Local Broadcasting

Logo from 1994 - 2000 & 2017 onwards.

**Local Broadcasting** is a regional television network that launched in 1957 which broadcasts to the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man & the British Overseas Territories. It directly competes with ITV.

## Pre-history/Test services (1947 - 1952)

Associated Local Production was set up in 1947 as a production company for the regional sector of the BBC, creating programming dependent on region. It wasn't until a year later that they reportedly thought of the consequences of the monopoly the Beeb had held on the British television market. They had drawn up plans for an independent television service, seperate from the Beeb. It was to originally serve London, and then expand outwards. However these dreams couldn't be realised because ALP were merely just a production company. But, they soldiered on. May 1949 saw them become 'Associated Local Broadcasting', a sign of things to come.

In late 1949, they had been given blessings by the Labour government & the BBC to start test broadcasts in select areas. What was shown on these broadcasts are unfortunately lost to time, however it was more than likely amateurly filmed documentaries, dramas and comedies. The services popped up around areas of 'significant importance', such as London and Birmingham in 1950. However there may have been many more.

In 1952, ALB had declared that these test services would be shut down. This was mainly because they had worked out the ins and outs of broadcasting.

## Pre-launch (1953 - 1956)

Afterwards, the idea for regional television had been engraved into the government's heads. There were multiple benefits of such; for example, it could break the monopoly the BBC had on British television, Welsh and Scottish people could have their own seperate services, stopping them from 'winging', etc.

So the 1953 Act was passed, bringing LB(S) and its regulator, the ITA, to life (named as such due to it being regional)! The first bids were made in 1954, with Tower (formerly ALP/ALB) and Capitol serving the London area, Big Centre and BBS serving the Midlands, and Lime (then Associated North West) serving the North West. Unfortunately, the 1954 Act was passed bringing ITV to life as well. When questioned, the postmaster general said that 'a competitior could truly bring out the best in the Local Broadcasting Services'. The difference between the two was described as LB being more region-dependent, and ITV more or less a licence to print money.

This didn't tide the LB regions over, it instead made them pissed. ***Really*** pissed. This saltiness was taken to an extreme when ITV launched in 1955, despite LB being established before. But they were told to 'suck it up'.

## 1957 - 1965

LB finally launched in 1957, with London being the first region to get it. The Midlands, North West and Southern Scotland (after much annoyance) launched afterward. The process of launching LB franchises was much like ITV's; 'fading it in' so-to-speak.

The year afterward saw the Isle of Wharf get its own broadcaster, along with Central Scotland, Yorkshire and the South of England. 1959 saw the North East get its own, as well as Scotland getting its own weekend franchise in the form of Albany & Douglas for the Isle of Man. 1960 saw the Westcountry and South West get their own franchises, along with East Anglia. The year after saw the English Border & Northern Scotland get theirs as well. No franchises broadcast in 1962, however 1963 saw North and South Wales get theirs. 1964 had Shetland get theirs, and finally in 1965, Orkney and the Channel Islands got theirs as well.

The entire nation had gotten LB! Success! Apart from Northern Ireland, but that's a story for another time.

The 'main' programme which defined this era was Oh, Danny Bhoy, which wasn't even produced by any of the regions (being produced by Scottish).

## 1966 - 1972

Something that carried over from this period from the last was the regions' indecision and arguing. Even the station's name was a hot topic! Some regions called it LBS (Local Broadcasting Service, the original name for the testing services back in the 50s) while others called it LB (Local Broadcasting, as an attempt to seem more modern). And of course, there was no official 'umbrella' logo during this period (and many of the next!) making anything network related even more of a pain.

But colour was a pain as well. ANW, Telefusion, Tower, Capitol and Big Centre, to no one's surprise, got colour first (in 1969!). BBS (which at this point had been delegated to the East Midlands and renamed to 'Heart Television') got it a couple months later. The last region part of the LB network - at the time - to get colour was Norman Television, who only got it due to their counterpart over on ITV finally doing so.

The engineers & cameramen behind both absolutely hated working two jobs, and prepared to go on strike.

LB during the 70s, and even into the early 80s, had a lot of strike action - which was an equal pain.

Oh, and rather weirdly, in 1968 a franchise for the B. O. T of Gibraltar was advertised. It was won by Castle Television (then Rock Television). This was strangely the least of the pains in the ass - sure Gibraltar was extremely small - but the 1953 Act basically made LB into the television equivalent of an anarchist commune ('Anyone in either His or Her Majesty's Crown Dependencies or the Overseas Territories who declares themselves part of the Local Broadcasting network/Local Broadcasting Service is officially part of the Local Broadcasting network/Local Broadcasting Service.'). You may think this led to chaos, but surprisingly there was nothing of the sort. It was significantly easier for the ITA (eventually IBA) to set up new franchises (but not the transmitters).

## 1973 - 1982

Strikes during this period were quite common, infact advising the viewer to switchover to BBC One, Two or ITV was quite common.

But other than that, the only notables event during this period was the launch of Antarctic, the LB station for the Falklands, South Georgia and Sandwich Islands & Rothera (the main British Antarctic research station). For the first couple years of its life, the transmitter had to be in Argentina (despite the Argentine government not liking that so much). In 1981, the transmitter was moved from Tierra y Fuego to the South Georgia and Sandwich Islands.

Castle & Norman finally got colour in 1976, with Antarctic following suite in 1982. But the latter was not to be for long, due to breakout of the Falklands War which knocked out broadcasts everywhere except Rothera.

Also in 1982, the Strike to End All Strikes broke out...

## 1982 (The Strike to End All Strikes)

After multiple years of poor pay & treatment (and after the higher ups not giving into their demands), LB's 1979 came in 1982. The strike was the last one on any of the main 6 (hence the name), and was also the fiercest. It lasted 6 months, and only stopped once the 'bosses ate their pride and gave in'.

It affected the entire network, apart from Douglas in the Isle of Man and Norman in the Channel Islands.