Southern Television
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| Based in | Southampton & Dover |
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| Broadcast area | South of England |
| Launched | 30 August 1958 |
| Closed | 31 December 1981 |
| Replaced by | Television South |
| Owned by | Associated Newspapers, Rank Organisation, D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd |
Southern Television was the first ITV holder for the south and south east of England from 30 August 1958 until 1 January 1982. It also used the name Southern Independent Television, on-air, from 1964 until its demise. Southern Television ceased broadcasting on 1 January 1982 after a review by the 1980 franchise round gave the contract expiry date to 23:59 on 31 December 1981.
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[edit] 1950s: Launch
When the Independent Television Authority advertised for applicants to run the south of England station in 1958, Southern Television beat eight other applicants for the contract. Its initial shareholders were Associated Newspapers, the Rank Organisation and the Amalgamated Press, each holding one third of the company. Associated Newspapers was allowed to remain a shareholder in Southern, only on the condition that it sold its remaining 10% stake in Associated-Rediffusion to avoid owning parts of two ITV companies (a very different situation from today). The Amalgamated Press dropped out of the consortium before the station went on air. This led to Associated Newspapers and Rank increasing their stakes to 37.5% each, and D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd taking the remaining 25%.
[edit] Programming
Notable programmes produced by Southern over the years included: the Flagship evening current affairs programme Day by Day presented by an able team of presenters including Barry Westwood and long-serving weatherman Trevor Baker; Out of Town, a countryside programme introduced by Jack Hargreaves[1],who would later join Southern's board of directors; How, a children's science programme also featuring Hargreaves along with Fred Dinenage, Bunty James (later replaced by Marian Davies) and Jon Miller; Freewheelers, a children's spy series; Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years; and Worzel Gummidge, starring Jon Pertwee as the eponymous walking scarecrow.
Generally, the company produced more networked children's programmes than adult programmes, scoring a particularly strong seller internationally with an adaptation of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five. Also worth noting was the children's programme The Saturday Banana, hosted by Bill Oddie (then at the height of his fame as one of The Goodies) which saw the placing of a twenty foot high fibreglass banana outside the studios, supported by its peeled 'skin', they also produced the children's game show Runaround which was hosted by Mike Reid.
[edit] Studios
Its original studios were a converted cinema in Northam, Southampton. With the advent of colour in 1969 the company moved to purpose-built new studios next door to the existing site, built on land reclaimed from the River Itchen. The company also had production offices and a studio in Dover, to serve the eastern part of its region (this closed in 1983 and was demolished a year later; the site is now a car park). Dover went live in 1960 at the same time as the ITA's VHF Dover television transmitter and from the outset was producing split news bulletins, dedicated inserts into Day by Day and its own fullly split programmes. The studio was also used for some non-news regional programmes.
The studios at Northam were sold on to TVS in 1981, and sold again by TVS to Meridian Broadcasting in 1992. Meridian relocated to new facilities in 2004 and the site at Northam stands empty, awaiting demolition with the site expected to become residential accommodation.
Unique in ITV and reflecting the area's maritime history the company converted a Second World War motor torpedo boat into a floating outside broadcasting unit named Southerner. The company had sales offices at Stag Place, London and Oxford Street, Manchester.
There were also regional offices in Maidstone, Dorchester, Brighton and Reading.
[edit] South East opt-outs
During Southern's tenure as the franchise broadcaster, the company strived to produce dedicated opt outs for the South East area of the region. Although it was not made known publicly, Southern's South East news team in Dover produced separate news bulletins as an opt-out into the Day By Day programme. A dedicated South East bulletin was also broadcast after News at Ten.
More well known to South East viewers was Scene South East, a weekly magazine programme which replaced Day By Day on Friday nights. Its popularity led to the introduction of a shorter Scene Midweek programme on Wednesdays.
Local commercials specific to the region were also broadcast to the Dover transmitter only.
[edit] 1980 Franchise round
Southern's failure to win a renewal of its contract in the 1980 bidding session was met with anger and disbelief by its board of directors. Although the Independent Broadcasting Authority gave its standard reason for these decisions (which was that the competitor offered a better mix of programmes and greater investment), it was believed the station's non-local ownership may have swayed the balance against it.
Another factor may have been the company's very conservative (and possibly dull) nature and that, with a new decade dawning, the south of England would be a radically different area (which it turned out to be); it was felt that Southern's application was, understandably, more of the same reliable formula, which in time would not have reflected the possibilities for the area. Yet another possible factor was the incumbents' complacency: its original application was a mere 16-pages long. Tactfully the IBA invited them to re-submit, this time asking them to go into more depth with their plans.
The winning bidder was Television South (TVS), who spent months trying to persuade Southern to sell its studios; until it finally succeeded, TVS was forced to use portable offices (known as Portakabins) in Southern's car park. Finally, Southern agreed to lease its studios for the production of TVS programmes and sell them to TVS outright at the end of 1981. The handover was tinged with acrimony on behalf of Southern, who appeared to take their anger at the decision out on TVS, rather than the IBA who had made the actual choice. In their final programme, And It's Goodbye From Us, a song was featured, deriding the incoming TVS as Portakabin TV (composed and performed by Richard Stilgoe), and mocking them for choosing Maidstone as a production base in the newly-enlarged dual region (deliberately not mentioning that Southern themselves had already purchased the site in Vinters Park, Maidstone, for a planned studio complex - if they had won the 1982 franchise - and had sold it on to the TVS consortium at a considerable profit).
[edit] The End of Southern
Southern's final programme, And It's Goodbye From Us, ended at 00:43 on 1 January 1982, with the show's host Christopher Robbie, normally a continuity announcer, making the last announcement of Southern Television:
"We said at the start that we tried to celebrate, and I think we have. We've enjoyed remembering, and I'm sure you won't forget. So, with a final farewell smile from those Southern people who've become to many of you, true friends, it's goodbye from us."
Afterwards, the camera panned to show many of the on-air talent and company executives standing (rather solemnly) as their names were displayed on-screen and instrumental music played in the programme's (and Southern Television's) final two minutes. When the music came to an end, the illuminated logo signs and lights on the set were turned off, fading to the Southern Television Colour Production slide (being shown for the final time), which faded into an animated version of their starburst logo, spinning away into a starry sky. The acoustic guitar jingle played for what would be the final time with a deep extended echo, and the screen slowly and silently faded to black. There were no closing or shut-down announcements, no suggestions for viewers to switch off their television sets, nor even the customary playing of God Save the Queen. The transmitters were simply, and abruptly, shut down. Southern Television had ceased its broadcasting after 24 years. 8 hours and 40 minutes later, Television South began broadcasting to the South and South-East of England.
[edit] Current Status
In 2005, the old Southern studios were closed and scheduled for demolition, after the relocation for their current owners, Meridian Television, to a facility at Whiteley. The site of the old studios is expected to become luxury flats. In a strange twist all Meridian News including Meridian Tonight will be broadcast from Whiteley for the entire region.
[edit] Archive and Company Name
Southern Television's programme archive was sold to Southern Star Group [2]. The names "Southern Television Ltd", "Southern Independent Television" and "Southern Television" and star device idents (1958-81) all transferred to Art Attack producer Nic Ayling in 2004 [3], and Southern now trades as an independent production company.
[edit] See also
- Ashtar Galactic Command, a famous interruption of Southern's broadcasting by an outside force.
[edit] External links
- Animated Southern Television Idents from 625.uk.com (Requires Macromedia Flash version 4 or later).
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