ITA contractors pages 170 to 201

Although most readers must have been interested in their own regional company or companies, many may have turned to the back pages to read about the names they saw every day on screen (ABC, Rediffusion, Granada, ATV), or to find details on companies they had glimpsed briefly in the regional variations column of a national newspaper, or indeed, those companies they had never heard of and discovered with shock (you mean the people of North East England don't have Granada?  That those in Dorset are not watching ABC or TWW but this odd Westward company? And where the hell does ATV or Grampian serve?  Is Border on the border between Wales and England, Scotland and England or Northern Ireland and the Republic?).

1968, as you will have seen from the Electromusications sites, was a fascinating year.  As the old ITV turned into a new creature, this book caught the change and froze it in aspic.

Three of the four new companies get a small section to themselves - Harlech with its temporary headquarters at 97 Bute Street, Cardiff; London Weekend with a brief mention of the company moving into Wembley Studios, Wembley Park Middlesex on 1st May 1968; and Yorkshire Television and the studio complex covering a seven acre site currently being built in Kirkstall Road, Leeds, with news studios eventually being situated in other major centres in the region.

Thames misses out from this, so protracted were the negotiations for forming the company.  A small note is the only mention of London's new weekday company "Note: The ABC/Rediffusion company for London weekdays from July 1968 is to be called Thames Television Limited".

Mention is made on the ABC pages of the changes to come: "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 until 29th July 1968.  From 30th July 1968 ABC will combine with Rediffusion in Thames Television Ltd. to provide London weekday programmes".

Rediffusion has a slightly different slant: "Rediffusion Television Limited is the company which, under agreement with the Independent Television Authority, provides the programmes in London from Monday to Friday.  The company's working title is Rediffusion, London.  From 30th July 1968 programmes in London from Monday to 7pm Friday will be provided by a new company, Thames Television Ltd., formed by ABC Television Limited and Rediffusion Television Limited" - thus leaving ABC to suggest a merger whilst Rediffusion suggests what actually happened, a joint company.

TWW seems blunter:  "TWW Ltd. is the public company which, under agreement with the Independent Television Authority, provides a general Independent Television service for the West of England and South Wales and also a special service, the Teledu Cymru network, for Wales.  Current programme contracts are until the end of July 1968.  From 30th July 1968 programmes will be provided by Harlech Television Ltd".

Of course, this turned out to be not quite true, as TWW stalked out in March 1968, and Harlech began a full service in May.