London Weekend seek early merger decision

By Richard Wagner

London Weekend Television is worried that the indecision of ABC and Rediffusion about their merger, ordered by the independent Television Authority, will affect its plans to get on the air a year today. Clive Irving, a director, says a decision on the studios LWT will use is paralysed by ABC and Rediffusion.

"Each week is critical.  We have told the ITA our plans are absolutely stalled because of the delay.

"If we were to build new studios they could not possible be operational by 1970," Mr Irving added.

"ABC are exploiting their feeling of advantage to squeeze Rediffusion as much as possible.  Our feeling is one of impotence."

Mr Irving is adamant that no offer of either ABC's Teddington studios or Rediffusion's at Wembley has been made to his group.  Sources within Rediffusion however maintain that Wembley has been on offer at about GBP 2.5million, for some time, and a decision from LWT is holding up the ABC talks.

Yesterday yet another Rediffusion director announced that he is leaving, the third since Lord Hill's axe fell.  Lord Windlesham, deputy to general manager John McMillan, becomes managing director of Grampian television on November 1.

The other new contractor, Harlech in Wales, has eventually found a managing director - Anthony John Gorard, now company secretary to Anglia and a member of the station's management committee.

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LWT desperately needed studio space.  After the contract for London weekends had been awarded to them, the entire management seemed dumbstruck.  Although they had put a killer application in to the ITA, they seemed to not have seriously expected to oust any incumbent company.  Therefore, they were woefully lacking in the meat of the contract, whilst brimming with garnish.

Studio space was something they failed to consider.  Although they planned to build colour-ready studios at the Festival of Britain site on the South Bank, the two year or more lead time to this had missed their attention.  When it did catch their eye, they appealed to the ITA to divest one of the existing London-based companies of a studio - ABC's Teddington, Rediffusion's Kingsway or Wembley, or ATV's Elstree.

ABC would rather have given up on ITV there and then than sell Teddington.  ATV's Elstree studios were definitely not for sale by Lew.  Kingsway was opposite the BBC - exactly where Rediffusion always saw itself.

That left Wembley, the ugly, concrete studios still extant today, built as an overflow for Associated-Rediffusion and seemingly redundant with the coming of Thames.

LWT wanted Teddington.  They made no bones about it.  With the influx of Rediffusion staff, snatching Teddington from ABC, staff included, would have been the dynamic influence so desperately lacking from the worthy-and-highbrow weekend contractor.

They got Wembley.  Partially this was because the new Thames was already up and running in Teddington, and partially this was because the ITA, now under Aylestone, had began to lose patience with the posturing and pretentiousness of the new weekend contractor.  The ITA ordered Rediffusion to (sulkily) give up one of the studios.  They then ordered LWT to (sulkily) take the studio they were given.

Meanwhile, and the point of this article in reality, ABC got down to using its 51% holding in Thames to its advantage.  Irving accuses ABC of using that slender majority to squeeze every ounce of flesh out of Rediffusion.  A terrible accusation.  And true.

ABC lost no time in shaping Thames in its own image.  ABC staff at Teddington decided the new name, ident and schedule.  ABC picked the Rediffusion shows it liked or needed and junked the rest.  ABC placed representatives into Television House to shadow and then replace Rediffusion managers and technicians.  ABC also stood over the shoulder of Rediffusion as it laid off its staff who fled to LWT.

Thames would be ABC in disguise.  And all the better for it.