I was really surprised how the other ITV companies didn't do something about him outsourcing the news to Sky. I don't know how TV-am ever passed the quality threshold + nearly 10 years of amateur embarrassment

@@robertcomer2767 Remember that TV-am had been told they were losing their franchise by December 31st 1992, so they simply didn't care. As long as they provided the bare basic quota of news coverage per day which was laid down by the ITC, then that was perfectly within the law. Sky News offered them a contract for around £500,000 to provide all national and world news provision and presentation including resources needed for the upcoming 1992 general election and the 1992 US Presidential Election which TV-am had to cover.

Yes, but losing out in the franchise round wasn’t even the first time TV-am suffered badly in its near-10-year history. When breakfast television began 40 years ago, TV-am had also suffered, namely in the ratings battle with the BBC’s Breakfast Time that started out a couple of weeks before commercial early morning TV existed. As far as Thames Television was concerned, the reason they were just as unlucky was primarily down to the BAFTA-winning Death on the Rock episode of their current affairs program This Week, one that was condemned by the late former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and prompted her Government to establish the controversial Broadcasting Act the year before the announcements were made public.

Even though Death On The Rock was acknowledged as a very high quality documentary, it pissed off the Tory Government & as you rightly say was the main reason why Thames lost their licence

That was the day the rot set in. But 30 years on, how much worse can ITV get?

@@rtc9063 At least we know Channel 4 is safe after today's news that this current scum of a government will not sell off that channel

Spot on. When Carlton replaced Thames Television on January 1st 1993, they began with quite possibly the worst batch of idents ever seen on television. Thames’ final ident as one of the existing subsidiaries on ITV was something for people living in London at the time will never forget.

Catchphrase went to CARLTON from TVS in 1994.

Carlton not so much television for London, but crap television for London. Thames supplied a lot of great quality shows for the itv network, should never have lost its licence to broadcast. Shame on the itc.

George Russell knew it was a corrupt farce because, like his cronies at the ITC & the Tory Government, they were all in on it. Thames had to lose their franchise because of the Death On The Rock documentary & this was the perfect solution to the problem. LWT, whose programme quality had gone right down the toilet compared to the outstanding output they produced in the 70's, won their franchise because most of management & some of the personalities (especially Cilla Black) were very pro-Tory. Add to that LWT's chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, being the former Deputy Chairman of the IBA & it stands out a bloody mile how bent & corrupt the whole thing was

Exactly

John Suchet said "Meridian, the makers of _Auf Wiedersehen, Pet."_ There's a small kernel of truth to it as Allan McKeown's company SelecTV (formed following his Witzend Productions' acquisition of both SelecTV and Alomo Productions) had a 15% stake in Meridian, and Central Independent Television had a 20% stake in Meridian too. (The rest was held by Mills & Allen.)

@@antster1983 John Suchet said TVS, but to the viewer like us it says on the end clip of the programme a Central Independent Television plc production!

And how do you come to that logic??

@@johnking5174 kids...

and since then it got worse. Much worse

And now 31 years later, it's going to be a complete repeat with Channel 4!

Especially the latter. Carlton had as much quality as an empty bag of crisps & couldn't get within touching distance of Thames. Some of LWT's programming, although popular, was poor in quality. Their Light Entertainment shows were ridden with distortion on the audience reactions & they were very reckless in the way they butchered films that they screened on the ITV network. It was an utter farce

@@stevenoneill7166 Yes I am sure you are right there then so too of course if alas somehow?!

Can someone tell what quality Carlton had. And how could the ITC judge on quality when Carlton hadn’t made any programs as far as I know. It was just Maggie throwing her whole toy box out of her pram over the Thames documentary Death on The Rock. Well they say the truth hurts.

+Brian Marshall I'm glad i don't remember this auction i was a baby in 1991. But happy that our region Granada stayed

YTV almost lost theirs because the ITC initially considered their bid of £37.7 million was too high. However, they survived. If only Thames bid £44 million. 😢

It Means Good Morning Television

@@matthall3077 Yes Matt, I am not an idiot - Grinning Morons TV was the nickname GMTV had when it launched in 1993.

@@johnking5174 That’s Good But I Miss GMTV

Why?

@@johnking5174 they lost russ a

@@alexv2926 ??

@@alexv2926 That was nothing to do with the ITV franchise results, his first series for ITV after this was September Song, made by Granada, who retained their franchise.