Media Institutions week 2 2011

Media InstitutionsWeek Two

6th October 2011

Television pre-WW2Losing some myths

The monopoly of the BBC

•TV service re-starts in 1946

•15,000 households

•Licence fee combined with TV - £2

•Boycott imposed by film industry, music halls, West End theatre, boxing and soccer.

•BBC ambivalent to TV.

Post-WW2 Television

• Post-war DG, William Haley misunderstands TV.

• TV and radio “parts of one Whole”.

• 1947-8 TV accounts for less than 10% of BBC expenditure.

Post- WW2 Broadcasting

• 1946 - idea of competition to BBC raised - deferred for 5 years

• But debate begins

The Competition Debate

• BBC emerged from war very secure

• Argument split down party lines

• Labour (ruling) against

• Conservative for

The Competition Debate

Cecil Graves, Director General 1938-42 - to The Times June 1946 -

“Freedom is choice” and warned of dangers in “nationalisation of the infinitely precious things of the mind and the spirit.”

The Competition Debate

Manchester Guardian:

“(motive behind the competition lobby was) the sulphurous smell of the political and commercial pit and not a disinterested attempt to secure … the best possible broadcasting service.”

The Competition Debate

• Tories come to power 1951

The Coronation• 1953

• Watched on TV by 56% of population.

• More than 20m

• 8m at home

• 10m with friends

• Bigger audience than radio

The Coronation

“Television was now in the process of becoming the principal instrument both of information and of national cultural identity.”

John Corner

The Competition Debate

• Tories come to power 1951

• BBC thought to be putting too much emphasis on radio.

• Another agency required to “realise the full potential of the new medium”. (Corner)

• Crisell cites changes occurring in the socio-political climate - democratisation.

The Competition Debate

• Television Act 1954

• Reith (in House of Lords) likened arrival of commercial broadcasting to “… smallpox, bubonic plague and the black death.”

Television Act 1954

• Set up Independent Television Authority (ITA)

Television Act 1954

INDEPENDENT

Television Act 1954

• Set up Independent Television Authority (ITA)

• ITA to own transmitters

• ITA similar to institutional set-up of BBC

• TO have Public Service Broadcasting responsibilities

PUBLIC SERVICEBROADCASTING

?

Television Act 1954

• Advertising by ‘spot ads’

• Advertising in ‘natural’ breaks

• No control over programmes by advertisers

• ‘editorial television’

Early ITV

• Began 1955

• 5m TV (and radio) licences

• Grace Archer killed of on BBC Radio

• ITA required ‘contractors’ to inform, educate and entertain

• Advertising limited to average of 6 minutes per hour

Early ITV

• Originally designed to have three regions and two simultaneous contractors

• Lack of air space - regions split weekends/weekdays

• Network complete by 1962

Early ITV• “Show-business’ connections

• Lew Grade (ATV)

• Sidney Bernstein (Granada)

• Began unprofitably but soon turned round

• 1957 at launch of Scottish Television, Canadian Roy Thomson says commercial TV is ‘like having a licence to print your own money’

The Pilkington Committee

• Set up by Conservative government in 1960

• Remit to appraise ITV and BBC and to consider where new channel should be placed

The Pilkington Report

• Delivered 1962

• Recommended ITV should have central sales and programming under ITA

• Reduction of prizes in game shows

• BBC should be given third channel

BBC 2• Begins 1964

• UHF 625 lines

• 4 hours per day

• Adventurous programming

• Themed evenings

• Talk shows

• Colour from1967

Annan Committee

• Fourth channel inevitable

• Expected to be given to ITV - continuation of duopoly

• Labour come to power 1964 - ideas to use 4th channel for OU

• Deferred decision to 1969

• Annan committee formed to consider UK broadcasting in 1970

Annan Committee• Conservatives came into power and committee adjourned indefinitely

• Labour back 1974 - committee restarted

• Reports in 1977

• IBA should not get 4th channel

• New local broadcasting authority

• IBA becomes Regional Broadcasting Authority

Annan Committee

• Conservatives back again!!! 1979

• Most recommendations set aside

The 1980s

• Channel 4 begins 1982

• Overseen by IBA

• 66% of output to be of specialist appeal

• Advertising sold by ITV companies and C4 supported by subscription

• TV-AM begins1983

The 1980s

• Cable TV goes live 1984

• Intended to be ‘local’

• Carried the Sky channel

• British Satellite Broadcasting granted licence in 1988

• Consortium of Granada, Pearson, Anglia, Virgin and Amstrad

SATELLITE BROADCASTING

• BSB allowed three channels (plus two other franchised)

• Had to build and launch its own satellite

• Sky already broadcasting to cable companies

• Not regulated (Astra satellite)

• Starts direct to home broadcasting 13 months before BSB

SATELLITE BROADCASTING

• BSB starts broadcasting in March 1990

• Technically superior but more expensive and less attractive programming than Sky

SATELLITE BROADCASTING

• BSB starts broadcasting in March 1990

• Technically superior but more expensive and less attractive programming than Sky

• The companies merge in November 1990 to become British Sky Broadcasting