TV Home Forum

Channel Television during the 1979 ITV Strike

How did it continue broadcasting? (June 2019)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
BL
bluecortina
Markymark posted:
Steve in Pudsey posted:
Markymark posted:

We've covered this a few times before. Tony Currie of this parish offered to work there that summer, and he says someone was despatched to a cliff top to note down the IRN news from Radio Victory in Portsmouth, so they probably came to an arrangement with LBC/IRN to do that, as 'casually' capturing the content.

I doubt IRN's unions would have allowed anything more formal (such as a telex feed of the copy), but maybe ?

Whatever, you can't just go nicking the news from someone else


Would the unions have had an issue as Channel were not in dispute? It's a different scenario to a management run strike busting service.

In fact, were ITN on strike?


I'm not sure whether or not the NUJ (and the Sparks) at ITN (and the ITV companies) were on strike too, (in solidarity) with the ACTT ?

I think the sparks were, according to a couple of ex Thames TV engineers who frequent DS.

It was a very volatile period for industrial relations (and not just in broadcasting)


The dispute was between the ACTT and their paymasters, ITN were covered by the ‘white book’ agreements between those parties - so naturally the ACTT staff at ITN went on strike.
BL
bluecortina
JKDerry posted:
Markymark posted:
JKDerry posted:
When did the rules over strike action at television stations got tidied up?


The Thames Television strike in 1984 showed that a management run service was possible. Unions at Thames went on strike, and Thames had no access to the ITV network, but managed to put together and playout each day of the strike an emergency schedule.

TV-am would air from 6.25am-9.25am and then there would be no programming until around 1.30pm, when Thames came back on the air with films, imported programming, repeats and filled the following 11 hours with a schedule, which yes was not great, but it meant viewers in London had something.


Rules ?

There were no rules about what service could be provided, it was governed by what der management were capable of providing

So, why did management at Thames have a very different attitude in the space of five years? 1979, no emergency schedule at all, whether due to technical issues or management decision. 1984 had a full emergency schedule.


Sorry if I seem to be confused, I am, as I don't understand why there was never a stand by schedule in place during this 1979 strike. Thanks.


Different Thames managements, different attitudes.
BL
bluecortina
JKDerry posted:
Steve in Pudsey posted:
Markymark posted:

The late 70s were the height of specialised knowledge required to operate and maintain broadcast equipment.
They probably just scrapped through in 1968, which was still b/w 405, and slightly 'lower tech'. Into the 80s and with 1 inch VTRs etc, it became easier, illustrated by Thames and TV-am who both managed a rudimentary service


The 1968 strike service was possible because of the franchise changes, I think. It used former ATV and ABC facilities and staff in part.

A strike lasting nearly three months must have been unprecedented in UK television back then. I am amazed that the ITV management allowed it to continue for as along as they did.


They were losing millions of pounds in revenue, but even that would not get the unions and ITV to come together and agree a deal?

Why didn't the management not discuss it with the unions after say a month off air. When the autumn schedules were about to kick in September 1979, surely then they would see a deal had to be arranged?


Certain ‘players’ within ITV’s management wanted a long summer strike to break the unions. A huge miscalculation on their part. An earlier settlement would have saved ITV a lot of money. I didn’t enjoy being on strike for 11 weeks.
NL
Ne1L C
bluecortina posted:
JKDerry posted:
Steve in Pudsey posted:

The 1968 strike service was possible because of the franchise changes, I think. It used former ATV and ABC facilities and staff in part.

A strike lasting nearly three months must have been unprecedented in UK television back then. I am amazed that the ITV management allowed it to continue for as along as they did.


They were losing millions of pounds in revenue, but even that would not get the unions and ITV to come together and agree a deal?

Why didn't the management not discuss it with the unions after say a month off air. When the autumn schedules were about to kick in September 1979, surely then they would see a deal had to be arranged?


Certain ‘players’ within ITV’s management wanted a long summer strike to break the unions. A huge miscalculation on their part. An earlier settlement would have saved ITV a lot of money. I didn’t enjoy being on strike for 11 weeks.


That bad was it?
NW
nwtv2003
Ne1L C posted:
bluecortina posted:
JKDerry posted:
A strike lasting nearly three months must have been unprecedented in UK television back then. I am amazed that the ITV management allowed it to continue for as along as they did.


They were losing millions of pounds in revenue, but even that would not get the unions and ITV to come together and agree a deal?

Why didn't the management not discuss it with the unions after say a month off air. When the autumn schedules were about to kick in September 1979, surely then they would see a deal had to be arranged?


Certain ‘players’ within ITV’s management wanted a long summer strike to break the unions. A huge miscalculation on their part. An earlier settlement would have saved ITV a lot of money. I didn’t enjoy being on strike for 11 weeks.


That bad was it?


In the below clip it certainly annoyed some people at the time... (from 4:35 in)

NL
Ne1L C
I don't remember the '79 strike but still have a memory of recording TVAM during the strike and zapping through the news to get Batman and Flipper (ahh memories).
WH
Whataday Founding member
A certain irony that many of the top executives of the 00s were strikers in 79.
JK
JKDerry
11 weeks on strike has to be a record for a television station right?
NL
Ne1L C
Has to be surely.
MA
Markymark
JKDerry posted:
11 weeks on strike has to be a record for a television station right?


To be completely off the air, yes probably. Although the BBC suffered an industrial dispute that carried on for a couple of years in the early 70s that delayed the roll out of stereo sound on national radio
WW
WW Update
Odd that ITV did not attempt an emergency service with non-union staffers (members of the management, etc.). Isn't that what TV-AM essentially did just a decade later? If nothing else, they could have just shown reruns.

If all else failed, they could have at least distributed Channel Television's bare-bones service nationwide to get some advertising revenue.
MA
Markymark
WW Update posted:


If all else failed, they could have at least distributed Channel Television's bare-bones service nationwide to get some advertising revenue.


Would have been difficult and expensive to get the signal from Jersey to the mainland. Back then it would have required rigging a microwave link into France, and then injecting that into the Eurovision network. What have cost a fortune, and you might have come up against French union resistance ( or perhaps not !)
Brekkie and WW Update gave kudos

Newer posts