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The Toddlers' Truce was an early
British television scheduling policy that required transmissions to terminate for an hour each weekday between 6.00pm and 7.00pm – after the end of children's broadcasting and the start of the evening programmes – so that young children could be put to bed.
The policy lasted throughout the
post-war period until 16 February 1957.
It was named after
toddler
A toddler is a child approximately 12 to 36 months old, though definitions vary. The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "to toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, like a child ...
s, children aged between 12 and 36 months.
Background
The Toddlers' Truce policy may have originated when 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. ...
...
resumed television after the
end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
* End of World War II in Europe
* End of World War II in Asia
World War II officially ended in Asia on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan on the . Before that, the United States dropped two atomic ...
on 7 June 1946. The policy remained fairly uncontroversial until
ITV began broadcasting on 22 September 1955:
at that time, the Truce was accepted as policy by the
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
, the
Earl De La Warr
Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr.
The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr ( ...
interests of smoothing relations between ITV and the fledgling
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), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 un ...
.
The problem became apparent in 1956, when the
franchise holders under the ITA's jurisdiction were struggling to stay in business. As the BBC was (and is) funded by a
television licence
A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence ...
fee, its budget was not related to the number of hours of transmission. Indeed, the Truce saved them money. ITV on the other hand, was funded entirely by
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
, and the Truce caused a loss of revenue in the hour's
closedown. Supporters of ITV, which had faced strong political opposition, argued that the Truce had little to do with
social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which an individual is obligated to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of the community that will inherit the world that individual leaves behind.
Social ...
, and was simply a way to give the BBC an unfair advantage.
Abolition
The ITA had encouraged the four major companies (
Granada,
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 ...
,
ATV and
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 seek abolition of the Truce. Action was taken finally in July 1956, probably the result of a lack of effective cooperation between the companies, rather than political objection. The Postmaster General,
Charles Hill disliked the policy as an example of the BBC's
paternalism toward its audience:
The BBC could not be persuaded to accept the abolition, or even to a compromise of reducing the period to 30 minutes. Hill tired of the disagreement, and asked
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
for the abolition which was agreed on 31 October 1956. However, the BBC and ITA could not even agree a date for the abolition to take place, while Hill decided on Saturday 16 February 1957.
Later use of the timeslot
The BBC filled the hour from the first Saturday with a music programme called ''
Six-Five Special
''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain.
Description
''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...
'', and from Monday to Friday with the ''
Tonight
Tonight may refer to:
Television
* ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC
* ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'' news magazine. It continued to cease broadcasts between 6.15pm and 7.00pm on Sundays at the time of evening
church services, until ''
Songs of Praise'' was launched on 1 October 1961. Until 1992, this time on Sundays was used for various religious programmes on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and ITV.
The slot between 6.00pm and 7.00pm has since then devoted to national and international news (especially the regional ones) in the weekday schedules of both BBC1 and ITV, although ''
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
'' was also shown in this period used for most
ITV regions
The ITV television network of the United Kingdom is divided into a number of geographical regions.
Since 2002, all regions share the same programming except for regional news, weather and advertising. Historically, the regions were independent ...
.
See also
*
1946 in British television
*
1957 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1957.
Events
January
*No events.
February
*16 February – The " Toddlers' Truce" (an arrangement whereby there were no television broadcasts between 6pm and 7pm, to allow parents to put t ...
*
Timeline of the BBC Television Service
This is a timeline of the history of the BBC Television Service, from events preceding its launch in 1936 until its renaming as BBC One in 1964 upon the launch of BBC Two.
1920s
*1929
**November – The BBC and John Logie Baird begin daily exper ...
*
Timeline of ITV
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV (originally known as Independent Television).
1950s
* 1954
** 30 July – The Television Act 1954 paves the way for the launch of commercial television in the UK and the ...
Sources
Further reading
*
Sendall, Bernard ''Independent Television in Britain: Volume 1 - Origin and Foundation 1946-62'' London: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1982 , Chapter 30ii: ''"The End of the Toddlers' Truce"''
References
{{Portal bar, United Kingdom, Television, BBC, 1950s
History of television in the United Kingdom
1946 establishments in the United Kingdom
1957 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
1940s in the United Kingdom
1940s in British television
1946 in British television
1950s in the United Kingdom
1950s in British television
1957 in British television
BBC history
History of ITV