CITV and the regions

After Puffin's Pla(i)ce ended on TV in 2013 it continued online, but that didn't last very long.

That was a shame to see that Channel Island icon disappear from the screen. Although he continues on Twitter, of course!

Yes - the Watch It! brand lasted from late December 1980 to the end of 1982. It was “presented” by the local announcers - but they pretty much did what they had always done at tea-time. Tyne Tees announcers read birthdays and trailed other kids shows with a Watch It! logo rather than a Tyne Tees logo behind them; Yorkshire just introduced the programmes over slides and line-ups which had the Watch It! branding. Many of the programmes weren’t networked either with various regional variations. CITV (or Children’s ITV as it was always known in the 80s) changed all that by introducing a common schedule for the first time.

I think there were still opt outs in the early CITV era when the pres links were pre recorded. Legend has it one of these ended up with a link that ended "and now... a surprise!"

Tyne Tees would drop some CITV links to do the birthdays locally.

I stand to be corrected, but I think the “surprise” was due to part of the schedule not being confirmed at the time the links were recorded rather than because of regional variations. I don’t think there were any opt outs other than Thames inserting an extra cartoon on Fridays (in order to hit their 5.15 closedown/handover) and, as you mention, some regions like TSW and TTT sometimes opting out of the networked open and close and some links to read birthdays. Even this was short lived on Tyne Tees.

Didn't I found the surprise a while back with tv listing to boot.

Tsw did this until 1990...

Tyne Tees continued with until the end of IVC in March 1996.

And, it must be said, especially at Christmas but throughout the year as well TT were not averse to reading out adult birthday greetings throughout the day, along with wedding anniversaries and shout-outs to contestants on game shows and the like, even in prime time.

Were applicants for the 1980 franchise round aware of the impending CITV / unified networked children's programme slot so that they could formulate their strategy for children's programmes?

In lieu of what I quoted on the previous page I'd be very surprised if they weren't aware of IBA concerns. It may have been on the T&Cs for bids that "the IBA hopes to be able to do this that and the other and by becoming part of ITV we expect you to partake" or whatever.

I'd like to think companies who were bidding to come in in 1982 had at least done their homework and had some idea of what was going on and what the network/regulator was hoping to do so it wouldn't come as a big shock to them when they started broadcasting. These were professional outfits after all, not some fly by night operation that knocked up schedules on the back of fag packets in the pub.

After the glaring CPV cock up where they proposed to obtain their news from TV-AM who had to also win their franchise (and lost) then it makes me wonder what other cock ups have been made in other applications.

I'm not confident that every application was made by a professional or even half decent outfit. There could have been a few back of a fag packet applications. Remember that Southern had to re-submit their application in 1980 because their first one was no good.

As I understand it, the previous (IBA run) franchise competitions did not involve a single sealed bid like the 1991 ITC auction did.


It appears that the IBA picked the competitor they liked most and then attached a load of conditions to it to essentially turn it in to the franchise they wanted it to be, as opposed to the one which was proposed. At the more drastic end of these transformations would be the last ATV Midlands bid, which was ultimately accepted so long as the company was renamed, partially relocated and a controlling share sold off.