It does look like provocation by the management doesn't it?
I'd forgotten about LWT - but of course they don't come on air until 7pm as it is Friday today (in 1979).
During the 1984 Thames dispute, the IBA caption did change on the Friday afternoon to say, 'Programmes will resume again at 5:15', which of course they did. In 1979 I don't remember any similar hopefull caption on Crystal P
Channel Television's emergency schedule during the 10 week strike aired usually from 5.00pm until just after 11.00pm - in Ireland, this would be the norm for their national RTE 2 channel, but out of the norm for ITV, when most regions would be on the air from 9.30am each day until well after midnight.
The 1979 strike showed how much the British public enjoyed ITV and possibly took it for granted. We forget that daytime television on the two BBC channels in 1979 was appalling.
I remember watching Anglia after the lunchtime news slot, they were just about to go to the regional weather. I may be wrong but I was fairly sure that there was a brief shot of David Brooks, then nothing. We kept checking back, my mum and me both, but nothing. I may be out of the norm but I loved that summer without really dreary quizzes and continuous Coronation Street, Crossroards and Emmerdale Farm.
The 1979 strike showed how much the British public enjoyed ITV and possibly took it for granted. We forget that daytime television on the two BBC channels in 1979 was appalling.
The 1979 strike showed how much the British public enjoyed ITV and possibly took it for granted. We forget that daytime television on the two BBC channels in 1979 was appalling.
It's not much different in 2019.
I think that is overstating it a bit. People didn't switch channels as they do now, largely because they had to get up and push a button or twiddle a knob to change over. A lot of people simply watched one channel or they other on a particular night. The BBC tended to win Saturdays, even with 'Seaside special'
Daytime television was important though, especially during the summer months when the kids were off. ITV filled their day with family friendly programming, especially in the mornings. The BBC were always constrained by budget, and so instead of having a proper schedule, say from 9.30am onward each day, there would be the usual stop - starts to their schedule, padded with sporting coverage.
Monday 13th August 1979 is a good example of the stop - starts to BBC One.
Open University filled the very early hours of 6.40 until 7.55 then they closed down until 9.50am when they had 70 minutes of programmes aimed at the kids, just as ITV would have done.
Then from 11.00 until 1.00pm closedown. They came back for just 30 minutes at 1.15pm for the Midday News and Trumpton.
They then remained off air until 3.25pm.
Thursday and Friday of that first full week of the ITV strike, saw the BBC fill BBC One with cricket - great for cricket fans, awful for everyone else.
And over on BBC Two?? - Open University and Playschool, other than that closedown for the most part of the day.
