Rediffusion had two 'problems' with its regional news.

Firstly, the ITA objected to 'Three After Six' featuring national features, rivaling at 22 minutes ITN's 13-minute bulletin at 5.55pm. This, in the Authority's view, was not the way to serve the London region (indeed, Thames, Rediffusion's successor, launched 'Today' in 1968 with the promise of 'local news for London').

Secondly, Rediffusion chose the name 'Three After Six' when the show began at 6.03pm. When the ITN news was extended by 5 minutes, Rediffusion was left in the quandry that has affected many programmes since with names containing the day of the week or the time they were shown.

Here, Rediffusion chose to keep the previous name, which is why it now looks strange to us 35 years later.

The company - rather lamely - claimed that the title referred to the three co-hosts, although this is a somewhat tenuous link!