Independent Television in Britain: Volume 6 New Developments in Independent Television 1981–92: Channel 4, TV-am, Cable and Satellite

490 Pages·2003·2.89 MB·English

by  Paul Bonner

Independent Television in Britain
Volume 6
New Developments in Independent Television 1981–92:
Channel 4, TV-am, Cable and Satellite
Other volumes in the same work
Volume 1 ORIGINANDFOUNDATION, 1946–62
(by Bernard Sendall)
Volume 2 EXPANSIONANDCHANGE, 1958–68
(by Bernard Sendall)
Volume 3 POLITICS ANDCONTROL, 1968–80
(by Jeremy Potter)
Volume 4 COMPANIESANDPROGRAMMES, 1968–80
(by Jeremy Potter)
Volume 5 ITVANDTHE IBA, 1981–92
(by Paul Bonner with Lesley Aston)
Independent Television
in Britain
Volume 6
New Developments in Independent Television
1981–92: Channel 4, TV-am, Cable and Satellite
Paul Bonner
with
Lesley Aston
© Paul Bonner and Lesley Aston 2003
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-0-333-64774-5
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Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Preface and Acknowledgements vii
List of Interviewees x
Part I Channel 4
1 The Fourth Channel: Conception to Birth 3
2 Countdown to Countdown:Setting Up the Channel and Getting
on the Air 36
3 Programmes, Reactions and Progress 1982–87: ‘The Isaacs Years’ 109
4 Politics, Scheduling and Selling 1988–92: ‘The Grade Years’ 220
Part II TV-am
5 Breakfast-Time Contract: TV-am 299
6 Financing, Ratings and Resignation: 1980–83 (March) 321
7 Dyke to the Rescue: April 1983–May 1984 335
8 The Wizard of Oz: May 1984–1992 351
9 From Packer to Bond: 1987–88 365
10 Exit TV-am 376
Part III Other Responsibilities of the ITC
11 Cable and Satellite 387
Appendix A: Non-Executive Directors of Channel 4 1981–92 435
Appendix B: Channel 4 Major Programme Awards 1983–92 436
Appendix C: The Commissioning Structure of Channel 4 438
Bibliography 439
Index 450
List of Illustrations
1 Jeremy Isaacs, Chief Executive Channel 4, 1981–87 35
2 Channel 4 on-screen identity 75
3 Michael Grade, Chief Executive Channel 4, 1988–97 225
4 Channel 4 share of audience, 1983–97 (against BBC2 share) 296
5 TV-am’s Breakfast Television Centre, Camden, London NW1 311
vi
Preface and Acknowledgements
I help the old to remember and the young to understand.
[Gervase Cowell (1927–2000),
Historian of the Special Operation Executive (SOE)]
Cowell’s percipient definition of the historian’s function is the prime intent of
this volume of Independent Television in Britain. That said, not all the old will be
satisfied. Between 1981 and 1992, the period covered by this volume, there was
an unprecedented flowering of new broadcasting developments in that sector
regulated by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and its successor,
the Independent Television Commission (ITC). This book deals with the two
new broadcasting organisations that grew from the legislation during the period
(one of which rose and fell within that time), and some aspects of cable and
satellite development. Regrettably it cannot contain all the detail that those
who contributed to those developments would have liked to see recorded. Nor
can it deal with one of the most unlikely broadcasting success stories of the
period – Sianel Pedwar Cymru, the Welsh-language channel – which falls outside
the remit of the IBA/ITC.
The reason that programme-makers may be disappointed is that there were
just too many new programmes over the ten years for them even to be listed,
let alone dealt with in detail. However, we hope that we have touched on most
of the more significant new programme developments of the period – whether
or not they aroused interest or controversy at the time of their transmission.
Inevitably, however, in the Channel 4 section of the book the early programmes
receive more attention than those that came later, not only because many did
indeed cause controversy but also those programmes were the first interpreta-
tion of the channel’s ‘remit’. They set a style that, as it turned out, the public
came to associate with the channel. They helped to create an image that has
been sustained long after the programmes themselves may have been forgotten.
The author must declare an interest at this point. He was the founder Channel
Controller of Channel Four – from 1980 to 1987. Where there is a personal
involvement in the history my rigorous co-author, Lesley Aston, has ensured
the maintenance of objectivity – and in the passage in Chapter 1 on the initial
appointments was asked to intervene to that end. Involvement of the author
with the channel is not, therefore, the reason for the difference in form and
scale between the Channel 4 and TV-am sections of the book. That comes about
as a result of the distinctly different functions of the two organisations. While
vii
viii New Developments in Independent Television 1981–92
Channel 4 commissioned to fill a complete schedule of programmes for its own
channel, TV-am’s function was to generate material for what was, in effect, a
single programme slot – albeit over three hours – on the ITV channel. Also,
while TV-am is now a fascinating historical entity (the breakfast-time service
continues in other hands), Channel 4 is an ongoing organisation with a clear
position in the nation’s current and future culture.
A note about nomenclature: TV-am was always formally called TV-am (though
written as TV-AM in its early days). However, before the award of the contract
to that company, the role it would perform was termed ‘the Breakfast-time
Contractor’ and that title continued in use by some.
For the many years before it actually came into existence Channel 4 was
referredtoas‘TheFourthChannel’.Eventhelegislationthatbroughtitinto
beingusedthatterminology.Butafterthechannel’sbirththecompanywas
called‘TheChannelFourTelevisionCompanyLimited’.Since1992ithasbeen
theChannelFourTelevisionCorporation.Toconfusemattersfurther,thechannel
referred(andstillrefers)toitselfontheairandinpublicityas‘Channel4’.In
therelevantsectionofthisvolumeChannelFourandChannel4areusedwith
thosedistinctionsasfaraspossible,butasinterviews,documentsandthepress
oftenconfusedthem,thereadershouldregardthenamesasinterchangeable.
A note about notes: As in Volume 5 we have worked on the basis that it is
easier for the reader if the ‘footnotes’ appear within the narrative rather than at
the foot of the page – or, worse, at the end of the book. Authors’ notes,
attributions, cross-references, and so on, therefore appear within the text in
square [ ] brackets.
Readers may notice that the TV-am section is more dependent on material
from interviews than the section on Channel 4. That is because the former
company failed to gain a licence to continue broadcasting on 16 October 1991
– that seismic day when the results of the new system of licence awards under
the Broadcasting Act 1990 were announced. With some difficulty the Board
minutes of the company were located in a remote warehouse, where much of
the TV-am material lay, unclassified, after a reverse takeover by TV-am of
Crockfords, the Mayfair club and casino in 1993. Vanessa Jones, company
secretary of the Capital Corporation (then the holding company of Crockfords)
was very helpful in making the TV-am minutes and other internal papers
available to Lesley Aston – to whom, as co-author of this volume as well as the
previous one, my thanks are boundless.
Channel 4 set up a full archive system from its first days, which continues to
be very thorough in its coverage. Also the two Chief Executives responsible for
the channel during the period covered by this volume have recorded their
experiences in book form and we are grateful to have been allowed to quote
from these. There are many others to be credited. Although volumes of the
Independent Television in Britain series traditionally carry no dedications, one
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
credit for help with the Channel 4 section of the book is also a form of
dedication. The late Chris Griffin-Beale, Channel 4’s first Press Officer and later
its Head of Press Relations, died in 1998 at the tragically early age of 50. His
wonderfully accurate, and perceptive, C4 press releases have been a prime source
for the C4 section of this book. Chris was a figure liked and respected by all who
worked with him. Above that he was loved by his many friends, as well as by
his family. We miss him still. His work will be a valuable source for media
historians of the future. That is a most suitable memorial.
Also to be thanked at Channel 4 is the person responsible for our access to the
channel’s resources, Martin Stott, Deputy Head of Corporate Relations, and the
equally helpful and wonderfully diligent archivists at the channel, Rosie Gleeson
and Pamela Dear. At the ITC, we have been helped successively by that
organisation’s archivists, Paul Troake (who later moved to C4), Simon McKeon
and Andrew Ledgard.
We also thank all the staff of the ITC Library service, and in particular the
Commission’s ex-Head of Library and Archives, Barrie MacDonald, whose
excellent bibliography and index enhance this volume – as his work has done
for all the preceding volumes of Independent Television in Britain. It was through
him also that we made contact with Dr Windsor Holden, whose research was a
valuable source for some aspects of the Cable and Satellite chapter of this book.
Most particularly I thank Sara Winter, who was kindly prepared to help the
authors in the final organisation of this volume – a role she had performed for
Volume 5.
Other individuals who kindly gave their time and reached back in their
memory to help this project, either in person or on the phone, are acknowledged
in the List of Interviewees. Our thanks go to all of them. We are also grateful to
ITN for access to their archive and to the sponsor/underwriters of this volume,
the Independent Television Commission, the ITV Network Ltd and the Channel
Four Corporation, for their support of a published record of their past
achievements. This is particularly praiseworthy at a time when such initiatives
appear to be diminishing in importance in the priorities of other organisations,
to the detriment of public access and the knowledge of future generations.
Finally, on a personal note, gratitude on a massive scale goes to my wife,
Jenifer, for her patient support and practical help in so many ways during the
writing of volumes 5 and 6. In particular her proofreading of, and valuable
comments on, the drafts of both volumes were invaluable.
Paul Bonner