Subject: Come back Thames all is forgiven! 
Distribution: world
Organization: Job hunters use Parachute
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:52:37 +0000


In article <1993Jan5.115044.3924@syma.sussex.ac.uk> andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk writes:

> 
> Trevor Jenkins (tfj@apusapus.demon.co.uk) wrote:
> : Well we've suffered Carlton now for two days and I wish that Thames hadn't
> : lost the franchise! 
> 
> Ah, c'mon, give 'em a chance! A couple of weeks at least.

Given that one of the criteria for Thames LOOSING the franchise was that
they were unlikely to be able to meet the quality mark (after having given
so much of their advertising revenue to HMG) it was very shooking that the
new company started from a level below that where Thames signed off. These
guys are supposed to have been practising for several weeks prior to the
commencement of a public service.

> My region gets Meridian,

You have my sympathies. I was in their (broadcast) reception area at the
time that they started and I wish that Southern were still around. TVS was
like cardboard.

> One nasty thing to have crept in is the announcement
> of sponsors after some programs, such as "you have just been watching XXXXX,
> sponsored by YYYYYY". More imported US-style drivel! :-}

That's been a growing trend on ITV channels for awhile. The first time I
observed was during last seasons Morse abaout the same time as Budweiser
started sponsoring the American Football on Channel. (Even though Coca Cola
had sponsered them and the Torygraph in earlier seasons.)

> Strangely enough, at about the same time as the new ITV franchises came
> into operation, the BBC transmitter (Heathfield) serving my region was
> turned around...
> The picture quality is slightly
> poorer too, and is more prone to interference. Anybody else in this part of
> the country notice any difference?

During this last week-end the high pressure system over England caused all
sorts of transmission problems. I happened to be staying with family whose
house is situated on the top of the North Downs just above Canterbury,
Kent. This gives them three separate ITV transmitters to choose from:
Meridan/TVS/Southern, Thames/Carlton&LWT and Anglia. During the screening
of P D James' "Unnatural Causes" we had to go channel hopping; not because
of the programme but simply to find a transmitter which would work for the
next ten minutes. During this period BBC1 and BBC2 disappeared altogether
for considerable periods of time. C4 was likewise affected. The MUF must
have been very low for all those stations to go off air. At one point durng
the commercials we could see all three channels at the same time;
superimposed one upon the other.

I think that you should give the Heathfield transmitter more opportunity.
I doubt very much whether the electrical signal from there is any different
to what you used to receive. Simply that the propagation conditions were
very poor over the New Year weekend. (Rather like it will be after the
electromagnetic pulse from an A bomb explosion.)

Regards, Trevor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trevor Jenkins                                                Re: "deemed!"
134 Frankland Rd, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, WD3 3AU, England
email: tfj@apusapus.demon.co.uk                               radio: G6AJG  
phone: +44 (0)923 776436
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
From: tfj@apusapus.demon.co.uk (Trevor Jenkins)