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Television South (TVS) was the ITV franchise holder in the south east of England and parts of the south west of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.30 am and midnight of 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as ''Television South plc'' and then following reorganisation in 1989 as ''TVS Entertainment plc'', with UK broadcasting activities undertaken by subsidiary ''TVS Television Ltd''. During its 11-year history TVS produced a number of notable programmes for the ITV network especially in the fields of drama, light entertainment and children's programming. It was also a significant regional broadcaster producing a wide range of programmes for its area with the flagship being the nightly award winning news programme ''Coast to Coast'' produced as two separate editions for the south and south east. TVS ceased broadcasting on 31 December 1992 after losing its franchise to Meridian Broadcasting during the review of franchise holders in 1991. The company was sold to International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE) in 1993 (now Disney subsidiary ABC Family Worldwide Inc.). Television South's name, abbreviation and logo are now owned by an independent production company. ==Formation== TVS was formed following discussions between television producer James Gatward,〔Starter's orders for the great ITV stakes The Guardian (1959–2003); 10 May 1980;〕 television executive Bob Southgate, who had previously worked at ITN, Thames Television, and journalist Martin Jackson to apply for the new "South and South-East" of England ITV 1980 franchise. Finance was provided by Barclays Bank and Charterhouse investment bank. This area was the most hotly contested with seven other applicants besides TVS and the incumbent, Southern Television. The Independent Broadcasting Authority had decided to change the area covered from the south to include the south east and included the Bluebell Hill transmitter, associated relays and the main relay at Tunbridge Wells which previously were covered by ITV's London contractors. To reflect this the contract area served by Southern Television, which was previously titled the ''South of England'' area was renamed ''South and South-East of England''. To serve the new region better the IBA expected the successful applicant to operate separate facilities for both the south and the south-east, known as a ''dual-region'', with new additional facilities to be built in the South East.〔"Names of companies awarded new ITV franchises will be announced tomorrow" By David Hewson. The Times, Saturday, 27 December 1980 pg. 3〕 Following submission of their application, TVS were anticipating that they would be forced into a shotgun marriage with Southern, but in the event TVS won outright against the seven other contenders since their plans for a better mix of programmes and greater investment were considered good enough to operate the franchise alone.〔Southern and Westward TV lose franchises and others to be restructured. By Kenneth Gosling.The Times, Monday, 29 December 1980;〕 This was the official line given by the IBA, but it was also considered that Southern's non-local ownership (the majority shareholders were companies based in London and Dundee)〔"The £400 million rush for a TV franchise" By Tony Robinson, The Observer; 11 May 1980〕 and their very conservative nature led to it being dropped in favour of the more interesting proposals made by TVS in their franchise application. By the start of 1981 a number of high-profile personalities had joined the station in preparation for the start of the new franchise: * Michael Blakstad, Ex ''Tomorrow's World'', "Director of Programmes"; * Anna Home ex BBC children's, "Head of Children's and young people"; * Michael Rodd Head "Science and industry programmes"; * Herbert Chappell "Features, Education and Music"〔Teleview. Elkan Allan. The Times, Saturday, 27 June 1981; pg. 9〕 During 1981, TVS's ambitions were soon recognised for their desire to have a greater say in how ITV operated and its dismay on how it was being treated by the Big Five ITV companies, Thames Television, LWT, Central Independent Television, Yorkshire Television and Granada Television. The rationale was that the larger ITV companies should bear more of the production costs as their size enabled them to. This led to criticism in some quarters that the larger of the remaining 'regional' ITV companies, such as TVS, Anglia Television, STV, Tyne Tees Television and HTV, found it difficult to get network access for their major productions, and that they were left with ''softer'' non-primetime sectors, such as children's and religious television. Michael Blakstad, the Director of Programmes, claimed ITV needed a shake up as an advertiser, and viewers did not like contemplating the ITV nightly programme offering and were hoping the "Big Five" would welcome TVS with open arms as a chance to light up the schedules, as the only "occasional flash of excitement" appeared from LWT's The South Bank Show. Blakstad claimed none of TVS's £2 million worth of new programming had been accepted for networked transmission, and TVS was only invited to the monthly contractors meetings as observer only from May 1982. He also expressed doubts that Yorkshire Television may not give up its monopoly of networked science programmes. Blakstad stated " TVS was awarded the franchise to bring a catalyst to ITV, but the authority may have to help them get into the laboratory first"〔"TV company 'to go it alone" By Kenneth Gosling. The Times Thursday, 10 December 1981 pg. 14〕 In the days before the start of the new franchise, the IBA made it clear that they were happy about the service changes, and were particularly impressed with TVS in connection with new programming for the ITV network, in areas in which the IBA wished for improvements, mainly children's and the sciences.〔IBA looks ahead with confidence. By Kenneth Gosling. The Times, Thursday, 31 December 1981〕〔"After the break" The Guardian; 30 December 1980;〕 TVS' aims were for a different line of programming in the early evening slots, to win back the 50,000 viewers they claimed were switching over to rivals, due to the poor service provided by Southern.〔 TVS began broadcasting at 09.30 am on 1 January 1982. The new dual-regional station sprang to life with its new specially composed startup music – variously named but referred to in-house as ''TVS Gallop'', accompanied by a programme menu and clock. Continuity announcer Malcolm Brown, previously an announcer at Granada, made the opening announcement: Following the first airing of the station's first ident, the first programme to air was a ''Coast to Coast'' special entitled ''Bring in the New'', presented by Khalid Aziz. A number of presenters made the transition from Southern to TVS. All production staff were transferred as part of the then union agreements within ITV, that no technician should lose employment as a result of franchise changes. 200 staff were also recruited for the facilities at Gillingham and Maidstone, although a small number of these were made redundant after the company went on-air as the studios struggled to reach production capacity, restricted by TVS' limited access to the ITV network. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Television South」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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