When it was announced that there would be a whole new set of channels coming onto the Television the country rejoiced! They would be getting the choice of 2 channels instead of just 1. Arguments about what to watch were soon going to be raging in British homes as the public got the choice of this or that. Whatever the decision there had to be a decent signal receiver on the roof and the Ariel was the only answer. This is still true today in our digital world and a TV Aerial Installation Cheltenham based organization like http://steveunettaerials.co.uk/services/tv-aerials-repair-and-installation-cheltenham/ can provide the service you need.
The BBC had been putting out programs since 1935 even when hardly anyone had a television. By 1955 the rates of ownership had gone up thanks to the televised Coronation of Elizbeth II, cheaper imports and the chance to rent rather than buy. After 20 years of monopoly the Government thought it would be a good idea to force the complacent BBC into trying a bit harder by introducing free to view competition in the shape of Independent Television or ITV, although you still had to pay for a TV license so, in effect, you paid twice if you bought something advertised on TV. The BBC was determined to scupper the opening night so and they decided the only way they could do that was by killing off poor Grace Archer in a Barn fire, the effect of which Ambridge is still trying to recover from today.
The idea behind ITV is that it would provide Regional programming. Lots of different companies sprang up and put in tenders to control the output and produce and area programs. They would make and by programs put out by their fellow independent channels and then act like the BBC did not exist. For there part, the BBC did the same.
One thing that came out of ITV was a sense that they needed to identify themselves. All the BBC needed to do was have a man in a Dinnerjack say in the plummy voice “This is the BBC…” and you knew what you were watching. ITV came up with lots of different ones. Some, like Anglia Television, featured an Airfix model of a Knight on a turntable and the words Anglia on the flag. London Weekend Television had examples of the London skyline reflected in the Thames. Central just had a big white circle. All of them had a short burst of music and depending on what came on you were able to gauge the quality of the program.
Whatever the output ITV was here to stay.
