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
Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the British dance band era.
Born in Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "child prodigy". ...
, newspaper publisher
Lord Kemsley
James Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, GBE (7 May 1883 – 6 February 1968) was a Welsh colliery owner and newspaper publisher.
Background
Berry was born the son of John Mathias and Mary Ann (''née'' Rowe) Berry, of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. ...
, and the owner of Great Universal Stores,
Isaac Wolfson
Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet FRS (; 17 September 1897 – 20 June 1991) was a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. He was managing director of Great Universal Stores (G.U.S. or Gussies) 1932–1947 and chairman 1947–1987. He establish ...
. Their general manager was John McMillan, formerly Chief Assistant on the BBC's Light Programme.
In October 1954, the
ITA announced that Kemsley-Winnick had been successful in obtaining the initial franchises for weekend television in the North and the Midlands.
The company collapsed in 1955, shortly after the award of the contracts, when Lord Kemsley's concerns about the potential financial exposure led to him withdrawing from the consortium. Disagreements with Winnick led to Wolfson also leaving. The departure of so many senior figures led the ITA to declare the company was now different to that which submitted the bid, and they re-advertised the contract. The contract was eventually awarded to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, who had previously been offered the 7-day Midlands contract, but ABC's board refused. After Kemsley-Winnick's collapse, ABC were awarded the North and Midlands Weekend contract on 21 September 1955, the day before
ITV started broadcasting, and ABC started broadcasting the following year. ABC also bought the camera and broadcasting equipment that Kemsley-Winnick had planned to use.
References
Television broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom
{{UK-tv-stub