Author: Eric Croston

Sport

MOTOR-CYCLE SCRAMBLE. An outside broadcast camera covers a race at Bentley Springs, Nr. Wakefield, Yorks. ABC
MOTOR-CYCLE SCRAMBLE. An outside broadcast camera covers a race at Bentley Springs, Nr. Wakefield, Yorks. ABC

Independent Television provides an extensive and varied coverage of sports events of all kinds. Every Saturday afternoon throughout the year is devoted to the transmission of live sports programmes. Weekday transmissions, both afternoon and evening, present many outstanding sports occasions. In addition, nearly all the programme companies produce sports magazines of particular interest in their own localities.

Preparing a Sports Outside Broadcast

A wide range of technical skills and resources is required to provide effective outside broadcasts. The operation is often far more complicated than many productions in the television studio. It involves the problems of sending pictures back from the location of the outside broadcast to the central pick-up point, using carefully-planned paths of portable relays sited at various places. Over the years ITV communication engineers have amassed an extensive knowledge and experience which places them among the world’s experts in sending a high-quality signal from almost anywhere.

Cameras have to be sited to give the best possible view which, as often as not, requires the erection of complex scaffolding. Indoor locations have to be lit, again requiring special techniques to obtain good pictures without interfering with the event.

A mobile control room, or sometimes more than one, is brought to the site with full facilities to control four or more cameras and associated sound. Sometimes power has to be supplied from portable generators. Special telephone lines are arranged to carry sound instructions to and from the companies’ central control, and

any special information such as betting odds for horse racing. An accurate analysis of every O.B. must be made for the commentator who has to be “in the-know” on every detail.

The Outside Broadcast man regards the world, sporting and otherwise, as the viewer’s oyster and he uses a pretty complicated lever to open it.

Saturday Afternoon Sport

Between three and four hours of fully networked programmes are supplied jointly by ATV and ABC each Saturday afternoon, often with the collaboration of another regional company. Thus, on a recent Saturday afternoon, sport was covered as follows:

1.20 Steeplechasing from Catterick ABC
1.40 Tenpin Bowling Tournament from Leeds ABC
1.50 Steeplechasing ABC
2.10 Tenpin Bowling ABC
2.30 Snooker from London ATV
2.50 Steeplechasing ABC
3.10 Amateur Boxing from Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham Tyne Tees
3.40 Racing Results Round-Up ATV
3.45 Snooker ATV
4.05 Professional Wrestling from Kingston-upon-Thames ATV
4.50 Full Soccer Results ATV

During this particular afternoon, five different sports were covered live by three different companies, Tyne Tees’s coverage of boxing being integrated with the overall ABC ATV schedule. Thus five complete outside broadcast units, each with several cameras and its own mobile control room, were employed to provide this typical afternoon’s sports coverage.

Sports covered on Saturday afternoons include Athletics; Badminton; Bowling (Ten-Pin); Bowls; Boxing; Cricket; Go-Karting; Golf; Greyhound Racing; Gymkhanas; Gymnastics; Horse Racing; Ice Skating; Indoor Tennis; Lawn Tennis; Motor Cycle Scrambles; Motor Cycling; Motor Racing; Polo; Rugger; Sailing; Show Jumping; Snooker; Soccer; Swimming; Table Tennis; Wrestling.

Other Live Sport

Apart from the regular and extensive coverage of sport on Saturday afternoons, a wide range of sporting events is presented at other times. January, February and March see Racing from Sandown Park and Catter-ick Bridge, League Football and Professional Boxing; the second quarter, while including sport of all kinds, contains the Royal Windsor Horse Show and Wimbledon; in the third quarter Wimbledon is followed by professional tennis, and cricket is fully covered along with golf and polo; from October till the New Year racing and boxing predominate.

The following are a few of the special broadcasts during 1962 other than the regular Saturday afternoon coverage:

  • January 12th: Racing — Sandown Park
  • March 21st: Football League v. Scottish League
  • April 3rd: Upton Horse Trials
  • April 24th: Professional Boxing—Prescott v. Daniels
  • May 1st: Racing — Newmarket
  • May 9th: Football—England v. Switzerland
  • May 10th/11th: Royal Windsor Horse Show
  • May 24th: Cricket—Sussex v. Pakistan
  • June 11th: Whit Monday Sport—Motor Racing from Goodwood, Racing from Redcar, Polo from Windsor Great Park
  • June 25th-July 6th: 1962 Lawn Tennis Championships from Wimbledon
  • August 6th: Bank Holiday Sport—Racing from Epsom, County Cricket (Lancashire v. Yorkshire), Polo from Windsor Great Park
  • August 16th: Polo from Ham
  • August 17th: International Boys’ Golf from Richmond
  • September 17th-21st: 1962 Professional Indoor Tennis Championships from Wembley Empire Pool
  • October 10th/11th: York Races

Other sports included greyhound racing, badminton, table tennis, motor racing, motor cycling, go-karting, bowls, rugger, swimming and basketball.

The majority of all live sports programmes on weekdays are supplied on a full or partial network basis by Associated-Rediffusion and Granada. From time to time, however, other companies — notably ATV, ABC, Southern, Tyne Tees and TWW — produce local sports programmes, some of which are networked. A-R’s presentation of the football match between Tottenham Hotspurs and the Portuguese team Benfica was not only fully networked but was also seen in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain by means of a Eurovision link. ATV’s presentation of the European Heavyweight Championship fight from Gothenburg was seen by other countries on Eurovision.

Recorded Sport

Direct Eurovision links are not always available or convenient for the transmission of sporting events between Britain and Europe. On such occasions recordings are made for transmission during the evening of the same day or as soon afterwards as is practicable. In this way British viewers were able to see highlights from the Monte Carlo Rally in January and European viewers were able to see programmes from Wimbledon in June and July.

Sports Magazines

Most of the programme companies produce their own sports magazines designed to appeal particularly to the viewers in their local transmission areas. These programmes are either weekly or twice-weekly, and the local approach varies considerably. A few are networked to adjoining areas, but most are only transmitted locally.

Children’s Sport

ATV’s weekly programme Seeing Sport transmitted at 5 p.m. on Mondays and fully networked, is designed to introduce children and young people to the skills and techniques of different types of sport. It is one of the longest-established children’s programmes and has been running weekly since June 1956. Over 30 different sports have been covered. The “Seeing Sport Trophy” is awarded annually to the group of young people who have shown the most initiative in the development of their own sporting facilities. Other children’s programmes deal with various aspects of sport from time to time.

REGULAR SPORTS PROGRAMMES

Programme Description Company Mins. Time & day Distribution
Saturday Afternoon Sport Mixed O.B.s ABC/ATV and regional companies 220 1.20 Saturday Network
Sportscast Sports magazine ITN/A-R 7 6.08 Wednesday Local
Your Kind of Sport Sports feature ATV 15 6.45 Thursday Local
Sports O.B. ABC 45 2.00 Sunday Part Network
Welsh Sportlight Sports magazine WWN 30 6.15 Monday Local
Westward Sports Desk Sports review Westward 15 6.45 Monday 6.45 Friday Local Local
Scotsport Sports magazine Scottish 30 10.30 Wednesday Part Network
20 5.25 Saturday Local
30 10.05 Saturday Part Network
Sports Preview Sports magazine TWW 30 10.45 Thursday Local
Cue for Sport Sports magazine Tyne Tees 30 10.15 Friday Local
Sportscope Sports magazine Grampian 15 6.45 Friday Local
Full Time Sports review Ulster 15 5.00 Saturday Local
Shoot! Soccer highlights Tyne Tees 30 11.00 Saturday Local
Match of the Week Soccer Anglia 35 10.35 Sunday Local
Time out of Doors Sports magazine Border 30 8.30 Monday Local

In addition, special sporting events such as Wimbledon and important boxing matches are networked, while regional companies cover important sporting events in their own areas. Associated-Rediffusion, Granada and Tyne Tees Television are the main providers of mid-week racing coverage for the network.

Rhaglenni Cymreig

Welsh Programmes

Ivor Emmanuel, star of Land of Song. TWW
Ivor Emmanuel, star of Land of Song. TWW

Yr oedd amryw broblemau arbennig, rhai technegol a rhai cymdeithasol, yn wynebu’r awdurdodau wrth drefnu gwasanaeth radio sain a theledu i Gymru.

Un oedd natur y wlad ei hun, gwlad o fynyddoedd uchel a chymoedd culion. Un arall oedd y ffaith bod y boblogaeth mor anwastad, yn niferus ac yn drwchus yn y rhannau diwydiannol yn y De-ddwyrain a’r Gogledd-ddwyrain, ond yn denau yng Nghanol Cymru ac yn y Gorllewin.

Hefyd dyna’r iaith; hyd yn gymharol ddiweddar, Cymraeg oedd iaith y mwyafrif; hyd yn oed yn nechrau’r ganrif, yr oedd eu cyfartaledd dros 50 y cant; erbyn heddiw y mae i lawr i 27 y cant; ond mae’r nifer yn dal yn sylweddol, sef 650,000, or’ holl boblogaeth o 2.6 miliwn.

Deau Cymru

Agorodd yr Awdurdod Teledu Annibynnol (ATA) ei orsaf gyntaf yng Nghymru yn St. Hilary yn Ionawr 1958. Cyn hynny, dim ond traethau gogleddol Cymru, a’r gororau yng nghanol Cymru, a gai raglenni’r Teledu Annibynnol yn swyddogol.

Mae trosglwyddydd St. Hilary, sydd 11 milltir i’r gorllewin o Gaerdydd, yn cyflen-wi’r darn gwlad sy’n ymestyn yn fras o Aberdau-gleddau yn y gorllewin hyd at Gaerloyw (Gloucester) yn y dwyrain, gyda Bannau Brycheiniog fel ei ffin ogleddol. Cyflenwa diriogaeth gyffelyb yr ochr arall i For Hafren hefyd.

Poblogaeth y rhannau hyn yw tua 3.3 miliwn, gyda 1.8 miliwn ohonynt ar ochr Cymru.

Dewiswyd TWW Cyf., gan yr ATA, i ddarparu rhaglenni trwy St. Hilary. O’r cychwyn cyntaf, yr oedd gan y cwmni hwn gysylltiadau Cymreig cryf, a nifer o Gymry adnabyddus ymhlith y Cyfarwyddwyr. Ym Mhontcanna, Caerdydd, y mae stiwdio’r cwmni.

Cyn pen ychydig o amser, yr oedd TWW yn cynhyrchu hyd at 8½ awr o raglenni lleol yr wythnos, a rhan sylweddol ohonynt yn Gymraeg. Gellir cymharu hyn a rhyw 3 awr yr wythnos o raglenni a gynhyrchid yn lleol gan y BBC a’u gyrru allan trwy eu trosglwyddydd y Wenfô, a hynny ar ol 5 mlynedd o wasnaethu de Cymru a gorllewin Lloegr.

Parhaodd TWW i gynhyrchuY un faint ar hyd y 5 mylnedd diwethaf, ac yn 1962 yr oedd y rhaglenni a gynhyrchent yn ami tros 9 awr yr wythnos. Ar gyfartaledd yr oedd tros 3 awr yn yr wythnos yn rhaglenni Cymraeg, ac o’r 6 awr arall yr oedd mwy na’r hanner yn rhai o ddiddordeb arbennig i wylwyr yng Nghymru. Gan hynny, fe wnaeth Teledu Annibynnol gyfraniad pwy-sig iawn i fywyd arbennig y genedl.

Gorllewin a Gogledd Cymru

Yn 1962 agorwyd gwasanaeth newydd ar gyfer y rhan hwnnw o Gymru sydd, yn fras, i’r gorllewin i’r llinell o Landudno i Borth-cawl, ynghyd a’r gogledd-ddwyrain hefyd, sef rhan helaethaf siroedd Fflint a Dinbych.

Dewiswyd Cymdeithas Teledu Cymru gan yr ATA i gyflenwi’r rhaglenni, ac adwaenir y cwmni hwn fel Teledu Cymru neu Wales (West and North) Television.

Ceir tri throsglwyddydd i wasanaethuT rhan hwn, sef un y Preselau, un Arfon, ac un Moel-y-Parc sydd ar y ffin rhwng Fflint a Dinbych.

Dechreuodd un y Preselau drosglwyddo rhaglenni ar Fedi 14, 1962, un Arfon ar Dachwedd 9, 1962 ac un Moel-y-Parc yn nechrau 1963.

Erbyn hyn y mae’r ddau gwmni Teledu Annibynnol sy’n gwasnaethu Cymru, TWW a Theledu Cymru, gyda’i gilydd yn cynhyr-chu o 13 awr i 14 awr yr wythnos o raglenni, ar gyfartaledd, gyda rhyw 5 awr ohonynt yn Gymraeg. Yn nhiriogaeth Teledu Cymru, rhoir 10 awr o raglenni o ddiddordeb Cymreig arbennig, yn cynnwys 5 awr o raglenni a gymerir oddiwrth TWW.

Pwyllgor Cymreig yr ATA

Gan hynny, y mae gan Deledu Annibynnol wasanaeth eang yng Nghymru; ac y mae Mr. J. Alban Davies, yr aelod o’r ATA sydd a materion Cymru yn bennaf gofal ganddo, wedi galw ynghyd nifer o Gymry blaenllaw i gynorthwyo’r Awdurdod i weithredu a datblygu Teledu Annibynnol yng Nghymru.

Dyma aelodau’r Pwyllgor Cymreig: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, U.H. (Cadeirydd); Miss Norah Isaac; y Parchg. D. R. Thomas, M.A.; Major-General Lewis Owain Pugh; Dr. Ivor Davies; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffreys Jones, M.A.; Mrs. Enid Watkin Jones; a Mr. Leslie Richards. Mr. Lyn Evans, y Swyddog Tros Gymru yn yr Awdurdod, yw ysgrifennydd y Pwyllgor; cynhelir ei gyfarfodydd weithiau yn Swyddfa Gymreig yr Awdurdod yng Nghaerdydd ac weithiau mewn lleoedd eraill yng Nghymru. Y mae gan yr Awdurdod ddau Bwyllgor tebyg i’w gynghori, un tros yr Alban ac un tros Ogledd Iwerddon.

WELSH PROGRAMMES

The coverage of Wales has always presented special problems, technical and social, for the sound and television broadcasting authorities. There is the broken terrain of the country, a land of high mountains and deep narrow valleys. There is the uneven distribution of the population with large concentrations in the industrial South and North-East and a low density in the Central and Western areas. Then again there is the language. Until comparatively recently most people in Wales spoke Welsh; even at the beginning of the century the proportion was more than half. By today this has declined to 27 per cent, but in absolute numbers this represents the still significant number of 650,000 out of a total population of 2.6 million.

South Wales

The Independent Television Authority opened its first television station in Wales at St. Hilary in January 1958. Up to then Independent Television’s official coverage in Wales was confined to the North Wales coast and along the Eastern border of Mid-Wales. The coverage of the St. Hilary transmitter, 11 miles West of Cardiff, extends in a rough arc from Milford Haven to near Gloucester with the Brecknock Beacons as the northern boundary. It covers also a comparable area on the other side of the Bristol Channel. The total population is about 3.3 million, of whom 1.8 million are on the Welsh side.

TWW Limited was appointed by the ITA to provide the programmes for transmission from St. Hilary. From the outset the company has had strong Welsh associations, with a group of distinguished Welshmen among the directors. The company has studios at Pontcanna Fields, Cardiff.

Within a short while TWW built up its local production to about 8J hours a week, including a significant proportion in Welsh; this compared with about 3 hours of local production from the BBC’s Wenvoe transmitter, which had then been serving South Wales and the West of England for more than five years. TWW has maintained its output during the past five years, and in 1962 local programmes often exceeded 9 hours a week. Welsh language programmes were on average more than 3 hours a week, and of the remaining 6 hours more than half were of special interest to viewers in Wales. Independent Television has therefore made a major contribution to the distinctive Welsh way of life.

West and North Wales

In 1962 a new service area — West and North Wales — was inaugurated covering roughly that part of the Principality west of a line from Llandudno to Porthcawl with another area in North-east Wales including most of Flintshire and Denbighshire. A group known as Wales Television Association was awarded the ITA’s contract to provide the programmes. This company, owned and controlled by Welshmen, is now known as Wales (West and North) Television or Teledu Cymru.

The new area is served by three transmitters—Presely in Pembrokeshire, Arfon in Caernarvonshire and Moel-y-Parc on the boundary of Flintshire and Denbighshire. The Presely Station began transmissions on 14th September 1962, Arfon on 9th November, and Moel-y-Parc early in 1963.

The two Independent Television companies serving Wales are between them now producing an average of 13 or 14 hours of programmes every week, of which about 5 hours are in Welsh. In the Wales (West and North) service area, 10 hours of programmes of specifically Welsh interest are being transmitted, including 5 hours of programmes taken from TWW.

The ITA’s Welsh Committee

Independent Television now has a substantial Welsh coverage and the member of the Authority who makes the affairs of Wales his special concern, Mr. J. Alban Davies, has called together a group of representative Welsh people to assist the Authority in the conduct and development of Independent Television in the Principality.

The Welsh Committee consists of the following: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, J.P. (Chairman); Miss Norah Isaac; The Rev. D. R. Thomas, M.A.; Major-General Lewis Owain Pugh; Dr. Ivor Davies; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffreys Jones, M.A.; Mrs. Enid Watkin Jones; and Mr. Leslie Richards. Mr. Lyn Evans, the Authority’s Officer for Wales, is secretary to the committee, which holds meetings both in the Authority’s Welsh office in Cardiff and in other parts of Wales. There are two other regional committees advising the Authority, one for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland.

WELSH LANGUAGE PROGRAMMES

Programme Description Company Mins. Time & Day Distribution
Newyddion y Dydd News in Welsh TWW 5 4.25 Mon.-Fri. Local
Ffein a Difyr Light music TWW 30 4.30 Monday Part Network
Trysorau Cymru Welsh museums TWW 30 4.30 Tuesday Part Network
Pwy Fase’n Meddwl Panel game TWW 35 4.30 Wednesday Part Network
Amser Te Magazine TWW 35 4.30 Thursday Part Network
Taro Deg Quiz TWW 30 4.30 Monday Part Network
Gwlad y Gan Land of Song TWW 45 6.15 Sunday monthly Part Network
Holi’r Merched Women’s Institute quiz TWW 35 4.15 Tuesday Jan.-Feb. 1962 Part Network
Gwyr Lien Literary discussion TWW 35 4.25 Tuesday Feb.-June 1962 Part Network
Trin y Tir Farming and gardening TWW 35 4.25 Tuesday June-Sept. 1962 Part Network
12.15 Sunday Aug.-Oct. 1962
Gair am Air Quiz TWW 35 4.25 Wednesday Jan.-June 1962 Part Network
Twmpath Dawns Folk dancing TWW 35 4.25 Thursday June-July 1962 Part Network
Swynol Sain Light music TWW 35 4.25 Thursday Aug.-Sept. 1962 Part Network
Codi Testun Religious discussion TWW 35 4.15 Friday Jan.-Feb. 1962 Part Network
Celtic Films Travelogue TWW 35 4.25 Friday April-Dee. 1962 monthly Part Network
Wrth eu Gaith (At their Work) Discussion TWW 35 4.25 Friday May-Sept. 1962 Part Network
Hoffwn Wybod Current affairs TWW 30 4.30 Friday Oct.-Dec. 1962 Part Network
O Fon i Fynwy From Anglesey to Monmouthshire TWW 35 12.05 Sunday April-July 1962 Local
Caneuon O Gymru Songs from Wales TWW 30 6.30 Sunday March-May 1962 monthly Part Network
Urdd Eisteddfod Youth Eisteddfod TWW 13 4.25 Wednesday 6th June 1962 Part Network
35 4.25 Thursday 14th June 1962
Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Frenhinol Cymru National Eisteddfod of Wales TWW 35 4.25 Mon.-Fri. 6th-10th August 1962 Part Network
Dewch i Mewn Magazine programme Granada 40 4.20 Monday Jan.-June 1962 Part Network
Y Newydd News in Welsh WWN 10 6.06 Mon.-Fri. Local
Y Tywydd Weather forecast WWN
Golwg ar Gymru A Look at Wales WWN 25 6.15 Tuesday, Thursday Local
Heno i’r Plant Children’s programmes WWN 25 6.15 Wednesday Local
Cip a’r Chwarae Sports magazine WWN 5 6.15 Friday Sept.-Dec. Local
Myfyr a Maw1 Religious WWN 30 5.00 Sunday Local

The ITV Audience

1

Total hours of viewing ITV hours of viewing ITV Share of viewing %
1960 1961 1962 1960 1961 1962 1960 1961 1962
January 5.1 5.1 4.8 3.5 3.3 3.0 69 67 62
February 5.2 4.8 4.9 3.5 3.3 3.0 67 68 61
March 5.0 4.6 4.8 3.3 3.0 2.8 65 66 59
April 4.4 4.5 4.4 3.0 3.1 2.7 68 69 62
May 4.2 4.2 4.2 2.9 2.9 2.7 68 68 63
June 3.9 4.0 3.8 2.6 2.7 2.4 66 67 63
July 3.7 3.8 3.7 2.5 2.5 2.3 66 65 64
August 3.7 3.7 3.6 2.4 2.4 2.3 66 65 64
September 4.3 4.0 4.1 2.7 2.7 2.6 64 68 64
October 4.6 4.5 4.4 3.2 2.9 2.6 69 64 58
November 4.8 4.8 4.8 3.3 3.0 2.7 67 61 56
December 4.8 4.8 4.9 3.2 2.9 2.8 66 60 57

Source: TAM

About 50 million people live within reach of the transmissions from the ITA’s stations, and about 40 million of these have TV sets able to receive the Independent Television programmes. Extensive research is initiated by the programme companies and the ITA to discover the particular interests of the individuals who comprise this vast potential audience and their reactions to the programmes which are placed before them.

The audience for every programme presented by Independent Television is analysed area by area in terms of the sex, age and social characteristics of those who choose to watch it. Such information is only a part of what the programme planner needs to know, but it is a valuable starting-point in determining whether programmes are appealing to those for whom they are designed. To these continuing studies are added research projects into a number of questions such as the level of appreciation for particular programmes. In the case of programmes for schools, questionnaires are completed by teachers to show their own reactions and those of their pupils to various aspects of each programme they view; this information is supplemented by the reports of education officers and liaison officers who regularly visit schools in their own areas.

Correspondence from viewers, newspaper reports and reviews, consultations and conferences with specialists in various fields all make their contribution to audience research.

Television Audience Measurement (TAM)

The basic source of information about the viewing audience is the weekly report by Television Audience Measurement Limited (T.A.M.), an independent research company. Automatic meters attached to a representative sample of television sets pro-

vide the data needed to give statistically accurate estimates of the total number of sets switched on at any particular moment of the day. Most of these meters also record the station to which the sets are tuned; in all cases, diaries kept by the viewers give details at short intervals of who is watching. These diaries of the number and type of people viewing at particular times are checked against the automatically recorded viewing times to ensure that the record is accurate.

Tamratings are the percentage of homes able to receive both BBC and ITA transmissions whose sets are tuned to a specific transmission for a particular minute. The Tamrating for a period longer than a minute is the average of the ratings for the individual minutes within the period. From this data and from surveys of the number of homes receiving reliable transmissions from the area’s ITA transmitter, the total size and composition of the audience for any programme may be calculated.

Average Daily Hours of Viewing

In homes with a choice of service, the average television set is switched on for between 3½ and 5 hours a day, according to the time of year. The average set is switched to Independent Television programmes for about 61 per cent of this time, to BBC programmes for about 39 per cent. The average number viewing on each set is about 2.2.

The Most Popular TV Programmes

The most popular networked programmes during a single week in November 1962 (week ended 25th November) and the most popular programmes in individual Independent Television areas during the same week, are shown in the accompanying tables. The position of a programme in the “Top Twenty” networked programmes is determined by the total number of homes viewing the programme. If a programme is not shown by one or more of the regional companies or is shown at a different time it may therefore not appear in the “Top Twenty”, even though it was highly popular in those areas where it was seen.

There are considerable variations from week to week in the programmes which have the largest viewing audiences and their order in the list. The week for which details are given here is, however, typical of the kind of programmes which are regularly viewed by the greatest number of people. A table showing the relative popularity of serious television programmes is included in the chapter on Programme Policy.

Network Top Twenty
Week ended 25th November 1962

Programme Company ITV Areas Homes Viewing (000’s) Average Number of Viewers* (000’s)
1 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada All 8,424 20,218
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada All 8,302 19,925
3 Take Your Pick A-R All 7,203 17,287
4 Double Your Money A-R All 6,959 16,702
5 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV All 6,715 15,445
6 Bootsie and Snudge Granada All 6,471 15,530
7 No Hiding Place A-R All 6,349 14,603
7= Val Parnell’s Sunday Palladium ATV All 6,349 15,873
9 Armchair Theatre (The Big Ride) ABC All 6,227 13,699
10. Take a Letter Granada All except Anglia 6,012 13,828
11 The Dickie Henderson Show A-R All except Westward 5,865 12,317
12 Bronco BBC All 5,860
13 Emergency-Ward 10 (Tuesday) ATV All 5,738 13,771
13= Play of the Week (The Typewriter) A-R All 5,738 10,902
15 Z Cars (Wednesday) BBC All 5,616
16 The Bruce Forsyth Show ATV All 5,494 13,186
17 Harpers West One ATV All except TWW & Grampian 5,454 11,999
18 Here’s Harry BBC All 5,372
19 Citizen James BBC All 5,250
20 Thank Your Lucky Stars ABC All except Anglia 5,187 12,968

*This column gives estimates of the average total number of viewers for the listed ITV programmes during the month of November 1962.

Source: TAM

AREA TOP TENS
Week ended 25th November 1962

LONDON
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 58
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 56
3 No Hiding Place A-R 50
3= Val Parnell’s Sunday Palladium ATV 50
5 The Dickie Henderson Show A-R 49
5= Dr. Kildare BBC 49
5= Armchair Theatre (The Big Ride) ABC 49
8 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 48
9 Citizen James BBC 47
10 Take Your Pick A-R 46
THE NORTH
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 77
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 76
3 Take Your Pick A-R 62
4 Double Your Money A-R 58
4= Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 58
6 Armchair Theatre (The Big Ride) ABC 53
7 Harpers West One ATV 52
7= No Hiding Place A-R 52
7= Take A Letter Granada 52
7= Bootsie and Snudge Granada 52

The top BBC programme was Z Cars with a rating of 50

SOUTH WALES AND WEST
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 65
2 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 64
3 Take Your Pick A-R 55
4 Double Your Money A-R 54
5 Outlaws TWW 53
6 Discs A Go-Go TWW 51
6= Huckleberry Hound TWW 51
8 Citizen James BBC 50
8= Bronco BBC 50
10 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 49
10= Man of the World ATV 49
NORTH-EAST ENGLAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 79
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 73
3 Take Your Pick A-R 72
4 Double Your Money A-R 68
5 No Hiding Place A-R 64
5= Take A Letter Granada 64
5= The Flintstones Tyne Tees 64
8 Armchair Theatre (The Big Ride) ABC 63
9 77, Sunset Strip Tyne Tees 60
9= Candid Camera ABC 60

The top BBC programme was Bronco with a rating of 52

SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Take Your Pick A-R 59
2 Double Your Money A-R A-R 55
3 Bertram Mills Circus BBC 53
4 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 51
4= Sports Desk Westward 51
4= Dixon of Dock Green BBC 51
7 Treasure Hunt Westward 50
7= Here and Now (Thursday) A-R 50
7= Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 50
7= Laramie BBC 50
THE BORDERS
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Take Your Pick A-R 76
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 73
3 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 69
4 Take A Letter Granada 62
5 Double Your Money A-R 61
5= Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 61
7 Sportsview BBC 57
8 Bootsie and Snudge Granada 55
9 Bertram Mills Circus BBC 54
9= Laramie BBC 54
WEST AND NORTH WALES
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Maigret BBC 49
1= Bertram Mills Circus BBC 49
3 Double Your Money A-R 45
3= Take Your Pick A-R 45
5 Here’s Harry BBC 44
6 Val Parnell’s Sunday Palladium ATV 43
6= The Black & White Minstrel Show BBC 43
8= Take A Letter Granada 41
8= Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 41
8= 6 More Faces of Jim BBC 41
8= Amateur Boxing BBC 41
THE MIDLANDS
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 70
2 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 69
3 The Saint (Thursday) ATV 66
4 Double Your Money A-R 60
5 Take Your Pick A-R 58
6 Bootsie and Snudge Granada 56
7 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 55
8 Take A Letter Granada 53
8= The Dickie Henderson Show A-R 53
10 No Hiding Place A-R 52
10= Bonanza ATV 52

The top BBC programmes were Here’s Harry and Bronco with a rating of 51

CENTRAL SCOTLAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 69
2 The Saint (Thursday) ATV 66
3 The Roaring 20’s Scottish 65
4 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 64
5 The Dickie Henderson Show A-R 62
6 Bootsie and Snudge Granada 60
7 Double Your Money A-R 59
7= Francie and Josie Scottish 59
9 All Our Yesterdays Granada 58
9= Kingsley Amis Goes Pop Scottish 58
9= Bonanza ATV 58

The top BBC programme was Bronco with a rating of 53

SOUTHERN ENGLAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Take Your Pick A-R 6t
2 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 58
3 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 57
4 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 54
4= Val Parnell’s Sunday Palladium ATV 54
6 No Hiding Place A-R 53
6= Out Of Town Southern 53
8 Bootsie and Snudge Granada 52
9 Emergency-Ward 10 (Tuesday) ATV 51
10 The Bruce Forsyth Show ATV 50

The top BBC programme was Citizen James with a rating of 46

EAST ANGLIA
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 75
2 Double Your Money A-R 71
2= Take Your Pick A-R 71
4 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 69
5 Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 61
6 No Hiding Place A-R 59
6= Bertram Mills Circus BBC 59
8 Val Parnell’s Sunday Palladium ATV 57
9 Bootsie and Snudge Granada 55
9= Dixon of Dock Green BBC 55
NORTHERN IRELAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Take Your Pick A-R 83
2 Double Your Money A-R 77
3 Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 74
4 Bootsie and Snudge Granada Granada 69
4= Sam Benedict A-R 69
4= Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 69
7 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 68
8 Take A Letter Granada 67
9 Command (Friday) Ulster 60
10 Command (Wednesday) Ulster 59
10= Yogi Bear A-R 59
10= Bronco BBC 59
NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND
Originating Programme Company Homes Viewing %
1 Take Your Pick A-R 65
2 Calum’s Ceilidh Grampian 63
3 Double Your Money A-R 59
4 Take A Letter Granada 58
4= Coronation Street (Wednesday) Granada 58
6 Coronation Street (Monday) Granada 57
7 A’ The Airts Grampian 56
7= Emergency-Ward 10 (Friday) ATV 56
9 Route ’66 (Once to Every Man) Grampian 54
9= Bronco BBC 54

Source: TAM

Appendix 2

THE ADVERTISING OF MEDICINES AND TREATMENTS

(British Code of Standards, 4th edition: January 1958)

This Code has the support of the following organisations: The Newspaper Proprietors Association, The Newspaper Society, The Periodical Proprietors Association, The Proprietary Association of Great Britain, The London Poster Advertising Association, The Solus Outdoor Advertising Association, The Advertising Association, The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, The British Poster Advertising Association, The Screen Advertising Association, The Independent Television Companies. The Code has been adopted by the Advisory Committee of the Independent Television Authority set up under the Television Act, 1954, Section 8 (2) (b).

The Code has been drafted for the guidance of advertisers, manufacturers, distributors, advertising agencies, publishers and suppliers of various advertising media. The paragraphs are arranged and indexed for easy reference. It is important that they should be regarded as setting forth the minimum standards to be observed by the parties concerned.

The harm to the individual that may result from exaggerated, misleading or unwarranted claims justifies the adoption of a very high standard and the inclusion of considerable detail in a Code designed to guide those who are concerned with this form of advertising.

Newspapers and other advertising media are urged not to accept advertisements in respect of any product or treatment from any advertiser or advertising agency who disregards the provisions of this Code in any form of advertising or publicity relating to that product or treatment.

The advance of medical science may influence the view to be taken of the efficacy of medicines, products, appliances or treatments and, therefore, this Code will be subject to periodic review.

The provisions of this Code do not apply to an advertisement published by or under the authority of a Government Ministry or Department, nor to an advertisement published only in so far as is reasonably necessary to bring it to the notice of registered medical or dental practitioners, registered pharmacists or registered nurses.

Section I General Principles

1. Cure. No advertisement should contain a claim to cure any ailment or symptoms of ill-health, nor should an advertisement contain a word or expression used in such a form or context as to mean in the positive sense the extirpation of any ailment, illness or disease.

2. Illnesses, etc., properly requiring medical attention. No advertisement should contain any matter which can be regarded as an offer of a medicine or product for, or advice relating to the treatment of, serious diseases, complaints, conditions, indications or symptoms which should rightly receive the attention of a registered medical practitioner. (See also Sections II and III.)

3. Misleading or exaggerated claims. No advertisement should contain any matter which directly or by implication misleads or departs from the truth as to the composition, character or action of the medicine or treatment advertised or as to its suitability for the purpose for which it is recommended

4. Appeals to fear. No advertisement should be calculated to induce fear on the part of the reader that he is suffering, or may without treatment suffer, or suffer more severely, from an ailment, illness or disease.

5. Competitions. No advertisement should contain any prize competition or similar scheme. It should be noted that such advertisements may constitute an offence under Section 26 of the Betting and Lotteries Act, 1934.

6. Diagnosis or Treatment by Correspondence. No advertisement should offer to diagnose, by correspondence, diseases, conditions or any symptoms of ill-health in a human being; or request from any person a statement of his or any other person’s symptoms of ill-health with a view to advising as to or providing for treatment of such conditions of ill-health by correspondence. Nor should any advertisement offer to treat by correspondence any ailment, illness, disease, or symptoms thereof in a human being.

7. Disparaging References. No advertisement should directly or by implication, disparage the products, medicines or treatments of another advertiser or manufacturer, or registered medical practitioners or the medical profession.

8. Money-back offers. No advertisement should offer to refund money paid.

9. College, Clinic, Institute, Laboratory. No advertisement should contain these or similar terms unless an establishment corresponding with the description used does in fact exist.

10. Doctor, Hospitals, etc. No advertisement should contain any reference to doctors or hospitals, whether British or foreign, unless such reference can be substantiated by independent evidence and can properly be used in the manner proposed.

No advertisement should contain in the name of a product the term ‘Doctor’ or ‘Dr.’ unless the product were so named prior to 1st January, 1944.

11. Products offered particularly to women. No advertisement of products, medicines or treatments for disorders or irregularities peculiar to women should contain the following or similar expressions which may imply that the product, medicine or treatment advertised can be effective in inducing miscarriage:

‘Female Pills’, ‘Not to be used in cases of pregnancy,’ ‘The stronger the remedy the more effective it is,’ ‘Never known to fail.’

12. Illustrations. No advertisement should contain any illustration which by itself or in combination with words used in connection therewith is likely to convey a misleading impression, or if the reasonable inference to be drawn from such advertisement infringes any of the provisions of this Code.

13. Exaggerated copy. No advertisement should contain copy which is exaggerated by reason of the improper use of words, phrases or methods of presentation, e.g. the use of the words ‘magic, magical, miracle, miraculous.’

14. ‘Natural’ Remedies. No advertisement should claim or suggest, contrary to the fact, that the article advertised is in the form in which it occurs in nature or that its value lies in its being a ‘natural’ product.

15. Special claims. No advertisement should contain any reference which is calculated to lead the public to assume that the article, product, medicine or treatment advertised has some special property or quality which is in fact unknown or unrecognised.

16. Sexual Weakness. Premature Ageing. Loss of Virility. No advertisement should claim that the product, medicine or treatment advertised will promote sexual virility or be effective in treating sexual weakness, or habits associated with sexual excess or indulgence, or any ailment, illness or disease associated with those habits.

In particular, such terms as ‘premature ageing,’ ‘loss of virility’ will be regarded as conditions for which medicines, products, appliances or treatment may not be advertised.

17. Slimming, Weight Reduction or Limitation, or Figure Control. No advertisement should offer any product or treatment for slimming, weight reduction or limitation, or figure control if the taking or using of the product or following the course of treatment is likely to lead to harmful effects.

18. Tonic. The use of this expression in advertisements should not imply that the product or medicine can be used in the treatment of sexual weakness.

19. Testimonials. No statement or implication should be allowed to appear in a testimonial which would not be permitted in the text of the advertisement. In any case no advertisement should contain a testimonial other than one limited to the actual views of the writer, nor any testimonial given by a doctor other than a registered British medical practitioner unless it is obvious in the advertisement that the writer is not a registered British medical practitioner.

20. Hypnosis. No advertisement should contain any offer to diagnose or treat complaints or conditions by hypnosis.

21. Products offered for baldness. No advertisement should claim or imply that the product, medicine, or treatment advertised will do more than arrest the loss of hair, but claims to restore lost hair may be permitted provided that they refer only to cases of temporary baldness.

22. Hæmorrhoids. No advertisement should offer products for the treatment of haemorrhoids unless the following warning notice appears with the directions for use on the container itself or its labels:

‘Persons who suffer from haemorrhoids are advised to consult a doctor.’

Section 2 Restrictions Imposed by Statute

1. Cancer The Cancer Act, 1939, makes it an offence to take part in the publication of any advertisement which contains an offer to treat any person for cancer, to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice calculated to lead to its use in the treatment of cancer.

2. Abortion. The Pharmacy and Medicines Act, 1941, makes it an offence to take part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any article in terms which are calculated to lead to the use of the article for procuring the miscarriage of women.

3. Bright’s Disease, Cataract, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Fits, Glaucoma, Locomotor Ataxy, Paralysis, Tuberculosis. The Pharmacy and Medicines Act, 1941, makes it an offence to take part in the publication of an advertisement referring to any article in terms which are calculated to lead to the use of that article for the purpose of the treatment of these diseases.

Note. — Bright’s Disease is sometimes referred to as ‘Nephritis,’ Epilepsy as ‘Falling Sickness,’ and Tuberculosis as ‘Phthisis,’ ‘Consumption,’ or ‘Wasting Disease.’

4. Venereal Diseases. The Venereal Diseases Act, 1917, makes it an offence to advertise in any way any preparation or substance of any kind as a medicine for the prevention, cure or relief of venereal diseases.

The above prohibitions do not apply in the case of technical journals which circulate among persons of the classes mentioned in the respective Acts. It is permissible, for example, for advertisements to appear in technical journals intended for circulation mainly among registered medical practitioners, registered pharmacists and nurses (except in the case of (4) above, where no provision is made in the Venereal Diseases Act, for advertising in journals circulating among nurses).

The foregoing is a very broad outline of the effects of the relevant section of the respective Acts. For further and more detailed information, reference should be made to the Acts.

Section 3 Examples of Diseases, Illnesses or Conditions for which Medicines, Treatments, Products or Appliances may not be advertised

(See Section I, Clause 2)

No advertisement should refer to any medicine, product, appliance or advice in terms calculated to lead to its use for the treatment of any of the following illnesses or conditions:

amenorrhoea; anæmia (pernicious); ankles, diseased; arterio sclerosis; artery troubles; arthritis; asthma (a), barber’s rash; bleeding disease; blood disease; blood pressure; breasts, diseases of the; carbuncles; cardiac symptoms, heart troubles; convulsions; dermatitis; diseased ankles; disseminated sclerosis; ears (any structural or organic defect of the auditory system); enlarged glands; erysipelas; eyes (any structural or organic defect of the optical system); fungus infections (b); gallstones; glands, enlarged; goitre; heart troubles, cardiac symptoms; impetigo; indigestion, where the reference is to chronic or persistent; insomnia, where the reference is to chronic or persistent; itch; kidneys, diseases of the; lazy eye; leg troubles; legs, bad, painful; lupus; menopausal ailments; obesity; osteoarthritis; pernicious anaemia; phlebitis; prolapse; psoriasis—except where the reference is confined to relief from the effects of the complaint; purpura; pyorrhœa; rheumatism, where the reference is to chronic or persistent; rheumatoid arthritis; ringworm; scabies; skin diseases, where the reference is to ‘all’ or ‘most’ skin diseases, or skin ailments in general; Sleeplessness, where the reference is to chronic or persistent; squint; sycosis; thrombosis; ulcers: duodenal, gastric, pyloric, stomach; varicose veins (c); whooping cough (d).

(a) The restriction does not apply provided that:—
(1) It is made clear in the advertisement that the medicine, treatment, product or appliance advertised is only for the alleviation of an attack of asthma.
(2) The advertisement contains a recommendation that sufferers should seek medical advice.
(b) The prohibition does not apply to advertisements of products for the treatment of Athlete’s Foot.
(c) Advertisements for elastic hosiery are permissible provided that no claim is made that the product has any beneficial effect on the condition.
(d) This restriction does not apply where the reference to whooping cough appears only on labels or in literature issued with the product and is limited to offering the product for alleviating the symptoms of whooping cough.

Advertising Control

It is a fundamental principle of the Television Act that the programmes should not be provided or sponsored by advertisers, but procured by the Independent Television Authority from independent programme companies under contracts to it. The advertiser is concerned only to buy time in television for the insertion of his advertisement just as he buys screen time in the cinema or space in a newspaper or magazine. He has no share in programme production and no say in programming decisions: these are matters for the broadcasters—that is to say the programme companies and the Authority.

The income of Independent Television, apart from the overseas sale of programmes, derives from the sale of these advertising “spots” of time, each ranging from 5 to 60 or more seconds in duration. The service gets no share of the television licence fees or other public funds.

There are two provisions in the Television Act for this total distinction between programmes and advertisements. Under Section 4(3) and paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule of the Act, it is the Authority’s duty to secure that the advertisements are “clearly distinguishable as such and recognisably separate from the rest of the programmes”. But further, Section 4(6) of the Act lays down that

Nothing shall be included in any programmes broadcast by the Authority whether in an advertisement or not which states suggests or implies or could reasonably be taken to state suggest or imply that any part of any programme broadcast by the Authority which is not an advertisement has been supplied or suggested by any advertiser; and, except as an advertisement, nothing shall be included in any programme broadcast by the Authority which could reasonably be supposed to have been included therein in return for payment or other valuable consideration to the relevant programme contractor….

Exceptional allowance is made for charitable appeals, reviews of publications or entertainments, documentary programmes and other items, but none of the exceptions weakens the force of the general requirement that nothing should be done which might give to reasonable viewers even the impression that an advertiser has provided a programme. The system has from the beginning proceeded smoothly and without argument on this basis. Some of the popular imported programmes do owe their existence to advertisers who have “sponsored” them in their country of origin—notably some of the programmes from the United States that are enjoyed by viewers of either of the British television services. But for British viewers these programmes have been bought and broadcast on the decisions of one of the broadcasting bodies and not on the decisions of advertisers.

The Amount of Advertising

The Television Act does not lay down precisely the amount of advertising that may be allowed: it simply places upon the Authority the duty to secure “that the amount of time given to advertising in the programmes shall not be so great as to detract from the value of the programmes as a medium of entertainment, instruction, and information”. Since the beginning of transmissions in 1955, the Authority has allowed a maximum of six minutes of spot advertising an hour, averaged over the day’s programmes, but a further rule restricts the maximum to seven minutes in any single “clock-hour” (e.g. from 6-7 p.m., 7-8 p.m., etc.).

Control of the maximum amount of advertising by the clock hour has its merits as a tidy statistical device, but of course the rigidity of the clock hour conflicts occasionally with the need for flexibility in the timing of programmes and with the natural incidence of intervals in which the advertisements may be shown. So the Authority is prepared occasionally to allow minor departures from the seven-minute maximum if, for example, an interval of advertising falls just on one side of the striking of an hour instead of another, thus carrying a minute or two of advertising from one clock hour into another. In each case, however, the excess is counter-balanced by an equivalent reduction in the amount of advertising in the adjacent hour.

The following figures show the average hourly amount of advertising for all the Authority’s stations in service during each month of 1962:

Average amount of advertising
Month Average per hour over whole day (minutes) Average per hour between 7 and 10 p.m. (minutes)
January 4.9 6.6
February 4.6 6.3
March 4.7 6.2
April 4.9 6.2
May 4.4 6.2
June 4.4 6.0
July 5.0 6.5
August 4.4 6.1
September 4.2 6.1
October 4.4 6.4
November 4.9 6.5
December 4.3 5.9

Over the year as a whole, an average of 4.6 minutes an hour of spot advertising (about 7½ per cent of the broadcasting time) was transmitted from each station.

The Independent Television Authority allows less advertising in its programmes than is common in comparable self-supporting systems abroad.

Distribution of Advertisements

The Television Act makes specific provision for the insertion of advertisements not only at the beginning or the end of a programme but “in natural breaks therein”. This arrangement allows an even spread of the advertising and does not militate against long programmes which might otherwise be followed by impracticably long periods of advertising. In variety and light entertainment programmes, the succession of items offers a succession of natural breaks between them. In sports programmes there are natural breaks between events. Panel games contain obvious natural breaks between rounds of questions or when one contestant gives way to another. For much of the rest of the television programmes, the theatrical convention is observable—breaks marked in presentation by a change of scene, a significant lapse of time or a new sequence of events which in the theatre may coincide with the dropping of the curtain between two or three acts, or the darkening of the stage between scenes.

Some overseas broadcasting authorities aim to reduce the length of individual intervals of advertising; some also limit the number of advertisements that may appear in an interval. This has the effect of increasing the number of advertising intervals, in some cases to an average of five or six an hour. The Authority, however, has been concerned to keep the number of intervals down by extending their length as far as may be consistent with good presentation of both programmes and advertisements. There may be up to three minutes of advertising in intervals between programmes and up to two minutes in an interval in a 30-minute programme. Other intervals carry up to 2½ minutes. Numerical restrictions agreed between the Authority and the programme companies provide that, as a general rule, advertising intervals are restricted to two in the course of a programme of one or 1½ hours and one in a 30-minute programme. But not all programmes have advertising intervals and some 60-minute programmes have only one; and by agreement with the Postmaster-General, advertising may not appear within two minutes of the beginning or the end of programmes broadcast to schools, religious programmes and any broadcast of a formal Royal occasion.

As a result of these policies, the number of advertising intervals at the beginning and the end of programmes and in natural breaks is on average no more than three an hour over the evening and fractionally less than three an hour over the day. Taking the evening hours of 6-11 p.m. in a typical week in 1962, the figures were:

Number of programme hours 35
Number of programmes 67
Number of advertising intervals (including the interval at the end of the final programme in each period of five hours)
(a) Between programmes 57
(b) Within programmes 47
Total 104

These 35 evening programme hours included 30 with three advertising intervals, three with four intervals, one with two intervals and one with no interval.

Taking the whole of an average week in 1962, about 115 programmes were transmitted from a single station. Of these:

55 programmes had no internal advertising at all. These programmes accounted for about 20 hours out of the 60 or so transmitted and included news bulletins, Emergency – Ward 10, This Week, certain other documentary and current affairs programmes and some of the early evening children’s programmes, as well as the afternoon programmes for schools and religious programmes.

40 programmes had one internal break selected for the insertion of advertisements. While most of these were half-hour programmes, the group included one or two longer documentaries and three of the 60-minute plays: Probation Officer, Television Playhouse and Armchair Theatre.

20 programmes had 2 internal advertising intervals. These included 60-minute variety programmes and westerns and the 90-minute Play of the Week.

Advertising Magazines

Since the introduction of Independent Television, the permissible amount of advertising has included not only an average of six minutes of spot advertising an hour, but also a limited number of advertising magazines. This form of advertising has been relatively popular with many viewers. After consultation with the Authority, however, the Postmaster-General decided that the magazines should be discontinued after 31st March 1963.

Control of Standards of Advertising

The Television Act is in many respects an instrument of consumer protection. It gives to a public board, the Independent Television Authority, the duty and the power to exclude from television any advertisement that could reasonably be said to be misleading. Secondly, Section 4(5) of the Act requires the Authority to consult with the Postmaster-General from time to time as to the classes of goods or services which should not be advertised and the methods of advertising that should not be used in television, and to carry out any direction that he may feel the need to issue in these fields, over and above anything the Authority itself, with his concurrence, may propose to do.

The Advertising Advisory Committee

Under Section 8(2) of the Television Act, the Authority is required to appoint “a committee representative of organisations, authorities and persons concerned with standards of conduct in the advertising of goods and services (including in particular the advertising of goods and services for medical or surgical purposes) to give advice to the Authority and programme contractors with a view to the exclusion of misleading advertisements… and to prepare and submit to the Authority a code of standards of (advertising) conduct….” The Authority must comply and secure compliance with the code of standards recommended by that Committee.

The Advertising Advisory Committee was appointed by the Authority early in 1955, in good time for it to produce the required code of standards before transmissions began in the autumn of that year. Three of the Committee’s eleven members (excluding the Chairman) represent organized advertising bodies that are “concerned with standards of conduct in the advertising of goods and services”. These are the representatives of the Advertising Association, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers. Five represent organizations that are concerned in particular with standards of conduct in “the advertising of goods or services for medical or surgical purposes”. These are the representatives of the Ministry of Health, the British Medical Association, the British Dental Association, the Pharmaceutical Society, and the British Code of Standards Committee (the last being a body composed of Press, periodical, and advertising interests that is concerned with the voluntary control of medical advertising in media other than television). There is a representative of the Retail Trading-Standards Association (a national association of retail traders and manufacturers that is concerned to bring influence to bear against manufacturers or traders whose advertisements or selling methods or descriptions or merchandise are misleading to the public), and finally two independent members who are simply concerned about standards generally.

Members of the Advertising Advisory Committee are not restricted to expressions of opinion on subjects of special interest to the bodies they represent. They bring their minds to bear on all issues before the Committee and are fully aware of their own and the Authority’s responsibilities to the public.

Code of Advertising Standards

The Advisory Committee prepared the necessary code of advertising standards before transmissions began in 1955 and has kept it under review. The code is published by the Authority as the Principles for Television Advertising and is made freely available to advertisers and their agencies. It is reproduced at the end of this chapter. It takes the form of a general code with two appendices containing detailed rules about (i) specific classes of advertising and methods of advertising, and (ii) the advertising of medicines and treatments.

On being consulted by the Authority in accordance with Section 4(5) of the Television Act, the Postmaster-General accepted those parts of the code which deal with the classes of advertising and methods of advertising that should not be allowed.

Supervising Advertisements

Since the Authority itself is ultimately responsible for the broadcasting of the advertisements, it maintains a small department headed by a senior specialist to keep a general watch on the standards of television advertising as it appears on the screen and to raise any matters of detail or general interest that seem to need further consideration by the Authority, its Advisory Committee or the programme companies. But there are some 6,000 new television advertisements every year, and before they are accepted for broadcasting it must be ensured that they conform, in content and style, with the principles laid down by the Authority and its Advisory Committee. That considerable day-to-day task is devolved in practice to the programme companies, subject to consultation with the Authority’s advertising control staff in cases of doubt.

In advance of the production of a filmed advertisement the script, including fairly detailed indications of the filming directions, is submitted by an advertising agency to a special department of the Independent Television Companies Association (ITCA) for consideration in relation to the Principles for Television Advertising and the fund of interpretative rules and understandings that have over the years been developed in operating the television code of advertising practice. If necessary, the ITCA asks for substantiating evidence in support of an advertiser’s claims and always calls for full details of competitions or gifts to be advertised as enclosures in packets, substantiation of sales figures that may be claimed for a product and of claims of a technical nature. The ITCA may also find it necessary to seek fuller information about the scenes or situations that the advertiser proposes to depict. This information is circulated to all of the programme companies and any problems that arise are discussed by an experienced group of their representatives — the ITCA Advertisement Copy Committee.

To assist the Copy Committee in the assessment of claims involving medical, scientific or technical facts, the programme companies retain as advisers a panel of independent consultants, all eminent in their professions of medicine, dentistry, nutrition, analytical chemistry, dermatology, veterinary surgery and others, who have been nominated for the purpose by their professional bodies or are otherwise acceptable to these bodies. Every new television advertisement for a proprietary medicine, for example, is submitted by the ITCA to the appropriate consultant or consultants, so that the Copy Committee can have before it an independent expert opinion on the validity of a claim and, if necessary, on the tone and style of its presentation.

There is a twofold need for these relatively stringent precautions. First, there is the Authority’s legal duty to secure high standards of probity in the advertising through adherence to the spirit as well as the letter of the Principles for Television Advertising. Secondly, there is the nature of the medium. It is recognised not only by the Authority and the programme companies but by the advertisers that while the factual bases of advertising claims should be of consistent reliability in all media, the presentation of the facts calls for special care in television. Sound and motion give a peculiar air of reality to television advertising and the impression of person-to-person communication can add so much to its impact.

Advertising and Children

The depth and complexity of the operation may be judged from one small but important example. Paragraph 10 of the Principles for Television Advertising deals broadly with the conditions under which advertising may be addressed to children. These include the avoidance of any method of advertising that might result in harm to children physically, mentally or morally; or which takes advantage of their natural credulity and sense of loyalty; or which would encourage them to enter strange places; or lead them to believe they will be inferior to other children if they do not own some product; or encourage them to make a nuisance of themselves. Practical extensions and interpretations of these rules require that free gifts to children in packets of cereals, comics, and so on, are presented in such a way as to make clear their true nature and size — for example, by showing the gift in a child’s hands or beside some common object that fixes its scale. While children are not expected to be unnaturally and incredibly well-behaved, they must nevertheless be shown to be reasonably good-mannered (though opinions are bound to differ about this). Of even more importance, very young children should not be shown in dangerous practices which others might be tempted to emulate to their peril—for example, climbing on boxes or chairs to reach high shelves. And advertisers are expected to do their best to exclude from family scenes in advertisements anything that seems at variance with the proper safety precautions that should be taken by parents with small children—for example, a fireguard must be fitted in front of an open fire if young children are about, and “mothers” should not leave medicine bottles at the bedside of young “invalids”. If children are to be shown in the street, they should not be shown to behave unsafely in traffic; and if they are to be seen at play in the street, it should not be an open street but a play street.

Bearing in mind that there are many advertisements featuring family scenes or children; that they are designed and produced by a multiplicity of advertisers, agencies and film units; and that in any case so much depends upon subjective judgment, it would be little short of miraculous if there were nothing at all in the advertisements to which exception might be taken in one or other of these respects by some viewers. But it seems reasonable to assert that enough care is taken to satisfy most observers.

So the careful consideration of new advertisements in relation to the Principles for Television Advertising proceeds effectively before the advertisers and their agencies set the film producers’ cameras in motion to record the “commercials”. Voluntary co-operation at that early stage helps to ensure that the complexities, inseparable from the responsible use of such a persuasive advertising medium as television, are resolved before expense is incurred in the production of a costly film that might otherwise be found to need amendment when it is finally examined before acceptance for broadcasting.

Rules as to advertisements

Television Act 1954

Second Schedule

  1. The advertisements must be clearly distinguishable as such and recognisably separate from the rest of the programme.
  2. The amount of time given to advertising in the programmes shall not be so great as to detract from the value of the programmes as a medium of entertainment, instruction and information.
  3. Advertisements shall not be inserted otherwise than at the beginning or the end of the programme or in natural breaks therein, and rules (to be agreed upon from time to time between the Authority and the Postmaster-General, or settled by the Postmaster-General in default of such agreement) shall be observed —
    1. as to the interval which must elapse between any two periods given over to advertisements;
    2. as to the classes of broadcasts (which shall in particular include the broadcast of any religious service) in which advertisements may not be inserted, and the interval which must elapse between any such broadcast and any previous or subsequent period given over to advertisements.
  4. In the acceptance of advertisements, there must be no unreasonable discrimination either against or in favour of any particular advertiser.
  5. The charges made by any programme contractor for advertisements shall be in accordance with tariffs fixed by him from time to time, being tariffs drawn up in such detail and published in such form and manner as the Authority may determine.
  6. Any such tariffs may make provision for different circumstances and, in particular, may provide, in such detail as the Authority may determine, for the making, in special circumstances, of additional special charges.
  7. No advertisement shall be permitted which is inserted by or on behalf of any body the objects whereof are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature, and no advertisement shall be permitted which is directed towards any religious or political end or has any relation to any industrial dispute.
  8. If, in the case of any of the television broadcasting stations used by the Authority, there appears to the Authority to be a sufficient local demand to justify that course, provision shall be made for a reasonable allocation of time for local advertisements, of which a suitable proportion shall be short local advertisements.