Jump to content

Associated-Rediffusion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about an ITV television company. For other uses of the Rediffusion brand, seeRediffusion.
Not to be confused withAssociated Television.

Associated-Rediffusion
Rediffusion London
TypeRegion oftelevision network
Branding
  • Associated-Rediffusion (1955–1964)
  • Rediffusion London (1964–1968)
Country
UK
First air date
22 September 1955;69 years ago(1955-09-22)
Founded1955
TV transmittersCroydon
HeadquartersTelevision House,London
Broadcast area
London,Greater London
OwnerBET plc
(Rediffusion)
Dissolved29 July 1968;56 years ago(1968-07-29)(after 12 years, 311 days)
Picture format
405-lineblack and white
Affiliation(s)ITV
LanguageEnglish
Replaced byThames Television

Associated-Rediffusion,laterRediffusion London,was theBritishITVfranchise holder forLondonand parts ofthe surrounding counties,on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the firstITAfranchisee to go on air, and one of the "Big Four"companies that between them produced the majority of ITV networked programmes during this period.

Rediffusion lost its franchise in 1968 but merged with another franchisee to formThames Television,which continued to hold the London weekday franchise for another 24 years.

History

[edit]

Formation

[edit]

Associated-Rediffusion Television was originally a partnership betweenBritish Electric Traction(BET), its subsidiaryBroadcast Relay Services Ltd.(trading as Rediffusion), andAssociated Newspapers,owner of theDaily Mail,which had been interested in commercial broadcasting as early as the 1920s. In the aftermath of the heavy financial losses made by the new ITV system in its initial years, Associated Newspapers sold the majority of its share to BET and Rediffusion, although the company did not drop the word "Associated" from its name until 1964. Associated Newspapers, later realising the potential of ITV, was a significant investor in the ITV franchise contractor for southern and south-east England,Southern Televisionand later on becoming a shareholder onIndependent Television News.

Thomas Brownrigg,the general manager of Associated-Rediffusion from 1955, had a very clear idea of what his new commercial television station was to be like – theBBCTelevision Service, with advertisements. To this end, the station had a heraldic-style on-air clock, referred to as "Mitch" by staff (after chief station announcerLeslie Mitchell,who had not only made the first announcement when A-R went on the air in 1955, but had done the same when the BBC TV service started in 1936).[citation needed]

Associated-Rediffusion took over the formerWembley Film StudioatWembley ParkinMiddlesex.Associated-Rediffusion officially began broadcasting on 22 September 1955 at 19:15, with actressMarjie Lawrenceuttering the first words. That night the BBC, which had held the monopoly on broadcasting in the UK, aired a melodramatic episode of their popular radiosoap operaThe Archerson theBBC Home Servicein which core characterGrace Archerwas fatally injured in a fire. This was seen as a desperate, and rather underhand, ploy to lure as much of the potential audience as possible from tuning in to the new station's opening night of broadcast entertainment. Britain's first female newsreaderBarbara Mandellappeared during the first full day of transmissions on 23 September 1955. The London weekend contractorATVlaunched two days later.

This strategy was intended to allay fears that the new service would be aimed at the bottom of the market. Associated-Rediffusion sought to makeITVrespectable. It did introduce popular game shows, but also provided quality programming across all genres gained large audiences both in its own London area and, as the ITV network grew, for its programmes shown across the country.

Boris Fordbecame Associated-Rediffusion's first head of schools broadcasting (1957–58), during which time he persuadedBenjamin Brittento compose his church operaNoye's Fluddefor a series of programmes.[1]Ford was dismissed before the opera was produced, allegedly for administrative shortcomings and inexperience.[2]However, A-R continued its association with Britten, producing a highly successful telecast of his operaThe Turn of the Screwin 1959.[3]

Ticket for thedress rehearsalfor 'Around the Beatles', on 28 April 1964, at Wembley Park

Associated-Rediffusion added new television studios at Wembley Park in 1960. Their size and unique design attracted worldwide attention.[4]During the 1960s, the studios were home to some of the most popular programmes on the ITV network, includingThe Rat Catchers,Blackmail,At Last, The 1948 ShowandThe Frost Report.The Beatlesappeared at the studios on more than one occasion.[5]

Rebranding and loss of franchise

[edit]

In 1964, the company simplified its name to Rediffusion Television and rebranded the station on screen as "Rediffusion London", with a very hip 1960s style, the face ofSwinging Londonin the shiny prosperous new Britain. However, the new Rediffusion did not survive for long – in October 1967 theIndependent Television Authorityannounced to the company's shock that there was no place for Rediffusion in the redrawn franchise pattern.[6]Following changes to the ITV network structure, which resulted in the abandonment of the Midlands and North weekend franchises held byABC Weekend TV,ABC lost all its franchises along with the rights to take over the Midlands, held byATV,or the London weekend franchise, awarded to theLondon Television Consortium.To preserve the sizeable ABC, the ITA proposed ABC and Rediffusion should form a new company:Thames Television.This was not a merger or "forced marriage"as is commonly stated and is anurban myth.[citation needed]ABPC,the parent company of ABC, and BET, the parent company of Rediffusion, created Thames as a separate entity. Thames would use the resources and staff of ABC'sTeddington Studiosand Rediffusion'sTelevision House.Rediffusion's parent company,BET,took a 49% stake in Thames, and was under-represented in the management of the new company – a state of affairs to which Rediffusion strongly objected. TheITAreplied that either Thames took the new contract, or ABC took over. Rediffusion chose the former and went off the air on 29 July 1968 at 12:26 am.[7]Employees based atWembleywent to work forLondon Weekend Televisionwhilst those at Television House were employed by Thames. Some managerial and presentation staff re-located to the newYorkshire TelevisioninLeeds.

Much of Rediffusion's programme library was either lost or destroyed following the creation of Thames. Surviving titles from the Rediffusion archive are held by theBFI National ArchiveatBerkhamsted,Hertfordshire.Most titles are the intellectual property ofArchbuild Limited,with the exception of some of Rediffusion's musical output such asReady Steady Go!which was for a long time owned byDave ClarkInternational, and latterly byBMG Rights Management.Some Rediffusion shows have been rediscovered in recent years. In the late 1980s, a series of fiveAt Last the 1948 Showcompilations was found in the archives ofSwedishbroadcaster,SVT.In 2020 The British Film Institute released the most complete box set possible of the restored series, including all ten surviving episodes, two almost completely reconstructed episodes, and the complete audio of a further episode with fragments of film.[2]

Revival

[edit]

In the 1990s, the name "Associated-Rediffusion Television" and the adastral trademark were acquired by British journalistVictor Lewis-Smith,and were used by his own production company. Productions included:

Reditune and Rediffusion Music

[edit]

Rediffusion Music,Reditune Rediffusion,Reditune MusicandRediffusion Thorsen(Germany) were sold toAEI Music Networkof Seattle, WA in 1996.DMX Music,a smaller music provider, bought AEI Music in 2000. Mood Media bought DMX Music in 2005, The current owner remainsMood Media,however it trades under theMOOD:brand today. Mood Media Corporation own the previous trading names of Rediffusion Reditune, Rediffusion Music, AEI Rediffusion Music, AEI Music and DMX Music.

Studios

[edit]
Television House,Rediffusion's headquarters.
Main articles:Television HouseandFountain Studios

The company's administrative headquarters and transmission facilities were atTelevision HouseinKingsway,London. Most programmes were produced atWembley Studiosin Wembley Park, north-west London. However, a small basement studio at Television House, Studio 9, was occasionally used for current affairs programmes and was home toReady Steady Go!during its first few years.

Television House had been known as Adastral House when it was the headquarters of the Air Ministry. This gave its name to A-R's logo, the 16-point Adastral Star, which appeared not only at the start and end of each commercial break but also between each advertisement. (The motto of the Royal Air Force is "per ardua, ad astra" - "through adversity to the stars".) The station's archives were also kept at these properties, with the original programme library situated on the roof ofTelevision Housewith some storage in the filmvaultsatWembley Studios.

Following Rediffusion's loss of franchise and the creation of Thames Television, the Wembley studios were leased to the newly formedLondon Weekend Televisionby order of the ITA, and the company officially took control of the premises on Monday 6 May 1968 for a contractual minimum term of three years.London Weekend Televisionsubsequently vacated the studios in the late summer of 1972.

Somewhat confusingly, this Wembley studios site is the very same studio buildings site that would later be sold-off, renamed, re-purposed as film studios, then back to television studios, at various stages when used by later owners; London Weekend Television (Wembley), Lee International Studios (Wembley), Limehouse Television (Wembley), Fountain Television, before closing in 2018, and becoming a theatre space, prior to the site's planned redevelopment from 2019.

Television Housewas used as Thames' headquarters until their Euston Road studios were built in 1970 and was subsequently sold off.

Presentation

[edit]

When Rediffusion originally launched, as Associated-Rediffusion, presentation consisted of a simple animated ident, featuring the station name, and a spinning star called the Adastral. This first ident was accompanied by a five note electronic fanfare, achieved by tapping out the morse code for 'A-R'. To accompany the ident, a timepiece was created based on a heraldic coat of arms and nicknamed 'Mitch' after Head of Presentation Leslie Mitchell.[9][10]

In 1964, Associated-Rediffusion rebranded itself on screen as Rediffusion London, using a black and grey ident featuring the same spinning star as previous, but with the new name now in a stripe and in a sans serif font. A new seven note strident theme was adopted to replace the original fanfare, and a new and simpler clock was designed featuring a 24-hour display at the bottom of the face and an adastral at the centre. The original timepiece 'Mitch' was given to theScience Museum,where it became the first ITV exhibit, and now resides in theNational Media Museum,Bradford.[9]

Rediffusion used a number of continuity announcers throughout its 13 years on air, withRedvers KyleandMuriel Youngbeing the most recognised.

Programmes

[edit]

Programmes produced by or for Associated-Rediffusion and Rediffusion include:

Most of the surviving archive is now held by Archbuild and it has never been officially confirmed exactly how large the surviving archive actually is.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Mitchell, Donald (27 May 1998)."Obituary: Professor Boris Ford".The Independent.London.Retrieved9 July2014.
  2. ^abBritten, Benjamin (2008). Philip Reed; Mervyn Cooke; Donald Mitchell (eds.).Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Volume IV, 1952–1957.London: The Boydell Press.ISBN9781843833826.:p. 565
  3. ^Britten (2008): p. 567
  4. ^"Inside Wembley Studios – Part 1 - Studios - Transdiffusion".www.transdiffusion.org.Retrieved16 August2016.
  5. ^Schreuders, Piet; Lewisohn, Mark; Smith, Adam (2008).The Beatles' London: The Ultimate Guide to Over 400 Beatles Sites in and Around London.Portico. pp. 167–8.ISBN978-1906032265.
  6. ^Spencer Wills, John (19 December 1967).Statement to shareholders(Speech). Associated-Rediffusion AGM. Archived fromthe originalon 14 January 2019.Retrieved13 January2019– via Transdiffusion's Rediffusion, London.
  7. ^Last ever closedown of Rediffusion London,retrieved13 November2022
  8. ^"The Undiscovered Tony Hancock".British Comedy Guide.Retrieved13 December2022.
  9. ^ab"Associated Rediffusion Idents".TVARK. Archived fromthe originalon 3 January 2012.Retrieved6 September2011.Page Contains videos and images of the Rediffusion idents.
  10. ^Jeffrey, Dave."Flash Files Part 1".625: Andrew Wiseman's Television Room.Retrieved6 September2011.Page contains flash recreations of Rediffusion's idents accompanied by authentic audio.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toAssociated-Rediffusion.
ITVregional service
New service London (weekdays)
22 September 1955 – 29 July 1968 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Associated-Rediffusion&oldid=1238503140"