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Sixties
City Television |
up to the end of the Sixties |
 
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 Television Industry Events from BBC 1929 to ITA 1956 |
Miscellaneous 60s Television Events & Trivia |
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Independent Television Studios  Television Industry Events from BBC 1929 to ITA 1955
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1931
Experimental programmes were transmitted
using a 30-line system
22nd August 1932
The BBC decided to set up its own
TV studio in Broadcasting House
January 1935
A government committee recommended
the immediate introduction of a public television service
26th August to 5th September
1936
Closed circuit transmissions were
demonstrated at the Radiolympia exhibition using the Baird 240-line and Marconi
EMI 405-line systems. The Baird system was subsequently destroyed by fire which
ultimately led the Postmaster General to later opt for the Marconi EMI system,
using 50 frames/second
2nd November 1936
The BBC, the world's first high-definition
transmission service, was officially launched from a small studio at Alexandra
Palace although only 300 receivers were available to pick up transmissions
1937
The BBC acquired its first mobile
unit for outside broadcasts. Three cameras were used to film King George VI's
coronation
28th March 1938
BBC TV's principle of Sunday night
television drama was established by Cecil Madden. The first programme featured
Pirandello's Henry IV
November 1938
Freak weather conditions allowed British
television signals to be received in New York, the first transatlantic TV transmission,
albeit unplanned
Friday 1st September 1939
BBC transmissions were halted for
security reasons. 11,000 receivers were now available to view the last programme,
Disney's 'Mickey's Gala Premiere'
Friday 7th June 1946
The Earl of Listowel, Postmaster General,
re-opened the BBC TV service at 3p.m. One of the programmes shown was the cartoon
that was interrupted in 1939. The transmission range was about a 40-mile radius
from Alexandra Palace using 405-lines, 50 frames/second interlaced. One of the
most successful pre-war and early post-war programmes was 'Picture Page', a
one-hour programme twice weekly, covering various subjects with studio guests,
presented by 'The Switchboard Girl', ( see picture ) Canadian Joan Miller, and
later Joan Gilbert
15th September 1946
The first televised church service
was broadcast from St.George's Chapel, Windsor
1948
At the start of the year TV licences
issued had risen to 54,000, to reach 61,000 by August and over 90,000 by late
1949
The BBC established a Broadcasting Centre in the building that had been the Palace of Arts in the 1924 British Empire exhibition in order to be closer to the Olympic Games at Wembley and a special television cable was laid to the stadium
1949
The standardisation of the 405-line
system was announced by the Postmaster General
The BBC bought Lime Grove studios from Gaumont-British
The LCC approved plans for a new Television Centre at White City
In the Autumn the first regional transmitter opened in Sutton Coldfield to service Midlands viewers
March 1952
Combined sound and television licence
issues had risen to 1,457,000 and was to top 2.1 million twelve months later
May 1952
The BBC carried out tests on the feasibility
of a schools television service
8th July 1952
Television programmes from France
were transmitted by the BBC, the first time TV standards had been converted
for use from another country
1953
The first broadcast was made from
a ship at sea
The BBC decided to replace the Alexandra Palace transmitter with a more powerful unit sited at Crystal Palace
Part of the White City complex began to be used
1954
Early in the year the Conservative
government introduced a bill to allow the introduction of independent television
companies which led to the formation of the National Television Council and
the Popular Television Association, the NTC being opposed to commercial television
broadcasts
15th June 1954
Thorn Electrical and Sylvania Electric
Products Inc announced plans to set up a UK company to develop colour television
5th July 1954
The BBC news was first broadcast at
7:30p.m. presented off-screen by Richard Baker. Also during the month the Television
Bill became law
In 1955 Somerset Plantagenet Fry, an
Oxford postgraduate, became
the first contestant on the quiz show Double Your Money's 'Treasure Trail'
22nd September 1955
The ITA started an inaugural service
from Norwood. ITV officially opened at 7:15 p.m. when a dinner to celebrate
the occasion was televised from The Guildhall, London. The transmission also
included the first TV commercial - for Gibbs SR
toothpaste - at 8:12 p.m. and the first TV news at 10 p.m. read by Chris
Chataway
3rd November 1956
The
ITA transmitter at Emley Moor, Huddersfield,
opened
In 1958 Granada covered the Rochdale by-election, the first election to be shown
on British television
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Television Stations and Services 1955 to 1969 In 1955 the ITA announced the formation of ITN ( Independent Television News ) to supply news broadcasts for all independent television stations |
ATV History |
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AND NORTH |
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In Spring/Summer 1967 the ITA invited applications for new 6-year contracts to be awarded to independent stations starting in July 1968. There were a total of 36 applications from 16 new groups and the 14 current holders. ITA chairman Lord Hill announced the winners in June after which he was controversially moved to the chairmanship of the BBC by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He was succeeded at the ITA by Lord Aylestone. |
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Limited transmission since 1st July |
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1960
Ampex shared VTR patents with Sony, who reciprocated with information on transistorised
circuitry
7th March 1960
The first rules governing violence on British television were issued to the
BBC by Controller of Programmes Kenneth Adam.
ITV introduced their 'Code of Violence' in December 1964
12th August 1960
NASA launched the first successful communications satellite, Echo 1, a 100ft
tall silver balloon
September 1960
The maximum time for commercials in any one hour was reduced to seven and a
half minutes in September, and seven minutes on Christmas Eve.
The number of internal breaks was also reduced - previously an hour long programme
had three breaks, now only two were permitted. The television companies
made sure they didn't lose out as they raised the price of their ad time slots
to compensate.
9th December 1960
The first episode of Coronation Street was broadcast. Writer Tony Warren originally
called it 'Florizel Street' and it almost became 'Jubilee Street'.
1961
In 1961 a Daily Express poll asked 1450 housewives what they did during commercial
breaks:
30%
did knitting / sewing / darning, 23%
continued watching the TV, 19%
did household chores, 13%
did cooking, 8% looked
after the children, 7% ate
during the break
JVC (founded as the American-owned Victor Co. of Japan in 1946 but owned by
Matsushita since 1953) demonstrated helical scan colour VTR with 2 heads
Sony marketed helical scan VTR - the PV100 - adopted by American Airlines in
1964 for in-flight movies
18th March 1961
The Avengers were first shown on television starring Ian Hendry and Patrick
Macnee. Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale replaced Ian Hendry in 1962.
83 episodes were made, 57 in colour
3rd May 1961
The first fully-networked Coronation Street was shown
27th May 1961
The first Saturday morning of adult further education programmes was transmitted
by the BBC
29th May 1961
The first interview of a member of the royal family was shown on BBC1's Panorama
in which the Duke of Edinburgh was interviewed by Richard Dimbleby
1962
In 1962, the Pilkington report was highly critical of ITV and suggested the
licence to run the third channel should be awarded to the BBC
3rd May 1962
The first transmission via satellite between earth stations was made by the
U.S. Air Force, using Echo 1, between California and Massachusetts
30th June 1962
Police 5 began, devised by ATV to fill a five minute gap in programming
11th July 1962
The first transatlantic satellite transmission was made at 1 a.m. when an image
of ATT chairman Frederick R.Kappel was sent from Andover, Maine to Pleumeur
Bodou, France, via Telstar 1 which could only be used for 18 minutes during
each 2.5 hour orbit
23rd July 1962
The first 'live' broadcast was made via Telstar 1
17th October 1962
The Beatles' first TV appearance was on 'People And Places', a Granada regional
news magazine programme
1963
' AdMags' such as Jimmy Hanley's 'Jim's Inn' were barred from television. 'Jim's
Inn' first appeared in spring 1957 and ran for 300 editions. It relied on a
strong and believable story line, recognisable characters and the warm personality
of the landlord. Wide ranges of products, from the familiar to the outlandish
were skilfully woven together each week.
The first real pop music used in commercials when cartoon Beatles launched Nestle's
Jellimallo bar. The Rolling Stones did backing music for Rice Krispies in a
cartoon parody of Juke Box Jury and Cliff, Craig Douglas, Acker Bilk and Lonnie
Donegan all featured in a 'live action' commercial for Quaker Puffed Wheat -
'A swinging way to start the day' - voiced over by D.J. Brian Matthew
Sony marketed the first home VTR for $995, with an open reel 1/2inch helical
scan deck
16th May 1963
The transmission made to cover the launch and recovery of Gordon Cooper's spaceshot
was the first to use two satellites simultaneously, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2,
and the Faith 7 craft transmitted the first TV pictures from space
24th June 1963
The first British domestic television recorder, TELCAN, was demonstrated at
Alexandra Palace.
Part of the 9 o'clock news programme was recorded and re-transmitted on the
same programme
26th July 1963
Syncom was launched, the first geo-synchronous satellite. Syncom 2 was launched
later in the year, carrying the first live two-way call between heads of state.
Syncom 3 carried live TV coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
1964
Sony helical scan open deck VTR PV100 was adopted by American Airlines for in-flight
movies
Ampex joined with Toshiba to market U.S.-designed VTRs in Japan
Instant replay was
first used by the BBC for The Grand National
Valerie Martin was the first winner of the 'Miss
TV Times' competition
1st January 1964
Top Of The Pops began, produced by Johnnie Stewart and featuring Dusty Springfield,
The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and The Swinging Blue Jeans
20th April 1964
The Opening Night of BBC2 was wrecked by a power failure that tipped half of
London into chaos and took down Television Centre
20th April 1964
The first half-hour news bulletin was shown on a minor channel, BBC2
December 1964
ITV introduced their 'Code of Violence'
1965
Sony introduced the first consumer
1/2inch format helical scan VTR priced under $3000
2nd January 1965
saw the first transmission of 'World Of Sport'
March 24th
Transmission of TV pictures from the moon received as Ranger 9 impacts with
the surface
6th April 1965
Early Bird - Intelsat 1 was launched, the first commercial communications satellite.
Built by the Hughes Aircraft Company it supported 240 telephone lines or one
television channel. Designed for an 18 month lifespan, it lasted for 3.5 years
2nd May 1965
The first transatlantic television programme was transmitted via Early Bird.
Called 'Out Of This World' it contained elements supplied by many different
countries
17th May 1965
The first transatlantic colour television programme was transmitted via Early
Bird, a 30 minute show primarily for U.S. viewers called 'A New Look At Olde
England'
30th May - 17th June 1965
The first sport was transmitted via satellite when the BBC showed world championship
football from Chile via Telstar
August 1st 1965
All cigarette commercials were banned from television resulting in an 8 million
pound loss of revenue for ITV
1966
Ampex sued Sony over the use of helical scan technology
A proposal that TV cameras be experimentally allowed into the House Of Commons
was defeated by just one vote. Nevertheless........
21st April 1966
TV cameras are allowed into the House of Commons for the first time
1967
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were members of the consortium that started
up HTV
LWT acquired the rights to cricket's the Gillette Cup. The MCC was furious when
ITV interrupted play for ads and took the sport back to the BBC, prompting an
ITV lawsuit
In March, the Ampex HS-100 colour video magnetic disc recorder was used for
rapid playback in normal, slow or stop action at the ABC 'World Series of Skating'
in Vail, Colorado, heralding the start of 'instant replay' on commercial television
3rd July 1967
News At Ten was introduced by ITN. It was the first news bulletin to feature
two newscasters, Alastair Burnet and Andrew Gardiner. It was also the first
30 minute news show on a major TV channel in the UK
1968
CBS introduced EVR using film in a cassette. 20th Century Fox agreed to sell
films in EVR but were to face growing competition from VCR formats introduced
by RCA, Sony, Ampex and Avco
October 14th
TV pictures transmitted live from inside Apollo 7
November 1968
The Sooty Show ended its run on BBC but was picked up and continued by ITV
21 - 27 December 1968
The first live pictures of the Earth from the moon were transmitted during the
Apollo VIII mission
1969
The ITA's transmitter mast at Emley Moor, Huddersfield, collapsed
RCA demonstrated SelectaVision that played pre-recorded cassettes but did not
record
Sony introduced the first videocassette, the 3/4inch U-Matic one hour tape,
available in the U.S. by 1971.
For the first time, Sony allowed other manufacturers to sell machines that could
play the tapes, setting the
first world standard for the 3/4inch videocassette
The last year of the decade saw the revival of an old classic - 'This Is Your
Life' - by Thames Television.
The show had previously run from 1953 to 1964 with exactly the same presenter
- Eamonn Andrews
21st February 1969
The first time that the interior of Buckingham Palace had been televised
21st February 1969
The first time that the interior of No 10 Downing Street had been televised
20th July 1969
ITV's first major ratings clash with the BBC came when the two organisations
went 'head to head' with coverage of the first manned lunar landing.
The tape of ITV's coverage has since been erased so it could be re-used, along
with many other programmes of the 1960s
3rd October 1969
Hawaii Five-O first shown on LWT. Starred Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Kam Fong,
Richard Denning, Peggy Ryan and Linda Ryan
15th November 1969
The first colour commercial - Bird's Eye peas - was shown by ATV Midlands at
10:05 a.m. during Thunderbirds.
The same commercial was shown in the London area at 11:00 the same day at the
start of their colour television transmissions
25th December 1969
The last live broadcast of The Queen's Christmas message. All subsequent ones
have been pre-recorded
