The way ahead

0

Why restricted broadcasting hours must go, especially in the Midlands

We Need the Freedom of the Air

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.

Celebrities in the world of the arts, leading industrialists, public men… people in the news…
“Midland Profile” has made a big impression with its frank questioning aimed to discover the personality behind the public image. Here Noele Gordon and Ivor Jay put points to Ursula Bloom.

About the author

'ATV the Midlands' is a promotional brochure produced by ATV in Birmingham in 1963

Leave a Reply