We in ATV are very proud that for five days a week we are Independent Television in the Midlands.

It is a great privilege to operate from Birmingham, the industrial capital of the United Kingdom.

We are proud too, of those who serve ATV in the Midlands. Under the lively leadership of Philip Dorté we have a fine team of enthusiasts and experts. Working with them we aim to give as much enjoyment as possible, over as wide a range as possible — light-hearted, serious and moderately serious.

We believe that the purpose of television is to give entertainment and relaxation. We have tried to carry out that purpose since we first started in Birmingham in February, 1956.

We shall continue this endeavour to the utmost of our ability, and to bring to the development of the still new, still very exciting, medium of television the benefits of each new advance in the science of communication and each fresh ingenuity of the human mind.

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I went on to explain the intricacies of I.T.V. “Networking” and thus how, for example, the Midland viewer can see our ATV symbol on his screen seven days out of seven, even though ATV are the appointed Programme Contractors in the Midlands on week-days only.

In this booklet we are assuming that readers understand about “Networking” and why a number of the programmes broadcast by the I.T.A.’s transmitter at Lichfield do not actually originate in the Midlands.

Having in mind, too, the constant requests for our Midland stars and our Midland announcers to make personal appearances at every type of function that is held in the Midlands, we are assuming that the reader is most interested in what goes on behind the scenes of television here in the Midlands.

Since February 1956, when Independent Television’s first regional service came on the air in the Midlands, things have moved apace.

ATV’s Midland headquarters have moved to a new and spacious building in Edmund Street, Birmingham; the Alpha Television Studios are now unrecognisable to those who first knew the premises as “The T.V. Theatre” ; the proportion of Midland homes with television sets has increased from 43.6 to 83 per cent (according to a recent survey by the Midlands Electricity Board) and the letters “ATV” have become as familiar in the Midlands as “B.B.C.” which had thirty-five years start over us.

In this booklet will be found information which we hope will be appreciated by viewers and be of interest to that now small proportion of Midlanders whom we do not as yet embrace amongst our audience.

ATV in the Midlands will continue in the future, as in the past, to keep in the closest possible touch with its audience. By leavening the best that is available in Drama and Light Entertainment with the type of programme that is entertaining as well as informative we hope that we shall continue to maintain the confidence and following of the vast majority of Midlanders.

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“ATV the Midlands” has a record of seven years of sustained enterprise and expansion in the region which was the first outside London to be served by Independent Television.

A sense of excitement and readiness to face new challenges marked the service in its early days. It is still the characteristic of a progressive undertaking ready to meet the needs of changing times.

The Midland area is the most “television conscious” in Britain.

Licence issues show that there are more receivers operating here, per head of population, than in any other region. The Midland audience will soon approach seven million: in the main evening periods 70 per cent of viewers prefer ATV programmes.

As we strive to hold the mirror of life in the Midlands we are encouraged by this evidence of public approval. Midlanders are realists: they know what they like — and they like what they know Channel 8 will supply.

Programme output has improved in range and character. That policy will continue, for our planning is backed by the finest technical resources, artistic and creative skills.

The Midland area is one of contrasts. It includes industrial and rural interests in great variety, all backed by strong local loyalties and cherished traditions.

In the great diversity of those interests, television plays a major role by showing the world to the Midlands — and the Midlands to the world.

In the exciting and expanding world of television, pioneering achievements in regional broadcasting stand to the credit of ATV

Enterprise

In its service to the Midlands ATV were :

• First To broadcast regional daily news bulletins.
• First To appoint regional station announcers.
• First To begin each day’s programmes with a “Thought for the Day” — and to end transmissions with the Epilogue.
• First To screen a regional Municipal Election results service.
• First To cater for midday viewers with an outstandingly successful light entertainment — “Lunch Box”.
• First To provide a series of guidance on careers for boys and girls leaving school — “Where Are You Going?”
• First To broadcast a Mayor-making ceremony — the main event in Coventry’s municipal year (1957) was the election as Lord Mayor of the late Alderman Mrs. Pearl Hyde.
• First To arrange a regional forum for public discussion on topics of the day — “Midland Affairs”.
• First To produce a weekly serial about a Midland family — “The Wright People”.
• First To take a quiz into the factories — “Hit the Limit”.
• First To bring schools’ broadcasts to a region.

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Television is still a young medium. We believe the future will bring opportunities for further expansion. We look forward to the stimulation and challenge of competition.

ATV are convinced that present restrictions on hours of transmissions should be lifted. The need for this freedom is urgent: it is of prime importance in the Midlands, a region in which there is more shift-working than anywhere else in the country.

Shift workers are as entitled to have a service of entertainment in their homes as those who work routine hours. We would like to provide that service. They should be allowed to watch television when they are relaxing at home in daytime.

We favour true freedom of the air. This means withdrawing restrictions so that we can cater for viewers’ needs at all times.

An end of present regulations would bring increased benefits through opportunities to expand the range of our programmes. Restrictions deny these developments.

Daytime programmes — notably “Lunch Box” and occasional relays of top-class sport — have proved conclusively that there is a vast audience anxious to watch TV at “off peak” times.

More ATV programmes will be screened when we are allowed to put them on the air.

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Our drama department’s range is vast. It extends from Ibsen’s “John Gabriel Borkman” (in which Sir Laurence Olivier made his television debut) to the domestic comedies of “The Larkins” and the affairs of a typical Midland family “The Wright People”.

For television, as for the theatre, London is the main home of plays and players. That is why our biggest drama productions are produced in or near London instead of at Aston. Now, at our Elstree Studio Centre, we have the world’s most modern facilities and technical resources.

There are other reasons. Prominent among these is the availability of the country’s foremost actors and actresses. Most are engaged in London, and the Metropolis inevitably provides the greatest opportunities for available talent.

Many of the stars find it impossible to travel long distances to provincial centres when they have London theatre engagements.

Top theatre and screen performers are not so readily available in the Midlands. There are, of course, many distinguished and experienced players in regional strongholds (particularly in Repertory companies), but relatively few are free for rehearsals and performances at the times demanded by television’s high-pressure schedules.

Television demands are exacting. Like any other programme, screening a play involves a complex and closely integrated system, dovetailed from the planning stage to the last second of performance “on the air.”

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So-called “serious” programmes form a group which is much admired (and much misunderstood) We believe that serious subjects can be dealt with responsibly and intelligently while gaining in impact by lively and entertaining presentation. Being serious does not call for pomposity.

Many ATV programmes have demonstrated how a lively approach can grip the viewers’ attention by stimulating thought and opinion.

Cultural programmes need not be rarified by fussy TV treatment! Ability to blend information with alert treatment has been demonstrated consistently by Sir Kenneth Clark in his programmes on art and architecture and by Alan Taylor, the Oxford don whose history lectures (given without notes, illustrations or backgrounds) set new standards in the vast field of informative broadcasts.

No “opinion” programme has been more successful than “Free Speech”, with its discussions laced by frank exchanges and lively personalities.

Topicality is admirably served by “Right to Reply” and “The Warning Voice”. Its interests have been strongly represented in the Midlands by such surveys of current affairs as “Midland Affairs” and “Midland Grouses”. “Midland Montage” continues to supply features which give the background to the news, and “Look Around” has won esteem as a regional documentary.

The range of topical and documentary features is comprehensive. ATV has turned the searchlight of inquiry on many subjects of profound public importance.

They include “Prison Officer”, “Abortion”, “Polio”, “Eichmann” and major studies of the American way of life. These, under the title of “Main Street, U.S.A.” and “The New Americans” were screened immediately before and after the Presidential Election.

In “Mockba Moscow” ATV broadcast the first full uncensored pictures of life in Moscow as Muscovites went about their ordinary duties.

In dealing with subjects of special regional interest we believe that all assignments should be treated as fully and carefully as inquiries which find their way onto the national network. A good example of careful preparation was provided by “The Fighting Midlands…”, a series in which General Sir Oliver Leese discussed and illustrated the history, campaigns and honours of famous Midland county regiments.

ATV were pioneers in the widely-praised dramatisation of social documentary programmes. These include “Emergency – Ward 10” (the screen’s most successful and longest-running serial), “Probation Officer”, the “Deadline Midnight” stories about life in a national newspaper office and “Harpers West One”, a series about day to day events in a London store — on both sides of the counter.

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Daytime television is another enterprise introduced by ATV. First in its field, and still leading it, is that gay and informal light entertainment “Lunch Box”. It was produced first in September 1956, soon after our Midlands’ service began and has remained high in viewers’ esteem ever since.

“Lunch Box” reached its 1,000th performance in September 1960. Still the fan-mail pours in.

The secret of its remarkable and consistent appeal? Team-work by regular artistes and “star” visitors, backed by the enthusiasm of all associated with its production. At the start a high professional standard was set by hostess Noele Gordon and the enterprising Jerry Allen and his Trio who provide the musical backing. Their standards are the best: they have never flagged.

Its repute is such that internationally-famed stars visiting the Midlands welcome opportunities to appear in this gay informal midday programme. It is famous for its “Memory Lane” features, its anniversary greetings and the liveliness of its sketches.

Every week “Lunch Box” fans come to the studio for the “Open House” performances before studio audiences. They flock in their thousands to welcome Noele and the “Gang” whenever “Lunch Box” is produced as an outside broadcast. When the programme was relayed from Nottingham Forest football ground the attendance was officially estimated at 27,000

“Lunch Box” thrives on its success. It has been waterborne (on a River Severn cruise) and has been to parks, works and recreation grounds, to a R.A.F. station.

It has visited the circus, Dudley Zoo — and it’s been on ice!

Look Around

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ATV decided at the start that the link between studio and home would best be sustained by having station announcers “in vision” — seen on the screen. It has been amply justified.

It is not merely that Jean Morton, Pat Astley and Caroline Lloyd are so professionally competent.

That is a pre-requisite in a service in which the screen is never blank and in which split-second timing is a reality.

They are people, friendly, knowledgeable, accomplished — not disembodied voices. “Announcer” is a modest assessment of their duties.

They introduce programmes and they talk about people and programmes. Even weather forecasts are made human.

• Noele Gordon
• Patricia Cox
• Jean Morton
• Pat Astley
• Caroline Lloyd

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Among other successes she played more than 1,000 performances as Meg Brockie in “Brigadoon”, and thrived on the long-running “Let’s Face It”, “The Lisbon Story” and the late C. B. Cochrane’s “Big Ben”. She was honoured by selection to appear in the Royal Command Performance in 1949.

From the stage she went to America to study television techniques and joined ATV on her return as adviser on women’s programmes.

“Though I knew the Midlands well before I.T.V. programmes began here, I have been astonished by the immediate and tremendous impact ATV programmes made”, she says.

“I soon became convinced of television’s power to transform social life. Midlanders are very friendly people … I know that from the letters they write, from their calls and their greetings.

“Their response is whole-hearted and sincere. Through the screen, I feel I am welcomed into their homes as a friend. No-one who has shared an outside broadcast—such as when we tour “Lunch Box” — can have any doubt about that welcome.

“It’s equally spontaneous when audiences come to Aston to see shows produced. Requests for personal appearances pour in, and I would accept more if there were more than seven days in a week or 24 hours in a day.

“The splendid support we get from the studio back room boys and girls helps to strengthen this contact between performers and the audience at home. It’s delightful to share such experiences”.

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For over five years Birmingham-born Pat has brought information about wide-ranging life and interests of the Midlands and of events grave and gay. She has a flair for news and a remarkable sense of timing in its presentation and emphasis.

Her composure and smiling greeting each evening immediately after the first national news bulletin show nothing of the excitement and streamlined organisation that lie behind the preparation of a newscast as it is brought up-to-the-second with news contributed by staff reporters, interviewers and correspondents in all parts of the Midland counties.

Pat has logged nearly 1,500 news bulletins and her enthusiasm is undiminished. Her zest for news is shown when she goes on interviewing assignments for Midland Montage.

“When I am away from the studio the pleasantest part of my job is interviewing people”, she says. “I’m lucky, for people know me from ‘Midlands News’ and there’s always a welcome. I go to social events of all kinds, yet, as time goes on, I’m still astonished that so many should greet me as a friend. It’s very pleasant, and such convincing proof of the impact of television on the lives of us all”.

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Viewers know her as the friendly hostess whose natural style is an invaluable asset in linking programmes. She is cheerful, charming and spontaneous. They know her, too, as a versatile personality, confident and talented as she achieves the smooth running of such programmes as “Rainbow Room” and “Cover Girl”.

Jean herself has become a Midland celebrity through her ATV appearances. She is accustomed to welcoming and interviewing the many celebrities who appear in programmes produced at Aston.

When readers of a Sunday newspaper were asked to vote for their favourite announcer Jean topped the poll.

It is not surprising, therefore, that her services are in constant demand at functions of all sorts in the Midlands. She is a skilled puppeteer and a great show business personality—versatile, poised and knowledgeable.

Housewife, mother and TV hostess: life is busy for Jean. She has a flair for doing well everything that comes her way.

“I came to television from the stage,” she says, “and soon became aware of the immense power of television. People soon came to greet me as a friend when they saw me in the street. This feeling of being a welcome guest with so many people is flattering in its way and an incentive to keep on top form. Midlanders are kindly folk—and they are quick to note such things as changes in hairstyles, jewellery and dress fashions. They can be critical, but their comments are always good-natured.”

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He is a vigorous, exhilarating character whose bubbling enthusiasm registers immediately on the screen. And — typical of a war-time Commando — he will tackle any job, anywhere and at any time

He is a true enthusiast. He adds to his announcing duties reports and commentaries for news and magazine programmes. One of his hobbies is skin-diving, a pastime to which he has converted Noele Gordon. He has coached Noele in the instructional course she has undergone for the screen.

Pat came to ATV from the motor industry. He made an immediate hit, and remains a top favourite.

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Before entering Television, Caroline studied for three years at the Rose Bruford Training College of Speech and Drama, near her home in Kent, and obtained a teaching diploma.

She also has theatrical experience and has worked for various repertory companies.

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The Advisory Committee decided that ATV’s schools programmes should concentrate on subjects and age groups which had not been covered already by schedules of other ITV companies or by the B.B.C.

They felt that, ideally, schools TV programmes should aim to stimulate the imagination and enrich experience by providing the material which is not otherwise available to teacher or pupil. TV presentation is well suited to creation in the classroom of that particular atmosphere which is the essence of a foreign country.

ATV’s first two school series were devoted to the French language. “French from France” is designed for third-year and fourth-year students of French and is recorded entirely in France by an ATV outside broadcast unit. Its purpose is to capture the true flavour of France by a combination of acting and on-the-spot reporting.

“Ici La France”, designed for Sixth Forms, provides background material to supplement advanced studies. All the programmes are produced in France; each presents a different aspect of the traditions or literary heritage of France.

The French broadcasts are supplemented for the current school year by courses on “Movement” (Physics Biology), “Auf Deutsch”, and “Chemistry for Sixth Forms”.

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So highly was this series regarded that arrangements were made to present film records of the programmes to the War Office and the Ministry of Defence. “The Fighting Midlands… therefore, will live in official history as well as in the records of television.

The War Office, Government departments the Imperial War Museum and other authorities co-operated in the preparation of the programmes, and Commanding Officers readily agreed to place their resources at the disposal of John Pullen’s production team. Full authenticity was assured. This outstanding series traced in detail the history of eleven famous Midland regiments. For viewers, history assumed new significance under the impact of TV presentation as the programmes recalled the formation of units, campaigns, honours won and personalities.

All the programmes were introduced by Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese, whose authority, informality and engaging style quickly established his reputation as a screen commentator.

In the first programme, when the spotlight turned on the Sherwood Foresters, Sir Oliver interviewed two V.C.’s of the First World War.

No campaign was more vividly recalled than the most recent war in Korea  The gallantry of the Gloucestershire Regiment, — the “Glorious Gloucesters” — took a new meaning as the story was related by men who took part. Their commander, Colonel Came, V.C., was in the studio to talk about the bitter fighting in a distant land.

When the history of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was told, the programme welcomed its Colonel-in-Chief, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

The Midlands of England were fully represented by the inclusion of special programmes on

• 1st Green Jackets (Ox and Bucks)
• Royal Leicestershire Regiment
• Lincolnshire Regiment
• Northamptonshire Regiment
• North Staffordshire Regiment
• Worcestershire Regiment
• King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
• South Staffordshire Regiment

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Certainly not the vast army of ordinary men and women who stand outside the church and press their noses against the windows, like the famous Bisto twins, to smell what is going on inside. It is slightly embarrassing to walk out of church, but not in the least to get up and stretch yourself and turn a knob and go up to bed.

Epilogues and Thoughts for the Day are aimed primarily at the “fringe”, the sort of people who don’t get their religion in large doses each Sunday, but are nevertheless looking for some answer to their personal problems. To get them to look in you must catch their attention and hold it. Not — may I add hastily — that I am under the delusion that I always do, but that is the object of the exercise.

It seems to me plain common sense that if you want to catch someone’s attention you must start where they are. Most people have worries, frustrations or problems and, on the whole, will listen to someone who combines the anonymity of the television screen with the intimacy of feeling that he is in your home and talking to you personally. That, incidentally, is what so many people have said: “We felt that the Epiloguist was sitting chatting to us in our own living room and that is what we want to happen”.

I am not stupid enough to imagine that in three minutes or so anyone can solve the deepest problems of life, but you can ring a bell, give a lead or stop someone dead in their tracks. If, after that, they pray, or go to church, or ask the parson, then you have done your job by setting them on the right road.

There is a wide scope in what can be said. Some people want soothing and reassuring while others need jerking out of their self-satisfaction. You cannot do both at once and obviously some men are more able to do the one than the other. It is essential that the speaker is “himself”, for nothing is more apparent than when someone is churning it out.

I am sure that some men get an enormous “fan-mail”. I don’t, but I get a steady flow of telephone calls and letters, most of which come from people who are genuinely in trouble and who feel they want to ask someone about it. Most of the interviews and correspondence have been very worthwhile.

Television is a terrifying experience until you have mastered the technique of cameras, lights, studios and so on. After that you are back in the position in which you always stand as a priest or minister.

You are a man on whom God has laid the tremendous responsibility of presenting Him and his Truth to those who are listening, a responsibility which grows rather than lessens with time.

The post Doing a Worthwhile Job appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

He took over when Noele and Jerry Allen’s “gang” went to Woburn Abbey, best known of England’s stately homes, to present the show as an outside broadcast. The vast Abbey provided a fine backcloth for a performance on the terraces, watched by a crowd of 6,000 visitors. The Duke soon proved his skill as host—and vocalist!

He paid ATV this tribute :

“Everyone was so friendly and helpful that the week was a pleasure as well as a duty. How I admire the ‘Lunch Box’ gang, the producers and technical staff! If I get a chance to come back I shall certainly take it”.

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But how can you run out of ideas in farming? The variety is endless. Talk to a hundred farmers, even in these days of rapid technical advance, and you’ll find a hundred ideas on how to run a farm; how grass should be managed; or how machines and men should be used in silage or roots.

Take my favourite story: farmhouse cheese, a wonderfully fertile system of farming, a cycle of fertility (“the nitrogen cycle” today’s young farmer might call it) that goes like this: the grass feeds the cow that gives the milk that makes the cheese that leaves the whey that feeds the pigs that leave the muck to feed the grass that feeds the cow…

Break that down into programmes for farmers, beginning with the underworld under the grass (do you know there are about 30 cwt of earthworms to an acre of land in good heart?) then to the ways of management for grass (could you name a dozen kinds?) and the mixtures and the manuring a man may use, and all grazing, silage or hay.

As to the cows—the breeds and their breeding, feeding and housing and management; and the pigs — and “their” breeds (could you name a dozen?) and the ways of housing and feeding them — the systems, and combinations of systems, which stock with which crops, machines and men and soils—the permutations are as endless as they are in a football pool, and often as big a gamble.

Farming, in other words, is a living world, very human, very animal, never at rest changing and developing from farm to farm and farmer to farmer.

Because of this, because it is about real people doing real jobs of importance to us all, and because, I believe, of the professional but relaxed direction of Reg Watson, “Midland Farming” seems to have carved its own little niche in television in the Midlands.

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There is such a diversity of tastes and interests that one TV channel cannot guarantee to please all the people all the time. But it can — indeed it must — plan such a range of output that its fare will appeal to the majority and still provide a comprehensive service to meet special demands and preferences.

ATV in the Midlands are well aware of these responsibilities. Audience research has proved conclusively the measure of our success in fulfilling them.

Yet audience research is not the only source of assessment. Letters from viewers pour into our Birmingham offices each week.

A local programme has attracted as many as 36,000 letters. “Lunch Box” has had an average monthly mail of 20,000 letters from midday viewers.

We welcome them all as evidence of public interest. All are studied. Many add helpful suggestions to their encouragement. Most letters express appreciation: naturally we find these heartening. But we welcome all suggestions, especially those which are constructive.

The personal link with viewers is invaluable.

Audiences come to see shows produced at the Alpha Television Studios, and ATV personalities go out to “meet the people”. Such favourites as Noele Gordon, Jean Morton, Pat Cox, Pat Astley and Caroline Lloyd are family friends in thousands of Midland homes.

Invitations pour in asking them to attend social functions and to make “personal appearances”. They accept as many as they can. If they accepted them all they would have no time to appear on TV!

Their engagement lists are heavily booked for a year ahead with attendances at garden fetes, parties and social events of all kinds.

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In the Midlands ATV were appointed to provide five-day (Monday-Friday) operations, with A.B.C. authorised to supply week-end programmes. It was agreed that the most effective arrangement would be to establish one central studio instead of separate homes.

A former cinema (which had been originally the old Aston Theatre Royal and later the Astoria) was chosen for conversion to television needs.

Alpha Television Services (Birmingham) Ltd. was created, therefore, as a third and joint company to run the studios on a seven-day week basis on behalf of the two parent programme contractors. The range of output makes “Alpha” a busy and skilled television factory. Once ATV or A.B.C. production specifications are notified it provides full facilities to put shows great and small on the air. Camera, lighting, scenery, wardrobe and sound… These are some of the complex services which are dovetailed to produce the pictures that brighten screens in homes throughout the Midlands. Alpha’s own home has undergone major reconstruction. The transformation has left no sign of the days when it served earlier tastes in entertainment as theatre and cimena.[sic] Now it is a fine television centre, equipped with the most up-to-date resources to serve TV’s “magic eye”.

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They ensure that top-quality pictures are beamed from Alpha to the Independent Television Authority’s transmitter at Hints, near Lichfield.

In Master Control life is ruled by the stop-watch: it is a place where split-second timing is essential and literally true.

The duty Transmission Controller has to co-ordinate the cueing of network and regional programmes: he must insist on programmes ending to the scheduled second and “roll” films which are of pre-determined length. Effective synchronisation (with many regions inter-linked) calls for alert control and high sense of responsibility.

“Loggists”, too, know the reality of split second timing. It is their duty to monitor every second of transmissions—noting “on” and “off” times of every programme and every commercial. They record, too, times and type of any occasions when technical levels are sub-standard.

In Master Control, every second on the air is “on record”.

When you switch on your set do you ever think of the immense organisation of technical and artistic skills that lie behind the service at the “transmission end”?

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In Independent Television the advertiser has no control over the programmes themselves, for anything like the American system of “sponsorship” is forbidden. Instead a limited amount of time is set aside in each hour for “advertising breaks”, usually of about two minutes’ duration, either after the end of a programme or in a carefully-chosen natural break. Although the advertiser has no say in deciding the programmes, he does have all the rights of a buyer in a free economy. He expects — and gets — value for his money.

If he is dissatisfied with one television company he can switch his advertising to another operating in the same area; if he finds that television as a whole is not doing a worthwhile job for him he can use any one of the many other forms of advertising. It is against this background of free choice that ATV’s record in the Midlands must be judged.

ATV decided at the start that the Midlands service for advertisers should be quite separate from the London operation. Accordingly, a Midland Sales Office was established by ATV in Birmingham to look after the needs of firms throughout the Midlands I.T.V. area which are concerned with advertising in the Midlands area only. Of course, a large part of ATV’s Midland advertising revenue is provided by national advertisers who recognise the Midlands as one of the most prosperous areas in Britain and an essential part of any national advertising campaign.

ADVICE FOR CLIENTS

ATV’s Account Executives advise clients and agencies on all aspects of television advertising — what sort of advertising is best suited to a particular product, the size and composition of the ATV audience at different times of the day, how to support a television campaign with planned merchandising, and so on.

When ATV’s first Midland programmes went on the air in February 1956 the total audience available to advertisers numbered 650,000 viewers. Today more than 6,000,000 Midlanders, almost three-quarters of the total regional population, are ATV viewers.

An evening programme screened between 7.30-10.30 is seen in something like 55 per cent of all the 1,700,000 homes with Channel 8 receivers. This will provide an advertiser with an audience of over 2,500,000 viewers to watch his advertisement. No other single advertising medium in the Midlands can provide anything like this coverage.

INFORMATION SERVICE

ATV has recently carried out one of the most extensive research programmes ever undertaken in Britain, and more marketing information is now available for the Midlands than for any other TV area. The results show the Midlands as a prosperous, thriving area with a higher-than-average standard of living — a rich potential market.

Compared with the United Kingdom as a whole the Midlands has a faster rate of growth of population; a consistently higher level of employed population and a consistently lower level of unemployed; a greater proportion of people in the middle income brackets; a greater proportion of families living in four or five-roomed houses ; more than its due share of factory space and more new factory construction; 15 per cent of the total U.K. population but 17.7 per cent of the U.K. gross output of manufacturing industries and 20.1 per cent of the total U.K. labour force in 19 per cent of U.K. manufacturing establishments.

RATE CARD

People not directly concerned with advertising sometimes imagine that television advertising is very expensive. This is not true of ATV in the Midlands. In fact the cost of television advertising compares favourably with other forms of advertising, particularly when it is remembered that television uses both sound and movement to add impact to the advertiser’s message.

How are ATV’s rates decided ? An extensive study of the accurate surveys prepared by Television Audience Measurement Ltd. (T.A.M.) has shown that viewing habits tend to run very much to a pattern. By combining an understanding of these basic viewing patterns with a knowledge of future programme plans, it is possible to forecast with considerable accuracy the number of people who will be watching ATV at any particular time.

ATV’s Midland rates are based on these estimates of future viewing. The aim is to provide a “cost-per-thousand-viewers” figure that gives a constant value to the advertiser.

The cost of advertisements varies from £10 for a five-second flash to £625 for a thirty-second spot in the evening. It is this wide range of rates that makes television such a flexible medium, for, whether a business is prepared to spend £100 or £100,000, it can buy a campaign on A.T.V. that will pay worthwhile dividends.

The post Midland Sales appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Its value was warmly acknowledged by employers’ associations, trade unionists, educationalists — and particularly by parents and children. Its inclusion in ATV’s schedules was commended by the Minister of Education.

Pupils from Grammar and Secondary Modern schools questioned executives in industry, commerce and the professions on opportunities, necessary qualifications and training and rewards offered by a wide range of occupations.

Frank exchanges of questions and answers — no punches were pulled — made the series an outstanding contribution to public service television.

The post Careers Guide appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Midlands News, and its magazine companion, Midland Montage, cover more than 11,000 square miles of the heart of England. It’s an area with fourteen County Councils, fifty main towns and cities, and nearly eight million people.

The organisation of news coverage is a major operation in itself. It involves the co-operation of an enthusiastic staff, and close on one hundred experienced journalists and skilled cameramen all over the region.

The medium itself makes the job of the television News Editor quite different from that of his opposite number on a newspaper.

There is the art of writing the spoken word, and of thinking visually.

In a newspaper the reader can scan the headlines and take his choice. He can ignore the things in which he is not interested and concentrate on that which appeals to him.

Television has much more impact. It can convey news in a way no newspaper can possibly do. It is something real and live, an exciting portrayal which enables viewers to share the experience of those actually involved in the news.

But the viewer is stuck with what we give him. He cannot pick and choose: he can only switch off!

This is just one of the reasons why television has a very special responsibility. People must know that everything they see and hear is fairly and accurately reported, presented without bias and without prejudice.

To take it a bit further, it’s good that there are some things television can’t do. The printed word, for instance, is not always what it appears to be. Sensational statements in quotation marks do not necessarily mean that these were the precise words of the person involved. It’s a sort of journalistic licence to ask a long and involved question, get a simple “yes” and “no”, and then attribute everything to the interviewee.

On television that cannot happen. People are there on the spot to speak for themselves.

A final thought: How would you explain to hundreds of enthusiastic organisers every week that their particular presentation, garden fete, strike, carnival, horse show, sports meeting, Mayor making, amateur dramatic performance, opening ceremony, or outing will look exactly the same on television as everyone else’s — and for that matter, much the same as last year’s and next year’s?

The post News in the Heart of England appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“Come into the Garden”, sings Midland expert Godfrey Baseley! His invitation is readily accepted as a regular date by gardening enthusiasts throughout the Midlands.

His programmes are a valuable guide to all forms of outdoor cultivation, indoor plants and household decoration, garden lay-out and maintenance.

Gone Fishing

Practising what he preaches … Jack Williams, the anglers’ friend and adviser, presented his weekly guide, “Hook, Line and Sinker”.

The post Leisure pursuits appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“Look Around”, the magazine programme which devotes its half-hour to detailed examination and discussion of Midland enterprises, has won a big following.

When it screened a feature on the Midland Jazz Festival, The Hon. Gerald Lascelles, younger son of the Princess Royal, took part in lively exchanges on trends in the world of jazz. The Hon. Gerald Lascelles—pianist— demonstrated some of his points in a rehearsal session with producer John Pullen.

Police Five

This weekly programme was designed to help the Midland Police Forces in their fight against crime as well as offering a service to the public by giving information such as traffic detours, new parking regulations and missing persons. Shaw Taylor is the spokesman.

The post Human interest appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Your picture will be appreciated all the more if you position your receiver correctly, particularly in relation to room lighting.

When you have a good picture, don’t fiddle with the controls

Don’t have lights shining directly on to the screen—they will cause reflections.

Ideally, have a light above or behind your set.

The wise viewer insists on having plenty of light in the room. With modern receivers there should be no need to dim room lights.

Adjust your distance from the receiver according to the size of the screen.

NEVER, NEVER, allow children to lie on the floor and gaze upwards at the screen.

The post Viewpoint… appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

In Cabaret Style

Set against the background of a Manhattan skyline, this cabaret-style show provided glossy, sophisticated entertainment of night-club pattern.

The show was visited by leading stars of show-business, who were welcomed to the guest-spots by hostess Jean Morton. In addition to music, dancing and celebrity features, leaders of public and social life have been interviewed on topics of the day.

Young in Heart

A cheerful feature designed to meet the needs of the young in heart, “Cover Girl”, provided exceptional opportunities for young people to see, study and discuss the best contemporary styles, in music, song and dance.

It brought to Midland enthusiasts more than fifty famous recording artistes (including Adam Faith, Mike Preston, Cleo Laine, Mark Wynter, Matt Monroe and Billy Fury).

Each week the spotlight turned on a different Midland jazz group and six girls were chosen to appear so that viewers could select their “Cover Girl” of the week.

The post With Jean Morton appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Their decisions in the Midland studios call for judgment and precision. They plan your entertainment to the last detail… to the split second…

The post They make your viewing possible appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.