COLOUR television came to the Midlands last night – but only for half-an-hour and to enchant an invited audience in the Alpha Television Studios in Birmingham.

About 400 people, many of them specialists, saw the demonstration which was arranged by the Midland Centre of the Television Society.

The question of when colour television will be on tap in the home remained unanswered, though it was hinted by a panel of experts that a service will probably be introduced in four or five years’ time.

In order to put on the show an E.M.I. outside broadcast van was stationed near the theatre.

Already perfect

The equipment has been used in the past for producing closed circuit colour television at hospitals so that student doctors can watch the progress of surgical operations.

The half-hour programme was projected on to a screen about the size of a large shop window and the audience saw Noele Gordon, Eulah Parker, Roy Edwards, Steve Evans and other performers in scenes which showed that colour reproduction techniques are already perfect.

The Evening Mail representative, Mac Cherry, who watched the show, found that colour fidelity and picture definition were not only far in advance of that achieved in the early colour cinema film but were equal to present-day film qualities.

When colour TV comes to the home it will be seen not on projection equipment but on specially designed sets using the cathode ray tube and the conventional viewing screen.

Trouble-free

Many questions important to the colour viewer of the future were answered.

How much will the sets cost? — Size for size, about two-and-a-half times the present set.

How reliable will they be? — The radio industry will avoid the mistake made in America, which already has colour TV. There it was at first necessary to call in the maintenance man several times a week. The first British sets will not give trouble.

Will maintenance be more expensive? — Yes, but only slightly.

Will the present 405-line system have to be changed? — Not necessarily. Good results can be achieved without the suggested alteration to 625-line definition.

The demonstration made it clear that colour television is not far away. The radio industry is already making preparations —and one of them is to test its prospective apprentices for colour blindness.

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Viewers have been intrigued by the glamorous setting of the new series of Box Office programmes late on Sunday nights: here GEORGE BARTRAM tells how this solid-looking bungalow is erected every week within a few hours, and writes of the Box Office team’s working week.

WHEN cinema box offices have closed down for the night, television’s Box Office is all set to start, with film excerpts, songs and gossip all packed
into 23 minutes.

Youthful producer Ben Churchill has re-jigged Box Office and given it a luxurious setting more in keeping with the glamorous world of films.

“Glamour is the key word,” says Churchill. “We want to convey this atmosphere throughout the programme. Hence the new bungalow suite setting which the current compere, John Fraser, and other stars will tenant.”

This splendid suite befits any star in the higher-income bracket. It has contemporary furniture, lush carpeting and a balcony complete with foliage. Then, of course, there’s the cocktail bar with the sliding shutter which acts as a cinema screen.

This scene of luxury is created in just a few hours at Birmingham’s Television Theatre. Due to the complexities of the programme, it has to be screened from the large Studio A, where, in the afternoon, Bid for Fame is staged for Midlands and Northern ITV channels.

As Bid for Fame ends and the audience troops out, work begins in the studio for Box Office, screened six hours later. The set is struck,
lighting is arranged and rehearsals begin. It’s a race against time, but the careful planning of the previous week ensures a minimum of difficulties.

Ben Churchill begins work on the programme on Monday morning with musical adviser George Clouston. Songs are chosen from old and new films.

“We’re hoping to feature new film songs which haven’t been released to the public,” Churchill said.

On Tuesday there’s a joint conference to decide what should go into the following Sunday’s programme. Present are: Ben Churchill, John Fraser, Genine Graham – the programme’s gossip correspondent – scriptwriter Rex Reinits and film editor John White.

White co-operates with the film renters in choosing the films for presentation. He and Churchill first view the extracts, which are shown at the conference before being edited.

“We want to get more into the heart of films,” Churchill told me. “Apart from excerpts, we want to feature every aspect of this gigantic industry.”

People want to know what the stars are doing. So it’s Genine Graham’s job to provide a regular gossip feature. Each item of gossip is considered at the conference.

This done, the programme layout is devised. Rex Reinits is then ready to prepare the script, which must be in the hands of the producer by Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, Churchill settles final details. He may also have to attend a film premiere with Genine Graham, or arrange for her to interview some film stars. And there’s the script to be discussed.

Thursday morning finds the script being typed and duplicated. By midday, everyone connected with the programme has received a copy. On Friday, the script
is arranged for cameras. Then the routine switches from London to Birmingham; Churchill holds a production conference with the studio heads of sound, lighting and cameras. On Saturday he ties up all the loose ends ready for Sunday.

If the foregoing week has seemed busy, Sunday borders on the chaotic. With so many programmes emanating from the Birmingham studios on Sunday, there is little space available. Camera rehearsals cannot, in fact, begin until 7 p.m.

Script rehearsals, however, can be held – but in the quiet club room of a nearby public house. Every utterance and movement has to be timed to fit in with the film excerpts which, of course, cannot be shown until studio space is available.

Back in Studio A, rehearsals grow in intensity as the time for transmission of Bid for Fame draws near. Just as it is due to go on the air at 4.15, the Box Office team break for tea. They forego their tea and watch the programme in the viewing-room.

By 5.15, when most Bid for Fame people have gone, John Fraser and Genine Graham move into their respective dressing-rooms and quietly run through their scripts. Occasionally, Churchill pops in to discuss a point.

Time now for Churchill to run over the songs. The band has arrived and band call is fixed for 6.30 in Studio D, next door to Studio A, where painters, scene- shifters, property men and electricians are getting to work on the Box Office. The studio is transformed. There stands the luxury “bungalow” a miracle of construction. It seems fit for a millionaire, and yet is all plywood and hardboard and plaster of paris.

It’s 7 o’clock. Camera rehearsals begin. Then there’s a steady slog until 9.30, when there’s a supper break… 11.5 transmission time… 11.30 the end of Box Office for another week.

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TO-DAY is the birthday of a new entertainment organisation in the Midlands, the independent commercial television service. It is a remarkable occasion for many reasons, for although television entertainment is no new thing, it is the first time Midland viewers have had the opportunity of sampling television-cum-advertising.

B.B.C. television, like Topsy, “just growed” from the only begetter sound radio; but commercial television has a more mixed ancestry and it inherits the qualities not only of radio entertainment but also of the cinema and advertising. It has near relatives in America and in other countries and an elder brother in the London service which has been in existence since last September.

Independent television comes to the Midlands after a five months run in London during which some experience has been gained by the promoters. For example, morning programmes have been abandoned and the resources of entertainment saved for filling the more popular viewing hours later in the day.

Under the dominion of the Independent Television Authority, two contractors are to provide the programmes for Midland consumption. Week-day entertainments will be produced by Associated TeleVision, Ltd. (ATV) and the week-end programmes by A.B.C. (Television), Ltd. (A.B.C.). Both these bodies will work in conjunction with the programme contractors engaged for the other regions of Britain and the programmes will be widely exchanged and “networked.”

The new entertainments will be welcomed as an alternative programme to the single B.B.C programme, and Mr. Philip Dorté, the Midland A.T.V. Controller, has made the point that co-operation between the two organisations exists to further the principle of providing an alternative.

Transmissions from the Lichfield station will open at 7.45 tonight with a ceremony televised from the Birmingham Town Hall. The opening speeches will be made by Sir Kenneth Clark, Chairman of the I.T.A., and the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Alderman A. Lummis Gibson. This will be followed by a five-minute news bulletin, and then a variety show from the new television theatre at Aston Cross. The stars will be Bob Monkhouse, Denis Goodwin. Barbara Lyon, Tyrone Power and Richard Hearne (Mr. Pastry).

Boxing Contest

After a half-hour film in the Robin Hood series, starring Richard Greene, the “live” cameras will come into service to transmit pictures of the boxing contest at the Embassy Stadium, Birmingham, between Al Brown [sic] of Stepney and Johnny Mann of Birmingham.

Another film feature, an episode in the “I Love Lucy” series, will fill the short period between the boxing relay and the “live” transmission of the scene at the opening night ball at the Birmingham Town Hall.

At 10.40 pm, the Bishop of Lichfield. Dr. A. S. Reeve, will speak the Epilogue that will bring the first day’s programmes to an end.

This special occasion has been arranged by both the programme contractors, but on the following day the A.B.C. will take over and the usual run of programmes win begin.

Week-end Host

In the first A.B.C. transmission at 2.45 on Saturday afternoon will be Janette Scott, the young film star. A pleasant feature of the weekend programmes will be the presence of a “host” in the studio, an acknowledgment of the personal link between broadcasters and viewers.

This function will be performed by Edward Ward, who is well known as a B.B.C. commentator. He will present a feature entitled “This Day,” a retrospect of Midland events and personalities of the past.

A special film has been made of the Lichfield transmitter and the new Television Theatre at Aston, and this will be shown as an introductory feature. The rest of the afternoon will be filled by popular music on records, an advertising magazine and children’s features, with a short session from “ABC Sports Desk”, wherein news from current football matches will be given, with results at 5.30.

News and sports surveys will open the evening transmissions, and at 7.30 “live” cameras will gather “Hometown, Saturday Night” from the Leofrid Hotel, Coventry, when the local stars will include Phyllis Calvert, Billie Whitelaw and John Hanson.

Forty-five minutes of variety, starring Ruby Murray, David Evans and Tony Payne will lead on to Playhouse which will present “Last Reunion” by Kenneth Hyde, with Eric Portman in the lead.

An edited film of the Cup-tie match between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City will be given with a commentary by John Bannister, and a news bulletin will end the day.

Film Scenes

Sunday’s transmissions will open at 2 p.m. with This Day, an anniversary programme. A special film report of the Midlands Amateur Boxing Championships at Birmingham Town Hall on Saturday will follow. The introductory edition of “Film Fanfare” will include scenes from new films, visits to studios, music from the films and personal appearances by stars.

A magazine for women, and children’s features, including “The Adventures of Noddy” by Enid Blyton, a Western film, and The Adventures of Robin Hood will fill the time until the close down at 6 p.m.

News and features about Midland personalities will open the evening at 7.30, followed by “Moment of Fame” in which Edward Ward will turn the limelight on ordinary people in the headlines. “Sunday Night at the Palladium” will be compered by Tommy Trinder who will introduce the audience-participation show “Beat the Clock.” “Theatre Royal” at 9 o’clock will present “Bardell versus Pickwick,” with Donald Wolfit, Desmond Walter Ellis and Sam Kydd. An “I Love Lucy” episode and a record programme “The Jack Jackson Show” will lead up to the news and close down.

That is the pattern of programmes for the week-end, and the week-day programmes similarly will follow a well-defined pattern, including many serialised features. For example. “One Family” (The Armstrongs) will be screened every weekday at 4.45.

Plays, often on films, will be presented every day. Next week the drama features Include “Both Ends Meet” on Monday; “Cross Current” on Tuesday; “Mid-Level” on Wednesday; “The Egg,” by Stanley Mann, starring Emrys Jones, on Thursday; and “The Old Man of the Air” on Friday. The “Playhouse” feature for Saturday, February 25 is “Boy About the Place.”

For the rest the main features of the week on are are a glamour show, “Paris in Piccadilly” on Monday; “Strike a New Note” on Tuesday; “Double Your Money”, a quiz show, on Wednesday; “Jack Solomon’s Scrapbook”, and an Arthur Askey show on Friday.

Commentary

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From ABC TV News, the house magazine of ABC, October 1965

Horace has certainly tried his hand at plenty of different things, his previous job being Senior Transport Clerk at the Birmingham Head Office of British Road Services where he worked for over three years.

A mobile canteen was another of his ventures. A rather less successful one, unfortunately, not because it was uneconomical (his hot cakes really did sell like hot cakes) but because the Police and Corporation would not co-operate with his parking problems.

He also helped his brother-in-law to open a factory. Now thriving, it produces cold-drawn seamless tubing; a commodity which always seems to be in demand, especially in the Midlands.

Horace’s Service days were spent with the RAF in Coastal and Bomber Commands, as an engine fitter. He also served with the Middle East Communications Squadron, maintaining private planes of such VIP’s as Lord Mountbatten, Field Marshal Montgomery and Sir Winston Churchill, keeping the aircraft available for immediate service. “The planes—Dakotas—were very comfortable,” recalls Horace. “Fitted out with lounges and cocktail bars.”

During this period of his life he also had the doubtful privilege of being knocked out by the Middle East Middleweight boxing champion in 1946.

Thirty-eight years old, he has been married for 15 years and has a 12-year-old daughter, Fay. His wife Irene, who is a State Registered Nurse, likes travelling and is a keen naturalist.

This interest she shares with Horace, who also enjoys gardening, marquetry and whittling (wood carving to you and me.)

Other distinctions include having been captain of the RAF Squadron darts team, and having represented his squadron in cross country running.

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The new-look Let’s Go, streamlined, trim and with the accent on sport, comes back for its second season on ITV, starting on Saturday afternoon next week.

Horse racing (flat and steeplechasing), professional wrestling and boxing—the most popular sports in the ITV ratings—will be the main regular items in the programme. Out are the dog shows, dancing and off-beat activities.

Racing will be “on” – from courses in almost every part of the network area. So will wrestling — by special request. Amateur boxing will come into the programme planning, probably every fortnight, after the season starts in October.

There will be athletics, too, and motor racing, plus the classified football results and full sports news and results.

The racing outlook is good. Let’s Go will take three or four races from the chosen meeting, spotlight any feature event, give the betting market moves, interview trainers, jockeys and paddock personalities and sum up prospects.

Said Peter Moor, ITV racing adviser: “We’ve got a good team, and I believe we provide the best racing coverage. Certainly that is our aim all the time.

“The courses we cover are all good for the viewers, and we do have plenty of first-class racing. In fact, the only thing our critics demand is —more racing.” Ripon is the scene of next Saturday’s meeting, with the St Leger Trial as the highlight.

Wrestling, which shares the first programme of the new series, also seems to be the sport of which many viewers cannot get enough. Their critical letters have demanded wrestling every week. And that is what they are going to get — 45 minutes each week, with some of the most colourful characters in the game.

So look out for Canadian-Indian Billy Two Rivers; European star Tibor Szkacs, whose contest with Mike Marino in Leeds during the first Let’s Go series was generally rated in wrestling circles to be the best TV bout of the entire season; and Britain’s champions, Billy Joyce, Ernie Riley and Norman Walsh. And coming over to wrestle here are the 16st Japanese Great Togo, giant Bert Stein from Germany and Hungarian ex-Olympic competitor Mihalyi Kuti.

The proportion of “More, please,” letters from women viewers during the summer was incredibly high for a sport that prides itself on its masculinity.

Fashion shows will be featured once a month. But they will be fashion shows with a difference, where the surroundings and background tie up with the clothes.

Not for Let’s Go the parade of models on a platform. As producer Stephen Wade says: “We think that’s dull. If we want to show a model in travel clothes, we’ll put her on a train, or in a plane.”

Tim Brinton and Roger Malone will feed news and comment into the programme between items and at the end, when the results are ticker-taping into the studio.

Brinton, ITN newscaster and Roving Report reporter, took over from Berkeley Smith as link man in the last series. Malone, ex-Fleet-street sports journalist, is now on the staff of Alpha Television. Interviews and comments are his job in Let’s Go.

There are plans, too, for a specially-designed electric score-board to bring the football results to viewers within seconds of the scores being known.

Cameras will show the results as Malone comments. Then, when they are complete, there will be a classified run-through for a Pools coupon check.

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Exciting new programme ideas are being tried out in the Birmingham ITV studios. ABC chiefs have given instructions for 18 new shows to go before the cameras with full crews, cast, costumes and sets.

But none of them will be going on the air yet. They will be studied critically by company officials.

The 18 programmes range from simple panel games to “really big productions.” And under this system a show can be scrapped after a “dummy run” should it not come up to standard.

“We confine ourselves to the cost of one show, whether it be play, musical, revue or quiz game,” said an ABC official. “Much better to have a sample show and then modify it or reject it if it is not suitable.”

One of these “dummy runs,” shown to a sample audience in Birmingham, was a panel game called Full House. It was devised by Roy Ward Dickson, who was the chairman, and had a panel of three comprising Elaine Grand, Wally Reyburn and Pamela Russell.

Contestants were engaged couples who had to try and stump the panel; 1,300 couples applied for the show – four couples were chosen to appear.

The idea is that if a couple manage to stump the panel in four minutes they win a bedroomful of furniture. They would then come back the next week to try for another roomful of furniture and so on until they got a houseful. Hence the title, Full House.

Another feature of the show was Memory Table, in which a married couple had to memorise as many objects as possible before being blindfolded.

Here appeared all the elements for a successful show: atmosphere created by the minutes ticking away, youthfulness, glamour, humour and gimmicks — even to a pageboy presenting a bouquet to each contesting couple.

What did the audience think of it? Average comment was “very good.” Everybody present filled in a card on which they wrote their candid comments. These cards were collected by producer Eddie Kebbell and forwarded to the powers-that-be at ABC Television.

Typist Kathleen Neal, of Birmingham, thought Full House had all the elements of a first-class show. Mr. A. Tyler, also of Birmingham, agreed, and added that he thought Pamela Russell was a distinct asset to the panel.

“I should like to see her on TV much more,” he said. “She has been missing since she appeared in Quite Contrary.”

Mr. F. Doherty, a commercial traveller, of Four Oaks, said: “There’s lots of room for improvement, but I think it could become a popular show. The panel should alternate between using two girls and one man and two men and one girl.”

Said Mr. and Mrs. A Griffiths, who have been married 28 years and took part in the Memory Table: “We should very much like to see the show again.”

Miss Beryl Tibbitts and her fiancé, Mr. B. Wyer, said: “We thought the panel were particularly good. They got on with the job without trying to make impressions. We think it’s a novel giveaway show. For couples like us, who want to get married, it presents a wonderful opportunity.”

These audience comments and the views of the officials of ABC Television will be the decisive factors for the future of Full House — and other such “dummy run” shows, and this “television test bed” will serve an important function in the interest of entertainment.

Howard Thomas, head of ABC, tells me he is particularly interested in “spontaneous-looking” programmes. One of the ideas he is trying out is for a casual, off-the-cuff programme of the kind so popular on American TV.

No matter how the 18 projected programmes differ in concept, they have one great thing in common: they are all based on brand-new ideas.

The cost of the full-scale tryouts will come to many thousands of pounds. This may appear an expensive way of finding new programmes, but it is an essential method for a week-end company whose tightly-packed schedule leaves little room for experimenting with shows that may or may not make the grade with the viewer.

During the next few weeks Mr. Thomas will be keeping a sharp lookout for possibilities for the 11 p.m. – midnight slot on Saturdays. “I call it the teenage time, and I think it is going to attract a tremendous audience,” he says.

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The Alpha Television Studios have from the beginning been a centre of professional skill, of television craft. From the floors and through the controls, from the planners, the producers and the crews, have come good television programmes, both bright and thoughtful, some heading for the network, some building a link between all those who live in the Midlands, and between them and Independent Television.

Alpha is part of the life of the Midlands. Perhaps that is the most important thing about it. From the start, it has been the policy of the ITA to spread television, not to let it grow only in London, with the rest of the country at the passive receiving end, but to create centres of regional television life, with Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Southampton, Newcastle, Norwich and Belfast as television towns.

Alpha was the first big step in this policy: and what a success it has been.

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Providing entertainment for such a public was not an easy task and it is no easier today now that I am concerned with television programmes instead of the music hall. That is why I find it most rewarding to know that the Midlands has the highest I.T.A./B.B.C. viewing ratio in the country. It means that we are still on the right lines so far as Midland viewers are concerned and we know that you will soon tell us when we are not.

The Midland studios have now become part of the life of the Midlands, and I am delighted to be associated with this website which tells of the work behind the scenes. I feel it will contribute towards a better appreciation of the programmes presented from Aston and of the work of the technicians, directors and artistes who work there.

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From these studios we have presented many programmes on the national network as well as on our Midland channel — programmes ranging from variety to the teenage youth club programme ‘Sunday Break’ which was first produced here, and many of the Saturday afternoon serials, religious discussion programmes, musicals and new talent shows like ‘Bid for Fame’. Currently we are presenting from these studios amongst other programmes, the quiz show “For Love or Money” and with A.T.V., the biggest networking operation in this country, “Let’s Go”, in fact everything from a simple Epilogue to an elaborate play has been, and will continue to be produced in these compact studios.

Alpha enjoys a reputation for being the busiest studio of its size in the country, and the skill, enthusiasm and determination of all its staff is equal to that of any television studio in the world.

We of A.B.C. Television are proud to be part of the Alpha Television Studios.

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In order to explain the function of Alpha I must go over as simply as possible the development of Commercial Television in the Midlands.

The I.T.A. really stands for the Independent Television Authority, which is responsible to the Government for controlling the whole of commercial television. One of the I.T.A.’s main functions is to see that commercial television is operated in accordance with the Television Act of 1954.

Let us now confine our thoughts to the Midland Region. Two contracts were issued by the I.T.A. to allow commercial television broadcasting over seven days each week in this area. The first contract was to Associated TeleVision Limited (A.T.V.) to transmit programmes from Mondays to Fridays inclusive; the second to A.B.C. Television Limited (A.B.C.), for a similar operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

When these contracts were issued in late 1955, there was very little time to find, organise and equip studios to meet an opening date for the Midland Transmitter at Lichfield already set for February 17th, 1956. Both A.B.C. and A.T.V. therefore commenced their activities in the Midlands by searching independently for suitable premises from which to operate. It became abundantly clear that time and effort would be saved if the two companies operated on a joint basis, looking for one suitable site obviously being easier than looking for two and bearing in mind that A.B.C.’s two days of operation would not cut across A.T.V.’s five days and vice versa. Thus was born an idea for a joint company to supply studios, equipment, offices and staff capable of transmitting television programmes throughout seven days a week on behalf of the two Parent Companies. Time has proved that this thinking was not only practical but most successful. The name of the Company chosen was Alpha Television Services (Birmingham) Limited.

Alpha is best described as a Production factory, making television shows to the specifications of A.B.C. and A.T.V. producers. As soon as a producer has decided upon his format for any given show, the scenic designers, wardrobe, property and technical departments such as cameras, sound, lighting engineers etc., all go to work in their respective fields, to produce the necessary requirements called for. All this work is assembled in the studios, and ancillary areas on the day of transmission or, in the case of a large production, the day before, where, like a jig-saw puzzle, all the pieces are assembled to put before you a completed picture at the times advertised in your Television Times.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the answer to ‘What is Alpha?’

How television reaches your home

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These are the first cues given as this station goes on the air each day. It is the start of an operation which provides you, the viewer, with a smooth and continuous transmission. As transmission controller I give these cues to the vision mixer who sits beside me and the sound mixer who sits behind me in Master Control.

Right in the middle of the Alpha Studios in Master Control with a dozen or so monitor screens in front of me it is my duty to make sure that the picture on these monitors and the sounds that go with them reach you exactly at the same time. My Alpha colleagues see that the pictures and sounds are of perfect quality. On the screens are pictures from the studios here at Aston, or from London, Manchester and Cardiff studios, or for that matter anywhere in Europe. When I said that the pictures must reach you at exactly the right time I meant it. All programmes are timed to the very second. In the morning I go through the films and commercials with a stop watch to see exactly how long they are because they must conform to predetermined time limits. I also check to see that the announcements fit the time allotted them. The announcer sits behind a glass panel on my right in his studio next to Master Control.

You see your days viewing is made up of films, slides, announcements and programmes from the different studios here and elsewhere. All these are fed to us in Master and then sent to you. This needs a cool head, great patience and concentration, especially when you realise that you are working to a split second and that the one golden rule is “Never a blank screen”. We know how long films and commercials are because we timed them in the morning but studio programmes and outside broadcasts are quite another matter. If they underrun or overrun, or breakdown for that matter, we have to act at once.

Just think for a moment that the Play of the Week, which runs for an hour and a half is given up to thirty seconds margin to over or under run. This may illustrate to you the exacting conditions under which Television is run to-day.

Once in the early days a monster production of ‘Hamlet’ was overrunning its allotted time. As the luckless Danish prince was being carried out on his bier the transmission controller faded the programme. A high executive ‘phoned the controller and said angrily “What in the …. happened there?” “He died” answered the transmission controller, put the ‘phone down and started the next programme .. ON TIME.

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To emphasise my point let me tell you the story of a very ‘dull and undemonstrative’ audience I once had when producing an Arthur Askey comedy series.

For the first programme in the series we had a studio audience of about ninety people.

Immediately the show was over, Arthur came to me, a very worried man. “Why did we get no atmosphere Bill?” he said. “I don’t know” I replied “the script was funny enough — let’s ask them.” So, although nearly all of the people were on their way out, a ‘phone call to the front door stopped them and brought them back to the studio. I talked to them and asked why they hadn’t laughed — didn’t they think the show was funny — why? They had liked the show well enough, they told me, but they were so intrigued with the way a television show went together, the movement of cameras and booms, sets being changed, artists taking up their positions in other parts of the studio to where action was taking place, ready for the next part of the show, that they had no time or thought to laugh because their mind was not fully on being an audience — as it were.

I told them that we had been disappointed and that at home the viewer also might not have liked the show as well as he might if there had been more laughter, and they understood then how much we of the show needed our audience to be a part of that show, as necessary an ingredient as a camera or an artist or a writer — or dare I say it — a producer. So I struck a bargain with them, and asked if they would be our audience for the rest of the series, and come every week for the remaining five weeks — and they did — and a wonderful audience they were.

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WE receive many letters each week from members of the public enquiring into the possibilities of working in television — how to apply and what qualifications are needed.

Many highly skilled crafts and trades are involved, such as camera and sound operating, production lighting and make-up, floor managing, wardrobe, set and costume design, and the operation, maintenance and installation of television equipment, not forgetting the development of new techniques and ideas. This adds up to a host of absorbing occupations and in order to ensure that the high standard required for each is maintained, it will be appreciated that education, academic qualification, and experience in other fields allied to television, such as film making, the theatre, and electronics, helps enormously when applying for a job.

If it is not possible to employ fully trained and experienced staff, then trainees with the necessary qualifications are acceptable, and usually their age is somewhere between 20 and 22, although this does not debar older candidates from being selected. In all Departments, a Selection Board is held before a candidate is finally chosen.

All people wishing to apply for technical grades should have as the minimum standard of education, G.C.E. Ordinary Level in at least three subjects, and applicants for the engineering grades should have followed, or be in the process of following, a course of instruction at a Technical College and expect to obtain a Higher National Certificate or its equivalent. For television engineers, the possession of the City and Guilds Final Certificate in Telecommunications is a most useful acquisition.

Finally, television is not for people who like regular 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. hours, with Saturdays and Sundays off. We have to operate a 7-day week programme pattern, 365 days a year, and though the number of hours each person works is between 42/44 per week, they are scattered from early morning until close of transmission, sometimes at midnight, and the weekend could consist of Monday/Tuesday, Wednesday/Thursday, and so on.

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That is the lot of a television director; he never stops talking while the programme is on, and contrary to popular opinion, he doesn’t stand in a little corner in the studio, but sits in a control room surrounded by engineers and screens watching hundreds of different pictures that are never seen on the home set.

Many young people ask how I ever became a director. The qualifications I had when I first went into television were ten years of acting, writing, stage management and production, for both theatre and radio.

This background is essential, for it would be impossible for me to walk into a studio and tell an artist who has acted for many years, how to do her job, if I didn’t understand it myself. The director also needs to understand the many problems encountered by cameramen, sound engineers, designers, wardrobe, make-up, properties, scene staff, floor managers and lighting technicians, because it is to these people he must turn when he is planning his programme, and after the original planning for his show, they then put the machinery into motion to ensure that when the programme is ready for rehearsal in the studio, every facility he requires from a match to an elephant is available to him.

No one person makes a television show; it is team work and team spirit that brings to your homes a programme that is polished, enjoyable and laden with atmosphere.

When viewers see television productions from the studio itself, they invariably say “We would never have thought that people worked so hard to put a programme on our home receiver.” We do work hard, and every day we learn something new from this fantastic medium, and as soon as we have learnt, we endeavour to perfect it. If you are an avid viewer, you have possibly noticed new techniques being employed almost every week from our studios here in Birmingham.

Whilst we have young, creative people working here, our one ambition is to continue improving shows simply to enable you to kick off your slippers, relax in your lounge, and enjoy yourselves.

The post The Producer appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

Various types of programmes require different styles of presentation. A drama, for instance, is usually treated very realistically, whereas in a musical the backgrounds are often stylised and painted in an entirely different way.

Another aspect of the Designer’s work, and probably the most important, is the planning of the scenes upon the studio floor in such a way that the cameras and microphone booms can move easily and speedily from scene to scene as the show progresses. In a small studio this often creates the biggest problem for the Designer, especially if the production calls for nine or ten scenes.

After reading the script for the forthcoming programme the Designer and Producer usually get together and draw out a rough plot of the sets on a Floor Plan of the studio, after which a Production Meeting is called, attended by the Heads of Camera, Lighting and Sound Departments. For the benefit of these specialists the Producer explains how he proposed to stage his programme and scene by scene, and in some cases shot by shot, the show is plotted at these meetings and problems ironed out. The shape or position of a set may have to be altered slightly in order to get a camera through or to facilitate the lighting of the characters. The Designer then comes away with the ground plan finalised and ready to be put into production. Detailed drawings must then be made for Carpenters, Painters and Scenic Artists. The props, for the dressing of the sets must be discussed with the Head of the Property Department. In the case of a drama, especially a period drama, the Designer must go with the Property Buyer to select the correct period furniture, pictures, etc., and when the settings are erected before the rehearsals, he must be present to dress those sets and give the final touches which are so essential for authenticity. He must be there also during rehearsals to make final adjustments as something which may look satisfactory to the eye may, in a particular camera shot, look peculiar.

The Designer’s work is considered completed only at the end of the final dress rehearsal.

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He works in the closest co-operation with the Producer and must be able not only to carry out the Producer’s instructions but to anticipate many of his requirements.

As the Production Team itself consists of Cameras, Sound, Lighting, Property Staff, Scene Staff, Wardrobe and Make-up, it is the Floor Manager who coordinates their work so that it is carried out efficiently, quickly and quietly. Artists too come under the control of the Floor Manager for they must be shown where to work, their positions must be marked clearly and they must be cued for speech and action.

The Production Schedule for rehearsal and transmission must be strictly followed and here again a Floor Manager keeps his eye on the clock, helping the Producer to achieve everything possible without wasting time: the word which is vital to television production.

Where audiences attend or participate in a Production, the Floor Manager talks to them before transmission, emphasising that they are part of the show and encouraging them to give the atmosphere required.

With everything ready for transmission the Producer settles himself in the Control Room seeing only what his cameras show him but confident that one man will be in full control on the Studio floor — The Floor Manager!

The post Floor Manager appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

Normally this will be several weeks before the proposed transmission date, and the final success of the programme will to a large extent depend, in the ensuing period, on the Director’s precise programme requirements being passed on accurately and in good time to the Alpha staff concerned. As some Directors are based in London, and therefore, to make sure that no information goes astray, it is all sent to Alpha’s Production Office, the focal point if you like, and then channelled off to the specialised production departments, namely Design, Cameras, Lighting, Floor Managers, Sound, Scenes, Property Department, Wardrobe and Make-up.

To illustrate how Alpha’s production services play their part let us consider as an example, a play that is to be transmitted from these Studios.

Firstly, an Alpha Designer, after having read the script and discussed details with the Director, sets about designing scenery for the programme. In doing this he attempts to create the illusion of reality and to add impact to the story being told. Television being basically a technical medium, however, he has to take into account in his creative work the part that cameras, microphone booms and lighting will finally play, and also the physical limitations of the studio itself. He will, therefore, liaise closely with Lighting, Sound and Camera Specialists during this phase.

When design drawings have been completed, they are passed on to the Alpha Scenery Construction Unit, where skilled carpenters, painters and scenic artists immediately go to work.

As soon as scenery construction is under way the Designer and the Director will be thinking about Property requirements for the programme, the final list being passed on to the Property Master/Buyer, whose job it is to hire, buy or borrow with the greatest possible speed anything from an elephant to an ‘L’ plate.

The Director by now will be rehearsing his artistes at an outside rehearsal room, and at the same time working out on a studio floor plan the position and moves for cameras and microphone booms.

When he has a clear idea of his plan of action, a planning meeting is arranged with senior lighting, sound and camera technicians from Alpha. The purpose of this meeting is to iron out any snags that may have been overlooked, and to generally brief the Alpha personnel, so enabling them to deploy their equipment and crew in the most efficient way.

As the day of transmission draws near, final requirements for the programme become known and this information is again passed on via the Production Office to the departments concerned. It will include for example Wardrobe, Make-up, Caption, Dressing Room and Electronic requirements, final arrangements for camera rehearsal and feeding arrangements for the crews and cast, plus a host of what the layman may consider to be unimportant details but which, in fact, are a vital contribution to a polished television programme.

On the morning of transmission, and as a result of this careful pre-planning, the Scene Master and Property Master and their staffs have transformed the studio into an authentic setting for the play. Cameras,, microphone booms and lamps are roughly in position, and crews are standing by for the Director from the Control Room to give his first instructions for camera rehearsal.

At the end of the day and after a final full dress rehearsal everyone in the Production Team will be tuned to concert pitch, and waiting for the moment of no return when the red light goes on and they are ‘on the air.’

The post Production Services appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

Programmes originate from various sources all over the country. In our Master Control they are linked, together with the commercials, to make a continuous days viewing for the Midlands audience. Most commercials are made on film and are shown by means of a special television camera and projector combination called a Telecine machine.

Tonight you will see a programme from our Studio A. The scenes are looked at by four television cameras and the sound is picked up by a number of different types of microphones, some on fixed stands, some mobile on devices called booms and some carried by the individual artistes. After the cameras have turned the pictures into electrical impulses, the engineers adjust and process these ‘electrical pictures’ to conform to the high standard of television which is required.

In the studio control room the producer selects the pictures he wishes to transmit, and a girl operates a control panel according to his requirements. Part of the vision mixer which this panel controls was designed by the Engineers at Alpha and a large range of effects can be carried out. One picture can be changed into another by means of wipes, dissolves or cuts. On special occasions arrangements can be made to provide the foreground of a picture from one camera and the background from another. Therefore, with a camera on the roof, an artist standing in the studio might appear to be on the chimney tops of Aston.

The ‘electrical sounds’ are processed, balanced and checked for quality, and sent with the picture to Master Control. Continuous programme leaves Master Control and is carefully checked for quality before it is sent on its route to the transmitter.

In this country the General Post Office handles most of the television network distribution system between cities and it is through the Post Office cables and radio links that our picture and sound reach the local I.T.A. Transmitter.

Throughout the Independent Television network the technical quality is being constantly checked by highly skilled engineers. In order to enable the engineers to locate a fault quickly a system of private telephone lines, almost as complicated as the television distribution system itself, links the engineers of the I.T.A., the G.P.O. and the various programme contractors. A fault noticed in Birmingham may well start as far away as Scotland and has to be put right within a few seconds of being noticed.

The engineers at Alpha are constantly searching for improved methods of operation of equipment to produce still better picture and sound quality in your homes, and persistantly strive to maintain the finest possible television service to you the viewers.

The post Engineering and Development appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

EVERY Saturday afternoon Studio ‘A’ at the Alpha Television Theatre becomes the nerve centre for the biggest networking operation attempted on British television.

From one o’clock until five, “Let’s Go” is on the air to all television areas in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Producer Alan Olivers with his director, lead a team of technicians, sound and camera crews, telecommunication engineers and outside broadcast crews who may be stationed anywhere in the country, sending back to Aston sound and vision signals showing the country at work and play.

Every Saturday four or five Outside Broadcast units are out and about covering events which appeal to all members of the family.

• For Mother, a fashion show, or Joe Loss playing for lunchtime dancing in Coventry.
• Father is taken on a visit to a boxing or wrestling match, a race meeting and perhaps a bathing beauty competition for good measure.
• For the youngsters it may be a pantomime, an ice show, or a visit to a busy locomotive depot.

Finally, at 4.30 p.m. “Let’s Go” provides a full service of sports results — football, rugby, racing and summaries of the big sporting events of the afternoon.

Over twenty cameras, five complete mobile units, and over 400 technicians are working throughout the day in all corners of the country, bringing the world to Aston.

Inside the studio control centre, Alan Chivers and his team work with split second precision, passing on this ambitious kaleidoscope to the viewers at home.

The post “Let’s Go” appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

Picture Shape

Does everyone look tall and thin? Or short and fat? Adjustment of the ‘Height’ and ‘Width’ controls can usually correct this sort of trouble. This is most easily carried out just before the start of the day’s programmes when the test card is transmitted, the aim being to get the circle as round as possible while still retaining the chequered border.

Note: ‘Height’ is sometimes called Vertical Amplitude or Vert. Amp., and ‘Width’ is often Horizontal Amplitude or Hor. Amp.

If the circle persists in being egg-shaped it will be necessary to adjust the linearity (or form) controls, as well as the height and width.

Picture Contrast

The aim here should be to obtain pictures in which all the tones from black (shadow details, folds in clothing, etc.,) to white (shirts, highlights in the hair) are well reproduced. The harsh ‘soot and whitewash’ pictures one often sees can lose just as much detail as the thin, grey, grainy variety. Try to keep in your mind’s eye the last good film you saw, or that photograph which impressed you so much. It should be possible to get that sort of quality by careful adjustment of the brightness and contrast controls, the former for the dark tones and the latter for the face tones and highlights.

The clarity of the picture can also be improved by the setting of the focus control (it is surprising how many blurred pictures one sees!)

SOUND QUALITY

Your receiver is capable of a high standard of sound reproduction. The fine tuning control associated with the station or channel selector should be set for best sound consistent with the sort of pictures discussed above. A wrong setting can produce effects on the screen such as wobbling or vibration, and at the other extreme a loud, harsh buzz in the loudspeaker. Select a compromise setting.

The post Better results from your receiver appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

• Population within measured contours: Primary 5.01 mn, Secondary 1.51 mn, Fringe 0.93 mn. Total 7.45 mn.
• Channel: Band III Channel 8 (vertically polarised)
• Vision Carrier Frequency: Actual 189.75 Mc/s
• Sound Carrier Frequency: Actual 186.25 Mc/s
• Effective Radiated Power: Vision 400 kw maximum. Sound 100 kw maximum.
• Power of Transmitters: Vision (peak white) 20 kW. Sound (carrier) 5 kW
• Heights above sea level: Site 500 ft. Mean aerial 1,450 ft.
• Location: 1° 45′ 40″ W, 52° 36′ 30″ N.

Lichfield (Channel 8)

Companies: Associated TeleVision (weekdays), A.B.C. Television (weekends)

Geographically, the siting of a station to serve the industrial Midlands proved fairly straightforward, because the service area of the BBC’s Band I station at Sutton Coldfield corresponded closely with that which the Authority also wished to achieve. High open ground in the area is scarce and, with reason, carefully protected. It was not therefore easy to find an acceptable site. A piece of land 500 ft. above sea level, about four miles north-east of the BBC station, was eventually secured. It lies near the Watling Street in the rural district of Lichfield, from which the station derives its name.

Initially, an available design of 450 ft. self-supporting steel tower was erected, carrying an omnidirectional aerial similar to the one used at Croydon but of twice the aperture. This enabled a service to be provided quickly. The station went into programme service on 17th February 1956 with a single 5 kW transmitter, giving an effective radiated power of 6o kW. A few months later the power was raised to 120 kW by paralleling two 5 kW sets into the split aerial. In November of the same year, after the main 20 kW transmitter had been installed, the power was raised to 200 kW e.r.p. This gave a population coverage of nearly 6.5 million within the o.25 mV/m contouur. From the start it was recognised that, because of the relatively low site, greater and more uniform coverage could be obtained with a higher mast and an aerial system with directional characteristics. Sufficient land was therefore acquired to permit this to be done later.

Early in 1961 it became possible to start the construction of a 1,000 ft. mast and an improved aerial. Both these were brought into service in July of the same year, thus allowing the original tower to be dismantled and re-erected for use at the Fremont Point station in the Channel Islands. The new aerial enabled the power radiated south towards Gloucester to be increased to 400 kW.

Towards East Anglia, however, the power had to be reduced to 100 kW to prevent harmful interference to viewers of the Netherlands Television Service on the Dutch coast. For this reason, the service to Midlands viewers living east of the station remained substantially unchanged. Over a semi-circle towards the north the radiated power was maintained at 200 kW. This was sufficient, with the higher aerial, to close the gaps between the service areas of Lichfield and the Winter Hill and Emley Moor stations. The effect of the new mast and aerial was a general all-round improvement in reception, both within the old service area and beyond. The predicted coverage is shown in the map opposite. The measured coverage has recently been completed and includes a population of 8.85 million within the 0.25 mV/m contour.

The post Lichfield transmitter appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

Midlands and North (Saturdays and Sundays)

ABC is the company which, under agreement with the Independent Television Authority, provides the television programmes in the North and Midlands on Saturdays and Sundays.

1 Hanover Square, London W.1.
HYDe Park 7222
City Centre House, 30 Union Street, Birmingham 2
MIDLANDS 6083
Television House, 12 Mount Street, Manchester 2
DEANSGATE 4597

Area         ITA      Channel   Vision    Sound    Opening Date  Population ITA Homes
          Transmitter          Frequency Frequency                  000's     000's
                                 Mc/s      Mc/s

Midlands  Lichfield       8     189.75    186.25   17th Feb 1956     8,850    1,765

North     Winter Hill     9     194.75    181.25    3rd May 1956  }
          Emley Moor     10     199.7372  196.2605  3rd Nov 1956  } 12,452    3,282

Directors

Sir Philip Warter (Chairman); E G M Fletcher LL.D, MP (Deputy Chairman); Howard Thomas (Managing Director); C J Latta; R Clark, LL.B; D J Goodlatte; G A Cooper.

Officers

C J Orr, FCA (Secretary); B R Greenhead (Technical Controller); R H Norris (Advertisement Controller); B Tesler (Programme Controller); D Southwood (Northern Executive and Chief of Outside Broadcasts); E G Harris (Midlands Executive); L Shirley (Features Supervisor); R Taylor (Light Entertainment Supervisor); Penry Jones (Religious Adviser).

Staff

Total members of staff 957 (excluding Alpha Television).

Visits to Studios

A limited number of tickets are available for audiences at certain shows. Applications, enclosing stamped addressed envelopes, should be made to the Ticket Controller at the address of the studio from which the programme originates. The minimum age is sixteen.

Enquiries

Enquiries about artistes and programmes should be addressed to Viewers’ Correspondence, ABC Television, Broom Road, Teddington, Middlesex.

Submission of Scripts

Present requirements are for 60-minute plays, 30-minute children’s serials and 60- or 45-minute series scripts. But programmes change, and authors should contact story editors for the appropriate category to learn of future trends before submitting outlines or scripts.

Programme Journal

TV Times publishes separate editions for the North and Midlands areas giving details of the available programmes.

Studios

DIDSBURY STUDIO CENTRE, Manchester (Didsbury 8181). Winter Hill and Emley Moor transmitters receive their weekend programmes via the ABC master control rooms at Didsbury. Here too is based the Outside Broadcast fleet. The main studio has a stage area of 5,000 sq. ft. and has seating for an audience of 600. The second studio has an area of approximately 1,000 sq. ft., and there is a presentation studio attached to the dual master control rooms, plus an announcer’s booth for sound only.

BIRMINGHAM. Alpha Television Studios, Aston, Birmingham (Aston Cross 3091), are jointly owned by ABC and Associated TeleVision Limited. There are three studios of 3,000, 1,200 and 380 sq. ft., and master control and technical areas which were housed in a new building during 1962.

TEDDINGTON STUDIO CENTRE, Broom Road, Teddington (Teddington Lock 3252). This modern studio centre has been established close to London, where the main body of artistes is available. It specialises in the recording of drama, light entertainment and feature programmes. Studio 1 has an area of 7,500 sq. ft.; Studio 2, 4,750 sq. ft.; and Studio 3, 2,500 sq. ft. The technical equipment covers an area of 8,000 sq. ft. and is fully multi-standard with immediate switching between 405, 525 and 625 line standards. The new central block, opened in 1962, has in addition 13,000 sq. ft. of rehearsal rooms, an acoustically treated recording studio of 1,700 sq. ft., and scenery assembly and handling facilities.

Outside Broadcast Units

ABC have three Outside Broadcast units based at Didsbury, all with 4½” cameras and a smaller vidicon unit. In addition, the mobile videotape recorder can be equipped with one or two cameras, there being a total of twelve available between the units, There are seven microwave link units with portable power generators, and a hydraulic platform tower truck.

Videotape Recording

There are two machines based at Didsbury, together with the mobile unit. At Teddington there are four standards-switchable transistorised recorders together with standards converter equipment. At Alpha Studios, Birmingham, there are two machines.

Colour Television

One of the flying spot telecine channels at Teddington is equipped for the generation of colour signals, and programmes from Teddington have been experimentally radiated by the Croydon transmitter. In addition, numerous public demonstrations have been given over the GPO network, notably those using the continental SECAM system.

Technical Developments

A considerable amount of apparatus was specially developed for the Teddington Studio Centre in order to achieve full multi-standard operation. All this newly developed equipment is transistorised, and, in particular, vision switching matrices and pulse and vision distribution amplifiers have been used in considerable numbers.

Programmes

ABC productions include: News and News Magazines: ABC At Large. Talks, Discussions and Documentaries: The Other Man’s Farm, The Bookman. The Arts: Tempo. Science and Natural History: You’d Never Believe It! Religion: The Sunday Break, Living Your Life, Journey of a Lifetime, Sunday Morning Service, Epilogues. Adult Education: Headway. Sport: extensive outside broadcast coverage of all sporting events, including such minority sports as tenpin bowling, motor cycle scrambles, indoor soccer and amateur boxing. Children’s Programmes: Once Upon A Time. Drama Programmes: Armchair Theatre, The Avengers, Dimension of Fear (four-part thriller serial), Secret Beneath the Sea (six-part children’s serial), Ocean Liner series (untitled). Variety, Light Entertainment and Music: Thank Your Lucky Stars, Sing Along, The Best of Friends, Comedy Bandbox, Candid Camera, The Dave King Show, Life and Al Read. Entertainment Films: several film series produced in collaboration with ABC include The Human Jungle, Sir Francis Drake. Dramatised Documentaries: The Sword in the Web.

The post ABC Television appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

London (weekends); Midlands (weekdays)

ATV is a public company which, under agreement with the Independent Television Authority, provides the television programmes in London on Saturdays and Sundays and in the Midlands from Monday to Friday.

ATV House, 17 Great Cumberland Place, London W.1.
AMBassador 8040
ATV House, 150 Edmund Street, Birmingham.
BIRMINGHAM CENTRAL 5191

Area         ITA    Channel   Vision     Sound    Opening Date   Population ITA Homes
         Transmitter        Frequency  Frequency                   000's      000's
                               Mc/s       Mc/s

London     Croydon     9    194.75675   191.266   22nd Sep 1955   12,910     3,023
weekends

Midlands  Lichfield    8    189.75      186.25    17th Feb 1956    8,850     1,765
weekdays

Directors

Sir Robert Renwick, Bt, KBE (Chairman); Norman Collins (Deputy Chairman); Lew Grade (Managing Director); Edward J Roth (Deputy Managing Director); JAL Drummond (Finance); The Earl of Bessborough; Ellis S Birk; Hugh Cudlipp, OBE; RPT Gibson; Prince Littler, CBE; Val Parnell; Charles Orr Stanley, CBE, Ll.D

Officers

JM Barham, FCA (Secretary); B Bibby (Production Facilities Controller); P Dorté, OBE (Midlands Controller); JF Gill, FCA (Group Accountant and Treasurer); M Gumpel (Director of Business Affairs); PJ Henry (Sales Director); L Lewis (Administration Controller); TC Macnamara (Technical Controller); S Mitchell (Chief Press Officer); K Rogers (Operations Controller); W Ward (Productions Controller).

Religious Advisers

The Rev. John Bebb (Roman Catholic); The Rev. Stephan Hopkinson (Anglican); The Rev. Caryl Micklem (Free Church).

Education

Sir John Materman (Chairman, Education Advisory Committee); James Cochrane Wykes (Senior Education Officer); W Hemingway (Schools Liaison Officer).

Staff

Total members of staff 1,379 (excluding ATV’s subsidiary companies). Production 622, Administration 289, Engineering 213, Sales and Research 83, Operations (presentation and films) 89, Accounts 62, Press and Public Relations 21. In addition, ATV employs some 3,300 artistes each year, as well as musicians and scriptwriters.

Visits to Studios

A limited number of tickets are available for audience shows. Applications, enclosing stamped addressed envelopes, should be made to the Ticket Office Supervisor, ATV Studios, Elstree, Borehamwood, Herts. The minimum age is sixteen.

Enquiries

Enquiries about artistes and programmes should be addressed to Viewer’s Correspondence, at ATV’s London or Midlands offices.

Submission of Scripts

Material required: 60-minute plays. These should be complete dialogue script of first form. Six- or seven-part children’s serials: completed dialogue script of first episode and detailed synopses of the remainder must be submitted. Unless Associated TeleVision has knowledge or experience of the writer’s work, no other form of submission will be considered. 30-minute situation and domestic comedies and documentaries are also in demand. There is very little demand for short plays, musicals, quiz games, panel shows, short stories and talks. All submissions should be addressed to The Script Editor.

Programme Journal

TV Times publishes separate editions for the London and Midlands areas giving details of the available programmes.

Studios

ELSTREE STUDIO CENTRE, Borehamwood, Herts (Elstree 6100). This 340,000 sq. ft. development is one of the most up-to-date centres of television production, studio and technical facilities. The working floor area of the studios total 31,680 sq. ft. as follows: Studio A, 80′ × 80′; Studio B, 84′ × 80′; Studio C, 116′ × 80′; Studio D 116′ × 80′. The technical facilities directly associated with these four studios total 26,736 sq. ft. Other premises include Studio Facilities (75,790 sq. ft.), Technical Facilities (20,043 sq. ft.), Transport and Workshop Facilities (40,951 sq. ft.), Administration and Rehearsal Rooms (81,500 sq. ft.) and Restaurant (16,500 sq. ft.).

WOOD GREEN TELEVISION STUDIO, Wood Green Empire, N.22. Working floor area some 4,250 sq. ft. Particularly suitable for large-audience shows with seating for 600.

FOLEY STREET (Britallian House) London W.1, containing ATV’s Master Control centre and a small studio of 814 sq. ft. used for presentation and some discussion programmes.

ALPHA TELEVISION STUDIOS, Aston, Birmingham, are owned jointly by ATV and ABC Television Ltd. There are three studios of 3,000 sq. ft., 1,200 sq. ft. and 380 sq. ft.

Technical Development

A great deal of the equipment installed in ATV’s Studios is fully transistorised. This includes pulse and vision distributing equipment employing semi-conductors throughout, and fully transistorised sound equipment. The studios are equipped for 405, 525, and 625 line standards.

Outside Broadcasts

ATV has four mobile control rooms, each with four cameras, and an additional two-camera unit. One of these control rooms is used in conjunction with a video-recording vehicle to form the International Mobile Recording Unit.

Programmes

ATV Productions include: News and News Magazines: Midlands News; Midland Montage; On the Braden Beat. Talks, Discussions and Documentaries: The Warning Voice; Dinner Party; Midland Farming; Midland Profile; special documentaries; Meeting of Minds; Forum; Look Around the Midlands. The Arts: Sir Kenneth Clark series. Science and Natural History: Threshold; It Can Happen Tomorrow; The Wonder of Man. Religion: About Religion; Church Services; Epilogues; A Box of Birds (for children). Children: drama serials; Seeing Sport; I Am Going To Be… Schools: French from France, Ici la France, Summing It Up, Auf deutsch, Chemistry for Sixth Forms. Adult Education: Mesdames, Messieurs… Plays and Drama Series: Drama ’63; regular contributions to the Play of the Week and Television Playhouse series; Emergency Ward 10; Harpers West One; Deadline Midnight; The Plane Makers. Variety, Light Entertainment and Music: Sunday Night at the London Palladium; Bruce’s Show; Startime; Arthur Haynes Show; Hancock; The Morecambe and Wise Show; Tommy Steele Show; Roy Castle Show; A Golden Hour. Entertainment Films: many TV film series produced by or in collaboration with ATV. Sport: wide sports coverage, especially on Saturday afternoons.

The post Associated TeleVision appeared first on THIS IS ALPHA from Transdiffusion.

In accordance with the requirements of the Television Act 1954, the Authority builds, owns and operates the television transmitting stations. It selects and appoints the contractors to provide programmes for transmission from these stations. The contractors (more generally known as the programme companies) pay the Authority a rental related to the population coverage of the station or stations for which they provide programmes. They meet the cost of their ITA rentals, the cost of providing programmes and of their operations generally from advertising revenues. The Authority’s further duty is to ensure that the programmes provided are in accordance with the terms of the Act, and that the advertising transmitted is strictly controlled. Neither the Authority nor the companies draw any income from licence fees or other public funds.

The Nature of the System

The structure created by the Authority within the general framework laid down by the Television Act constitutes an entirely new combination of public and private initiative. In contrast to the unitary organisation with regional branches developed by the BBC, the Television Act requires the appointment of “a number of programme companies independent of each other both as to finance and control”. Moreover, Section 5(2) of the Act lays down that “It shall be the duty of the Authority to do all that they can to secure that there is adequate competition to supply programmes between a number of programme contractors independent of each other both as to finance and as to control”.

Only the existence of two directly competing companies in each service area could fully secure “adequate competition”. However, the frequencies which the Authority was granted were sufficient only to enable it to cover the whole country with a single network of stations. The Authority might have introduced direct competition in certain of its areas by building two stations, but only at the cost of leaving other areas without even one ITA service. The Authority therefore decided that while the limitations on its frequencies continued, it must use them to give national coverage by a single network.

Given one service only, the Authority had to choose the broad pattern of programme contracting which it would adopt. The fundamental choice was between a “unitary” system with a single programme company based in London providing programmes for the whole network of stations, and a plural system of separate programme companies for the individual areas of the country. There were sound social arguments for the appointment of separate companies to serve individual stations, and particularly for the communities outside London to be served by independently conducted programme companies rather than operated merely as satellites of a central group of London companies. The Authority, at the beginning of its life in 1954, therefore chose to adopt the plural form of organisation and has steadily pursued this policy ever since.

The adoption of a plural system did not of itself provide full competition to “supply programmes”, nor could it deny a programme company a local monopoly of viewers on the days for which it provided programmes. The Authority therefore sought from the beginning to introduce other competitive elements into the system. To avoid a London monopoly by one company there emerged the plan of enlarging the base from London to include, as well as the capital, the North and the Midlands and of appointing a total of four companies to serve this enlarged area. This was achieved by the division of the concession in each of the three areas into two parts, the weekdays and the weekends, and the creation of a mosaic of companies, stations, and days in a pattern which would support four independent companies.

The production of television programmes of national appeal demands large resources in the right places. It is no accident that networking – the supply of programmes for national use from some central source – is a common feature of broadcasting systems of all types in all the countries of the world. Effective television requires a high degree of specialisation in such programme categories as drama, light entertainment and variety, documentary programmes, sport, current affairs, children’s programmes, religious programmes and school programmes. And specialisation in any of these fields is practicable only when production is large enough to permit it. The distinctive features of Independent Television are not that it has a “network”, but that the supply of the main body of national programmes is provided by four separate companies, each of the four large enough to hold its own with the others, rather than originating from a single organisation; and that outside the most populous areas, programmes are provided by eleven smaller companies rather than by the extension of the geographical responsibilities of the four large companies and the creation of no further companies at all.

Fundamentally every one of the fifteen Independent Television companies is a regional company, the four largest no less than the remaining eleven; for each company is appointed to provide programmes for a particular area, and no company has any contractual rights or duties outside its own area. In each of the fourteen areas, the local programme company is responsible for providing all the programmes, whether these are produced by the company itself or acquired from other programme companies or other sources. Each local programme company as far as possible arranges its programmes into the pattern that best suits its region, subject always to conformity with the Authority’s directions in the matter of balance, quantity and quality.

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The Midlands: The ITA’s transmitter at Lichfield was opened on 17th February 1956. It serves a population of 8¾ million. Programmes are provided by Associated TeleVision Ltd. (ATV) from Mondays to Fridays and by ABC Television Ltd. on Saturdays and Sundays.

The North: A population of 12½ million in Lancashire and Yorkshire is served by the ITA’s transmitters at Winter Hill and Emley Moor, opened in 1956. Programmes are provided by Granada TV Network Ltd. from Mondays to Fridays and by ABC Television Ltd. on Saturdays and Sundays. ITA Regional Officer: S. D. Murphy, Astley House, Quay Street, Manchester 3. Manchester Blackfriars 2707.

Scotland: THE ITA SCOTTISH COMMITTEE: Professor David Talbot Rice, M.B.E. (Chairman); Mr. Frank Donachy, O.B.E. 3 Mr. ]ohh Fergus, F.I.P.A.; The Rev. Arthur H. Gray; Dr. H. Stewart Mackintosh, C.B.E.; Sir William MacTaggart, P.R.S.A.; Mrs. T. N. Morgan; Miss Barbara L. Napier, J.P.; The Rev. Dr. W. A. Smellie.

Scotland is served by five of the ITA’s transmitters. A population of 4 million in Central Scotland is reached by the Black Hill station opened in 1957, the first after the three main areas had been covered. Programmes are provided by Scottish Television Ltd. (STV). North-East Scotland, with a population of 1.4 million, is served by the transmitters at Durris and Mounteagle, opened in 1961. Programmes are provided by Grampian Television Ltd. The southern borders of Scotland are served by the Caldbeck and Selkirk transmitters with programmes provided by Border Television Ltd. ITA Regional Officer for Scotland: John Lindsay, 147 West Regent Street, Glasgow C.2. Glasgow City 3130. (The Regional Officer for North-East England deals with the Border area.)

Wales and the West of England: THE ITA WELSH COMMITTEE: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, J.P. (Chairman); Dr. Ivor Davies; Miss Norah Isaac; Mrs. Enid Watkin ]ones; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffrys Jones, M.A.; Major General Lewis Owain Pugh; Mr. Leslie Richards; The Rev. D. R. Thomas, M.A.

Two companies, TWW Ltd. and Wales (West & North) Ltd. (WWN), provide programmes for the Authority to broadcast to Welsh viewers. In addition to its responsibilities in South Wales, TWW also covers a wide area in the West of England; it provides programmes for the ITA’s transmitter at St. Hilary, opened in 1958, serving a population of 3.3 million. The technical difficulties of the area covered by Wales (West & North) Ltd. are indicated by the fact that three transmitters are needed in South-West, North-West and North-East Wales to broadcast its programmes to a population of about 1 million. These transmitters opened during 1962-63. ITA Regional Officer: L. J. Evans, Arlbee House, Greyfriars Place, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff. Cardiff 28759.

Southern England: Southern Television Ltd. provides programmes for Southern England from Kent to Dorset, an area which is not easily defined geographically or technically. The ITA’s transmitters at Chillerton Down on the Isle of Wight (opened in 1958) and at Dover (opened in 196O) serve a population of 4.3 million. ITA Regional Officer: Cmdr. G. W. Alcock, O.B.E., R.N. (Rtd.), 3o Portland Street, Southampton. Southampton 29115.

North-East England and Border Regions: The North-East of England, with programmes provided by Tyne Tees Television Ltd., is geographically, technically and socially well defined, consisting basically of the main part of the counties of Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire. A population of 2.7 million is served from the ITAs transmitter at Burnhope, opened in 1959. Border Television Ltd. serves two nationalities as its area straddles the Anglo-Scottish border, its programmes being broadcast by one transmitter at Caldbeck and another at Selkirk in Scotland (opened 1961) to a population of nearly half a million. ITA Regional Officer: R. J. F. Larimer 32-4 Mosley Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle 61-0148.

East Anglia: This was the first predominantly rural area in which the Independent Television Authority appointed a programme contractor, Anglia Television Ltd. This area is again both historically and geographically well defined. The topography of the area necessitated the first 1,000 ft. mast erected for the Authority, to serve a population of 2½ million. Programme operation commenced in 1959. ITA Regional Officer: Major General D. A. L. Wade, C.B., O.B.E., M.C., Century Insurance Building, 24 Castle Meadow, Norwich. Norwich 23533.

Northern Ireland: THE ITA ULSTER COMMITTEE: Sir Lucius O’Brien (Chairman); Mr. John G. Colhoun; Rev. Dr. C. B. Daly; Mr. G. B. Newe, O.B.E.; Mrs. G. Seth; Professor C. L. Wilson; The Rev. J. H. Withers.

The Province of Northern Ireland is served by two transmitters. The major one near the principal centre of population, the Belfast area, opened in 1959. The second, at Strabane in the west of the Province, opened early in 1963. Programmes are provided by Ulster Television Ltd. The population served is 1.4 million. ITA Regional Officer: W. H. Wilson, 5 Donegall Square South, Belfast. Belfast 30818.

South-West England and the Channel Islands: Another geographically well-defined area is the South-West of England, consisting of the peninsula of Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset and Dorset. Westward Television Ltd. serves a population of 1.6 million from the ITA’s transmitters at Caradon Hill and Stockland Hill (opened in 1961). Programmes for the Channel Islands are provided by the smallest of all the fifteen ITV programme companies, Channel Television Ltd. Programme operation commenced during 1962. ITA Regional Officer: W. A. C. Collingwood, O.B.E., Royal London House, Armada Way, Plymouth. Plymouth 63031.

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Joan Palmer provides ATV’s last ever announcement from the Aston studios, mentioning her predecessors, and hands over to Mike Prince in the new Paradise Centre HQ.

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Ray Moore opens ATV Midlands for the day from the Alpha Studios in Birmingham in the mid-1960s with “Sound and Vision” by Eric Coates.

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Welcome to another great week of programmes on ATV, starting with Tingha and Tucker.

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DX reception from Lichfield channel 8 of John Edmunds opening ABC Midlands for the day in 1964.

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Bill Steele opens ABC in the Midlands for the day in the late 1960s with Perpetuum Mobile and the ABC March.

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‘I was sick of secretarial work and I wanted to do something artistic’, explains Alpha newcomer Trainee Make-up Artist SANDRA SYLVESTER.

After a spell of secretarial work at Birmingham University and later with a firm of solicitors, 18-years-old Sandra sat Birmingham Art School’s entrance exam – and passed. However, not fancying a five-year course she applied for a scenic design job at Alpha.

With no vacancy in the department, she was given the chance of using her artistic ability in Make-up where she now enjoys every minute – as can be seen as she works on Announcer JOHN EDMUNDS.

An outdoor girl in her spare time, Sandra’s favourites are water skiing and horse riding.

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If the Editor of ABC-TV NEWS should ever come to Birmingham, may I advise her to bring a large tin of ‘soothing syrup’. She will need it if she is to calm the fevered brow of upwards of half a dozen television executives, 4 lighting technicians, 1 Chief Inspector of Police, 1 Inspector, 1 Sergeant and 3 Police Constables, 1 Station Superintendent and 5 Leading Firemen, and countless bus and lorry drivers, private motorists and pedestrians.

Why? Well it all started so simply. The Editor has asked us to provide her with as much news as we can about our regional activities. We are rather proud of our new-look frontage at Aston and so we thought we would take a picture of it. Better still – let’s floodlight the building for better effect. And that’s how the trouble started.

A very co-operative Studio General Manager in the person of FRANK BEALE provided us with about a dozen assorted lights varying from pups to 5 kW and we lined them up on the pavement just outside the studio.

Splendid – now for the picture.

SNAGS . . .

But it was here where we struck snag number one. The audience and fans who clamour round our studios every Sunday evening for ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’ began to get tangled up in the lighting cables and stands. So, we moved all the lighting equipment to the opposite side of the road.

Splendid – now for the picture.

But what about the cable bringing the power to the lights? Won’t that get damaged by the stream of traffic running over it? And that’s where the Fire Brigade was called in – they brought with them the wooden ramps which they use to safeguard their hoses.

Splendid – now for the picture.

With camera poised, our photographer WILLOUGHBY GULLACHSEN was just about to operate his shutter when the traffic began to pile up and his view was blocked completely by a street of double-decker buses.

Out went an emergency call and soon our friends from the local Police Station came along to sort out the traffic chaos.

Well, we got our picture – and here it is below.

Mark you, our troubles didn’t end with us getting the picture. You see, the wooden ramp which the Fire Brigade brought with them was far too wide for our slim power cable, and as no natural bridge was formed, cars and lorries bumped and bounced over the ramp, losing a succession of sump covers, exhaust pipes, number plates and goodness knows what else in the process.

So, Miss Davy, don’t forget that large tin of soothing syrup when you come to see us. Oh, and by the way, will you bring a new exhaust pipe and silencer for a 1961 Vauxhall Cresta with you? You see, I too, went over the ramp a mite too quickly.

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