The Southern schedule had been published in the TV Times, so it wasn't a surprise when they closed down after midnight.
It would make sense that TVS decided that it was better for the viewers to get to see the end of Southern rather than a midnight start for them, only to go off the air an hour or so later.
Obviously the 24 hour ITV schedule forced the issue by the time the TVS / Meridian switch occured.
ITV Region: ITV News Meridian
BBC Region: BBC South Today
commseng post_id=61631 time= user_id=1125 Wrote:Markymark post_id=61629 time= user_id=1078 Wrote:................In 1981/2 how long were Southern actually permitted to remain on the air past midnight I wonder ? I read that TVS's Grown Ups didn't get the keys to the building (literally) until 01:30hrs that night ? That's an interesting one, and I'm sure it would have been covered by the IBA somehow. They couldn't have continued round to 9am (not that anyone would) so was it that they were covered up to 6am? I assume the restrictions on broadcast hours had long gone by 1981.
As for the keys to the building at Northam, I suppose it was only a legal formality, as most of the (now) TVS staff would already have been in the building anyway.
I suspect the end of the day back then was considered as being 6am. Which probably also applied to the Rediffusion/ABC/ATV 'legal' handover points in the 50s and 60s. It remains today of course with programme schedules, and the way play-out centres work, which is all great, except even I've been caught out by it in the VCR era , and failed to record something in the middle of the night.
TV guides from other countries indicate they work from Midnight to Midnight, as do airlines, train companies, etc etc.....
I doubt it was much of a consideration in the days when channels would close down at night and start up the following morning.
You don't think that the IBA wouldn't want to know who was responsible for the output at any given time, nor the accountants and sales staff whose advertising it was?
ITV Region: ITV News Meridian
BBC Region: BBC South Today
commseng post_id=61686 time= user_id=1125 Wrote:You don't think that the IBA wouldn't want to know who was responsible for the output at any given time, nor the accountants and sales staff whose advertising it was?
I'm trying to remember if there were any ads after Midnight on Southern's final show ?
I do remember Radio Victory's last ever day in 1986. They opted to close at Midday in June, four months before Ocean Sound were to take over. They packed the last couple of hours of broadcasting full of ads, mostly ones for local DIY firm G A Day, (who were also Victory shareholders 8-) )
Way over the IBA limit of 9 mins per hour !
There was minute or so of silence at Noon, before the IBA apology tape kicked in, first track, 'Gonna Get Along Without You Now..
Markymark post_id=61694 time= user_id=1078 Wrote:commseng post_id=61686 time= user_id=1125 Wrote:You don't think that the IBA wouldn't want to know who was responsible for the output at any given time, nor the accountants and sales staff whose advertising it was?
I'm trying to remember if there were any ads after Midnight on Southern's final show ?
There was indeed. I think there was just the one ad break from memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI1Tg5htJPM
If you have a look at the final edition of Runaraound (think it's available on TPTV Encore), you'll notice an unusually large amount of technical staff in the end credits. Possibly a mixture of existing Southern staff and incoming TVS staff shadowing them. Think it's a first credit for designer Brian Motte.
Just a thought: would any of TVS' own facilities been available before 1st Jan (probably not Maidstone but there was the TV Theatre in Gillingham)?
commseng post_id=61686 time= user_id=1125 Wrote:You don't think that the IBA wouldn't want to know who was responsible for the output at any given time, nor the accountants and sales staff whose advertising it was?
That would have been clearly defined by the start up and closedown surely?
ITV Region: ---None Selected---
BBC Region: ---None Selected---
Onion Terror post_id=61762 time= user_id=965 Wrote:Just a thought: would any of TVS' own facilities been available before 1st Jan (probably not Maidstone but there was the TV Theatre in Gillingham)? Have a watch of this documentary shown on day 1 of TVS. It shows preperations for going on air, it doesn't show a completed Gillingham but it was ready for launch as it was home to a new daytime show. Maidstone wasn't due to open until October 1982 and I think it made that deadline. It also mentions that they were using Southern's studios from May 1981.
The other interesting bit is the pre-production work for On Safari, trying out the physical games in a field before the set was designed.
https://youtu.be/d8Z5HIA5460
ITV Region: ITV News Meridian
BBC Region: BBC South Today
Inspector Sands post_id=61800 time= user_id=1003 Wrote:Onion Terror post_id=61762 time= user_id=965 Wrote:Just a thought: would any of TVS' own facilities been available before 1st Jan (probably not Maidstone but there was the TV Theatre in Gillingham)? Maidstone wasn't due to open until October 1982 and I think it made that deadline.
I think it did. Maidstone Studios put a big 'splash' on LinkedIn yesterday saying 2022 is their 40th year, so we have to assume they were operational by the end of 1982 !
However did they really struggle on using Dover (which was a tiny facility) for the SE version of Coast To Coast for 9 months ?
BTW, also, something of an indication of how much 'procedure' they had to inherit from Southern, was there was no 'big bang' change to ENG with TVS. In fact I don't recall any from from day 1, the news acquisition was still 100% film on day 1 ?
Funny I remember being in the pub on NYE 1992 and trust me the TV was logged onto TSW all evening. As the Thames programme ended the music went off and we all watched the end of TSW. It was all a bit emotional after several pints!
Then Westcountry started and we carried on drinking ?
Other than a change of logo and news sets, did TVS, TSW and Central feel any different? Afterall, it was same people and same studios.
Certainly both Central and TVS did. I can't comment on TSW compared to Westward as I wasn't able to receive their broadcasts.
Of the three 1982 franchise changes, only Southern had any animosity. ATV was a restructure and rebrand into Central, and TSW had been trading as Westward since mid 1981, after the latter sold to the former. So, that left Southern, who were quite bitter to the end, and I therefore think it would be unlikely that, if TVS had asked, Southern would've agreed to some sort of handover to TVS at midnight.
Indeed, there was a clip on Youtube, of one of the last Southern IVCs, with Christopher Robbie looking ahead to what was coming on New Years Day, and having gave a brief rundown of some shows, he ended by saying "and that's on ITV".
W. Knight post_id=61120 time= user_id=1671 Wrote:Steve in Pudsey post_id=61047 time= user_id=942 Wrote:Was it Meridian that placed newpaper ads in January 1993 thanking TVS for their professionalism in how they handed things over? That's Westcountry thanking TSW for the switchover:
https://mobile.twitter.com/retrorerun/st...4400999424
The funny thing is, that advert was actually tongue in cheek, as the changeover wasn't totally smooth. The actual changeover at Midnight was smooth, but a few hours earlier, viewers got an unintened early preview of what was going to be happening at Midnight. I was actually watching at the time, and remember being very disappointed that the launch wasn't going to be live, but a pre-recorded announcement, that accidentally aired a few hours early before returning to the regularly scheduled programme.
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