Television South

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Television South

TVS Logo, used 1989-1992
Based in	Northam, Southampton and Maidstone
Broadcast area	South and South East England
Launched	1 January 1982
TVS original logo, used 1982-1987
Closed	31 December 1992
Replaced	Southern Television
Replaced by	Meridian Broadcasting
Owned by	Self-owned

Television South (TVS) was the broadcasting name associated with the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1982 and 1992. The company operated under various names, initally as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK broadcasting arm referred to as TVS Television plc. On-air the company was known as TVS, Television South and eventually TVS Television.

Broadcasting commenced in 1982 following takeover of the franchise from Southern Television during the review of franchise holders in 1980. During their 10 year history, TVS produced a number of notable programmes for the ITV network and challenged the monopoly of ITV’s ‘Big Five’ companies in controlling the allocation of primetime networked programming slots, although access was ultimately denied. They ceased broadcasting on 31 December 1992 after they lost the franchise to the present holder Meridian Broadcasting during the review of franchise holders in 1991. The company was sold to International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE) in 1993.

Contents 1 1980 Franchise Review 2 Studio Facilities 2.1 Northam, Southampton 2.2 Vinter’s Park, Maidstone 2.3 Dover 2.4 TVS Television Theatre 2.5 Regional Offices 3 People 4 The Broadcasting Years 4.1 Programming 4.2 MTM Entertainment 5 The 1991 Franchise Battle 6 Life After Death 7 Current Status 8 See Also 9 External Links

[edit] 1980 Franchise Review

TVS was formed to apply for the franchise for south and south east of England under the working title of South and South-East Communications Limited, following discussions between James Gatward (a television producer), Bob Southgate (a television executive) and Martin Jackson (a newspaper executive).

The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) decided to review the franchises in 1980 such that the changeover in franchise holders (where applicable) would occur on 1 January 1982. At the changeover, the IBA had decided to change the area covered from the south to include the south east and included the Bluebell transmitter, associated relays and the main relay at Tunbridge Wells which previously were covered by ITV’s London contractors.

Following submission of their application, TVS were anticipating that they would be forced into a shotgun marriage with Southern Television, but won outright since their plans for a better mix of programmes and greater investment were considered good enough to operate the franchise alone. This was the official line given by the IBA, but it was also considered that the Southern’s non-local ownership and their very conservative nature lead to it being dropped in favour the more interesting proposals made by TVS in their franchise application.

[edit] Studio Facilities

[edit] Northam, Southampton

Television studios were originally founded in Northam, Southampton by Southern Television when they were awarded the licence to broadcast in the south of England in the 1957.

The studios was originally the Plaza Cinema and were selected for the new venture as the owner, the Rank Organisation, was a large shareholder in the new broadcaster. In 1967, and with the introduction of colour television in 1969, Southern built new studios adjacent to the original development on land reclaimed from the River Itchen. These were the facilities purchased by TVS (and later Meridian).

The Southampton base was company's corporate headquarters and their primary production and transmission centre. Upon purchase TVS made significant investment, building a further studio to the rear of the existing site.

TVS sold the studios to their successor Meridian in 1992. In 2004 Meridian relocated to new facilities in Fareham and the Southampton site is awaiting demolition, with the land being used for new housing developments.

[edit] Vinter’s Park, Maidstone

The studios to serve the south-eastern section of Television South's transmission area were at Vinters Park near Maidstone in Kent.

The site was originally acquired by Southern Television who had commissioned a conceptual design for new studio facilities on the site. Following the award of the franchise to TVS, Southern sold the site to the new company.

Construction commenced in early 1982 and the first studios at the centre became operational in mid-1983. During this construction TVS served the south-eastern part of their area from the former Southern studios at Southampton and Dover (the latter closing when facilities at Maidstone became operational - see below).

During 1981 TVS purchased the former Plaza Theatre in Gillingham which, following extensive refitting, became the TVS Television Theatre which became operational for the start of broadcasting in 1982. This facility played a relatively minor part in the company's production schedule (see below).

The Maidstone facilities, though significant (and home to many networked shows) were ancillary to those in Southampton which were the company's corporate headquarters. Following the sale of TVS in 1993, the studios were acquired by TVS’s new owners IFE. As well as producing programming for IFE, the studios were also available for use by other programme makers.

In the late 1990's a consortium of local businesspeople purchased the studios, renaming them The Maidstone Studios, becoming a leading independent provider of production and broadcasting facilities in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Dover

The studios were originally the south-eastern base of Southern Television and were essentially a news gathering operation with transmission facilities for regional news opt-outs. TVS used Dover as a regional studio for a year until completion of Vinters Park when they disposed of the site. The buildings have since been demolished and the site is now used as a car park.

[edit] TVS Television Theatre

TVS acquired the former Plaza Cinema in Gillingham, Kent as a stop gap measure between the commencement of broadcasting and the completion of Vinters Park. The theatre was quickly converted for television use ready for the start of broadcasting.

The decision to operate a television theatre was in contradiction to the trend in television at that time (Both the BBC and Thames Television were to dispose of similar facilities in the next two years).

Production at Gillingham was limited: It was the base of the regional afternoon magazine show Houseparty and TVS filmed the UK inserts for Fraggle Rock there. TVS sold the theatre in 1988. For a period afterwards the site was used for other activities before being demolished to make way for redevelopment. A campaign to have it listed failed as the large-scale conversion for television production had made it unsuitable for listing.

[edit] Regional Offices

TVS maintained a sales office in London and several smaller offices throughout their region.

[edit] People

At the tender stage, South and South East Communication comprised a board of directors who assisted in preparation of their tender and would run the company if their tender was successful. Members of the board included:

Chairman: Lord Boston of Faversham

Managing Director: James Gatward

Director of Programmes: Michael Blakstad

Head of Children’s Programming: Anna Home

A number of presenters made the transition from Southern to TVS. All production staff were transferred as part of the then union agreements within ITV that no technician should lose their employment as a result of franchise changes.

TVS also recruited 200 new staff for their facilities at Gillingham and Maidstone although a small number of these were made redundant after the company went on-air as the studios struggled to reach production capacity, restricted by TVS's limited access to the ITV network.

[edit] The Broadcasting Years

TVS began broadcasting on 1 January 1982. The first show was titled ‘Bring in the New’ presented by Khalid Aziz. TVS was soon recognised as ambitious (in contrast to the rather staid Southern) and who wanted to be a 'major player' within ITV and not just a large regional company.

At that time networked programme schedules were agreed by a committee with representatives from the ‘Big Five’ ITV companies Thames, LWT, Central, Yorkshire and Granada. This was done to ensure that the larger ITV companies bore more of the production costs as their size enabled them to.

This led to criticism in some quarters that the larger of the remaining 'regional' ITV companies (TVS, Anglia, STV, Tyne Tees and HTV) found it difficult to get network access for their grander productions, or that they were left with softer non-primetime sectors, such as childrens and religious televison.

TVS attempted to get the 'Big Five' turned into the 'Big Six' with their inclusion as during the mid-1980's their revenues were greater than that of Yorkshire, and often equal to that of LWT. The attempt failed (they did form an alliance with LWT which enabled some of their shows to obtain primetime network status) but in the 1990 Broadcasting Act the 'Big Five' committee was replaced with an independent ITV Network Programme Commissioner.

[edit] Programming

In common with their predecessor, TVS had a strong performance in children’s programming. Early successes included Saturday morning show No. 73 which was later networked, On Safari (TVS's first pre-transmission production), The Witches and the Grinnygog, Fraggle Rock, The Boy Who Won the Pools, Get Fresh, Knights of God. Later successes included Motormouth, The Storyteller, Tugs, How 2, Finders Keepers and Art Attack.

As they became established TVS made significant contribution to network drama (through their tie-up with LWT) with shows such as the detective series C.A.T.S. Eyes. The production of the Inspector Wexford Mysteries, television adaptations of Ruth Rendell’s novels, proved to be a success with over fifteen programmes being made over a ten year period.

Light Entertainment programming included a number of series starring Bobby Davro, Ultra Quiz, Catchphrase, Concentration and the sitcoms Perfect Scoundrels and That's Love.

[edit] MTM Entertainment

TVS's franchise in a prosperous area generated large profits. Restrictions on network programming resulted in the search for non-television investments. Speculative small investments in UK companies was followed by the purchase of the American media company MTM Enterprises, founded by Mary Tyler Moore and responsible for many US hit shows including ‘Hill Street Blues’. MTM specialised in the syndicated television market (programmes made independently and sold to the major American television networks). Television South was renamed TVS Television in 1989.

TVS was banking on benefiting from this syndicated market and so borrowed heavily to finance the £190 million purchase with the expectation of huge financial rewards. The purchase initially boosted TVS profits, but a faltering US economy lead to a downturn in US television fortunes.

By 1989, uncertainty over the high price paid by TVS for MTM lead to their share price falling in October 1989. TVS was also failing to secure network slots for its programming and they axed 200 jobs in Northam and Maidstone. As they entered the 1990’s, TVS fortunes were poor and this would have an impact upon their chances of successfully bidding for their franchise when it came up for renewal in 1991.

[edit] The 1991 Franchise Battle

In 1990 a new broadcasting act was passed through Parliament which deregulated broadcasting in the UK and removed the monopoly on programme production held by franchise holders. Changes to network broadcasting and the introduction of cable and satellite channels meant that ITV needed to be leaner and fitter to compete with its new found rivals.

The Act saw the replacement of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) with the Independent Television Commission (ITC). The Act also changed the rules for the allocation of ITV franchises: In previous franchise battles, incumbents were judged on track record and future plans while new applicants were judged on potential and financial backing.

Incumbents and new applicants still had to undergo this examination but now also had to submit a cash bid, payable annually, via a silent auction based on what they valued the contract at. One other change made was that applicants no longer had to own production facilities or produce shows in-house, allowing them to become publisher-broadcasters and opening up the ITV network to independent producers.

The original draft of the Broadcasting Act stated the applicant with the highest cash bid would win; however following fears that this would financially stretch the network and diminish programme standards the concept of a 'quality threshold' was introduced. Incumbents and applicants had to pass this first before cash bids were even considered; even then if a cash bid was deemed to impact on plans the application could be rejected.

TVS failed on both counts. The lucrative nature of their contract area resulted in many applicants forcing TVS to bid a large amount, £59 million per annum for the next ten years. The ITC said this was an unrealistic bid that would impact on programming and the companies financial stabililty given its' on-going problems with MTM. In October 1991 the contract was awarded to Meridian Broadcasting whose bid was £36m per year.

TVS said it would consider a judicial review, but later started to partially liquidate the company. They agreed to sell their studio facilities at Southampton to Meridian. The Maidstone Studios were to be retained with the news facility being leased to Meridian as TVS planned to continue trading as an independent producer.

The unions started to negotiate with Meridian to absorb some of the 800 TVS staff facing redundancy as Meridian only planned to employ 370 staff as they intended to produce a far smaller amount of network programming and would use independent producers for the remainder of its programming.

[edit] Life After Death

TVS ceased broadcasting for ITV at midnight on the 31 December 1992. The final show was titled ‘Goodbye to All That’, a retrospective of TVS's programming and was presented by Fred Dineage and Fern Britton. The show started at 22:45 and concluded at midnight when the credits rolled and a message appeared on screen thanking viewers for watching. The message faded to the image of Big Ben chiming in 1993 and the beginning of Meridian Broadcasting.

TVS Entertainment was sold on 1st February 1993 to the American Company International Family Entertainment Inc (IFE). IFE then created the Family Channel based from The Maidstone Studios and used the TVS programme archive. Later the Family Channel became Challenge TV and was broadcast on SKY’s analogue service.

[edit] Current Status

TVS Entertainment ceased trading following the purchase by IFE. The programme library has been passed around (IFE - Fox Family - Saban) recently and is now the property of The Walt Disney Company.

[edit] See Also

Southern Television
Meridian Broadcasting
The Maidstone Studios

[edit] External Links

• Television South at the Internet Movie Database
• Transdiffusion Television Network From the South Part 1
  
• Transdiffusion Television Network From the South Part 2
  
• Transdiffusion Television Network Telecinema
  
• TV Ark
  
• TVS Downloads