ABC Weekend Television
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the
Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
and
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one of the " Big Four" companies that between them produced the majority of ITV networked programmes during this period. Originally created as Associated British Cinemas (Television) Ltd, ABC was one of a number of commercial television companies established during the 1950s by cinema chain companies, in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television, which was taking away their cinema audiences. In this case, the parent company was the
Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
(ABPC) — owner of
ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...
— which initially did not wish to become involved with the new broadcasting system, but was persuaded to do so by the
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
(ITA) and the manager of its
Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...
subsidiary
Howard Thomas Howard Thomas CBE (5 March 1909 – 6 November 1986) was a Welsh radio producer and television executive. Early career Thomas began his career typing invoices for a firm of wire-drawers in Manchester. While doing that job, he taught himself to ...
, who became the new company's managing director. ABC operated two franchises, one in the Midlands, which was the fourth ITA franchise to go on air, in 1956, and the other in the North of England, which was the sixth franchise to go on air, later the same year. It lost both its franchises in 1968, but merged with another franchisee to form
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
, which held the London weekday franchise for 24 years. From 1967, ABC's sister company, ABC Television Films, used the name Associated British Corporation on its exports to the US, such as the last two series of '' The Avengers''.


History


Formation

When
Kemsley-Winnick Kemsley-Winnick Television was a consortium formed in 1954 to bid for the new commercial television broadcasting licences in the United Kingdom. The consortium was made up of producer Maurice Winnick, newspaper publisher Lord Kemsley, and the o ...
, one of the
consortia A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
that had been awarded two
franchises Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television ...
in the new Independent Television network in 1954, collapsed, the ITA approached ABPC to step into the breach. The Corporation agreed to assume the franchises to broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays to the Midlands and the North of England. The contract agreeing to do so was signed on 21 September 1955, the day before Independent Television (ITV) began in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. This left the new ABC five months to begin broadcasting in the Midlands, the service beginning on 18 February 1956. Soon afterwards, it was also up and running in the North; it began broadcasting in the North West on 5 May 1956, and in Yorkshire on 3 November 1956. It was aided in part by the failure of the original contractor; Kelmsley-Winnick had ordered over £1 million (equivalent to £ million today) of production equipment from manufacturer Pye, which it sold to ABC at a much-discounted price.


Relations with ITA, ITN and ATV


ATV

The London weekend contractor had launched under the name "Associated Broadcasting Company" (ABC), but ABPC wanted to use the ABC brand for its own service, to match its existing
ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...
brand, so it took legal action against the Associated Broadcasting Company who subsequently agreed to rename as
Associated Television Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...
(ATV) after broadcasting for three weeks as "ABC". This allowed ABPC to launch its own station as "ABC".


ITN

ABC's late entry into Independent Television meant that some of the details of how the new system would run were already agreed between the ITA regulator and the other three contractors. ABC felt that some of these details were unfair on itself as the smallest contractor, and the only contractor that broadcast only at weekends. In particular, ABC objected to paying one-quarter of the costs for ITN, provider of national news broadcasts for the network, as there would be fewer news programmes at the weekend than on weekdays. ABC's managing director Howard Thomas, former head of
Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...
, felt that ABC could provide its own news for a fraction of ITN's price, but the ITA would not allow this: regional companies were responsible only for regional news, and national news should be independent of the regional companies. ABC lobbied both ITN and the ITA for change, which eventually resulted in a cutback to the amount of programming to be provided by ITN to the network and a substantial reduction in ITN's costs.


Presentation

Once the "Big Four" companies were in profit, the ITA reviewed the performance each of them. ABC escaped with little critism, except for its presentation, which was considered to be dull and too closely aligned with its sister "ABC Cinemas" brand. ABC took this to heart and launched a new look in September 1959.


ATV again

Of the original four ITV contractors, ABC had difficulty getting its programmes shown in the London region, which was hampering its reputation. Two of the other contractors had London franchises, and
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
seemed to have a good working relationship with
Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
to show its programmes. ABC found itself in a head-to-head battle with ATV, as, in the early years, these were the only two companies whose franchises operated at the weekend. ATV had close connections with the
Moss Empires Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir Oswald Stoll. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and music halls in the United ...
theatre chain (through ATV's
Val Parnell Valentine Charles Parnell (14 February 1892 – 22 September 1972) was a British television managing director and presenter, actor and theatrical impresario. A former staple of stage production, his career in television started with the launc ...
) and the Grade Organisation theatrical talent agency (through ATV's
Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...
and his brother Leslie) and felt they had the expertise to make expensive, high-status drama, variety and comedy shows, and leave the cheaper "provincial" off-peak weekend programming to ABC. This would have been to ABC's financial disadvantage, since ABC (with its two regions to ATV's one region at the weekends) would have to pay two-thirds of the expensive costs of ATV London's shows, while ATV would pay only one-third of the costs of ABC's cheaper shows. ABC fought back, first of all, by selling some of its pre-recorded shows, including the popular '' The Avengers'', to
Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
(instead of ATV) to broadcast to London on weekdays. Secondly, it refused to buy some of ATV's top-rated shows such as ''
Sunday Night at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...
'' and broadcast its own alternatives such as ''Blackpool Night Out''. Eventually ATV gave way and agreed to buy more of ABC's shows.


Loss of franchise

Structural changes in the regional contract areas meant that ABC no longer had a contract to reapply for in 1967. The Northern area (split into North West and Yorkshire) was to become a seven-day operation, as would the Midlands. Existing weekday contractors (
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
and ATV respectively) were correctly considered the favourites. ABC consequently submitted two applications: one for the service for London at the weekend, the other for the Midlands seven-day operation, although it favoured the first contract. It was expected that ABC would be awarded the weekend London licence, but the strength of another application (from the London Weekend Television consortium) ruled this out. This led to a situation where a successful company could be closed down through no fault of its own. To prevent this, the governing body of ITV, the
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
, ordered a merger with the existing London weekday company
Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercia ...
, ABC having majority control of the new operation. Despite protests from Rediffusion, the two companies eventually became
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
. ABC ceased weekend broadcasting in the North and Midlands regions on 28 July 1968 and resumed on 30 July in the London region as weekday company Thames.


Studios

ABC operated three production sites and had a further sales office. The main production facilities were the former Warner Studios in
Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...
,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. Although this was outside its contract area, ABC wanted a
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
base, as many performers could not venture outside of the capital to record programmes because they were often committed to runs of theatre plays in the West End. Upon the merger with
Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercia ...
, this site became the main production base for the new company
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
. In the Midlands, ABC formed a joint venture with Midlands weekday licensee ATV to oversee the running of a production and transmission facility to be used by both. Alpha Television purchased a former cinema in
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...
, near
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, and extended it by the construction of additional studios and office space; the site was known as the Alpha Studios. ABC operated a northern studio centre in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and a sales office based in Television House in the city centre. The production facility was converted from a former Capitol cinema in
Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...
. ABC vacated both premises during 1968. ABC also made some entertainment shows such as ''Blackpool Night Out'' and ''The Blackpool Show'' at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool (owned by ABC-TV's sister company ABC Cinemas). For its pre-filmed series, such as '' The Avengers'' (from 1965), ABC used its parent company's
Associated British Elstree Studios Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production centre operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road ...
.


Identity

When ABC first went on the air, it used the branding of its sister company
ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...
. This featured a triangular shield with the letters ABC upon it, and a bar across it with the caption 'Television'. Contains flash recreations of the original ABC idents, complete with authentic soundtracks. This lasted from the station's launch in 1956 until September 1959. The ITA had criticised ABC's original presentation style for being bland and too much attached to the existing ABC Cinemas chain. As a result, ABC created a new brand ident featuring three arrows pointing to the bottom of the screen to reveal the letters ABC in turn and leaving a triangle behind and on top of the letters. At the end of this, the three triangles would snap together into the new ABC logo. This ident lasted until 1964 when the lettering font was altered slightly from a serif font to the latest bold used by the company, this revision lasting until the company's demise. Contains videos of the ABC idents. The logo uses the notion of threes, three triangles making another triangle, with the points of a triangle often being labelled 'A', 'B' and 'C' in geometry. The tune that was used for all of ABC's idents was a vibraphone playing the notes A-B-C ( la-te-doh). Out of this look, ABC Television developed a strong corporate identity, effectively becoming the first British TV station to recognise the importance of corporate branding. The company itself was originally called ''Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited'', which by 1957 had been shortened to ''A.B.C. Television Limited''. However, from about 1967, on exports made by its sister company A.B.C. Television Films Ltd. (such as the last two series of '' The Avengers''), the name 'Associated British Corporation' was used, to avoid confusion with the US ABC network. As for on-air, the name was for a few months 'Associated British', before becoming 'ABC Television', or just 'ABC'. The names 'ABC Television Network' and 'ABC Weekend Network' were also used, for example in ''
TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...
'' listings. The station received a joke nickname from
Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...
, namely "All Bloody Commercials". The station's spoken slogan varied through time, starting off as "ABC – Associated British in the North/Midlands" before being replaced in 1958 to "ABC, your weekend TV" and again changed in 1964 to "ABC, your weekend television in the North/Midlands".


Programming

Networked programmes from ABC included the drama series '' Police Surgeon'', '' The Human Jungle'', '' Undermind'', ''
Redcap The redcap (or powrie) is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soa ...
'', '' The Avengers'', the ''
Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canadi ...
'' series of single plays, the ''Habatales'' cartoons, the popular shows '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'', '' Opportunity Knocks'', ''Big Night Out'', ''Doddy's Music Box'' and '' Oh Boy!'',
Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army f ...
's shows ''Cooperama'' and ''Life with Cooper'', the children's science fiction serials ''
Emerald Soup ''Emerald Soup'' was a 1963 British children's science fiction television series. Consisting of seven 25-minute episodes produced by ABC Weekend TV for the ITV network, the series was aired weekly from Saturday 9 November to Saturday 21 Decem ...
'', ''
Target Luna ''Target Luna'' was a British television serial broadcast by ABC Weekend TV in April 1960. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice, directed by Adrian Brown and produced by Sydney Newman who later co-created '' Doctor Who'' for the BBC. Th ...
'' and its sequels ''Pathfinders in Space'', ''Pathfinders to Mars'' and ''Pathfinders to Venus'', and the gritty drama series ''
Callan Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...
'' and ''
Public Eye Public Eye or The Public Eye may refer to: * ''Public Eye'' (TV series), a British television series that ran from 1965 to 1975 * ''The Public Eye'' (TV series), a Canadian television public affairs television series which aired on CBC Televisio ...
'' (both of which continued as Thames productions after 1968). ITV's first weekly series devoted to the arts, ''Tempo'', was introduced by ABC, as was its first hidden camera show, ''
Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...
'', and its first attempt to challenge the BBC's dominance of television sport, with '' World of Sport''. ABC also introduced British television's first late night chat show, ''The
Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...
Show'' and, together with ATV, British television's first regular weekly series of adult education programmes.


Service areas

Areas are described in terms of the county boundaries at the time. After ABC's closure there were significant county boundary changes in 1974, and ITV's regional boundaries have also changed over time. ABC's two franchise regions each had their own continuity announcers, advertisements and regional programmes (mainly news and weather, and the magazine shows ''ABC of the Midlands'' and ''ABC of the North''). Apart from those exceptions, both regions usually showed the same programmes simultaneously.


See also

*
Timeline of ABC Weekend TV This is a timeline of the history of the British television company ABC Weekend TV, one of the first four contractors of the Independent Television network. 1950s * 1954 ** 26 October – The Independent Television Authority (ITA) awards franch ...
*
Associated Television Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...
– ABC's successor in the Midlands *
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
– ABC's successor in the North West *
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
– ABC's successor in Yorkshire *
ITV (TV network) ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passi ...
*
History of ITV The history of ITV, the United Kingdom " Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955. Independent Television began as a network of independently-owned regional companies that were both broadcasters and programme makers, beginn ...


References


External links


ABC at Large from Transdiffusion (unofficial history site)Animated ABC logo
1960s from 625.uk.com (
Macromedia Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on the ...
6 or later required)
Animated ABC logo
c.1964 from 625.uk.com.
Final closedown on ABC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Associated British Corporation ITV franchisees Television in England Television channels and stations established in 1956 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1968 1956 establishments in the United Kingdom 1968 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Associated British Picture Corporation Television stations in Birmingham, West Midlands Mass media in Manchester