Timeline of Southern Television

This is a timeline of the history of the former British broadcasterSouthern Television.It provided theITVservice for the South and South East of England from 1958 to 1981.

1950s

• 1958
  • 30 August – At 5:30 pm, Southern Television begins broadcasting.
• 1959
  • No events.

1960s

• 1960
  • 31 January –Southern Television's broadcast area expands when it begins broadcasting toKentandEast Sussexfollowing theIndependent Television Authoritygranting Southern the right to broadcast toSouth East England.
  • Southern makes minor changes to the visual look of its on-screen logo. The stylised star is banished and replaced by a more compass-like star symbol.
• 1961
  • Southern opens studios inDoverand launches localised news opt-outs for the east of the region, becoming the first broadcaster in the UK provide such a service.
  • 4 April – Southern launches a weeknight 30-minute regional news programme calledDay By Day.
• 1962
  • No events.
• 1963
  • No events.
• 1964
  • 9 October – Southern launches a weekly news magazine forSouth East EnglandcalledFriday on Ten.This is shown instead of the Friday edition of regional news magazineDay by Day.
  • Southern is given a three-year extension to its licence. This is later extended by a further year.
• 1965
  • No events.
• 1966
  • Southern Television Limitedrenames itselfSouthern Independent Television Limitedas part of the 1968 ITV franchise round.
• 1967
  • Southern begins construction of its new studio complex, to be calledTelevision Centre, Southampton.
  • TheIndependent Television Authorityrenews Southern's licence for a further seven years.
• 1968
  • August – A technicians strike forces ITV off the air for several weeks although management manage to launch a temporaryITV Emergency National Servicewith no regional variations.
• 1969
  • 19 August – Southern moves into its new purpose-builtstudios.
  • 13 December — Southern starts broadcasting in colour but does not mark the change with any alteration to its logo other than replacing the black background with a blue background.

1970s

• 1970
  • No events.
• 1971
  • No events.
• 1972
  • 16 October – Following a law change which removed all restrictions on broadcasting hours, ITV is able to launch an afternoon service.
• 1973
  • No events.
• 1974
  • The 1974 franchise round sees no changes in ITV's contractors as it is felt that the huge cost in switching to colour television would have made the companies unable to compete against rivals in a franchise battle.
• 1975
  • No events.
• 1976
  • No events.
• 1977
  • Due to the popularity of weekly magazine programmeScene South East,Southern launchesScene Midweek.This replaces part two of the Wednesday edition ofDay by Day.
  • 26 November – At around 5:10 pm, theSouthern Television broadcast interruptiontakes place. The disruption, which occurs at theHannington transmitter,is to sound only and lasts for six minutes.
• 1978
  • No events.
• 1979
  • 10 August – The ten weekITV strikeforces Southern Television off the air. The strike ends on 24 October.

1980s

• 1980
  • 28 December – TheIndependent Broadcasting Authorityannounces that Southern has lost its franchise toTVS.
• 1981
  • August – Southern sells its Southampton studios to TVS but Southern continues to use them until its franchise runs out at the end of the year.
• 1982
  • 1 January – Southern Television closes down for the final time at 12:43 am.
• After 1982
  • 1983 – TVS closes Southern's Dover studios following the opening of its new studios at Maidstone.
  • 1984 – Southern's Dover studios are demolished.
  • Southern's programme archive is sold toSouthern Star Group,who later sell it on toRenown Pictures.

See also

• History of ITV
• History of ITV television idents
• Timeline of ITV
• Timeline of TVS– Southern's successor