ITN, Television House, Kingsway, London W.C.2.
HOLborn 7690
ITN is a non-profit-making company which provides daily programmes of national and international news to all stations throughout the Independent Television network. It also produces a number of other programmes for individual companies and operates a daily newsfilm agency service for overseas television stations.
Organisation
ITN is a subsidiary of the six oldest programme companies, and is controlled by a Board of Directors nominated by those companies. The Chairmanship of the Board is held by representatives of the companies in turn. The Director-General of the ITA normally attends ITN Board meetings and the appointment of the Editor of ITN must be approved by the ITA. The costs of the ITN daily news service are divided among all independent television companies on the basis of the official ITA coverage for their area.
Directors
Alfred Francis, OBE (Chairman) (TWW); P Adorian, MIEE, MBrit, IRE, Captain Brownrigg, CBE, DSO, RN (Rtd), (Associated-Rediffusion); Norman Collins, E Roth (ATV); Victor Peers, Bernard Floud (Granada); Sir Philip Warter, Howard Thomas (ABC); James M Coltart (Scottish TV); Geoffrey Cox, CBE (Editor).
Officers
The Editor is Chief Executive. Other senior officers are: Denis Thomas (Deputy Editor); Ian Trethowan and L Thompson (Assistant Editors); W Hodgson (General Manager); MC Chapman, FCA, ACIS (Secretary); N Clark (Newsfilm Manager).
Programmes
Daily news bulletins, news headlines, special events such as orbital flights or international crises; weekly foreign news programme Roving Report; annual Party Political conference reports; late night news analysis programme Dateline; and a weekly sports report, Sportscast.
Facilities
ITN has its newsroom and editorial offices, a film processing plant, film cutting rooms, dubbing facilities, tele-recording apparatus, and studios on the seventh and eighth floors of Television House, Kingsway. The main studio is 39′ × 28′ and is equipped with four Marconi Mk. IV 4½” Image Orthicon cameras. It has three Pye 16/32 multiplexed telecine Staticon channels, capable of being interlocked to four Rank-Kalee 16- and 35-mm. magnetic/optical sound reproducers.
Sound recording and transfer facilities include two Rank-Kalee 16-mm. and one 33-mm. magnetic recorders, and a variety of tape and disc recorders.
ITN has its own newsfilm camera teams, and an extensive network of local film “stringers” throughout the British Isles and in all important overseas centres.
Newsfilm Service
ITN operates, in association with C.B.S. of America, one of the world’s leading newsfilm agencies. Daily shipments of newsfilm are made by ITN from London, and more than thirty overseas television stations subscribe to the ITN service. Many others, including more than seventy stations in the USA, also receive ITN film through the C.B.S. Newsfilm service.