It was 50 years ago today
Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of independent (commercial) television in the UK. Initially only available in the London area, Associated-Rediffusion provided the Monday to Friday service whilst the confusingly-named ABC (a name that was quickly changed to ATV following pressure from Associated-British Picture Corporation) provided the weekend service.
Both broadcasters joined forces to provide the opening night's programming, but the future for the new service at the time was very much in doubt. Would there be enough viewers to attract the required number of advertisers? Could the commercial companies survive long enough to make a profit?
Only the deep pockets and generosity of Associated-Rediffusion's parent company enabled commercial television in general to survive this initial period of uncertainty, and if commercial television had become a failure at this point then the future would have turned out very differently as a result.
The regional ITV franchise system (which was conceived almost by accident) may have had its weaknesses, but after the first few years it really came into its own as a variety of regional franchises developed a wide range of diverse programming. And regional commitments often resulted in nationally popular programmes with their own unique character, such as Coronation Street.
Although some of the early rules and regulations that were part and parcel of the ITV network can now be perceived as verging on the archaic, many of these rules instilled a sense of discipline in the ITV franchises as well as being appropriate at the time. High quality programming was often a byproduct of the fear of being punished for underperforming in this regard.
In recent years ITV has evolved into a single company; one which has been given unprecedented freedom compared with its predecessors, which has been justified in terms of changing circumstances. But this additional freedom has meant that ITV is less accountable than it used to be, and there is much less incentive to provide that same variety of programmes as before.
Recent deregulation has been justified in terms of an increasing number of TV channels, but the reality is that there is very little other choice available that is any way comparable with the strength of ITV, even despite a ratings decline which is partly its own fault through neglect and greed. Weaker regulation has also been the result of a changing political landscape.
ITV - or ITV1 to be precise - still has a few public service commitments remaining, but these few remaining commitments end up being devalued as a result, eg. two hours a week of regional programming is less noticeable in the schedule compared with four hours' worth (by comparison). And ITV has been clever in exploiting this fact to its own advantage.
Much of ITV's recent decline can be attributed not only to not having someone to tell it what to do, but in a sense there's also a lack of discipline; although not directly comparable, other creative industries such as the music industry have learnt to be simultaneously creative and profitable at the same time without anyone telling them what to do (and how to do it).
Television programmes still do require a much greater investment of resources compared with other forms of entertainment, and it's this reason alone that demands incentives above and beyond just making a profit. Great television is much harder to produce than merely good television, and it's hard to maximise profits with the additional investment required.
ITV has produced some great programmes in the past but seems to be only capable of mediocre programming in recent years; the incentives for doing so have since vanished and the political will for enforcing quality control has all but evaporated. Recent events have not helped ITV's cause, meaning that it now has fewer friends than it used to.
It's strongly arguable that the ITV Digital football fiasco did a lot to persuade politicians that ITV was foolish enough not to require any favourable treatment in terms of regulation; ITV could have protected itself at an earlier stage if it had focused on programming making instead, though overambition and free market forces proved to be its undoing at a crucial juncture.
So will ITV survive another fifty years to see its 100th anniversary? The answer is 'Probably', even if it has changed its name and gets taken over by a foreign company in the interim, though the only near certainity is that you will still be able to watch Coronation Street in some form.
