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Tories push for a single ITV...

(January 2002)

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JA
jay Founding member
Quote:

The Tory party has called for urgent legislation to enable the establishment of a single ITV company as soon as possible.

The shadow culture secretary, Tim Yeo, is tabling a motion calling for urgent amendments to the 1990 Broadcasting Act that will allow Carlton and Granada to merge or be taken over by a single company.

'I find it astonishing that the government has so far failed to recognise the need to amend the current competition rules,' said Mr Yeo.

'It is ludicrous that the media is still subject to special competition laws when it is so clearly detrimental to the growth and prosperity of the sector,' he added.

Mr Yeo is proposing amendments that would effectively scrap existing competition laws that prevent a single company from controlling ITV.

The Conservatives will table the emergency amendment when parliament reconvenes after the Christmas break.

Mr Yeo, along with others including the independent television commission, has in the past called on the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, to lift restrictions that prevent ITV companies Carlton and Granada from merging.

Last year's Department of Culture, Media and Sport consultation paper proposed lifting the ban on any TV company holding more than a 15% audience share or owning the two London TV licences.

However, the slow progress of the communications bill through parliament and the need for further consultation on certain issues means any change is unlikely to reach the statute book until 2003 at the earliest.

The Conservatives argue that more drastic action is needed to help ITV, which is struggling to maintain audience share and weather the advertising downturn.

But even if such an amendment was passed, the competition commission would still present an imposing obstacle to any merger of Carlton and Granada, given that the ITV companies still control over 50% of the overall advertising market.

The move is likely to be opposed by the government.

When the ITC chairman, Sir Robin Biggam, last year made a plea for a similar move, Ms Jowell rebuffed it as 'neither practical nor desirable'.



This could either be really good news or really bad news. Lets hope they come up with good idents, because thats the only thing that will save them for me anyway!
Wonder what they'll do on Record of the Year now..http://web.ukonline.co.uk/tv.home/forum/emoticons/cheesy.gif
TW
TWO ident Founding member
And this is coming from the party that broke the railway sector up from one state monopoly into 30 different companies?

The cheek! I'd like to hear their plans to save regional TV since, after all, ITV is the only regional TV outlet and I'm assuming they aren't gonna make another one.

What's that? There aren't any? The party risks losing one of it's few Scottish Young members.

I am serious, I am getting more disillusioned with their policies every day.
MD
mdta
you tend to forget that it was Margaret Thatcher who split ITV up into its 15 regional licenses to begin with, they have obviously seen the error of their ways...

still wouldnt vote for them mind you...
AW
aztec west
i think there will eventually be one whole ITV1.
it will be similar to BBC1 to allow regional news and the occasional regional feature.
MO
moss Founding member
Quote:
aztec west on 1:38 pm on Jan. 3, 2002
i think there will eventually be one whole ITV1.
it will be similar to BBC1 to allow regional news and the occasional regional feature.
Yep. And take away the one good, original idea that ITV has.
TW
TWO ident Founding member
Quote:
jay on 12:27 pm on Jan. 3, 2002

The Conservatives argue that more drastic action is needed to help ITV, which is struggling to maintain audience share and weather the advertising downturn.




And endless networked shows like Blind Date, Family Fortunes, A Touch of Frost, WWTBAM, Crossroads, Emmerdale ad bloody infinitum won't help. These do pull in the ratings but ITV needs something to make it distinctive, or people just watch any other channel.

Regionality is the answer. You put more regional output on, put some recognisable faces on the local channels to introduce programmes, whilst mixing in a little bit of populist 'trash' for big advertising bucks and people will notice. The channels would be an output for local talent, thus involving young people eager to hit the big time.

Who cares about what ITV want to do they don't have a clue. Ever since they went generic ratings have sunk big time. They'll find out more when the GMG companies go generic, mark my words.
AN
andyrew Founding member
And the Conservatives wonder why they are unelectable. Maybe this is the underdog helping the underdog. Perhaps the rules on political neutrality on ITV should be amended too !

It was Thatcher who introduced the 1990 Broadcasting act, which was very strict about competition/ownership rules. They of course have been diluted since then, but the main thrust still being to protect regions and any media mogul owning too much the countries commercial television network. ITV is still way ahead of the other commercial broadcasters in terms of reach and popularity, so I don't think they have any life threatening competition.

And what's the problem with ITV now? They weathered a huge Tory recession in the 1990's and didn't fold. The truth is ITV has lost it's way. It's already mostly owned by too larger companies who are only interested in cost cutting and increasing dividends for shareholders. These companies are too diverse in there operations and had their fingers burnt in other areas.

The BBC too lost it's way under Birt. It became so preoccupied with it's own management that it lost sight of it's purpose, to make programmes. The BBC is turning the corner, and as it starts to increase it's share over ITV, ITV must be worried. But is a single ITV really the answer? Decent programmes please.

And of course, one worrying aspect is that once ITV is a single company, then it will be easier for anyone to buy ITV. Who knows, Murdoch may extend his empire, or foreign companies with no interest in television, or my money is on Cilla and Tarrent buying ITV for a tenner.

Where will it all end ? Probably with the Conservatives shafting the BBC. Certainly not in the viewers interest.
AW
aztec west
[/quote]

And endless networked shows like Blind Date, Family Fortunes, A Touch of Frost, WWTBAM, Crossroads, Emmerdale ad bloody infinitum won't help. These do pull in the ratings but ITV needs something to make it distinctive, or people just watch any other channel.

Regionality is the answer. You put more regional output on, put some recognisable faces on the local channels to introduce programmes, whilst mixing in a little bit of populist 'trash' for big advertising bucks and people will notice. The channels would be an output for local talent, thus involving young people eager to hit the big time.

Who cares about what ITV want to do they don't have a clue. Ever since they went generic ratings have sunk big time. They'll find out more when the GMG companies go generic, mark my words.[/quote]

i don't think the problem was the 1989 generic change but the introduction of carlton in the london region in 1993. they have single-handedly 'wrecked' ITV. you've only got to look at central, westcountry, thames and possibly htv to see that.

bbc1 must be laughing their socks off at itv1.
RW
RW
[quote] moss on 1:45 pm on Jan. 3, 2002
Quote:
Yep. And take away the one good, original idea that ITV has.
I think this may have been said already, but the reason why independent television was made regional in the first place was not necessarily to give it a 'regional flavour', but to introduce some kind of competition between the various companies, particularly in London, as there would only be one commercial television channel.

As there are now hundreds of commercial channels, the regional structure of ITV has become increasingly irrelevant.
TW
TWO ident Founding member
Quote:

i don't think the problem was the 1989 generic change but the introduction of carlton in the london region in 1993. they have single-handedly 'wrecked' ITV. you've only got to look at central, westcountry, thames and possibly htv to see that.




I meant the 1999 generic change, even the 1989 change gave regions identity. The current look is just bland and it can only get worse
NG
noggin Founding member
Quote:
mdta on 1:36 pm on Jan. 3, 2002
you tend to forget that it was Margaret Thatcher who split ITV up into its 15 regional licenses to begin with, they have obviously seen the error of their ways...

still wouldnt vote for them mind you...


Err - no.  ITV has been based on a group of separate regional franchises since it launched in the mid to late 50s.  Each bit of Britain got its own regional ITV company - though they didn't all launch at once as it took time to build the transmitters needed across the UK. Each regions ITV launched as and when the IBA transmitter and Post Office transmitter links were ready.

What the Tory government did with the 1992/3 changeover was change the way the franchises to broadcast were allocated.  Instead of the IBA (to become the ITC) selecting the best proposal for regional and networked programmes from a group of bidders in each area, based on quality alone, the Tories decided that it should be done entirely on an auction system - with the highest bidder for each region winning.  

The Tory party were convinced that ITV was making far too much money for its shareholders, and not paying enough for its right to broadcast. The 'market will decide' mentality of the Tory party decided that the best broadcaster for a particular ITV region would be the one which bid the largest amount for the right to broadcast...

They didn't quite get away with this - a  backbench revolt combined with heavy lobbying from broadcasters and broadcast quality groups meant a 'quality threshold' was introduced in addition to the 'highest bidder' concept, which meant that the franchise only went to the highest bidder which also passed the ITC quality threshold.

This system was only used to appoint the franchises which took effect at the beginning of 1993 (Thames ->Carlton, TSW->Westcountry, TVS->Meridian, TVam->GMTV)

Now franchise holders are allowed to renew their licenses without it going to auction. This has effectively entrenched the big Two ITV companies (GMG and Carlton) meaning they are unlikely to lose any of their franchises, apart from through mergers and sell-offs.


(Edited by noggin at 2:26 pm on Jan. 3, 2002)
AW
aztec west
Quote:
TWO ident on 2:02 pm on Jan. 3, 2002
Quote:

i don't think the problem was the 1989 generic change but the introduction of carlton in the london region in 1993. they have single-handedly 'wrecked' ITV. you've only got to look at central, westcountry, thames and possibly htv to see that.




I meant the 1999 generic change, even the 1989 change gave regions identity. The current look is just bland and it can only get worse




oh i see. i've seen some of them and they look so bland. not like the idents they used to have.
there's going to be a lot of pressure on these new idents some regions are going to have. i think it will result in more people watching bbc1 and bbc2.

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