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152-445: The channel was launched on 2 November 1936 under the name BBC Television Service , which was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution . It was renamed BBC TV in 1960 and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2 , in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The channel adopted the current spelling of BBC One in 1997. The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013

304-510: A 4-channel service received via satellite. The channels at launch were Sky Channel , Sky News , Sky Movies and Eurosport . They were initially free to receive, and Sky Movies was the first to move to a subscription early in 1990. Sky News was the UK's first dedicated news channel. The new service was the UK's first consumer satellite TV service, beating rival BSB , with which Sky would later merge to become BSkyB. Sky's satellite service grew to become

456-647: A blind auction. Following these changes, the Independent Broadcasting Authority was replaced by a light touch regulator, the Independent Television Commission (ITC). TV-am was required to re-apply for its licence in May 1991. The ITV franchise results were announced on 16 October and the bid for £14.3m that TV-am had made was beaten by another consortium, Sunrise Television (renamed GMTV when it launched) which offered £36.4m. Ironically, in

608-624: A converted wing of the Alexandra Palace in London. On 1 September 1939, two days before Britain declared war on Germany, the station was taken off air with little warning, with the last programme to be shown being a Mickey Mouse cartoon (the 1933 short Mickey's Gala Premier ); the government was concerned that the VHF transmissions would act as a beacon to enemy aircraft that could bomb London. BBC Television returned on 7 June 1946 at three o'clock in

760-517: A few months. See List of British television series . 100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as

912-498: A fire broke out in a video suite, causing extensive damage to the first floor and roof of the building. Production studios and offices were undamaged, as were the eggcups. In 2011, MTV Networks applied for permission to make changes to the building, primarily to remove some of the studios – which were in decreasing demand following changes in MTV's scheduling and commissioning practices – and replace these with modern office space. The rear of

1064-475: A former car showroom, Henlys Rover, the building included a number of large plastic egg cups along its roofline facing Regent's Canal; these egg cups also served as the programme's closing credits copyright year identifier, with all previous years also kept on-screen behind the current year. TV-am had two television studios. Studio A, 3000 square feet, was home to the Good Morning Britain set. Studio B had

1216-607: A greater total number of regional news programmes. Ofcom sets a quota for the BBC and ITV on the amount of regional programming required. Advertising on ITV1/STV and Channel 4 is regional. Channel 4 is split into 6 advertising regions, but has no regional programming. BBC Scotland and the Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba target Scotland, and the Welsh-language channel S4C targets Wales. In Northern Ireland, channels originating in

1368-444: A host of new features were introduced: By the end of its first week, TV-am's ratings had doubled to 200,000. Continuing low audiences brought further financial difficulties: the company was close to having its power supply disconnected; a London Electricity official arrived during a press conference with a warrant to cut off power for non-payment; and on numerous occasions, the presenters failed to receive their monthly wages, while

1520-624: A lot of help from my friends", with the channel still under criticism, following the start of new programming which Alan introduced a year earlier, and the number of summer repeats. £175 million was spent on 80 hours of original drama produced, enchantment to the arts with an extended 26-week run for Omnibus , and documentaries with The Downing Street Years , new wildlife series and an eight-month look at Sheffield's Children's hospital, while Goodnight Sweetheart , Grace & Favour and The Danny Baker Show were new comedy series. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman included in

1672-636: A multiplex carrying channels from the Republic of Ireland can reach 71% of Northern Irish households from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available to 54% of households from an additional multiplex via 44 transmitters, and an extra multiplex is available to 54% of households in Greater Manchester. Multiple vendors sell hybrid set-top-boxes or smart TVs which combine terrestrial channels with streamed (Internet TV) content. Internet-based TV apps such as BBC iPlayer , ITVX and Channel 4 are available via

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1824-565: A new position with TVS . Ten days later, general manager Michael Moor also left the station. In July 1984, Michael Hollingsworth became the new Programme Controller, having previously worked for the BBC's Breakfast Time . Gyngell pursued the same lightweight, populist approach that Dyke had forged to establish the station's viability, a model parodied later in a Guardian newspaper headline as "Snap, Crackle and Pap". The station overhauled its children's Saturday morning programme with Wide Awake Club , replacing Data Run and SPLAT as part of

1976-452: A party in Chelsea; in a parting shot over the terms of her dismissal, she threw her glass of wine in his face, saying of her action: "It was the only form of self-defence left to a woman when she has been so monstrously treated." A couple of days later both Rippon and Ford started procedures to sue TV-am; by October, the case was dropped after reaching an out of court settlement. Lynda Berry

2128-541: A position vacated by BBC Three , which had been switched to internet-only six weeks earlier. Changes in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were also scheduled but delayed for 'technical reasons'. On 22 November 2022, the BBC announced that BBC One will finally be regionalised on their HD channels. This move started on Sky Glass, followed by Virgin Cable, and then in the 2023 new year, HD programmes are launched on satellite. With

2280-575: A post she took up on 1 November 2000. She had previously been sounded out about the job in 1997 after Michael Jackson 's departure, but had turned down the opportunity as she felt she was then not yet experienced enough. During Heggessey's five years in charge, BBC One's audience share fell by 19.9%, to 23%, although this was in the context of declining audience figures across all British television channels due to increased competition from multichannel digital television . However, in 2001 BBC One overtook its main rival ITV in terms of annual audience share for

2432-593: A result. His future was deemed uncertain following critical comments from Sir Michael Lyons , Chairman of the BBC Trust , and he resigned on 5 October 2007. In 2009, a report published by the BBC Trust found scheduling changes had led to a decrease in viewers. This was especially noticeable for Blue Peter and Newsround , two of CBBC's flagship programmes; Blue Peter which recorded its lowest viewing numbers since it started in 1958, and Newsround with fewer than 100,000 viewers compared to 225,000 in 2007. As part of

2584-502: A separate lighting technician (following a pattern familiar in Gyngell's native Australia), and technical personnel could be virtually eliminated. This brought him into conflict with the broadcasting trade unions, but gained him support from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her government. During 1986, TV-am became the most popular breakfast television service in the UK, as the BBC's Breakfast Time lost viewers. In November of that year,

2736-622: A serious interview, to help with a cookery demonstration. The first day of broadcasting from TV-am included an hour of news in Daybreak , a short film and an interview with Norman Tebbit about the current level of unemployment, a live comic strip called The World of Melanie Parker , and Through the Keyhole . Within two weeks of the launch; the ratings dropped sharply, within a month, the ratings fell again to just under 300,000. The company's weekend slot, presented by Michael Parkinson , initially became

2888-543: A skeleton service including, among other things, episodes of American series including Flipper , Batman and Happy Days . Gyngell himself took to directing the show personally, and various secretaries (including Gyngell's own) manned cameras, when a reduced normal service resumed on 7 December. Although shambolic at times, this schedule turned out on occasions to be more popular than former programming, although not what would have been allowed to be broadcast under normal circumstances. Further discussions continued with

3040-479: A smaller version of the GMB set and was also used as the news studio. Programmes originally ran from 6 am to 9:15 am, with Daybreak , then Good Morning Britain filling weekday mornings. This was followed by a 10-minute interval before the start of the regional ITV franchises at 9:25 am. This interval was needed because the process of the switching the broadcast signals from TV-am to each regional company

3192-508: A station clock, and perceived lack of a 'serious ident', also put the BBC in an embarrassing situation just one day into the new look with the death of the Queen Mother . One of Heggessey's most notable decisions and last major success at the channel was the recommissioning of the science-fiction drama series Doctor Who , which had been a popular hit in previous decades but ceased production in 1989 . Heggessey and Jane Tranter recommissioned

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3344-427: A subscription platform through which Sky offer their own channels, pay-per-view services and channels from other broadcasters. Sky's digital platform launched in 1998, with the original analogue service closing in 2001. Sky was acquired by Comcast in 2018. Since 2012, Sky operate Now , an Internet TV streaming service offering subscriptions without a fixed-term contract. Sky's channel portfolio has grown greatly since

3496-456: A two-hour slot from 7 am to 9 am. The 9 am to 9:25 am section was relaunched as a female-orientated lifestyle magazine segment titled After Nine . Although TV-am was a separate broadcaster occupying the ITV network channel during the morning, from the late 1980s the ITV stations extended their hours to 6 am to provide 24-hour television, handing over to TV-am at 6 am. While

3648-463: A variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed. There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year, at a cost of £2.6 billion. Since 24 October 2012, all television broadcasts in the United Kingdom have been in a digital format, following

3800-415: A year was spent on narrowing the gap on ITV's ratings lead, since a few months prior to this the channel had been criticised for its Autumn schedule, having tired formats, uninspiring scheduling of new programmes and poor scripts. Wogan was replaced with Eldorado , in early July 1992, but this was itself cancelled a year later. Alan Yentob launched the 1993 Autumn schedule calling it "My first try with

3952-500: Is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA , especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4 , Film4 , More4 , 4Music , 4seven and various timeshift services . Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of

4104-406: Is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd , owned by Comcast , which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service which had launched in 1989, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder ,

4256-581: Is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the UK, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in the UK (as well as much of the rest of Europe) come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. All of the traditional services have integrated their broadcast TV with streamed channels or on-demand programmes when connected to

4408-436: Is free-of-charge to view. It replaced the subscription service named ONdigital or ITV Digital, which ran from 1998 to 2002. Digital terrestrial television was itself the replacement for analogue terrestrial TV , which ran from 1936 to 2012. As of March 2021 , Freeview provides over seventy TV and radio channels, which are received via an aerial. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd., joint ventures between

4560-419: Is the name Ofcom uses. ITV plc or its predecessor companies created additional free or subscription channels, of which the oldest still running is ITV2 , having launched in 1998. Several older channels have since stopped broadcasting; the oldest of these is Super Channel which was launched by a consortium of ITV regional companies in 1987, was sold and eventually closed in 1998. Launched in 1982, Channel 4

4712-498: Is the oldest television society in the world. Free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription providers operate, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via the red button , and coverage across the UK. All providers make available the UK's five most-watched channels: BBC One , BBC Two , ITV ( ITV1 / STV ), Channel 4 and Channel 5 . Broadcast television

BBC One - Misplaced Pages Continue

4864-426: Is the world's oldest and largest broadcaster, and is the country's principal public service broadcaster of radio and television. BBC Television is funded primarily by a television licence and from sales of its programming to overseas markets. It does not carry advertising . The licence fee is levied on all households that watch or record TV as it is broadcast and the fee is determined by periodic negotiation between

5016-499: The Nine O'Clock News had been moved to the later time of 22:00 and Panorama moved from Monday night prime time slot to a later slot on Sunday nights. The moving of Panorama attracted criticism that BBC One was sidelining serious programming in favour of more populist output. Heggessey publicly defended the decision, despite it not being hers, claiming that Panorama 's ratings would have "dwindled" in its previous slot. Heggessey and

5168-632: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . TV via the Internet can be streamed or downloaded, and consist of amateur or professionally produced content. In the UK, most broadcasters provide catch-up TV services which allow viewing of TV for a window after it was broadcast. Online video can be viewed via mobile devices, computers, TVs equipped with a built in Internet connection, or TVs connected to an external set-top-box, streaming stick or games console. Most of

5320-581: The Internet . Since 2022, broadcast-like TV services can be wholly-received via Internet-connected devices, which don't require an aerial, satellite or a traditional cable TV connection. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board publish quarterly statistics of the number of UK households per broadcast TV platform. Aggregating the statistics for Q1 2020 show that 56% subscribe to one or more broadcast TV services, vs 44% who receive free TV. The primary digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview , launched in 2002 and

5472-478: The NICAM digital stereo sound format began on BBC1 in late 1987, to coincide with the sale of the first consumer NICAM-enabled equipment, a year after BBC2, and were gradually phased in across BBC TV output, although it took until 31 August 1991 for the service to begin officially on both channels. During this time, both commercial analogue broadcasters, ITV and Channel 4 had officially begun stereo transmissions using

5624-495: The Pluto TV and Paramount+ Internet streaming services. Since 2012, additional local TV channels are available via Freeview channel 7 or 8. The channels are licensed by Ofcom, with 34 local TV channels licensed as of 2 July 2020. Nineteen of the licenses are held by That's TV, and eight are held by Made Television. The remainder are held independently. Each license contains the amount of local TV programming required. As an example,

5776-471: The Populus polling organisation found BBC One to be rated the highest-quality TV channel in the world, with BBC Two coming in third place. BBC One is available via most major television providers in the United Kingdom. The BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of Broadcasting House , London, on 22 August 1932. The channel officially began regular broadcasts on 2 November 1936 from

5928-440: The "Balloon" idents (and the traditional "Globe" idents the channel had used in a variety of forms since 1963). They were replaced by a new style of on-air identity for the channel, the "Rhythm & Movement" idents . The new idents attracted criticism for going against the traditions of the channel and pandering to " political correctness ", as they featured activities performed by people of various ethnicities. The abandonment of

6080-487: The 18:20 slot, but this was dismissed. The Miss Great Britain contest was dropped, being described as verging on the too offensive after the January 1985 contest, with World's Strongest Man and International Superstar also being cancelled. BBC1 was relaunched on 18 February 1985 with a new look , new programming including Wogan and EastEnders , and a revised schedule to help streamline and maintain viewers throughout

6232-506: The BBC announced plans to launch a one-hour time shift of the channel, named BBC One +1. The channel would have replaced BBC Three in 2016. However, on 30 June 2015, the BBC Trust rejected the plans for a BBC One +1 channel as they stated that it would be at the expense of commercial rivals. BBC One HD , a simulcast of BBC One in 1080i high definition (HD), launched on 3 November 2010 at 19:00 with The One Show . The channel simulcasts

BBC One - Misplaced Pages Continue

6384-543: The BBC launched a lightweight, magazine-style programme that mimicked the style of United States breakfast television. With the launch of the BBC's Breakfast Time brought forward at short notice, this gave little time for TV-am to redevelop its plans. TV-am was spearheaded by the so-called Famous Five who were not only lined up as presenters on the station, but were also shareholders: Michael Parkinson , David Frost (1983–92), Angela Rippon (1983), Anna Ford (1983) and Robert Kee . Esther Rantzen had originally been one of

6536-405: The BBC's Breakfast Time was successful, TV-am's early ratings were disappointing. Its high-minded and somewhat starchy approach, summed up in the phrase "mission to explain" (coined by chief executive Peter Jay ) sat uneasily at that time of day, compared to the accessible magazine style of Breakfast Time , which mixed heavy news and light-hearted features, famously moving cabinet ministers, after

6688-529: The BBC's Controller of Drama Commissioning, Jane Tranter , took advantage of the weekday 21:00 slot opening up by moving the news to commission new popular drama output, such as the successful Waking the Dead (2000–2011) and Spooks (2002–2011). Celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing (2004–present) was also a popular success on Saturday nights, although another Saturday night entertainment series, Fame Academy , faced accusations of being too derivative of

6840-505: The BBC's commercial units. Originating in 1992 with UK Gold , UKTV expanded its channels from 1997 onwards, with the BBC taking full ownership in June 2019. Unlike the BBC's public service channels, the UKTV channels contain advertising. ITV, branded as ITV1 or STV, is the network of fourteen regional and one national commercial television franchise, founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV

6992-428: The BBC's television output be out-sourced to independent production companies. By 2004, many popular BBC One shows were made for the channel by independents, but the in-house production departments continued to contribute heavily to the schedule. In March 1991, as part of the £63 million programme package for spring and summer line up on BBC1, it was announced an extra £20 million was to be spent on rejuvenating

7144-457: The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The transmitter network is predominately operated by Arqiva . The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes , and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. The six national multiplexes are available to 90% of households from 92 transmitters; and three multiplexes are available to 9% of households from 1,067 transmitters. In Northern Ireland,

7296-501: The BBC, and set about overhauling BBC1, which had been slated with poor home grown shows, its heavy reliance on US imports, with Dallas and The Thorn Birds being BBC1's highest rated programmes and ratings being over 20% behind ITV. Cotton recruited Michael Grade to become Controller of BBC1 from 1 September 1984 the first time the corporation had recruited someone outside of the BBC, replacing Alan Hart, who had been criticised for his lack of knowledge in general entertainment, as he

7448-597: The BBC-developed NICAM system. Widescreen programming was introduced on digital platforms in 1998. For the first 50 years of its existence, with the exception of films and programmes purchased from the United States and elsewhere, almost all the channel's output were produced by the BBC's in-house production departments. This changed following the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 , which required that 25% of

7600-609: The Delivering Quality First proposals submitted by the BBC in October 2011 and approved by the BBC Trust in May 2012, all children's programming on BBC One and Two would be moved permanently to the CBBC and CBeebies channels following the digital switchover. It was found that the majority of child viewers watched the programmes on these channels already and that only 7% of these children watched CBBC programmes on BBC One and Two only, it

7752-535: The IBA announced that it had awarded the breakfast franchise to TV-am. Although the initial launch date was set for June 1983, to avoid clashing with the 1982 launch of Channel 4 , the IBA allowed the station to bring forward its start date to 1 February 1983 in response to the launch of the BBC service Breakfast Time two weeks earlier. This hurried start affected the company in two ways. Firstly, ITV had failed in its negotiations for royalties and rates for advertising on

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7904-410: The IBA, opposition parties, and even Aitken's own governing party were not happy at his appointment, as it may have interfered with TV-am's political freedom, with many demanding he give up the role or stop being a Member of Parliament . The IBA finally approved Aitken a few days later, but made its intention clear: his tenure was for a limited period only, and they would keep an extra close eye on all

8056-480: The Internet. In the article, Ofcom responded that the licensing scheme was inherited from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport . In April 2018, BBC News reported that "many of the stations have been ridiculed for the poor quality of their output or have been reported to Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules". The local TV companies receive a subsidy from the BBC of £147.50 per local news story, funded by

8208-516: The Queen which was shown to journalists during a press conference. It apparently showed the Queen storming out of a session with American photographer Annie Leibovitz over a disagreement about what she should wear, but the BBC subsequently admitted that the scenes used in the trailer had been edited out of their correct order, meaning that a false impression was given. Fincham admitted the error, but rejected calls that he should resign from his position as

8360-569: The Republic of Ireland are available, including RTÉ One , RTÉ2 and the Irish-language TG4 . British television differs from other countries, such as the United States , in as much that programmes produced in the United Kingdom do not generally have a long season run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of

8512-468: The Saturday night line up to increase variety. Following the public disapproval of filling its schedule with 25% of repeats during the summer months of 1993, BBC1 agreed to broadcast an extra 110 hours worth of original programming over the same period during the summer in 1994, which included giving EastEnders an additional episode per week. Efficiency savings of £25 million were found and redeployed to

8664-775: The UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video. BARB tracks the number of households subscribing to Netflix, Prime Video and Now, referred to as SVOD households. Their statistics for Q1 2020 show that 53% of households subscribe to at least one of these, and 24% to at least two. Netflix has 13.01 million subscribers, Prime Video (Amazon) has 7.86 million, and Now has 1.62 million, according to BARB's figures for Q1 2020. BARB's equivalent figures for broadcast TV show that 56% of households subscribe. The table following summarises some of

8816-472: The UK. As of 2 January 2022, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 8 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 15 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%. As of 2 January 2022 , there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and Paramount individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to). The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC )

8968-536: The United Kingdom Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription services over

9120-534: The ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go , which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet. Freesat is a free satellite service operated by Everyone TV, who also operate Freeview. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via

9272-475: The addition benefit of providing cross-promotional content between the 15 regional ITV companies and TV-am. The continuing increase in viewership had still not resulted in an increase in advertising revenue, and throughout October, speculation arose the company would collapse at any second. The situation was resolved in November when a new refinance package come into effect with new shareholders including Ladbrokes and

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9424-458: The afternoon. Jasmine Bligh , one of the original announcers, made the first announcement, saying, "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?". Twenty minutes later, BBC Television again aired the Mickey Mouse cartoon that they had broadcast in 1939. The BBC held a statutory monopoly on television broadcasting in the United Kingdom until Associated-Rediffusion ,

9576-821: The available Internet TV services in the UK. For brevity, it does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, portals, or services which don't target the UK. 'Free' refers to free at the point of consumption, not including fees for Internet connectivity or a TV licence. Other international streaming services with pricing in GBP include: Acorn TV, Arrow, BKTV, Crunchyroll, Dekkoo, Demand Africa, Docsville, Funimation Now, GuideDoc, Hayu, Hoichoi, Hotstar, iQiyi, iWantTFC, Mubi, NewsPlayer+, Revry, Shudder, Starz, True Story, WOW Presents Plus and ZEE5. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in

9728-545: The average viewership achieved by each broadcast during its run-time and do not include peak viewership. Notes : TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise. Its daily broadcasts were between 6:00 am and 9:25 am. Throughout its nine years and 10 months of broadcast,

9880-419: The belief that Parkinson would return to his full duties in October. By November, Parkinson had returned; however, he was only given the Saturday slot after Frost had increased the number of viewers on Sundays. Parkinson finally left the station in early February 1984, while the company announced plans to cut over 40 jobs. In September, TV-am finally joined the television contractors’ associations, which gave

10032-513: The broadband connection of Freeview Play and Netgem devices. These also support optional subscription services such as Netflix and Prime Video. EE TV and TalkTalk TV offer additional subscription services for their respective broadband customers using Netgem or YouView devices. Saorview , the terrestrial TV service in the Republic of Ireland which launched in 2011, can be received in parts of Northern Ireland via overspill transmissions. Many regional companies developed cable-television services in

10184-460: The broadband connection. Freesat and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east ( Astra 2E / 2F / 2G ). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit , they are positioned above the earth 's equator ( 0°00′N 28°12′E  /  0°N 28.2°E  / 0; 28.2  ( Satellites transmitting Sky TV and Freesat to the UK and Ireland ) ) approximately 35,786 km above sea level ; this places them above

10336-425: The broadcast TV providers have integrated their set-top-boxes with Internet video to provide a hybrid broadcast and online service. Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK. There are numerous online services targeting

10488-422: The building, facing Regent's Canal, was repainted grey rather than blue, but the structure – and the iconic eggcups – remained in place. The front of the building was more extensively redeveloped during 2012–13: the studio block, which had been the site of the original TV-am studios, was demolished and replaced with a new glazed-fronted office complex. The front 'courtyard' between the prior studio and office sections

10640-455: The caveat that the new show would not launch until at least November 1981, whereupon new licence fee income could finance the necessary extension of broadcasting hours. On 17 January 1983, one year after originally planned, the first edition of Breakfast Time was shown on BBC1, becoming the first UK wide breakfast television service and continued to lead in the ratings until 1984. In 1984, Bill Cotton become managing director of Television at

10792-474: The channel after the BBC's contract to show the programme ended on 8 February 2008, and moved to Channel 5 on 11 February 2008. The Weakest Link was moved from BBC Two to fill the gap, with the afternoon CBBC slot moving 20 minutes earlier. There was further controversy in July 2007 when Fincham was accused of misleading BBC One viewers. The incident involved a clip from forthcoming documentary A Year with

10944-478: The channel name of STV for its two franchises in Scotland. ITV plc names the channel UTV in Northern Ireland, and ITV1 for the remaining regions, although UTV has used ITV or ITV1 branding since April 2020. The national breakfast-time franchise is held by ITV plc, which appears as an indistinguishable programming block across the network. Legally, the network has been known as Channel 3 since 1990, which

11096-439: The channels drama and comedy output during peak times, to keep the channel in a healthy state once the new Channel 3 licences were awarded. In December 1991 Wogan was to be cancelled, due to falling ratings against a number of ITV shows, in which Wogan only managed six million viewers compared to double that for This Is Your Life , The Krypton Factor and The $ 64,000 Question . Additionally an extra £40 million

11248-558: The commissioning of several successful BBC One programmes including Robin Hood (2006–2009), Jane Eyre (2006) and How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? , which was followed by similar shows Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Anything because of its success. His first full year in charge of the channel saw a year-on-year growth in the audience share, with a rise from 22.2% in August 2005 to 23.6% in August 2006. Fincham also directly initiated

11400-459: The company a severe rebuke from the IBA, which told the company to invest and improve its news coverage or it would lose its licence. In an echo of the changes which had occurred in newspapers, Gyngell was determined to make use of technical developments in television in order to reduce staff and save money. He believed that the ease of use of modern broadcasting equipment meant that staffing levels could be reduced: ENG crews would no longer require

11552-651: The corporation in 1982. A challenge for all the Famous Five came before the station launch when in an administration error, the contracts for the five presenters were sent to the wrong individuals, which led Rippon to discover she was being paid £60,000 per year, considerably less than Anna Ford who was being paid £145,000. The women also learnt that their male counterparts Frost and Parkinson were each being paid almost £250,000. TV-am's headquarters and studios were at Breakfast Television Centre , Hawley Crescent, Camden Town , London. Designed by Terry Farrell and converted from

11704-517: The corporation strengthened its drama output costing £30 million, with eight new series, including Howards' Way , All Creatures Great and Small , Hold the Back Page , and Bluebill , along with the return of Bergerac and Big Deal . The increase in the drama department was achieved by switching the money away from the administrative service over a three-year period, after BBC1 was criticised for failing to match ITV's output in drama. EastEnders

11856-606: The cost-cutting by management. The cost-cutting was brought sharply into focus in the Brighton hotel bombing on the Conservative cabinet in October 1984. The night before the terrorist attack, TV-am only had one crew covering the conference and that had been called back to London the previous night to cover a train crash in Wembley . When the blast occurred in the early hours, the BBC and ITN provided immediate coverage. TV-am's response

12008-448: The course of the evening. Grade started to gear most programmes to either on the hour or half past the hour, while Panorama and Omnibus were both moved after the Nine O'Clock News . Grade was also determined to end the dated and inept BBC1 scheduling which was hampering the channel and holding back good programmes. Grade said "When I took over BBC1, I discovered there were wonderful things, it

12160-424: The creation of both The One Show (2006–present), an early evening, current-affairs and lifestyle magazine programme, which now runs all but two weeks of the year, and Davina (2006), a prime time chat show , the latter hosted by Davina McCall , who presented Big Brother . However, Davina was a critical and ratings disaster, which Fincham subsequently admitted was personally his fault, although he defended

12312-414: The crews of TV-am and those of ITN , TSW and TVS . All this notwithstanding, the programme continued to thrive. Eventually, Gyngell fired all of the locked-out technicians, replacing them with non-unionised labour from around the world. On 23 November 1987, technicians at the station went on a 24-hour strike. Management locked out the strikers, but stayed on air using non-technical staff to broadcast

12464-399: The end of analogue broadcasting. Between 1973 and 1977, BBC1 achieved an average audience share of 45% under Bryan Cowgill . This was the channel's most successful period in terms of audience share. On 30 December 1980, the BBC announced plans to introduce a new breakfast television service to compete with TV-am . They stated that the new show would be broadcast before TV-am but included

12616-423: The end of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP. As of 2003, 53.2% of households watch through terrestrial, 31.3% through satellite, and 15.6% through cable. The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It

12768-470: The first Independent Television (ITV) station, began to broadcast on 22 September 1955. The competition quickly forced the channel to change its identity and priorities, following a large reduction in its audience, as noted in the 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting. Simultaneously, the Pilkington Report decided to award an additional television station to the BBC on the basis that ITV

12920-446: The first time and had a live in-vision presenter, similar to rival ITV's Children's ITV block which had been running since January 1983. Previously the BBC had broadcast children's programming using BBC1's team of regular duty announcers. The launch presenter for this block, and thus the first Children's BBC presenter of the current format, was Phillip Schofield . On 23 May 1986, long-running lunchtime magazine show Pebble Mill at One

13072-466: The first time since the rival channel had launched in 1955, although much of this was down to the success of the channel's daytime television line-up, which had its own Controller: Jane Lush . When Heggessey arrived at the channel in November 2000, she inherited two controversial schedule changes which had been implemented the previous month, at the behest of Director-General of the BBC Greg Dyke ;

13224-474: The first variation. A Scottish variation launched on 14 January 2013, followed by a Welsh variation on 29 January 2013. On 16 July 2013, the BBC indicated that it also wants to launch regional variants of BBC One HD across England; however, this would require the approval of the BBC Trust, with a proposal due to be presented within six months. On 18 November 2013, the Northern Irish regional variant of BBC One HD

13376-402: The frequency used by Channel 5's new broadcasts. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial channel to also broadcast via satellite. From 2006 onwards, Channel 5 launched new digital channels and an Internet on-demand service. After changing ownership several times, in May 2014 Channel 5 and its sister channels were acquired by Viacom, an American media conglomerate , known as Paramount since 2022. By

13528-504: The government and the BBC. Its first analogue terrestrial channel was launched by the BBC Television Service in 1936. It rebranded to BBC1 in 1964 following the launch of BBC2 , the UK's third analogue terrestrial channel after ITV. BBC News 24 launched as an analogue cable channel in 1997, later rebranding to BBC News in 2008. BBC Parliament , which was originally an analogue cable channel known as The Parliamentary Channel,

13680-668: The late 1980s and 1990s as licences for cable television were awarded on a city-by-city basis. The mid-1990s saw the companies start to merge and the turn of the century only three big companies remained. In 2007 Telewest and NTL merged, resulting in the formation of Virgin Media , which is available to 55% of households. Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband. There are two distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception). Sky TV

13832-448: The launch of digital TV. Sky make their channels available via rival cable and Internet services as well as their own satellite service and Now. Channel 5 was the fifth analogue terrestrial channel to launch, in March 1997. Due to constraints with the available UHF frequencies at the time, many households had to retune their video recorders , which shared the frequency on their RF output with

13984-607: The launch of the HD channels, this also means the closure of the SD channels. SD channels are shut on satellite 24 hours after the launch of the HD channel, and are moved up to the Channel 1/Channel 101 slot on the EPG. Viewers with older standard definition set-top boxes will no longer be able to receive BBC One. All BBC satellite channels in standard definition have closed on 8 January 2024. Television in

14136-500: The license fee, paid whether the BBC uses the content or not. A June 2018 article on BuzzFeed claimed that That's TV was created "primarily to extract money from the BBC whilst delivering little content of useful value". BBC One, BBC Two and the ITV network (comprising ITV1 and STV) are split into regions in which regional news and other programming is broadcast. ITV1/STV is split into fourteen geographic licencees , with several of these split into two or three sub-regions, resulting in

14288-460: The license for Scarborough, which is held by That's TV, requires seven hours of local programming per week (one hour per day on average). Thirteen additional licenses were originally intended, but Ofcom decided not to advertise these in June 2018. The way Ofcom structured local television – being dependent on terrestrial transmission – was criticised in a Guardian article in 2015 for being "years behind in its thinking", as it does not account for

14440-505: The local newsagent stopped supplying the station with newspapers due to lack of payment. TV-am spent the summer on the road, using the outside broadcast truck from various seaside resorts around the UK, and was presented by Chris Tarrant . Michael Parkinson went to Australia in early June 1983 for the summer, with Henry Kelly taking over his weekend duties. David Frost was given the Sunday slot from 28 August, initially for eight weeks with

14592-551: The lowest common denominator to increase viewership. Reliance on docusoaps and the dropping of the vilified Noel's House Party were chastened by the hoax guests on The Vanessa Show . Alan Yentob said "The spring package is to remind people of what the BBC is here for, range and ambition you won't find anywhere else at peak time". The changes helped the channel distinguish itself from (as one BBC executive said) "its down-market rival and would not compete for viewers on ITV's terms." Lorraine Heggessey became Controller of BBC One,

14744-490: The magazine-style Breakfast Time took on a more heavyweight approach; and in 1989 the BBC replaced Breakfast Time entirely with a more in-depth and analytical news format called Breakfast News , reminiscent of the original format used by TV-am. In the hurricane-force storms that hit England in October 1987, electrical power to the studios was lost and an emergency programme had to be transmitted from facilities at Thames Television 's Euston Road centre, using reports from

14896-419: The most popular breakfast show on UK television. Following a change in the law regarding television franchising, the company lost its licence and was replaced by GMTV in 1993. The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) announced on 24 January 1980 that in the next ITV franchising round it would offer a national licence for breakfast television. Eight applications were received and on 28 December that year,

15048-458: The most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are: 100 Greatest TV Moments was a list compiled by Channel 4 in 1999. The top 10 entries are: The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most-watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne , shown only on BBC1. The figures in these tables represent

15200-518: The national version of BBC One in High Definition, with HD versions of programmes including Doctor Who , Holby City , The One Show , Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice . EastEnders was also made available in HD from Christmas Day 2010. All programmes still made in standard definition were upscaled on the channel, with the intention that by 2012 the vast majority of the channel's output would be in high definition. On 30 May 2012,

15352-403: The new Channel 4 and the breakfast service with the actors' trade union , Equity . The union instructed its members to boycott the new station, which meant there was little or no revenue from advertising in the early days. Secondly, it was believed that the BBC's breakfast service would be highbrow, focusing on news and analysis, so TV-am had developed its new service to match that. However,

15504-458: The new productions. The savings were seen as a vindication for Producer Choice, the controversial internal market introduced in April 1993. By March 1999, the channel admitted defeat in its ratings war with ITV, with its spring line up emphasising more on serious factual and educational programmes, and drama. This change in strategy came about after continuing complaints that the channel was appealing to

15656-490: The one hand it is inevitable. But it is dismissive of children. There is a certain amount of overlooking of the fact that children's programmes do get a wider audience than people are aware of ... I have frequently had letters from older people who have enjoyed my programmes as much as children do. A lot of the reason older people like to watch children's programming is because it is life-enhancing." Head of BBC Children's, Joe Godwin said: "Our young viewers are our priority and

15808-580: The only success for the station, largely because the BBC did not broadcast on weekend mornings. The Saturday editions drew 1.5 million viewers. A number of changes were made on 28 February: Daybreak was reduced by 30 minutes and presented by Gavin Scott, while Good Morning Britain was moved 30 minutes earlier to start at 6:30 am, with Angela Rippon being moved from Daybreak to present alongside Anna Ford. The original Good Morning Britain team of Frost and Ford

15960-522: The other presenters in the run-up to launch. When the franchise was announced in December 1980, Rippon's contract with the BBC was about to expire, and was not renewed as a result of her new employment. This left her seeking freelance work before TV-am went on air. Ford was dismissed by ITN , which had been part of another consortium bidding for the breakfast contract. ITN had presented Ford as their female programme presenter as part of their bid, unaware that she

16112-453: The output of commercial rivals, and during Heggessey's era the channel frequently came under attack for being too populist and not providing enough serious programming. Immediately after her arrival, Heggessey ordered a review of the "Balloon" idents the channel had been using for its between-programme idents since 1997. In her opinion, the balloon was "slow and distant" and so, on 29 March 2002, after much speculation, she decided to abandon

16264-469: The owners of the Daily Express which injected new capital worth over £4.5 million into the company. Australian business tycoon Kerry Packer took a substantial minority interest in the company in early 1984, and in early May appointed his own chief executive, Bruce Gyngell , who was brought in to help make the company financially viable. Greg Dyke left within a few weeks of the appointment to take

16416-458: The programmes during this period. On 1 April (Good Friday), puppet Roland Rat made his first appearance; he was created by David Claridge and launched by TV-am Children's editor Anne Wood to entertain younger viewers during the Easter holidays, which boosted the station's audience. Roland Rat is generally regarded as its saviour, being described as "the only rat to join a sinking ship". During

16568-474: The rights to broadcast the show in the UK for two years. The Voice UK achieved good ratings for the BBC but ratings dropped towards the end of the first series and the second series. In 2013, The Voice UK was rescheduled to avoid a clash, and as a result, ratings have improved. In November 2015, it was announced that The Voice UK would be moving to ITV from 2017, especially because of the ITV plc ownership of franchise owner, Talpa Media . On 8 October 2013,

16720-542: The satellite and terrestrial resolution was increased to full HD . BBC One HD at launch did not offer regional variations, and therefore the channel could not broadcast during regional programming slots, most noticeably the local news programmes. The BBC Trust admitted that this was due to technical and financial constraints, but the BBC announced on 6 June 2011 that the national variations of BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC One Scotland and BBC One Wales, would become available from 2012. On 24 October 2012, Northern Ireland received

16872-449: The second week of both Rippon and Ford, figures continued to remain at a peak of 500,000. On 26 March, new figures were published, highlighting that TV-am had once again lost 100,000 up to the week before; however, ratings were still higher overall, compared to the end of February's figures. A boardroom coup ensued on 18 March, when Peter Jay stepped aside allowing Jonathan Aitken , a sitting Conservative MP, to become chief executive of

17024-552: The series as "a joyful, exuberant reinvention and a fine legacy from Ms Heggessey." Heggessey did later concede in a 2005 interview with The Independent newspaper that arts programming had suffered a cutback under her control of BBC One. However, she did respond to this omission following criticism from the Board of Governors of the BBC by commissioning programmes such as the arts documentary series Imagine... (2003–present) and A Picture of Britain (2005). On 14 February 2005 it

17176-462: The series in September 2003, after Heggessey had spent two years persuading the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide , to abandon their attempts to make a feature film version of the programme and allow it to instead return it to BBC One. The new version of Doctor Who (2005–present) debuted on 26 March 2005 and became a critical and popular hit, with Paul Hoggart of The Times newspaper describing

17328-500: The six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4 . Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have six set advertising regions. Sky is a European broadcaster owned by global American media conglomerate Comcast . Sky Television launched in 1989, with

17480-458: The station regularly had problems, resulting in numerous management changes, especially in its early years. It also suffered from major financial cutbacks hampering its operations. Though on a stable footing by 1986 and winning its ratings battle with the BBC's Breakfast Time , within a year turmoil had ensued when industrial action hit the company. Despite these setbacks, by the 1990s, TV-am's flagship programme Good Morning Britain had become

17632-453: The station's 'star' line-up of presenter/shareholders, but pulled out in 1981 after the birth of her third child; she and the company agreed that the early morning starts would present a problem in her raising her child. She had also been persuaded by the BBC to continue producing and presenting That's Life! and conceded she did not want to give up the show, or worse, see it continue with another anchor. There had been many difficulties for

17784-472: The station, after mounting pressure from investors who had demanded changes. On the same day, Angela Rippon and Anna Ford came out publicly to support Jay, calling the goings-on "treachery", unaware Jay had already left. Over the course of the next few days Aitken made it clear a number of changes were being looked at to improve the ratings including cutting the number of ad breaks, while also denying he wanted anyone to resign. Many officials, like those at

17936-478: The strategy of experimenting with the BBC One schedule. This he continued in January 2007, when he moved the current affairs series Panorama from its Sunday night slot back to the prime time Monday evening slot from which it had been removed in 2000, most likely in response to a demand from the Board of Governors of the BBC for the channel to show more current affairs programming in prime time. Fincham's judgement

18088-421: The summer, when Breakfast Time hosts Frank Bough and Selina Scott were off, he helped take the audience from 100,000 to over a million and a half. On 4 April, Greg Dyke became director of programmes to help overhaul the station's output. A day later sports presenter Nick Owen become one of the main presenters working one week each with Ford and Rippon initially only for the month of April The latter

18240-464: The time Michael Grade and Jonathan Powell were blamed for the decision (Grade was the target of death threats) but it was later revealed that the decision was taken due to the series running out of creative inspiration, making it impossible to find anyone (at the time) who knew what to do with the series. On 9 September 1985, the long-standing children's programming block was overhauled and rebranded as Children's BBC , which gave it dedicated idents for

18392-439: The time it acquired Channel 5, Paramount already operated a large number of subscription channels in the UK, including the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, which are available via Sky TV, Virgin Media and Now. In terms of viewing share, the combined viewing across Paramount's channels make the group the UK's fifth largest broadcaster, according to BARB's viewing figures for 1 March 2020. Paramount additionally operates

18544-532: The unions; however, on 16 February 1988, all the technicians were made redundant, with many of the technicians being informed by an announcement made on News at Ten . In the years that followed, the station gradually found its feet again. By the early 1990s, operating with a significantly reduced staff, it was the world's most profitable TV station in terms of turnover. In 1990, changes in broadcasting law meant that commercial television franchises were no longer allocated on merit or potential, but rather through

18696-441: The vast majority of children in the UK already tune in to CBeebies and CBBC to find their favourite BBC children's programmes. Far from being a 'cynical' move, we're just following where our audience has already gone." As part of the review in 2012 other changes were brought in, including: In 2012, the BBC out-bid ITV for the rights to air a British version of Dutch TV talent show The Voice . The BBC paid £22 million for

18848-432: The weeks leading up to 15 November 1969, BBC1 unofficially transmitted the occasional programme in its new colour system in order to test it. At midnight on 15 November, simultaneously with ITV and two years after BBC2 had done so, BBC1 officially began 625-line PAL colour programming on UHF with a broadcast of a concert by Petula Clark . Colour transmissions could be received in monochrome via monochrome 625-line sets until

19000-500: The word "The" and moved into the BBC logo. Each new campaign incorporating the theme retained the same animated sequence. In May 2007, Fincham decided to drop Neighbours , an Australian soap opera, from BBC One after 21 years on the channel, when its producers, FremantleMedia significantly raised the price they wanted the BBC to pay for it in a bidding war. Fincham commented that it was 'a big loss', but that BBC One would not pay 'the best part of £300 million'. Neighbours left

19152-578: The years following its launch, GMTV approached the ITC to retrospectively obtain a reduction in this fee, taking it to a level below what TV-am had originally bid. By February 1992 the first on-screen effects of the licence loss became obvious, with TV-am closing its in-house news service and contracting it out to Sky News for a one-off payment. Children's programming also suffered, with fewer appearances of Timmy Mallett , though Wacaday would continue during major school holidays until TV-am's close. Another impact

19304-452: The £18 million salary that the BBC paid Jonathan Ross in 2006, although Ross's BBC One work—primarily consisting of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross —formed only part of his overall BBC commitment. The channel was named Channel of the Year at the 2007 Broadcast Awards. Following its rebrand in March 2002, BBC One launched The One to Watch campaign, during which animated blocks created

19456-435: Was able to move Comedy Central UK and Nickelodeon UK from their prior central London office complexes to Hawley Crescent. In August 1993, TV-am plc became Crockfords plc, since 1995 known as Capital Corporation Ltd, a gambling company which is currently non-trading. The TV-am name and logo, and 15 registered trade marks, are now owned by journalist Ian White . The archive of TV-am programmes made between 1983 and 1992

19608-447: Was acquired by the BBC in 1998. From 1998 onwards the BBC started digital TV transmissions, launching new channels and broadcasting via satellite in addition to terrestrial and cable. The BBC's Internet-based service iPlayer contains content from the BBC's TV channels, the Welsh-language public-service broadcaster S4C, as well as videos created from BBC radio programmes. UKTV is a commercial broadcaster owned by BBC Studios , one of

19760-437: Was again called into question, this time by The Telegraph , for his decision to spend £1.2 million replacing the channel's 'Rhythm and Movement' idents , which had been introduced by his predecessor Lorraine Heggessey several years earlier, with the 'Circle' idents , a set of eight ten-second films, some of which were shot abroad in locations such as Mexico and Croatia. Fincham later found himself having to publicly defend

19912-516: Was announced that Lorraine Heggessey was to leave the BBC to take up the post of Chief Executive at production company Talkback Thames . She left on 15 April. Five months after her departure, BBC One was named "Channel of the Year" at the Edinburgh Television Festival , primarily on the strength of Heggessey's commissions such as Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who . Joining the channel as Controller in 2005, Peter Fincham oversaw

20064-429: Was broadcast for the last time after being on air for 14 years. On 27 October 1986, BBC1 launched its daytime television schedules. In a statement, BBC Daytime head Roger Laughton said: It was the natural extension of the corporation's commitment to public service broadcasting, since half the population had access to television during the day mainly the retired, unemployed and housewives. Stereo audio transmissions, using

20216-417: Was brought in as stop-gap measurement for six weeks, before Anne Diamond joined from the BBC to become Owen's new co-presenter from 6 June. On 23 May, TV-am's new look started. Daybreak was axed, with Good Morning Britain extended to start at 6:25 am. Commander David Philpott was moved to present the weather at the weekends only, with Wincey Willis becoming the new weekday weather presenter, and

20368-611: Was castigated by viewers and the media for her blatant hostility to Owen on air. When he made an error in a link, Rippon stated "You see, it's not as easy as you think." During April, the live comic strip The World of Melanie Parker was axed. On 14 April, Aitken's cousin Timothy became chief executive of the station due to the IBA rules regarding MPs operating a television station. This resulted in Rippon and Ford being sacked on 19 April, with no official reason given at that time; unofficially it

20520-502: Was head of BBC Sport prior to 1981. The first major overhaul was to axe the unpopular Sixty Minutes current affairs programme: this was a replacement for the news and magazine show Nationwide . Its replacement was the BBC Six O'Clock News , a straight news programme in a bid to shore up its failing early evening slot. It was believed the BBC were planning to cut short the evening news and move more light entertainment programming in from

20672-600: Was in comparison lacking in serious programming. BBC Television became BBC1 when BBC2 launched on 20 April 1964, transmitting an incompatible 625-line image on UHF . The only way to receive all channels was to use a complex "dual-standard" 405- and 625-line receiver with both a VHF and a UHF aerial (405-line-only sets became obsolete in 1985 when VHF transmissions ended). BBC1 moved to purpose-built facilities at Television Centre on 20 September 1969. Television News continued to use Alexandra Palace as its base and by early 1968 had even converted one of its studios to colour. In

20824-438: Was intended to last 12 weeks, but in an attempt to reinvigorate the show, Frost voluntarily agreed to step down so that the female team of Ford and Rippon could spearhead the slot. After just one edition on air, Ford was struck with flu, with her returning the following week on 7 March. During the first week of the revised format, the viewer figures increased by 200,000, with Frost and Parkinson stepping in to cover for her. During

20976-486: Was just a case of where to put them." Wogan had been scheduled for a 10 pm slot, but Grade moved it to a 7 pm slot as he believed the show had potential. From February to August 1985, a high number of American mini-series were broadcast while filming took place of a number of new home grown programmes, including 'Allo 'Allo! , In Sickness and in Health , and Open All Hours . Further improvement came about when

21128-416: Was limited to a caption of reporter John Stapleton reporting over the phone, while the BBC were showing graphic coverage of the attack. Trade union agreements at the time meant that technical staff at the local ITV station TVS could not provide cover for another commercial television company, and TV-am's previous conflicts with ITN meant that the latter would not share its footage. The whole affair earned

21280-416: Was made clear "Children's programmes are absolutely fundamental to the BBC and that is why we have protected investment in them in the light of cuts elsewhere." Children's programming on BBC One ended on 21 December 2012. The move was criticised by Teletubbies co-creator Anne Wood , who described the changes as "ghettoising children's programmes" and believe it was merely a cost-cutting measure. Wood said "On

21432-470: Was made clear both breached their contracts for their public support for Jay, while at some time by sacking both helped cut costs. Parkinson ended up in lengthy talks with Aitken over the issues and the sacking of his two former colleagues, which resulted in him becoming a director of the company and joining the board of management. As part of these talks, further members of staff who clashed with Parkinson would be removed. Ford encountered Jonathan Aitken at

21584-485: Was moved to a 19:30 slot, where it managed to soar to 20 million, helping the BBC1 audience share increase to nearly 50% for the first time since 1982. On 27 February 1985, Doctor Who was placed on an 18-month hiatus. The BBC originally planned to axe the series as they wished to spend its budgets on new programming for the channel, but was forced to back down from public pressure and Doctor Who returned in September 1986. At

21736-433: Was planning to defect to TV-am. ITN heavily criticised her disloyalty and said that her dishonesty had made its bid seem "ridiculous" to the IBA. ITN replaced Ford with Selina Scott , who herself landed a double blow to ITN when she defected to the BBC to present Breakfast Time towards the end of 1982. Michael Parkinson did remain with the BBC, who hoped to persuade him to stay as they had with Rantzen, but he finally left

21888-421: Was renovated and reorganised, including the installation of a green wall . The office suite on the other side of the courtyard remained in place but was renovated, including the removal of the obscured-since-1993 'TVAM' lettering from the building fascia. MTV Networks continued to operate from the building during the rebuilding and renovation works, and following the construction of the expanded office space, it

22040-440: Was responsible for the legislation." The letter was private but Gyngell made it public, which drew criticism from friends of the former prime minister. The station's final broadcast ended on 31 December 1992 at 9:21 am. Credits over a black-and-white still of the station's cast and crew in the studio showed snapshot of their portraits as the screen faded ending with the caption: TV-am: 1 February 1983 – 31 December 1992. This

22192-608: Was sold to MTV Networks in 1993, with the famous eggcups still standing on the roof of the building beside the Regent's Canal . As well as being used by MTV for the production of its programmes, MTV Studios, as they were known, were available for commercial hire within the TV industry. The TV-am lettering built into the fascia of the building was obscured – by being covered with discs – but were still partially visible until they were completely removed during further renovations in spring 2012. In 1999,

22344-400: Was still manual and this gap gave British Telecom the required time to complete this task. Shortly after TV-am's launch, the process was converted to allow automatic switching, which was introduced gradually throughout the network, and from the end of May 1983 the IBA extended TV-am's hours to 9:25 am to allow for continuous programming. At this point, Good Morning Britain was reduced to

22496-556: Was swapped with the SD channel on Sky's EPG for HD subscribers. This was followed by the Welsh and Scottish variants on 10 December. On 24 March 2014, BBC One Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland HD launched on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media outside the regions they were originally seen in. On 31 March 2016, BBC One HD in England moved from channel 141 on the Sky electronic programme guide to channel 115,

22648-765: Was the abrupt cancellation after just six weeks of the Chris Evans -hosted Saturday morning strand TV-Mayhem , which had initially been commissioned for a 40-week run, and its replacement with presented-out-of-vision back-to-back cartoons strand Cartoon World on Saturdays from 8 am (extended to 7:30 am later in the year). Margaret Thatcher , whose government had introduced the change to the allocation of commercial television franchises (but who had by then been replaced as prime minister by John Major ), famously wrote to Bruce Gyngell , apologising for being partly responsible for TV-am losing its licence. Her letter read, in part: "I am ... heartbroken. I am only too painfully aware that I

22800-437: Was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements . Each region was originally independent and used its own on-air identity . Through a series of mergers following relaxation of regulation in 1990, thirteen of the franchises are now held by ITV plc , and the remaining two by STV Group . Since 2012, ITV plc produces the network nationally, with STV Group acting as an affiliate . STV Group uses

22952-578: Was then followed by the last commercial break after which there was no final appearance by the famous eggcups; they had been seen for the last time the day before. Instead, the final promotion was for GMTV which began broadcasting at 6am the following day. While TV-am was an independent station and had used an expensive, purpose-owned custom-built studio complex at Camden Lock, GMTV used studio space at The London Studios owned by one of GMTV's shareholders, LWT . Breakfast Television Centre in Camden Town

23104-406: Was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel had the highest reach share of any broadcaster in the United Kingdom as at 2019, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership ITV . In 2013, a major global study of the BBC by

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