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