractor. The land the Studios sat on is now surround by new build houses which is a real shame, makes me sad to see.
A great series Adam. I grew up through all of these times. I can't express how much of a big nerd I am for British TV history in total. This content is right up my street.
I remember the 31st Dec 1992 at 23:00. The goodbye show with Fred Dinadge and Fern Britton. Most ITV franchises ended up now as ITV Studio, except Thames Television who were taken over by Pearson (Fremantle Media) but I haven't a clue where TVS's output went to. It seems to be all different companies who want a deal with them over an old programme that somebody wants to put out on DVD or Blu-ray.
Exactly just as the Johnson government's (failed) attempt to privatise Channel 4 ~30 years later was revenge for them empty chairing him during their debate.
It's often thought that but the Peacock report was published before death on the rock. However I do think that if Thames had outbid Carlton the ITC might have said they overbid.
This a commonly held belief but actually Thames simply didn't bid enough. Mainly because their owners weren't really that interested in the TV industry anymore and therefore they were badly placed to find out what the rival bids were, unlike say, Central or Granada who had a better grasp of the wider industry.
@@MatgoStyles One of the guys at Thames said many years later that Carlton could afford to bid big and it was virtually impossible to match it. But did also say that they did underbid.
As someone who lives in Newport on the Isle of Wight, it was nice to hear us mentioned in your excellent video. Nice trip down memory lane. Remember TVS well and it's Meridian successor.
How very interesting, a sequel video to the Southern one, have to say it Adam if this becomes a series on how every ITV broadcaster that lost it's licence died it might become a very enjoyable series! Well done!
"You've been a wonderful audience, and Meridian are very lucky to have you." What a classy way to go out. ...and sadly, even if TVS won the round, its identity would have still been consumed by the ITV plc blob...
TVS was one of the ITV regions that I saw regularly when I was living in Maidenhead. However I also watched Thames as well owing to our house having two ariels on the roof. TVS became Meridian and then ITV South.
It's mad how TVS did this extravagant and very dignified goodbye, then you get the first few moments of Meridian and think to yourself, what the hell is this crap. Those were the days. Top stuff Adam, as always ❤🎉❤
A lot of the TVS archive is now in Disney's hands via a series of takeovers, first of all with IFE (International Family Entertainment) aka The Family Channel (1993-1997 in the UK, replaced by Challenge), after The Family Channel in the UK became Challenge, Fox Kids Worldwide (owned by Fox and Saban) took over IFE, rebranding The Family Channel U.S. to Fox Family, Disney then bought Fox Family (along with the Fox Kids assets and a majority stake in Fox Kids Europe), and became ABC Family (now Freeform). Allegedly, a lot of the paperwork for the TVS shows have disappeared, making it significantly harder or near enough impossible to legally licence out the old programming.
TVS produced a lot of hits of my early childhood. They had a very classy, glossy feel. Nostalgia bias makes me view them more favourably than Southern in the 'posh leafy green English' image stakes, and especially with the nature of its goodbye. They messed up with their financial dealings, but they didn't spit out the dummy, shrugged and left in a more dignified manner. Southern squealed "Your loss!" and stomped off, TVS said "cheers for having us" and walked away.
And I can confirm the Cathedral that Meridian was broadcasting from was Winchester as that's the City I live in. TVS was def apart of my childhood, so many classic TV shows shown, including Knight Rider and during the week there was programmes on Children's ITV to look forward to
With that, another ITV Southern company went south. (Sorry 'bout that) Also, I can't help but chuckle at the TVS announcer at the end. He's so obviously un-sure about whatever C4 were showing despite saying he highly recommends it.
Buying MTM was the beginning of the end. I think TVS were maybe damned whatever they bid in the 1991 franchise round. All of the losing companies (especially in 1991) had a right to be bitter but while Southern bowed out with no dignity in 1981, TVS bowed out with grace in 1992.
@@CheekyBandit I've been reading the book Sky High by Mathew Horsman lately, another thing came up in that book that I don't think is really mentioned online; the parent company of Thames had a stake in Astra from very early on, whereas all of the other ITV companies were backing BSB. I think that could also have come into play too.
As a teen in the 80s I absolutely loved TVS, especially Late Night Late with Graham Rogers & its strange but lovely mix of Soap (1977), Tour of Duty, Prisoner: Cell Block H & Horror B movies.
Same day as Central Independent Television launched which became successful especially in the 1990s as they were unopposed in the 1991 bid. Which had three studios Birmingham, Oxford and Lenton Lane in Nottingham.
The narrator keeps saying that TVS were on air for 10 years but they were on air for 11 years, they started on the first day of 1982 and Meridian started on the first day of 1993.
A well produced video which I watched in one sitting, all the way through. As an aside, I was studying TV deregulation in 1989 in A Level Media Studies, so I was captivated by the time this happened. Please note, the scholarly side of my youth has nothing to do with my enjoyment of this entertaining and edifying video. The Southern region was never the same when Worzel Gummidge stopped being broadcast !
I remember the end of Southern very well, but I think I missed this handover as I was at a new year party which didn't have the telly on. What is interesting is that Meridian started right after midnight, but 10 years earlier after watching the Southern ident disappear into the starry background, I waited agog for the start of TVS, but after a few minutes all that appeared was the coloured bars and a tone. Why didn't they broadcast as soon as they were able to? Apparently Southern wouldn't let them into the building until their very end, but TVS could have done something outside somewhere, even if was outside one of their portacabins. Nothing wrong with portacabins, I live in one!
The fact of the matter was that all television used to close down at night, sometime just before or after midnight. ITV were first to start late-night viewing, in 1986, into the early hours and would, 'closedown', about 5am before breakfast TV started at 6.30. So, to answer the question as to why TVS didn't start up at the stroke of midnight on the 1st January 1982, is due to them not being scheduled to start until the following morning, like all television did, in those days.
I like Neil Buchanan! Art Attack was great... Except we're talking about TVS not CITV. lol Very fascinating video, and so was the "How Southern Television Died" video. Are you working on "How Meridian Died" too? I used to live in the Thames Television / LWT area (well, the surrounding area), but I never got to see Thames handover to Carlton because just before the handover we moved to Germany. We later lived in the Yorkshire Television area.
It was a bad decision for Thames and for TVS. Especially in light of what happened: all the companies were allowed to change their payments and the predictions TVS made when they made their bid came to pass. The fact they (and Thames) lost was so unfortunate. TVS were a company who existed (in one form or another) until just around 2 years ago. They may no longer have produced programmes, but their legacy lingered on. With some programmes still shown for years after their demise. Thames, lasted beyond their 'demise' also. Their programmes are still shown and respected and it is said they lost their bid for 'political' reasons. (Having upset a certain 'Iron Lady' and co with a programme which was disliked by the government at the time of broadcast that this meant no matter what they bid was never going to make any difference to their fate). The day of January, 1st, 1993 was a sad day for all; ITV would lose their way fairly quickly from this point on. (If history were different would what would have come would have been better - we will all never know).
There are no real franchises left. It's all part of one monolithic blob called ITV plc. They just use regional names to try and give the illusion of being, 'independent', when they're not. If they did stop for some reason, I doubt anyone would notice. They'd just have some other subsidiary take over with little to no fanfare at all.
They paid the price for Thames TV broadcasting a documentary called Death On The Rock where three unarmed IRA members were shot dead by the SAS. Thatcher decided to remove the franchises!
Not going to happen. Which is a shame, as ITV regions was a big selling point of ITV. Could ITV plc have separate programming in X regions for local interest? Probably, but I bet someone crunched the numbers and figured it's more profitable to have a national output, with only some opt outs for regional news and advertising.
Shame they didn’t do something like this for the 2000s when they had the stupidity to purge all the regional ITV channels with the exception of GMTV (but got replaced by Daybreak in 2010 and Good Morning Britain in 2014), Grampian, Channel Islands (but then those two were ceased in 2006 before the 2006-2013 ITV rebrand when they changed their corporate logo), Scottish and UTV, due to Carlton Internatuinal and Granads Ventures buying all the regional UTV channels and then merging them into one by the end of 2004, I bet the golden age of regional ITV ending on October 28, 2002 going out on a wrap party documentary gala ending on a high like this would have been something truly special.
I have very fond memories of TVS as a kid, and was dismayed when Meridian took over, though in retrospect TVS would have been on borrowed time even if they had retained the franchise, thanks to the consolidation of ITV into one company over the following decade. I well remember the excitement of going to the Maidstone studios in 1991, when I was 11, to watch two episodes of the Mouse Trap game show, hosted by Steve Johnson, being recorded for Motormouth.
If Fred Dineage wasn’t Steve Coogan’s inspiration for Alan Partridge, I would be amazed. That Goodbye from TVS show looks almost exactly like ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’.
The ITV franchise bid was a big mistake. GMTV was a ratings and financial disaster; they couldn't afford the amount they had bid, leading to renegotiations with the Independent Television Commission (ITC). Despite some attempts to stabilize, GMTV never became significantly profitable, as their high franchise fees, low advertising revenue, and growing competition from satellite and cable TV made their business model unsustainable. Before GMTV, TV-AM had a rocky start but ultimately succeeded in delivering what viewers wanted. They achieved strong ratings later in their tenure. TV-AM was the most profitable ITV franchise... GMTV really did mess up. You can't beat the original and best. with popular segments like Roland Rat. Margaret Thatcher's letter of regret over TV-AM's closer. ITV’s ratings declined with the content the new broadcasters aired during those early years.... It truly was disaster in my opinion caused by Margaret Thatcher attempt to generate more money for the country.
I'm grateful to RUclips for having had the opportunity to see the TVS send off a few years ago and the Thames dignified sign off with their 24 year back catalogue just recently. Even after ALL this time Carlton & itv1 have not been able to match it! TBH, the 1st 10/15 minutes of the compilation show! 💯 I can't remember seeing the Thames TV final broadcast, not sure what I was doing, still not quite legal for boozing yet, at the time! 😡😊
Absolutely true. It was a huge issue for contentment but even though TVS and Thames could have appealed (don't know about TSW) it was said they didn't - not because of cost - but because by the time it would have been heard (after instigation actions) whatever the outcome it would have been too late. The new companies would have already have been transmitting for some time and for them to return to transmitting and broadcasting would have caused such a disruption to ITV (and those particular regions) that this is why they didn't. (It was not until the last possible moment that they were officially told they had lost; and both bowed out with merits, their heads held high; the viewers not affected by any of these (what would have been) long and protracted appeals. Had this not been the case and the announcements were made earlier then they could have probably won their appeals. Which is such an irony I've always thought. (Sorry for overlong comment).
TVS Should never have lost with Thames going tvs still on itv would have made it much smoother and kept itv ahead of the bbc then the rappid decline we got when Carlton took over. Meridian won due to having clive jones and greg dyke who ran tvs in mid 80s as shareholders along with mike palin and tracy ullman.
I'm 58 and from the region but TVS has been kinda forgotten by me but Southern's logo and tune still is a strong memory. I actually worked in for a company that built sets for TVS in the '80s for a few months from a job agency. Meridian is almost a complete blank. Mind you I wasn't drinking or doing drugs when Southern were going and would have been more addicted to telly then. I seem to remember Fred Dinenage never seemed to age...
Now Meridian has swallowed up the former Central South area for good I think the Oxford transmitter area(which is where I lurk) needs to be returned to Central's stewardship
I really missed Southern. It had some excellent local programmes and some odd things like Jack Hargreaves's Out of Town and Farm Progress, and a more local feel.
Funny isn’t it, along with TVam two companies that embodied Thatcherism on TV were the biggest losers of the hatchet job on “leftist ITV”. No wonder it was one the few occasions where she publicly apologised for a mess she had created.
Likely a sad reminder of the stupid boom and bust times of the late 1980s. I have a strong dislike of that period, not least because I had my own business and worked in a decent job as well in a computer department. I lost both thanks to the relentless and stupid prices companies were throwing around acquiring other companies (and debt as well). When the recession started to hit and interest rates shot up, it all collapsed. I remember applying for a job in Halfords just as a shop worker and in 1 day alone, 800 applications had been taken. It was truly awful times. I'll never understand that frenzied time of buying everything hang the cost.
True. Meridian Tonight was a decent news programme that was very much like Coast To Coast. Meridian did a decent effort with regional programming but I couldn’t name anything they made for the network
Now that’s the way to bow out! What a difference from their predecessors! The Southern lot looked like they were all being lined up to be shot at the end, and TVS looked like they couldn’t give a monkeys, (even if they were dying inside!) Kudos to them for keeping their head up, and not having any bleeding stuffy opera singers at the end of their final programme!!!!
Hi to you and great idea. If its possible that you'll be developing these Death of's to a series, I think the Rediffusion’s franchise death and its fractious hand over to Thames would make a great installment. I have read from the Transdiffusion online source that ITV applicants would attend ITA interviews for Rediffusion renewal...only for the same faces to attend a later interview for the new London Weekend bid! Regards Rediffusion's influence of Thames...Rediffusion was the minority interest and they had to give way to ABC mostly. Except on Rediffusion’s last week...they clung on their last day the Monday, whereas in North, YTV agreed a deal with Granada for the similar.
Crikey, I don't think I've ever seen that version of the BBC News ident at 4:30, I didn't even realise they had a version with that music which _wasn't_ the big glass brick. O.o
"The [then Conservative] government says that the plans will mean more chouce for the viewer. The critics say quality will suffer" And the critics were right.
Irrespective of the reasons behind its demise for those of born in the late 70s and early 80s TVS’s iconic Childrens output holds a special place in our collective childhood memories. For that reason alone its demise in 1992 was every bit as sad as that of Thames.
Ah the broadcasting act 1990. The thing that ruined itv (it would have changed still, but without the arseholes at Carlton it would have been much better), gave David Cameron his first step to government, and indirectly therefore led to Brexit… Horrific is not the word.
I notice, though I never saw them because I don't live in the South, that TVS broadcasted Company Christian programmes with Adrian Plass. They have been uploaded on RUclips and I viewed them. Interesting to find out what the contributors looked like!
The top three questions I have, after watching this... 1 - Why was a near identical Mallet produced specifically for that sketch involving Timmy Mallett? Most casual viewers wouldn't have noticed the difference, but it was larger than the real one and had 'Timmy's Mallet' written on it instead of 'Mallett's Mallet'. Why didn't they just have him use the one he already used on Wacaday? I can't imagine there being a copyright issue, he used the Mallet on various guest appearances on TV. 2 - If you watch the TVS to Meridian switchover online, it's noticeable that there was no obvious moment where TVS ended transmission and Meridian began. Despite a momentary sound problem during the final few seconds of TVS, the same footage of Big Ben just flowed in one continuous feed whilst the baton was passed from TVS to Meridian. 3 - Why did the ITV name carry forward into 1993 and beyond, when it was announced that the network would be rebranded as Channel 3? Much later in the decade, Yorkshire and Tyne Tees briefly used the Channel 3 name alongside their regional identities and the ITV name in a calamitously confusing branding disaster. But why wasn't the Channel 3 brand adopted nationwide in 1993? Anyway, aside from the questions, my thoughts on the TVS franchise loss are that they were victims to an unfair bidding system. They passed the quality threshold, they bid the highest sum, and lost. How does that work? They had no choice but to bid in the ballpark of £60million, against competition capable of successfully bidding £36million. They were robbed.
I think I can answer the second question. The Big Ben part would have likely been a network feed, the cut over should have been seamless as the same network feed would have been presented to both ITV companies and if timed in correctly when switched there would be no bump. Alternatively, Meridian's first output was TXed from TVS.
The second question can be easy to answer, as Meridian bought out TVS studios in Southampton, Meridian would be playout from the same master control room as TVS, so no wobby VHS out of sync at midnight (as in the cases of Thames/Carlton or TSW/Westcountry), fun fact the playout centre at Southampton would also playout Anglia later on when they was bought by Meridian’s owner
The thing is that even the new kids on the block like Meridian and Sunrise (TV-AM's successor, later renamed To GMTV to avoid legal issues with Sky) couldn't afford the annual fees they've submited which were reduced later down the line. The 'quality' criteria which many candidates have failed to pass was designed by Granada with one thing in mind - to stop Phil Redmond from taking over the equally lucrative Northwest, which they did succeed (Granada won the franchise for less than 10M).
You're right, when you say that a lot of the franchise holders subsequently received a reduction in their premium payments; I've read, somewhere, that GMTV had theirs reduced to the same yearly figure that TV-am had bid for the license with. I have to admit being rather confused as to why an ITV contractor (which is what Granada were) would be involved in setting any aspect of the legislation of the industry they were part of. It is said that Granada retained their franchise, simply because they threatened to pull their programmes from the ITV network, if they didn't.
@@electragaming4140 True, the ITC didn't want to lose Granada's (and by extension ITV's) golden goose - Coronation Street, to the competition. And that was double if it was to the pesky Rupert Murdoch and his upstart satellite network - Sky
@@electragaming4140 Well, it is true that Granada planned to move its IP's, including their golden goose (by extension also ITV's) - Coronation Street, to the competition. Imagine the prospect of having Corrie being aired elsewhere at the time, especially on Rupert Murdoch's new upstart satellite channel - Sky.
I remember the change over from Southern to TVS as a 10 year old child it happened again in 1992, the worst tv company i felt was Carlton TV that took over Thames... after losing both ITV companies i felt ITV local wasnt the same anymore . Mind you back then we had both Thames and TVS as well as BBC south and BBC London back then
The contrast with Central is shocking where Central was the only bidder for the franchise. It's as though the philosophy of Bullseye ran through the Central franchise bid but the money saved could have bought a new speedboat each and every week as a consolation prize for Bullseye contestants.
In my opinion: Thatcher should NEVER have been re-elected! Had she lost re-election either in 1982 or 1986, we may not have gotten this stupid Broadcasting Act! Not only did we lose TVS, TSW, Thames, TV-am and Oracle, over time we lost regional ITV almost entirely! It's part of why TV today is bland as hell! I miss the days when the main broadcasters gave us an exciting variety of shows, now they're reliant on reruns of a select few shows and reboots of other shows! I was born in late 1987, meaning I only remember GMTV and Meridian broadcasting in my area and didn't know Anglia, Central and Yorkshire Television were ITV franchises rather than just being production companies until years later, but when I look at what TV was like shortly before I was born... WOW, I am JEALOUS! I don't like the idea of TV not being on 24/7 but I do like how broadcasters back in the day were more creative when giving us new programming! Closedowns I have little memory of outside cable/satellite channels: I remember seeing the words "Closedown" in the Channel 4 listings in a magazine and I did tune into the BBC very early a few mornings in my single digit years resulting in me catching the last 10 minutes or so of Pages From Ceefax, but that's about all I remember of the basic 4 channels NOT broadcasting 24/7. I especially feel sorry for the South Westerners when they were shown TSW sending Gus Honeybun back home as part of TSW's farewell broadcast! (I only know about this because of ITV in The Face) and I'm sure it must've been painful for those outside the TSW/TVS regions to watch Thames' farewell broadcast!
You raise some good points... IMO The Broadcasting Act probably sped up the inevitable, as there was always pressure in ITV for consolidation - see Trident TV as an example . Satellite TV would have still come, streaming TV would have still come. While it was the Tories that passed the Broadcasting Act, it was Labour in 2003 that passed the Communications Act that lifted all caps of ITV franchise ownership.
The broadcasting bill was later looked at as a bad idea, by the very people who instigated it. It should never have happened in the way that it did. It should have been made possible for appeals to take place BEFORE the new companies began broadcasting. However, it was made at so there wasn't time for any appeals. Hence why TVS, Thames and TSW didn't appeal the verdicts. TVS and Thames would have ultimately won their bids based on what we now know. As I've read - and is mentioned elsewhere in the comments - the ITV companies were able to change their payments and Thames - being the broadcaster at the time - more than adequately passed the quality threshold. As ITV's biggest producer of programmes for the company (at the time) it was impossible for them to lose; had they not offended a certain 'Iron Lady' and co. then they would have been able to continue. What amazes me, however, is the fact that the programme which brought about the whole issue in the first place had been cleared by the ITA (and legally was fine too) to be broadcast as it was. The fact that neither TVS, Thames or TSW tried for an appeal is simply because they (and TV-AM) realised they couldn't get the appeals heard before the new companies took over broadcasting. All four companies chose not to let the viewers - and ITV as a whole - suffer due to this. And that, alone, meant that there was no disruption and they can all hold their heads high and say they cared about the viewers, right until the last seconds of broadcasting. (Sorry for overlong comment).
Adam; do a video on the demise of TCC The Children’s Channel, particularly the connections it had with TVS as it mostly came out of an room in Maidstone with the family channel, the TVS not very successful limping on strategy 😮 TCC was the first uk channel to show Barney the Dinosaur 🦖 before it took off as a popular kids tv franchise in the UK. TCC almost crashed off air overnight and the Nordic version had to knock together a rolling tape in order to keep contracts with TV cable companies in good standing, with an really crap experience for a good few weeks.
Neil of Art Attack made millions out of the franchise as he had ownership of some of the rights of the program. I understand Disney paid him off significantly over the years in order for them to get full control of Art Attack.
@@lestat1uk Only as a name, its parent company that had started to expand (buying Anglia etc.) tried to merge with Carlton but the regulator said the merged company would have to sell off Meridian, so they sold shop up to Granada. Of course Carlton and Granada would eventually merge to become ITV plc.
I believe the original brief was that no versions of the words ‘south’ or ‘television’ were to be used - hence Meridian Broadcasting - and the nautical looking logo was bursting in colours in contrast to TVS’ greys
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Bob the fish said it best: “TVS’s strategy was bid high or die, but in the end it was bid high and die.”
You nailed it in so few words-TVS was quality.
This got me thinking about Central's £2,000 bid. Why didn't anyone challenge them? They could have easily lost the franchise. When ATV was forced to rebrand as Central, it felt like the IBA was throwing its weight around too much. In my opinion, while it’s fair to require broadcasters to meet regulatory standards, forcing them to become a completely new company was excessive.
No regulator should have that much power. They should be able to revoke a license only in extreme cases, but the IBA seemed to wield this authority at will-they were too strict. Just my opinion, of course.
Nowadays in Australia Network 10 has handed licences back in regions that aren't profitable. So sad. Traditional television is so important when it comes to journalism.
Think about it, that’s only about £4200 in modern money.
I make the equivalent of that (in USD) in six weeks… and that’s my net income. That’s what actually goes in my bank account every payday.
Just imagine someone sitting there and saying “Let’s see… I can buy my teenager a halfway decent used car for their 18th birthday, or I can bid on a TV broadcasting franchise that covers a large chunk of England…”
@@xavierbrenner6219 Same with TSW.
Exactly - NOT a similar manner to Southern,as the IBA decided it was their PROGRAMME plans, and not their business plan,that failed them. And TVS weren't d***s about losing, unlike Southern.
How Television South (TVS) DIED... 0608am 18.1.25 and haven't we all suffered since the death of genuine regional tv programming? if this nonsense is to take the same road as any other enterprise - then they will amalgamate and dissipate and so on and so forth sadly, though, i think we have lost regional tv for good.... no genuine granada tv, or Anglia, or tvs, lwt, thames..... htv - what happened to that?
I was working for the company selling airtime for all UK regions except London, Yorkshire and Granada. It was hilarious that Central won with a 2 grand bid but TVS lost with £59 mil. What a circus!
The Broadcasting Bill of 1990 was the death knell of what was ITV regional television. Once the big money came in and bought out the well-established companies that put quality over quantity, they did the complete opposite, providing more, 'choice', by diluting their output to the cheapest denomination imaginable. Effectively spreading a single dollop of jam over an entire loaf of bread. TVS didn't stand a chance. At least their farewell had more of a party atmosphere, rather than the funeral-esque sentiment of their predecessor, Southern Television.
What made me sick about the 2010-2024 Tory Government among the many endless reasons is that when they first came in they were making a song and dance about creating regional independent TV in the UK when it was their bloody party that destroyed regional ITV in the first place with that assassination bill.
The critics were right. The 1990 Broadcasting Act did give more choice but quality suffered as they predicted.
Indeed
Even the more choice part was a lie too as Carlton and Granada ended up consuming the rest of ITV.
@lorddalek yep this still annoys me
Absolutely - ITV is just dire now. The last hurrah they had, was with Cracker, September Song and Prime Suspect in the 1990s. It just caters to the lowest level these days.
I’m from the South East. We’d get both TVS and Thames. I was 12 when the switch to Meridian and Carlton happened. It never even occurred to me at the time that that’s why we lost so many great shows. It actually makes me angry now. That was my childhood. I remember the shows Meridian and Carlton put out instead were a steaming pile of dung. Can’t believe they’ve lasted all this time.
TVS bowed out with much more dignity than Southern, but their final few moments were just as moving as those of their predecessors - thanking the viewers with their last breath.
“Well now we’re done. Go check out what Channel 4 is playing”
What a wild final sign off. Can’t picture it today.
I remember this very well, my dad worked for TVS at the time, it was not a good time, he lost his job, did work for Meridian for a while, then ,Maidstone studios changed to the Family Channel for a while, this also never lasted, then became The Maidstone Studios. I have very fond memories of No73, i was there on many broadcasts as a teen. Then a few years later have worked there myself as an Electrical contractor.
The land the Studios sat on is now surround by new build houses which is a real shame, makes me sad to see.
Thanks for another great trip down memory lane. Born and bred in the Dover area, I’m 53 now and this brings back so many memories
A great series Adam. I grew up through all of these times. I can't express how much of a big nerd I am for British TV history in total. This content is right up my street.
Glad you enjoyed it! 😊
I second that.
I remember the 31st Dec 1992 at 23:00. The goodbye show with Fred Dinadge and Fern Britton. Most ITV franchises ended up now as ITV Studio, except Thames Television who were taken over by Pearson (Fremantle Media) but I haven't a clue where TVS's output went to. It seems to be all different companies who want a deal with them over an old programme that somebody wants to put out on DVD or Blu-ray.
Thames losing their franchise was a political hit job because of the “Death on the Rock” documentary
Exactly just as the Johnson government's (failed) attempt to privatise Channel 4 ~30 years later was revenge for them empty chairing him during their debate.
That old canard never made a lot of sense, since the IBA basically decided everything that Thames and the other companies could produce and broadcast.
It's often thought that but the Peacock report was published before death on the rock. However I do think that if Thames had outbid Carlton the ITC might have said they overbid.
This a commonly held belief but actually Thames simply didn't bid enough. Mainly because their owners weren't really that interested in the TV industry anymore and therefore they were badly placed to find out what the rival bids were, unlike say, Central or Granada who had a better grasp of the wider industry.
@@MatgoStyles One of the guys at Thames said many years later that Carlton could afford to bid big and it was virtually impossible to match it. But did also say that they did underbid.
As someone who lives in Newport on the Isle of Wight, it was nice to hear us mentioned in your excellent video. Nice trip down memory lane. Remember TVS well and it's Meridian successor.
How very interesting, a sequel video to the Southern one, have to say it Adam if this becomes a series on how every ITV broadcaster that lost it's licence died it might become a very enjoyable series! Well done!
"You've been a wonderful audience, and Meridian are very lucky to have you." What a classy way to go out.
...and sadly, even if TVS won the round, its identity would have still been consumed by the ITV plc blob...
The balls of Central’s bidding team by only bidding £2,000 and winning. That’s some serious confidence that you’re gonna win 😎
Helps when you're absolutely unopposed!
Up here,STV pulled the same trick - and won!!
@@richardmattocks Border were unopposed too.
TVS was one of the ITV regions that I saw regularly when I was living in Maidenhead. However I also watched Thames as well owing to our house having two ariels on the roof. TVS became Meridian and then ITV South.
It's mad how TVS did this extravagant and very dignified goodbye, then you get the first few moments of Meridian and think to yourself, what the hell is this crap. Those were the days. Top stuff Adam, as always ❤🎉❤
A lot of the TVS archive is now in Disney's hands via a series of takeovers, first of all with IFE (International Family Entertainment) aka The Family Channel (1993-1997 in the UK, replaced by Challenge), after The Family Channel in the UK became Challenge, Fox Kids Worldwide (owned by Fox and Saban) took over IFE, rebranding The Family Channel U.S. to Fox Family, Disney then bought Fox Family (along with the Fox Kids assets and a majority stake in Fox Kids Europe), and became ABC Family (now Freeform). Allegedly, a lot of the paperwork for the TVS shows have disappeared, making it significantly harder or near enough impossible to legally licence out the old programming.
TVS produced a lot of hits of my early childhood. They had a very classy, glossy feel. Nostalgia bias makes me view them more favourably than Southern in the 'posh leafy green English' image stakes, and especially with the nature of its goodbye. They messed up with their financial dealings, but they didn't spit out the dummy, shrugged and left in a more dignified manner. Southern squealed "Your loss!" and stomped off, TVS said "cheers for having us" and walked away.
And I can confirm the Cathedral that Meridian was broadcasting from was Winchester as that's the City I live in. TVS was def apart of my childhood, so many classic TV shows shown, including Knight Rider and during the week there was programmes on Children's ITV to look forward to
I thought it might have been Winchester. By coincidence, this video comes just as I've booked a short break in the area.
With that, another ITV Southern company went south. (Sorry 'bout that)
Also, I can't help but chuckle at the TVS announcer at the end. He's so obviously un-sure about whatever C4 were showing despite saying he highly recommends it.
Buying MTM was the beginning of the end. I think TVS were maybe damned whatever they bid in the 1991 franchise round. All of the losing companies (especially in 1991) had a right to be bitter but while Southern bowed out with no dignity in 1981, TVS bowed out with grace in 1992.
Even though I live in London I remember TVS more than Southern TV. Programmes I grew up with No73, Do It, Catchphrase, Motormouth, How 2
Let's Not forget TUGS (the short lived sister show to Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) as well!
@SophieCrane-o7v I vaguely remember that
Catchphrase and that's it, don't really remember anything else they contributed.
is that Ben Kingsley at 11:30 ? What a gorgeous man!
I remember the shock when Thames lost its franchise due to the 1990 franchise shake-up. So many classic shows vanished overnight.
All because Thatcher didn't likr "Death on the Rock".
@@CheekyBandit I've been reading the book Sky High by Mathew Horsman lately, another thing came up in that book that I don't think is really mentioned online; the parent company of Thames had a stake in Astra from very early on, whereas all of the other ITV companies were backing BSB. I think that could also have come into play too.
£2000 for Central to win their tenure but £60,000,000 didn’t cut it for TVS 😂. What a mess it was.
Central won their bid unopposed - presumably rival competitors didn't think they had a chance of outbidding them in one of the biggest regions.
As a teen in the 80s I absolutely loved TVS, especially Late Night Late with Graham Rogers & its strange but lovely mix of Soap (1977), Tour of Duty, Prisoner: Cell Block H & Horror B movies.
Yeah, I loved Late Night Late - I had such a crush on Laura Penn
Fascinating. And their old studios are still in use, as the Maidstone Studios. I went there recently for a recording of 'Deal Or No Deal'!
Sadly the Southampton HQ is long gone. 😢
I remember Southern and TVS very well... To me as long as we still had Fred Dinenage everything was fine.. Local legend is Fred
Yesssss thanks for making this one. Always a joy to watch your content, keep it up
Same day as Central Independent Television launched which became successful especially in the 1990s as they were unopposed in the 1991 bid. Which had three studios Birmingham, Oxford and Lenton Lane in Nottingham.
The narrator keeps saying that TVS were on air for 10 years but they were on air for 11 years, they started on the first day of 1982 and Meridian started on the first day of 1993.
A well produced video which I watched in one sitting, all the way through. As an aside, I was studying TV deregulation in 1989 in A Level Media Studies, so I was captivated by the time this happened. Please note, the scholarly side of my youth has nothing to do with my enjoyment of this entertaining and edifying video. The Southern region was never the same when Worzel Gummidge stopped being broadcast !
I remember the end of Southern very well, but I think I missed this handover as I was at a new year party which didn't have the telly on. What is interesting is that Meridian started right after midnight, but 10 years earlier after watching the Southern ident disappear into the starry background, I waited agog for the start of TVS, but after a few minutes all that appeared was the coloured bars and a tone. Why didn't they broadcast as soon as they were able to? Apparently Southern wouldn't let them into the building until their very end, but TVS could have done something outside somewhere, even if was outside one of their portacabins. Nothing wrong with portacabins, I live in one!
The fact of the matter was that all television used to close down at night, sometime just before or after midnight. ITV were first to start late-night viewing, in 1986, into the early hours and would, 'closedown', about 5am before breakfast TV started at 6.30. So, to answer the question as to why TVS didn't start up at the stroke of midnight on the 1st January 1982, is due to them not being scheduled to start until the following morning, like all television did, in those days.
I like Neil Buchanan! Art Attack was great... Except we're talking about TVS not CITV. lol
Very fascinating video, and so was the "How Southern Television Died" video. Are you working on "How Meridian Died" too?
I used to live in the Thames Television / LWT area (well, the surrounding area), but I never got to see Thames handover to Carlton because just before the handover we moved to Germany. We later lived in the Yorkshire Television area.
Pre mobile days, everyone looked so happy. Damn I miss those days.
it's always great to learn about what was happening in the television world before I started watching 🌈 excellent documentary!!
Thank you!!
Great video Adam I’m loving these type of videos ! I cannot believe how much TVS bid to keep the franchise compared to Centrals £2k 😮
TVS’ Goodbye To All That was a bit of a Jools Holland Hooanany job.
Filmed in Southampton in mid December and not live.
0:47 Awesome Behind The Scenes Look About TVS Television. From The Makers Of TUGS The Original Series. Thanks Mate. XXxxx 🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇺🇸
Great video! :-)
It was a bad decision for Thames and for TVS. Especially in light of what happened: all the companies were allowed to change their payments and the predictions TVS made when they made their bid came to pass. The fact they (and Thames) lost was so unfortunate. TVS were a company who existed (in one form or another) until just around 2 years ago. They may no longer have produced programmes, but their legacy lingered on. With some programmes still shown for years after their demise. Thames, lasted beyond their 'demise' also. Their programmes are still shown and respected and it is said they lost their bid for 'political' reasons. (Having upset a certain 'Iron Lady' and co with a programme which was disliked by the government at the time of broadcast that this meant no matter what they bid was never going to make any difference to their fate). The day of January, 1st, 1993 was a sad day for all; ITV would lose their way fairly quickly from this point on. (If history were different would what would have come would have been better - we will all never know).
16:14 Someone really didn't like the idea of the Thames Valley and North Hampshire getting their own news service.
I actually thought they sounded really excited about it! Most people traditionally watch London television in that part of the area anyway 😀
The 90s were a strange decade... I wonder how a modern ITV franchise would bow out
It wouldn't bow out. It'd just stop.
There are no real franchises left. It's all part of one monolithic blob called ITV plc. They just use regional names to try and give the illusion of being, 'independent', when they're not. If they did stop for some reason, I doubt anyone would notice. They'd just have some other subsidiary take over with little to no fanfare at all.
Thanks Mr Martyn, i like the itv lore
They paid the price for Thames TV broadcasting a documentary called Death On The Rock where three unarmed IRA members were shot dead by the SAS. Thatcher decided to remove the franchises!
I was 11 when Meridian took over from TVS and I remember being distinctly unimpressed by it. Just wasn’t the same.
i wish local itv networks would come back, even if we have less regions than before
Not going to happen. Which is a shame, as ITV regions was a big selling point of ITV. Could ITV plc have separate programming in X regions for local interest? Probably, but I bet someone crunched the numbers and figured it's more profitable to have a national output, with only some opt outs for regional news and advertising.
Shame they didn’t do something like this for the 2000s when they had the stupidity to purge all the regional ITV channels with the exception of GMTV (but got replaced by Daybreak in 2010 and Good Morning Britain in 2014), Grampian, Channel Islands (but then those two were ceased in 2006 before the 2006-2013 ITV rebrand when they changed their corporate logo), Scottish and UTV, due to Carlton Internatuinal and Granads Ventures buying all the regional UTV channels and then merging them into one by the end of 2004,
I bet the golden age of regional ITV ending on October 28, 2002 going out on a wrap party documentary gala ending on a high like this would have been something truly special.
I still remember when 'Night Network' was on. Great for an insomniac.
That was made by LWT though surely too? I used to see it then too?!
Absolute madness, how to start the self implosion of once successful independent television!
I have very fond memories of TVS as a kid, and was dismayed when Meridian took over, though in retrospect TVS would have been on borrowed time even if they had retained the franchise, thanks to the consolidation of ITV into one company over the following decade. I well remember the excitement of going to the Maidstone studios in 1991, when I was 11, to watch two episodes of the Mouse Trap game show, hosted by Steve Johnson, being recorded for Motormouth.
If Fred Dineage wasn’t Steve Coogan’s inspiration for Alan Partridge, I would be amazed. That Goodbye from TVS show looks almost exactly like ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’.
Ah ha!
They didn't win friends by refusing to carry on filming Worzel Gummidge where Southern left off.
The ITV franchise bid was a big mistake. GMTV was a ratings and financial disaster; they couldn't afford the amount they had bid, leading to renegotiations with the Independent Television Commission (ITC). Despite some attempts to stabilize, GMTV never became significantly profitable, as their high franchise fees, low advertising revenue, and growing competition from satellite and cable TV made their business model unsustainable.
Before GMTV, TV-AM had a rocky start but ultimately succeeded in delivering what viewers wanted. They achieved strong ratings later in their tenure. TV-AM was the most profitable ITV franchise... GMTV really did mess up. You can't beat the original and best.
with popular segments like Roland Rat.
Margaret Thatcher's letter of regret over TV-AM's closer.
ITV’s ratings declined with the content the new broadcasters aired during those early years.... It truly was disaster in my opinion caused by Margaret Thatcher attempt to generate more money for the country.
Pointless factoid: Debbie Thrower (daughter of gardening legend Percy) bought my grandparents old 3-piece suite.
Ah, the nation's head gardener
I'm grateful to RUclips for having had the opportunity to see the TVS send off a few years ago and the Thames dignified sign off with their 24 year back catalogue just recently. Even after ALL this time Carlton & itv1 have not been able to match it! TBH, the 1st 10/15 minutes of the compilation show! 💯
I can't remember seeing the Thames TV final broadcast, not sure what I was doing, still not quite legal for boozing yet, at the time! 😡😊
As was proven, TVS would have easily survived had they won. The payments were re-evaluated and all franchises had payments reduced.
Absolutely true. It was a huge issue for contentment but even though TVS and Thames could have appealed (don't know about TSW) it was said they didn't - not because of cost - but because by the time it would have been heard (after instigation actions) whatever the outcome it would have been too late. The new companies would have already have been transmitting for some time and for them to return to transmitting and broadcasting would have caused such a disruption to ITV (and those particular regions) that this is why they didn't. (It was not until the last possible moment that they were officially told they had lost; and both bowed out with merits, their heads held high; the viewers not affected by any of these (what would have been) long and protracted appeals. Had this not been the case and the announcements were made earlier then they could have probably won their appeals. Which is such an irony I've always thought. (Sorry for overlong comment).
@@plan7a TSW did - but at huge cost.
TVS Should never have lost with Thames going tvs still on itv would have made it much smoother and kept itv ahead of the bbc then the rappid decline we got when Carlton took over. Meridian won due to having clive jones and greg dyke who ran tvs in mid 80s as shareholders along with mike palin and tracy ullman.
4:15 I always hated that bombastic BBC News title design - it looks like something that would be used by a totalitarian regime 😨
Amazing theme however - that’s some power
Fantastic theme
I'm 58 and from the region but TVS has been kinda forgotten by me but Southern's logo and tune still is a strong memory. I actually worked in for a company that built sets for TVS in the '80s for a few months from a job agency. Meridian is almost a complete blank. Mind you I wasn't drinking or doing drugs when Southern were going and would have been more addicted to telly then. I seem to remember Fred Dinenage never seemed to age...
Now Meridian has swallowed up the former Central South area for good
I think the Oxford transmitter area(which is where I lurk) needs to be returned to Central's stewardship
I really missed Southern. It had some excellent local programmes and some odd things like Jack Hargreaves's Out of Town and Farm Progress, and a more local feel.
The company that served the Conservative heartlands in 1980s Thatcher’s Britain. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny isn’t it, along with TVam two companies that embodied Thatcherism on TV were the biggest losers of the hatchet job on “leftist ITV”. No wonder it was one the few occasions where she publicly apologised for a mess she had created.
At 14:12 is that Shaw Taylor in the audience (second row in the middle of the screen)?
Yes it is. He was interviewed on the programme about his Police 5 series 🙂
"keep 'em peeled 👀"
From what I’ve been able to find, a large chunk of the company is now owned by Disney.
Yep.
Is that Shappi Khorsandi at 16:28?
15:33 Debbie Thrower - The thinking Man's crumpet.
Likely a sad reminder of the stupid boom and bust times of the late 1980s.
I have a strong dislike of that period, not least because I had my own business and worked in a decent job as well in a computer department. I lost both thanks to the relentless and stupid prices companies were throwing around acquiring other companies (and debt as well). When the recession started to hit and interest rates shot up, it all collapsed.
I remember applying for a job in Halfords just as a shop worker and in 1 day alone, 800 applications had been taken. It was truly awful times.
I'll never understand that frenzied time of buying everything hang the cost.
Where are the regional news programs transmitted from? As the TV companies seem to be no more, are the regional news studios in sheds on allotments?
The fact is Meridian have always seen themselves as more as a news service
True. Meridian Tonight was a decent news programme that was very much like Coast To Coast. Meridian did a decent effort with regional programming but I couldn’t name anything they made for the network
Now that’s the way to bow out! What a difference from their predecessors! The Southern lot looked like they were all being lined up to be shot at the end, and TVS looked like they couldn’t give a monkeys, (even if they were dying inside!) Kudos to them for keeping their head up, and not having any bleeding stuffy opera singers at the end of their final programme!!!!
Hi to you and great idea. If its possible that you'll be developing these Death of's to a series, I think the Rediffusion’s franchise death and its fractious hand over to Thames would make a great installment. I have read from the Transdiffusion online source that ITV applicants would attend ITA interviews for Rediffusion renewal...only for the same faces to attend a later interview for the new London Weekend bid! Regards Rediffusion's influence of Thames...Rediffusion was the minority interest and they had to give way to ABC mostly. Except on Rediffusion’s last week...they clung on their last day the Monday, whereas in North, YTV agreed a deal with Granada for the similar.
Crikey, I don't think I've ever seen that version of the BBC News ident at 4:30, I didn't even realise they had a version with that music which _wasn't_ the big glass brick. O.o
So you will see more story to how TSW disappeared from ITV screens and can't wait to see memories of ITV as different management in the South West.
"The [then Conservative] government says that the plans will mean more chouce for the viewer. The critics say quality will suffer"
And the critics were right.
Have you done a review of ITN (and in a way what happened to IBA as Ofcom came along ?)
Itc should have left the regions to run the TV network. Look what happened with TV today 😮 disappointing
Irrespective of the reasons behind its demise for those of born in the late 70s and early 80s TVS’s iconic Childrens output holds a special place in our collective childhood memories. For that reason alone its demise in 1992 was every bit as sad as that of Thames.
Ah the broadcasting act 1990. The thing that ruined itv (it would have changed still, but without the arseholes at Carlton it would have been much better), gave David Cameron his first step to government, and indirectly therefore led to Brexit…
Horrific is not the word.
I notice, though I never saw them because I don't live in the South, that TVS broadcasted Company Christian programmes with Adrian Plass. They have been uploaded on RUclips and I viewed them. Interesting to find out what the contributors looked like!
The top three questions I have, after watching this...
1 - Why was a near identical Mallet produced specifically for that sketch involving Timmy Mallett? Most casual viewers wouldn't have noticed the difference, but it was larger than the real one and had 'Timmy's Mallet' written on it instead of 'Mallett's Mallet'. Why didn't they just have him use the one he already used on Wacaday? I can't imagine there being a copyright issue, he used the Mallet on various guest appearances on TV.
2 - If you watch the TVS to Meridian switchover online, it's noticeable that there was no obvious moment where TVS ended transmission and Meridian began. Despite a momentary sound problem during the final few seconds of TVS, the same footage of Big Ben just flowed in one continuous feed whilst the baton was passed from TVS to Meridian.
3 - Why did the ITV name carry forward into 1993 and beyond, when it was announced that the network would be rebranded as Channel 3? Much later in the decade, Yorkshire and Tyne Tees briefly used the Channel 3 name alongside their regional identities and the ITV name in a calamitously confusing branding disaster. But why wasn't the Channel 3 brand adopted nationwide in 1993?
Anyway, aside from the questions, my thoughts on the TVS franchise loss are that they were victims to an unfair bidding system. They passed the quality threshold, they bid the highest sum, and lost. How does that work? They had no choice but to bid in the ballpark of £60million, against competition capable of successfully bidding £36million. They were robbed.
I think I can answer the second question. The Big Ben part would have likely been a network feed, the cut over should have been seamless as the same network feed would have been presented to both ITV companies and if timed in correctly when switched there would be no bump.
Alternatively, Meridian's first output was TXed from TVS.
The second question can be easy to answer, as Meridian bought out TVS studios in Southampton, Meridian would be playout from the same master control room as TVS, so no wobby VHS out of sync at midnight (as in the cases of Thames/Carlton or TSW/Westcountry), fun fact the playout centre at Southampton would also playout Anglia later on when they was bought by Meridian’s owner
The thing is that even the new kids on the block like Meridian and Sunrise (TV-AM's successor, later renamed To GMTV to avoid legal issues with Sky) couldn't afford the annual fees they've submited which were reduced later down the line. The 'quality' criteria which many candidates have failed to pass was designed by Granada with one thing in mind - to stop Phil Redmond from taking over the equally lucrative Northwest, which they did succeed (Granada won the franchise for less than 10M).
You're right, when you say that a lot of the franchise holders subsequently received a reduction in their premium payments; I've read, somewhere, that GMTV had theirs reduced to the same yearly figure that TV-am had bid for the license with.
I have to admit being rather confused as to why an ITV contractor (which is what Granada were) would be involved in setting any aspect of the legislation of the industry they were part of.
It is said that Granada retained their franchise, simply because they threatened to pull their programmes from the ITV network, if they didn't.
@@electragaming4140 True, the ITC didn't want to lose Granada's (and by extension ITV's) golden goose - Coronation Street, to the competition. And that was double if it was to the pesky Rupert Murdoch and his upstart satellite network - Sky
@@electragaming4140 Well, it is true that Granada planned to move its IP's, including their golden goose (by extension also ITV's) - Coronation Street, to the competition. Imagine the prospect of having Corrie being aired elsewhere at the time, especially on Rupert Murdoch's new upstart satellite channel - Sky.
TVS’s predecessor Southern Television ran from 1958-82 if I’m not mistaken.
I remember the change over from Southern to TVS as a 10 year old child it happened again in 1992, the worst tv company i felt was Carlton TV that took over Thames... after losing both ITV companies i felt ITV local wasnt the same anymore . Mind you back then we had both Thames and TVS as well as BBC south and BBC London back then
The contrast with Central is shocking where Central was the only bidder for the franchise.
It's as though the philosophy of Bullseye ran through the Central franchise bid but the money saved could have bought a new speedboat each and every week as a consolation prize for Bullseye contestants.
In my opinion: Thatcher should NEVER have been re-elected! Had she lost re-election either in 1982 or 1986, we may not have gotten this stupid Broadcasting Act! Not only did we lose TVS, TSW, Thames, TV-am and Oracle, over time we lost regional ITV almost entirely! It's part of why TV today is bland as hell! I miss the days when the main broadcasters gave us an exciting variety of shows, now they're reliant on reruns of a select few shows and reboots of other shows! I was born in late 1987, meaning I only remember GMTV and Meridian broadcasting in my area and didn't know Anglia, Central and Yorkshire Television were ITV franchises rather than just being production companies until years later, but when I look at what TV was like shortly before I was born... WOW, I am JEALOUS! I don't like the idea of TV not being on 24/7 but I do like how broadcasters back in the day were more creative when giving us new programming! Closedowns I have little memory of outside cable/satellite channels: I remember seeing the words "Closedown" in the Channel 4 listings in a magazine and I did tune into the BBC very early a few mornings in my single digit years resulting in me catching the last 10 minutes or so of Pages From Ceefax, but that's about all I remember of the basic 4 channels NOT broadcasting 24/7. I especially feel sorry for the South Westerners when they were shown TSW sending Gus Honeybun back home as part of TSW's farewell broadcast! (I only know about this because of ITV in The Face) and I'm sure it must've been painful for those outside the TSW/TVS regions to watch Thames' farewell broadcast!
Facts
You raise some good points... IMO The Broadcasting Act probably sped up the inevitable, as there was always pressure in ITV for consolidation - see Trident TV as an example . Satellite TV would have still come, streaming TV would have still come. While it was the Tories that passed the Broadcasting Act, it was Labour in 2003 that passed the Communications Act that lifted all caps of ITV franchise ownership.
The broadcasting bill was later looked at as a bad idea, by the very people who instigated it. It should never have happened in the way that it did. It should have been made possible for appeals to take place BEFORE the new companies began broadcasting. However, it was made at so there wasn't time for any appeals. Hence why TVS, Thames and TSW didn't appeal the verdicts. TVS and Thames would have ultimately won their bids based on what we now know. As I've read - and is mentioned elsewhere in the comments - the ITV companies were able to change their payments and Thames - being the broadcaster at the time - more than adequately passed the quality threshold. As ITV's biggest producer of programmes for the company (at the time) it was impossible for them to lose; had they not offended a certain 'Iron Lady' and co. then they would have been able to continue. What amazes me, however, is the fact that the programme which brought about the whole issue in the first place had been cleared by the ITA (and legally was fine too) to be broadcast as it was. The fact that neither TVS, Thames or TSW tried for an appeal is simply because they (and TV-AM) realised they couldn't get the appeals heard before the new companies took over broadcasting. All four companies chose not to let the viewers - and ITV as a whole - suffer due to this. And that, alone, meant that there was no disruption and they can all hold their heads high and say they cared about the viewers, right until the last seconds of broadcasting. (Sorry for overlong comment).
@@plan7a TSW appealed of sorts - judicial review.
She'd never have lost in 1982. Nor in 1987.
New video? WOOOOHOOOOOO!!
Quality did indeed suffer... ITV is crap now.
Adam; do a video on the demise of TCC The Children’s Channel, particularly the connections it had with TVS as it mostly came out of an room in Maidstone with the family channel, the TVS not very successful limping on strategy 😮
TCC was the first uk channel to show Barney the Dinosaur 🦖 before it took off as a popular kids tv franchise in the UK.
TCC almost crashed off air overnight and the Nordic version had to knock together a rolling tape in order to keep contracts with TV cable companies in good standing, with an really crap experience for a good few weeks.
Neil of Art Attack made millions out of the franchise as he had ownership of some of the rights of the program. I understand Disney paid him off significantly over the years in order for them to get full control of Art Attack.
I still find the whole ITV regions bewildering and confusing...
11:11 It's the doddery old grandma from _They Think It's All Over!_
I've happy memories of TVS. I've equally happy memories of Meridian.
I think the critics where right, quality dropped.
Totally especially in London.
@@evonne_o Hence Carlton's nickname, at the time!
Tv_am should never have been taken off air
Awesome video! BTW, isn't WWTBAM music playing on the background?)
Hey adam martyn can you do a video on how meridian died please???
I think meridian is still going.
@Osvaldinhogaucholovesthesims5 not where I am, it is still meridian. It is owned by ITV plc but it is still meridian here in kent
@@lestat1ukhave you ever been to the midlands its brilliant you get away from stinky regions such as norf souf and wescunchree!!!
@Osvaldinhogaucholovesthesims5 not entirely sure what you are implying
@@lestat1uk Only as a name, its parent company that had started to expand (buying Anglia etc.) tried to merge with Carlton but the regulator said the merged company would have to sell off Meridian, so they sold shop up to Granada. Of course Carlton and Granada would eventually merge to become ITV plc.
TVS Did what Southern couldnt, look dated, but once Meridan took over, it was a fresh start, sadly we all know what happen some 9 years later.
I believe the original brief was that no versions of the words ‘south’ or ‘television’ were to be used - hence Meridian Broadcasting - and the nautical looking logo was bursting in colours in contrast to TVS’ greys
Where is the ITV local news transmissions coming from, are they in sheds on alotments?
TVS last ever show was more happier than southern tv