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TV-am was a
TV company that broadcast the
ITV franchise for
breakfast television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise. Its daily broadcasts were between 6 am and 9:25 am.
Throughout its nine years and 10 months of broadcast, the station regularly had problems, resulting in numerous management changes, especially in its early years. It also suffered from major financial cutbacks hampering its operations. Though on a stable footing by 1986 and winning its ratings battle with BBC ''
Breakfast Time'', within a year further, turmoil had ensued when industrial action hit the company.
Despite these setbacks, by the 1990s, TV-am's flagship programme ''
Good Morning Britain'' had become the most popular breakfast show on UK television. However, following a change in the law regarding TV franchising, the company lost its licence. It was replaced by
GMTV in 1993.
Foundation
The
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...
(IBA) announced on 24 January 1980 that in the next ITV franchising round it would offer a national licence for breakfast television. Eight applications were received and on 28 December 1980 the IBA announced that it had awarded the breakfast franchise to TV-am.
Although the initial launch date was set for June 1983, to avoid clashing with the 1982 launch of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
, the IBA allowed the station to bring forward its start date to 1 February 1983 in response to the launch of the BBC service ''
Breakfast Time'' two weeks earlier.
This hurried start affected the company in two ways. Firstly, ITV had failed in its negotiations for royalties and rates for advertising on the new
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and the breakfast service with the actors'
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
,
Equity. The union instructed its members to boycott the new station, which meant there was little or no revenue from advertising in the early days.
Secondly, it was believed that the BBC's breakfast service would be highbrow, focusing on news and analysis, so TV-am had developed its new service to copy that. However, the BBC launched a lightweight, magazine-style programme that mimicked the style of United States breakfast television. With the launch of the BBC's ''Breakfast Time'' brought forward at short notice, this gave little time for TV-am to redevelop its plans.
TV-am was spearheaded by the "Famous Five" who were not only lined up as presenters on the station, but were also shareholders:
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
,
David Frost (1983–92),
Angela Rippon
Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
(1983),
Anna Ford
Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...
(1983) and
Robert Kee
Robert Kee (5 October 1919 – 11 January 2013) was a British broadcaster, journalist and writer, known for his historical works on World War II and Ireland.
Life and career
He was educated at Stowe School, Buckingham, and read history ...
.
Esther Rantzen
Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and fou ...
had originally been one of the station's 'star' line up of presenter/shareholders, but pulled out in 1981 after the birth of her third child; she and the company agreed that the early morning starts would present a problem in her raising her child. She had also been persuaded by the BBC to continue producing and presenting ''
That's Life!
''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week.
The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...
'' and conceded she did not want to give up the show, or worse, see it continue with another anchor.
There had been many difficulties for the other presenters in the run-up to launch. When the franchise was announced in December 1980, Angela Rippon's contract with the BBC was about to expire, and was not renewed as a result of her new employment. This left her seeking freelance work before TV-am went on air. Anna Ford was dismissed by
ITN, which had been part of another consortium bidding for the breakfast contract. ITN had presented Ford as their female programme presenter as part of their bid, unaware that she was planning to defect to TV-am. ITN heavily criticised her disloyalty and said that her dishonesty had made their bid seem "ridiculous" to the IBA. ITN replaced Ford with
Selina Scott
Selina Mary Scott (born 13 May 1951) is an English television presenter who co-hosted the first dedicated breakfast television programme in the UK before crossing the Atlantic to join '' West 57th'', a prime-time current-affairs show broadcast f ...
, who herself landed a double blow to ITN when she defected to the BBC to present ''Breakfast Time'' towards the end of 1982.
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
did remain with the BBC, who hoped to persuade him to stay as they had with Rantzen, but he finally left the corporation in 1982. A challenge for all the "famous five" came before the station launch when in an administration error, the contracts for the five presenters were sent to the wrong individuals, which led Angela Rippon to discover she was being paid £60,000 per year, considerably less than Anna Ford who was being paid £145,000. The women also learnt that their male counterparts Frost and Parkinson were both being paid almost £250,000 each.
[Leapman, Michael. Treachery? The Power Struggle at TV-AM. Allen & Unwin; First Edition (5 April 1984) ]
TV-am's headquarters and studios were at
Breakfast Television Centre, Hawley Crescent,
Camden Town, London. Designed by
Terry Farrell and converted from a former car showroom, Henlys Rover, the building included a number of large plastic egg cups along its roofline facing Regent's Canal; these egg cups also served as the programme's closing credits copyright year identifier, with all previous years also kept on-screen behind the current year.
Programmes originally ran from 6 am to 9:15 am, with ''
Daybreak'', then ''
Good Morning Britain'' (neither related to the
2010 and
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
ITV shows of the same name, respectively) filling weekday mornings. This was followed by a 10-minute interval before the start of the regional ITV franchises at 9:25 am. This interval gave
British Telecom time to manually switch the broadcast signals from TV-am to each regional ITV franchise while the switching process was converted to allow automatic switching, which was introduced gradually throughout the network. From the end of May 1983 the IBA extended TV-am's hours to 9:25 am to allow continuous programming, following which ''Good Morning Britain'' was reduced to a two-hour slot from 7 am to 9 am. The 9 am to 9:25 am section was relaunched as a female-orientated lifestyle magazine segment titled ''After Nine''. Although TV-am was a separate broadcaster occupying the ITV network channel during the morning, from the late 1980s the ITV stations extended their hours to 6 am to provide 24-hour television, handing over to TV-am at 6 am.
Difficult beginnings
While the BBC's ''Breakfast Time'' was successful, TV-am's early ratings were disappointing. Its high-minded and somewhat starchy approach, summed up in chief executive
Peter Jay's phrase "mission to explain", sat uneasily at that time of day, compared to ''Breakfast Times accessible magazine style, which mixed heavy news and light-hearted features (famously moving cabinet ministers, after a serious interview, to help with a cookery demonstration).
The first day of broadcasting included an hour of news in ''Daybreak'', a short film and an interview with
Norman Tebbit about the current level of unemployment, a live comic strip called ''The World of Melanie Parker'', and ''Through the Keyhole''. Within two weeks of the launch the ratings dropped sharply, within a month after the launch, the ratings fell again to just under 300,000.
The company's weekend show, presented by
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
, initially became the only success for the station, largely because the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
did not broadcast on weekend mornings. The Saturday editions drew 1.5 million viewers.
A number of changes were made on 28 February: ''Daybreak'' was reduced by 30 minutes and presented by Gavin Scott, whilst ''Good Morning Britain'' was moved 30 minutes earlier to start at 6:30 am, with
Angela Rippon
Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
being moved from ''Daybreak'' to present alongside Anna Ford. The original ''Good Morning Britain'' presenting team of David Frost and Anna Ford was intended to last twelve weeks, but in an attempt to reinvigorate the show, Frost voluntarily agreed to step down so that the female team of Anna Ford and Angela Rippon could spearhead the show. After only one edition on air, Ford was struck with flu, with her returning the following week, on 7 March. During the first week of the revised format, the viewer figures increased by 200'000, with David frost and Michael Parkinson stepping in to cover for her During the second week of both Rippon and Ford, figures continued to remain at a peak of 500,000. On 26 March, new figures were published, highlighting that TV-am had once again lost 100,000 up to 20 March; however, ratings were still higher overall, compared to the end of February's figures.
A boardroom coup ensued on 18 March 1983, when Peter Jay stepped aside allowing
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
(a sitting
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MP) to become chief executive of the station, after mounting pressure from investors who had demanded changes. On the same day,
Angela Rippon
Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
and
Anna Ford
Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...
came out publicly to support Peter Jay, calling the goings on "treachery", unaware Jay had already left. Over the course of the next few days Aitken made it clear a number of changes were being looked at to improve the ratings including cutting the number of ad breaks, while also denying he wanted anyone to resign
[Big changes in TV-am pledged by Aitken. Date: Monday 21 March 1983 p3] Many officials, like those at the IBA, opposition parties and even Aitken's own governing party were not happy at his appointment, as it may have interfered with TV-am's political freedom, with many demanding he give up the role or stop being a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
.
IBA finally approved Aitken a few days later, but made their intention clear: his tenure was for a limited period only, and they would keep an extra close eye on all the programmes during this period.
On Friday 1 April 1983 (Good Friday)
Roland Rat
Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously designed and operated Mooncat, a puppet in the Children's ITV television programme '' Get Up and Go!'' Claridge work ...
made his first appearance. Roland was created by David Claridge and launched by TV-am Children's editor
Anne Wood to entertain younger viewers during the Easter holidays, which boosted the station's audience. Roland is generally regarded as its saviour, being described as "the only rat to join a sinking ship". During the summer, when ''
Breakfast Time'' hosts Frank Bough and Selina Scott were off, Roland helped take the audience from 100,000 to over a million and a half.
On 4 April 1983
Greg Dyke
Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...
become director of programmes to help overhaul the station's output. A day later sports presenter
Nick Owen
Nicholas Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme ''TV-am'' and the BBC's local news show ''Midlands Today'' since 1997. He was also the chairman of Luton ...
become one of the main presenters working one week each with Anna and Angela initially only for the month of April Rippon was castigated by viewers and the media for her blatant hostility to Owen on air. When he made an error in a link, Rippon stated "You see, it's not as easy as you think."
During April, the live comic strip, ''The World of Melanie Parker'' was axed.
On 14 April, Jonathan Aitken's cousin Timothy Aitken became chief executive of the station due to the IBA rules regarding MPs operating a television station. this resulted in Rippon and Ford being sacked on 19 April, with no official reason given at that time unofficially it was made clear both breached their contracts for their public support for Peter Jay, while at some time by sacking both helped cut costs. Parkinson ended up in lengthy talks with Aitken over the issues and the sacking of his two former colleagues, which resulted in him becoming a director of the company and joining the board of management. As part of these talks further members of staff who clashed with Parkinson would be removed Anna Ford encountered
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
at a party in Chelsea; in a parting shot over the terms of her dismissal, Ford threw her glass of wine in the face of Aitken, saying of her action: "It was the only form of self-defence left to a woman when she has been so monstrously treated". A couple of days later both Rippon and Ford started procedures to sue TV-am, by October, the case was dropped after reaching an out of court settlement.
Lynda Barry was brought in as stop-gap measurement for six weeks before
Anne Diamond
Anne Margaret Diamond (born 8 September 1954) is a British journalist and broadcaster. She presently hosts the weekend breakfast show on GB News with Stephen Dixon as her co-presenter. She hosted '' Good Morning Britain'' for TV-am and ''Good ...
joined from the BBC to become Nicks new co-presenter, from 6 June.
On Monday 23 May 1983, TV-am's new look started. ''Daybreak'' was axed, with ''Good Morning Britain'' extending to start at 6:25 am. Commander David Philpott was moved to present the weather at the weekends only, with
Wincey Willis
1948 births
Living people
British infotainers
Weather presenters
Wincey Willis (born Florence Winsome Leighton; 8 August 1948) is a British television and radio broadcaster who was most active in the 1980s. She is perhaps best known for bein ...
becoming the new weekday weather presenter, and a host of new features were introduced:
* Jeremy Beadle's Today's The Day with
Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE (12 April 1948 – 30 January 2008) was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared ...
* An exercise spot with
Lizzie Webb
Lizzie Webb (née Beveridge;
''Henley Standard'' (28 July 20 ...
* Cooking with John Eley,
the Cooking Canon (
Rustie Lee
Rustie Lee (born 22 May 1949) is a Jamaican television personality, television chef, actress and singer. She participated on the Channel 5 reality-television show '' Celebrity Super Spa'' in 2013; ITV's ''Who's Doing the Dishes?'', hosted by Bri ...
would later take over)
* Fishing correspondent, "Codfather" George Vella
*
Nick Owen
Nicholas Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme ''TV-am'' and the BBC's local news show ''Midlands Today'' since 1997. He was also the chairman of Luton ...
with Lynda Berry (later succeeded by Anne Diamond), reading out the newspaper bingo numbers.
By the end of its first week TV-am's ratings had doubled to 200,000.
Continuing low audiences brought further financial problems. The company was close to having its power supply disconnected@ a
London Electricity official arrived during a press conference with a warrant to cut off power for non-payment. On numerous occasions, the presenters failed to receive their monthly wages, while the local newsagent stopped supplying the station with newspapers due to lack of payment. The show spent the summer on the road, using the outside broadcast truck from various seaside resorts around the UK, and was presented by
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show '' Who Wants to Be a Mil ...
.
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
went to Australia in early June 1983 for the summer with Henry Kelly taking over his weekend duties.
David Frost was given the Sunday slot from 28 August, initially for eight weeks with the belief that Parkinson would return to his full duties in October. By November, Parkinson had returned, however he was only given the Saturday slot after Frost had increased the number of viewers on Sundays. Parkinson finally left the station in early February 1984, while the company announced plans to cut over forty jobs.
In September 1983, TV-am finally joined the Television contractors associations, which gave the addition benefit of providing cross-promotional content between the 15 regional ITV companies and TV-am. The continuing increase in viewership had still not resulted in an increase in advertising revenue, and throughout October speculation rose the company would collapse at any second. The situation was resolved in November when a new refinance package come into effect with new shareholders including Ladbrook's and the owners of the Daily Express who give new capital worth over £4.5 million into the company.
Bruce Gyngell
Australian business tycoon
Kerry Packer took a substantial minority interest in the company in early 1984, and in early May appointed his own chief executive,
Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell AO (8 July 1929 – 7 September 2000) was an Australian television executive, active for more than 40 years in both Australian and UK television. Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena o ...
, who was brought in to help make the company financially viable.
Greg Dyke
Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...
left with a few weeks of the appointment to take a new position with
TVS. Ten days later, general manager Michael Moor also left the station.
Gyngell pursued the same lightweight, populist approach that Dyke had forged to establish the station's viability, a model parodied later in a ''Guardian'' newspaper headline as 'Snap, Crackle and Pap'. The station overhauled its children's Saturday morning programme with ''
Wide Awake Club'', replacing ''Data Run ''and ''SPLAT'' as part of the cost-cutting by management.
The cost-cutting was brought sharply into focus in the
Brighton hotel bombing
A Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination attempt against members of the British government took place on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom. A long-delay time bomb was plan ...
on the Conservative cabinet in October 1984. The night before the terrorist attack, TV-am only had one crew covering the conference and that had been called back to London the previous night to cover
a train crash in Wembley. When the blast occurred in the early hours, the BBC and
ITN provided immediate coverage. TV-am's response was limited to a caption of reporter
John Stapleton reporting over the phone, while the BBC were showing graphic coverage of the attack.
Trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
agreements at the time meant that technical staff at the local ITV station
TVS could not provide cover for another commercial television company, and TV-am's previous conflicts with ITN meant that the latter would not share its footage.
The whole affair earned the company a severe rebuke from the IBA, who told the company to invest and improve its news coverage, or it would lose its licence.
In an echo of the changes which had occurred in newspapers, Gyngell was determined to make use of technical developments in television in order to reduce staff and save money. He believed that the ease of use of modern broadcasting equipment meant that staffing levels could be reduced:
ENG crews would no longer require a separate lighting technician (following a pattern familiar in Gyngell's native Australia), and technical personnel could be virtually eliminated. This brought him into conflict with the broadcasting trade unions, but gained him support from
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
and her government. During 1986 the station became the most popular breakfast television service in the UK, as the BBC's ''Breakfast Time'' lost viewers. In November 1986, the magazine-style ''Breakfast Time'' took on a more heavyweight approach, and in 1989 the BBC replaced ''Breakfast Time'' entirely with a more in-depth and analytical news format called ''Breakfast News'', reminiscent of TV-am's original format.
In the
hurricane-force storms that hit England in October 1987, electrical power to TV-am's studios was lost and an emergency programme had to be transmitted from facilities at
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
's
Euston Road centre, using reports from TV-am's own crews and those of
ITN,
TSW and
TVS. All this notwithstanding, the programme continued to thrive. Eventually, Bruce Gyngell fired all of the locked-out technicians, replacing them with non-unionised labour from around the world.
Intra-industrial dispute
On 23 November 1987, technicians at the station went on a 24-hour strike. Management
locked out the strikers, but stayed on air using non-technical staff to broadcast a skeleton service including, among other things, episodes of American series including ''
Flipper'', ''
Batman'' and ''
Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
''.
Gyngell himself took to directing the show personally, and various secretaries (including Gyngell's own) manned cameras, when a reduced normal service resumed on Monday 7 December. Although shambolic at times, this schedule turned out on occasions to be more popular than former programming (although not what would have been allowed to broadcast under any other circumstances). Further discussions continued with the unions,
however on Tuesday 16 February 1988 all the technicians were made redundant, with many of the technicians being informed by an announcement made on News at Ten.
In the years that followed, the station gradually found its feet again. By the early 1990s, operating with a significantly reduced staff, it was the world's most profitable TV station in terms of turnover.
Law change and demise
In 1990,
changes in broadcasting law meant that commercial television franchises were no longer allocated on merit or potential, but rather through a blind auction, the results of which were made public on 16 October 1991. TV-am bid £14.3m, but was outbid by another consortium,
Sunrise Television – renamed GMTV when it launched – which had bid £36.4m. Ironically, in the years following GMTV's launch, the group approached the ITC to retrospectively obtain a reduction in this fee, reducing it to a level below TV-am's original bid.
By February 1992, the first on-screen effects of the licence loss became obvious, with TV-am closing its in-house news service and contracting it out to
Sky News for a one-off payment. Children's programming also suffered, with fewer appearances of Timmy Mallett, though Wacaday would continue to appear during major school holidays until TV-am's close. Another impact was the abrupt cancellation after just six weeks of the
Chris Evans-hosted Saturday morning strand ''TV-Mayhem'', which had initially been commissioned for a 40-week run, and its replacement with presented-out-of-vision back-to-back cartoons strand ''Cartoon World'' on Saturdays from 8 am (extended to 7:30 am later in the year).
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, whose government had introduced the change to the allocation of commercial television franchises (but who had by then been replaced as Prime Minister by
John Major), famously wrote to
Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell AO (8 July 1929 – 7 September 2000) was an Australian television executive, active for more than 40 years in both Australian and UK television. Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena o ...
, apologising for being partly responsible for the loss of TV-am's licence. It read, in part: "I am ... heartbroken. I am only too painfully aware that I was responsible for the legislation." The letter was private but Gyngell made it public, which drew criticism from friends of the former Prime Minister.
Closure
The station's final broadcast ended on 31 December 1992 at 9:21 am. Credits over a black-and-white still of the station's cast and crew in the studio showed snapshot of their portraits as the screen faded ending with the caption: TV-am: 1 February 1983 – 31 December 1992.
This was then followed by a final commercial break in which there was no final appearance by the famous eggcups, although they made their last appearance on Wednesday 30 December 1992. Instead, the final advert was for
GMTV which began broadcasting at 6am the following day.
While TV-am was an independent station and had used an expensive, purpose-owned custom-built studio complex at Camden Lock, GMTV used studio space at
The London Studios
The London Studios (also known as The South Bank Studios, The London Television Centre, ITV Tower, Kent House and LWT Tower) in Lambeth, Central London was a television studio complex owned by ITV plc and originally built for London Weekend Te ...
owned by one of GMTV's shareholders,
LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
.
The studios
Breakfast Television Centre in Camden Town was sold to
MTV Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
in 1993, with the famous eggcups still standing on the roof of the building beside the
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...
. As well as being used by MTV for the production of its programmes, MTV Studios, as they were now known, were available for commercial hire within the TV industry. The TV-am lettering built into the fascia of the building was obscured – by being covered with discs – but were still partially visible until they were completely removed during further renovations in spring 2012.
In 1999 a fire broke out in a video suite, causing extensive damage to the first floor and roof of the building. Production studios and offices were undamaged, as were the eggcups.
![Viacom Media Networks Studios rear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Viacom_Media_Networks_Studios_rear.jpeg)
In 2011, MTV Networks applied for permission to make changes to the building, primarily to remove some of the studios – which were in decreasing demand following changes in MTV's scheduling and commissioning practices – and replace these with modern office space. The rear of the building, facing Regent's Canal, was repainted grey rather than blue, but the structure – and the iconic eggcups – remained in place. The front of the building was more extensively redeveloped during 2012–2013: the studio block, which had been the site of the original TV-am studios, was demolished and replaced with a new glazed-fronted office complex. The front 'courtyard' between the prior studio and office sections was renovated and reorganised, including the installation of a
green wall. The office suite on the other side of the courtyard remained in place but was renovated, including the removal of the obscured-since-1993 'TVAM' lettering from the building fascia. MTV Networks continued to operate from the building during the rebuilding and renovation works, and following the construction of the expanded office space was able to move
Comedy Central UK
Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...
and
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network aimed at children aged under 13.
On 1 September 1993, a localised version of the US channel launched in the United Kingdom and launched at a later date in Ireland. I ...
from their prior Central London office complexes to Hawley Crescent.
Brand and programming
In August 1993, TV-am plc became Crockfords plc, since 1995 known as Capital Corporation Ltd, a gambling company which is currently non-trading.
"TV-am", the TV-am logo, and 15 registered trade marks are now owned by
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
Ian White.
The archive of TV-am programmes made between 1983 and 1992 was taken over by Moving Image Communications Ltd, which recruited
AP Archive as exclusive licensor of the TV-am footage library.
The AP Archive claims to have over 10,000 hours of available TV-am material.
[
]
Presenters
* Lisa Aziz
Lisa Soraya Aziz (born 19 June 1962) is a British news presenter. She is best known as the presenter of the Morning News on LBC. Before this she worked for ITV Westcountry as a co-presenter for the evening news programme: The West Country Toni ...
, 1989–1992, newsreader, later joined Sky News.
* Jeni Barnett
Jeni Barnett (born 24 March 1949 in London) is an English actress and TV presenter who grew up in Borehamwood.
Acting career
As an actress Barnett appeared on several TV shows, including ''Revolting Women'' (BBC2, 1981) and ''Doctors'', and has a ...
, host of ''Pick Of The Week'', ''Postbag''.
* Adrian Brown, reporter, newsreader, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Lynda Barry, reporter, newsreader, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher.
He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning ...
, host of ''Postbag''.
* Tania Bryer
Tania Bryer (born 5 July 1962) is a British broadcaster who is affiliated with global television network CNBC. She is host and executive producer of the series ''CNBC Meets with Tania Bryer'' and is a regular presenter of ''The CNBC Conversatio ...
, 1992, weather presenter.
* Kay Burley
Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...
, 1985–1988, reporter, newsreader, presenter.
* Peter Coë, 1984–1992, reporter, finance and business editor, newsreader, presenter of ''First Report''
* Anne Diamond
Anne Margaret Diamond (born 8 September 1954) is a British journalist and broadcaster. She presently hosts the weekend breakfast show on GB News with Stephen Dixon as her co-presenter. She hosted '' Good Morning Britain'' for TV-am and ''Good ...
, 1983–90, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain'' and ''Anne Diamond on Sunday''.
* Moya Doherty
Moya Doherty (born 1957, in Pettigo, County Donegal, Ireland) is a Dublin-raised Irish entrepreneur and the producer and co-founder of ''Riverdance''.
Early life
Doherty was born in Pettigo, County Donegal, and raised in Dublin. She attended M ...
, reporter, presenter of ''After Nine''.
* Diana Dors
Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.
Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...
, 1983–1984, diet and later agony aunt.
* Maya Even 1989–1992, began her television career at TV-am in 1987, first as a researcher in the political unit and then as a producer and reporter from 1989.
* Tony Francis, 1986–1992, ''Saturday Sport''.
* David Frost, ''Good Morning Britain'' (1983–84), ''The Sunday Programme'' (1985–86), ''Frost on Sunday'' (1986–92).
* Paul Gambaccini
Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005.
Known as "The Grea ...
, 1983-1992, film critic.
* Jimmy Greaves
James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...
, TV reviewer, presenter.
* Michael Hastings, 1988–1992, ''Good Morning Britain'' presenter.
* Gordon Honeycombe
Ronald Gordon Honeycombe (27 September 1936 – 9 October 2015), known professionally as Gordon Honeycombe, was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor.
Honeycombe was born in Karachi, in the British Raj. He was educated at th ...
, 1984–1989, newsreader.
* Jayne Irving, 1983–1989 , newsreader, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain'' and ''After Nine''.
* Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show ''Gladiators'', and as a team captain of the BBC Two show '' Shooting ...
, weather presenter.
* Derek Jameson
Derek Jameson (29 November 1929 – 12 September 2012) was a British tabloid journalist and broadcaster. He began his career in the media in 1944 as a messenger at Reuters and worked his way up to become the editor of several British tabloid ...
, newspaper reviewer.
* Hillary Jones, resident doctor, host of ''After Nine''.
* Richard Keys
Richard Keys (born 23 April 1957) is an English sports presenter who has worked for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Talksport, Al Jazeera, Fox Sports, ESPN Star Sports , BeIN Sports; and has presented many top-level football matches.
Career ...
, 1983–1990, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain'', ''The Morning Programme'', sport presenter.
* Robert Kee
Robert Kee (5 October 1919 – 11 January 2013) was a British broadcaster, journalist and writer, known for his historical works on World War II and Ireland.
Life and career
He was educated at Stowe School, Buckingham, and read history ...
, early presenter, ''Daybreak''
* Henry Kelly, 1983–1987, weekend ''Good Morning Britain'' presenter.
* Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly, (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish journalist and television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), '' GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003 ...
, October 1984 – 1992, reporter, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Rustie Lee
Rustie Lee (born 22 May 1949) is a Jamaican television personality, television chef, actress and singer. She participated on the Channel 5 reality-television show '' Celebrity Super Spa'' in 2013; ITV's ''Who's Doing the Dishes?'', hosted by Bri ...
, consistently appeared on the show in the cooking segment.
* Mike Morris, 1983–1992, Sport presenter, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Nick Owen
Nicholas Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme ''TV-am'' and the BBC's local news show ''Midlands Today'' since 1997. He was also the chairman of Luton ...
, 1983–1986, Sport presenter, presented ''Good Morning Britain'' alongside Anne Diamond.
* Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
and Mary Parkinson, 1983, weekend programmes.
* Eve Pollard
Evelyn, Lady Lloyd, (''née'' Pollard, formerly Winkleman, born 25 December 1943) is an English author and journalist, and has been the editor of several tabloid newspapers.
Early life and education
Pollard was born in Paddington, London.BB ...
, showbusiness reporter.
* Angela Rippon
Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
, 1983, presenter of ''Daybreak'' and ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Suzanne (Suzi) Grant, 1985–TBA, newsreader.
* Anneka Rice
Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter.
Early life and education
Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wale ...
, 1985–1987, guest presenter, ''Good Morning Britain''.
* Caroline Righton
Caroline Anne Righton (born 26 February 1958), is an English television presenter and author, best known for being a presenter on the daily breakfast television station TV-am and being an anchor of the Channel 4 news show, '' The Channel Four Da ...
, April–October 1987, presenter.
* John Stapleton, 1983–1985, reporter and presenter.
* Kathy Tayler, 1989–1992, presenter of ''Good Morning Britain'' and ''After Nine''.
* Chris Tarrant
Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show '' Who Wants to Be a Mil ...
, roving reporter and host.
* Gordon Thomson, guest presenter, celebrity reporter.
* Lizzie Webb
Lizzie Webb (née Beveridge;
''Henley Standard'' (28 July 20 ...
, aka 'Mad Lizzie', fitness guru.
* Lynn Faulds Wood
Lynn Faulds Wood (25 March 1948 – 24 April 2020) was a Scottish television presenter and journalist. She co-presented the British television programme ''Watchdog'' with her husband John Stapleton.
Early life and career
Faulds Wood was b ...
, Consumers affairs 1983-1984
Children's programmes
* Tommy Boyd
Timothy Leslie Boyd (born 14 December 1952), better known as Tommy Boyd, is a British radio presenter.
Television
From 1977 to 1980, Boyd was co-presenter of the ITV children's magazine programme ''Magpie'' replacing Douglas Rae. In 1981, ...
– ''Wide Awake Club''.
* Dick King-Smith
Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE (27 March 1922 – 4 January 2011), was an English writer of children's books, primarily using the pen name Dick King-Smith. He is best known for ''The Sheep-Pig'' (1983). It was adapted as the movie ''Babe'' (1995 ...
, presenter, ''Rub-a-Dub-Tub
''Rub-a-Dub-Tub'' was a children's television series broadcast in the United Kingdom on the breakfast television channel TV-am between 1983 and 1984.
In addition to the main regular presenters, the programme also featured appearances by some of ...
''.
* Timmy Mallett
Timothy Luke Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English TV presenter, broadcaster, and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses, loud shirts, and giant pink foam mallet, known as "Mallett's Mallet", as well as hi ...
– ''Summer Run'', ''Wide Awake Club'', ''Hey, Hey It's Saturday'' and ''Wacaday''.
* Michaela Strachan
Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer.
Early life
Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both i ...
– ''Wide Awake Club'', ''Hey, Hey It's Saturday'' and ''Wacaday''.
Children's programmes
Series made by TVAM
*''Are You Awake Yet?'' (1982-1986)
*''Cartoon World'' (November 1991 - December 1992)
*'' Dappledown Farm''
*''Data Run/Summer run''
*'' Hey, Hey It's Saturday'' (1989-1991)
*''Jungle Fun'' (1991-1992)
*''Roland Rat
Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously designed and operated Mooncat, a puppet in the Children's ITV television programme '' Get Up and Go!'' Claridge work ...
''
*''Rub-a-Dub-Tub
''Rub-a-Dub-Tub'' was a children's television series broadcast in the United Kingdom on the breakfast television channel TV-am between 1983 and 1984.
In addition to the main regular presenters, the programme also featured appearances by some of ...
'' (1983-1984)
*''SPLAT''
*''Top Banana'' (1991-1992)
*'' TV Mayhem'' (1991, was axed after six weeks)
*''Wacaday
''Wacaday'' is a children's television series in the United Kingdom that ran in TV-am's school-holidays slot from October 1985 until 1992, in an 8:50-9:25 a.m. slot, and was hosted by Timmy Mallett.
History
''Wacaday'' was introduced w ...
'' (1985-1992)
*'' Wide Awake Club'' (1984-1989)
Acquired programming
*'' The Transformers''
*''Challenge of the GoBots
''Challenge of the GoBots'' (or ''GoBots'' for short) is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the GoBots toyline released from Tonka. The show was first broadcast in syndication on September 8, 1984, then the show join ...
''
See also
* ''World in Action
''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'': "After The Break". ITV 1988.
* ''Storm in an Eggcup'', BBC 1992.
* ''The Battle for Britain's Breakfast'', BBC 2014
* ''Morning Glory: A History of British Breakfast Television'' (book), by Ian Jones
* ''Treachery?: Power Struggle at T. V.-A. M.'' (book), by Michael Leapman[Hardcover: 223 pages Publisher: Allen & Unwin; First edition (5 April 1984) Language: English ]
See also
* Timeline of TV-am
References
External links
Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tv-Am
Breakfast television in the United Kingdom
ITV franchisees
Media and communications in the London Borough of Camden
Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden
Television channels and stations established in 1983
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1992