Lord Grade of Elstree, Chairman and Chief Executive of the international group spanning TV・Theatres・Cinemas・Music Publishing・Films・Records and Tapes・Property・Theatrical Costumiers・Ansafone・Insurance, and Merchandising says…

“I foresee another year of widening opportunity”

For the third time in succession, I am happy to be able to report the highest profit figure in the twenty-four year history of the company.

At £16.3 million [£76.3m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] the profit before tax for 1978/79 is 19% higher than the previous record of £13.7 million [£64.1m] achieved last year and represents an increase of no less than 46% on the result for 1976/77.

Our earnings per “A” ordinary stock unit after taxation were 16.77p [78.48p] (1977/78 16.83p [78.76p]) and the total dividend of 8p [37.44p] per unit recommended by the Board was declared at the Annual General Meeting on 13th September. An interim dividend of 3.1p [14.51p] was paid in March and a final dividend of 4.9p [22.93p] will be paid on 1st October.

The activities of the company are now widely diversified and internationally based, and A.C.C.’s leading position in the field of world entertainment is now acknowledged everywhere. In the light of present performance and prospects I foresee another year of widening opportunity.

Television

ATV Network has enjoyed another distinguished year including winning the British Academy for Film and Television Arts award for the best documentary programme of the year. The Muppets, of which 72 episodes have already been shown in well over 100 countries, is about to enter its fourth series.

There has also been a steady build up of local coverage. In order to strengthen this service a News and Information Centre has been established in Nottingham and a similar centre will be opened in Oxford during the current year.

To meet the increased production required from ATV Centre £1½ million [£7m] will be spent on technical equipment this year in addition to the capital investment of approximately £1 million [£4.7m] made last year and there have also been additions to both staff and premises.

Film Production

Our American distribution has been placed on an entirely new footing by the formation of a new American company, Associated Film Distribution, set up jointly with EMI to handle new productions with “Firepower” as first of the Spring releases.

Films made under the Marble Arch banner have been sold both to the American networks and for financial release.

The Group now embraces one of the most extensive film-making and film distribution organisations in the world, and I regard the prospects of this aspect of our activities as most encouraging.

Thirty major films including “Capricorn One”, “Boys From Brazil”, “Autumn Sonata”, “Voyage of the Damned”, “Movie Movie”, “Escape to Athena” and “Firepower” are now in international distribution, and will continue as a major source of revenue for years to come. Already the full-length film of “The Muppets” promises to be one of the year’s world-beaters. The mammoth spectacular, “Raise the Titanic”, is in production and will be released next summer.

Theatre

Despite the terrible winter weather the Theatres Division has enjoyed its most successful year.

At the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, “A Chorus Line” ran into its third year; “Filumena” has enjoyed more than 700 performances at the Lyric; “Annie”, at the Victoria Palace, is clearly a record-breaker in the making; “Aladdin”, with Danny La Rue as its star, was the acknowledged attraction of the Christmas season and the Palladium production of “The King and I”, starring Yul Brynner and Virginia McKenna is the major event of the London theatrical season.

Music Publishing, Records & Tapes

The ATV Music Group has once again produced record profits. During the year there has been further progress along three principal current lines of policy. These are the signing of new, and development of existing, signed [sic] writers; the building-up of one of the world’s most extensive background music libraries and the acquisition or creation of directly owned subsidiaries overseas, including the establishment of new subsidiaries in Canada and Italy.

Although the record industry suffered a second year of recession, the strength of the company’s catalogue, both in terms of established artists and fresh talent, gives confidence for the future.

Property

Bentray properties are located throughout the whole of the United Kingdom and profits have risen from £2.52 million [£11.8m] to £3.46 million [£16.2m] – an increase of 37%.

Important new developments include the rebuilding of numbers 37, 38 and 39 St. Martin’s Lane to include a restaurant, a public house, shops and approximately 10,000 sq. ft. of office space.

We have also acquired a unique site of 1¼ acres in the prime area adjoining Shaftesbury Avenue and Piccadilly Circus. Plans have been approved for the erection of a lavishly equipped entertainment centre for the showing of the most ambitious stage spectaculars, and the doors will open in the early 1980’s.

Other Interests

Ansafone achieved truly remarkable trading results with profits exceeding £1 million [£4.7m] for the first time – an increase of no less than 154%.

Bermans & Nathans, the theatrical costumiers achieved the distinction of receiving The Queen’s Award for Export.

ATV Licensing, one of out liveliest subsidiaries, increased its profits by 15% and our subsidiaries concerned with insurance and commercial leasing operated profitably and efficiently.

Copies of the full Report and Accounts for the year to 31st March 1979 are available from the Secretary, Associated Communications Corporation Limited, ACC House, 17 Great Cumberland Place, London W1A 1AG.

The post ATV financial results: 1979 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Associated Television Corporation
now, in view of its highly diversified activities, renamed
Associated Communications Corporation

‘I am anticipating new record profits in our current financial year’

Review of the year to 26 March 1978

For the third year in succession the figure of profit has risen most significantly.

The 1977/78 profit before tax of £13,700,000 [£71.1m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] is 22% higher than for the year 1976/77 which was, at the time, the highest in the history of the Company.

Comparison with the preceding year, 1975/76, is even more striking inasmuch as the 1977/78 profit shows a rise of no less than 122%.

Profit after tax attributable to members is £8,050,000 [£41.8m].

Once again the Group Results amply justify the confidence which I expressed in my last Annual Statement, and I have every reason to enjoy that same confidence today. I am happy to be able to say that all divisions in the Corporation are trading profitably.

Earnings and Dividends

For 1977/78 the earnings per “A” stock unit after taxation were 16.83p [87.35p] (1976/77 – 14.68p [76.19p]). Accordingly, the Board is able to recommend a dividend of 6.606p [34.29p] per “A” stock unit, being the maximum permitted by the Treasury.

An interim dividend of 2.772p [14.39p] per unit was paid in March and a final dividend of 3.834p [19.9p] per unit (which reflects the reduction in the standard rate of income tax) was approved at the Annual General Meeting.

Tribute to Staff

My thanks are due to all staff at home and overseas – numbering nearly 5,000 – for the part they have played in building the Corporation to its present size and prominence.

Group Activities

Television

Despite the change of name of the Corporation, the name of ATV Network Ltd., which holds the Midlands franchise granted by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, remains unchanged.

ATV is most favourably placed. “Crossroads”, the ever-popular series of which the 3,000th episode was broadcast in August 1978, is produced in ATV’s Birmingham studios; and ATV’s up-to-the-minute topical programme, “ATV Today”, also a product of the ATV Centre, Birmingham, and already recognised as an outstanding service of Midland television news and information, is being still further strengthened by the setting up of regional news centres in Nottingham and Oxford respectively.

One of the year’s most notable and acclaimed programmes from the Midlands production team was Trevor Nunn’s two-and-a-half-hour musical version of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors”, specially recorded at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon.

It is against this background of 339 hours of programmes produced in the Midlands that the Company’s national contribution produced in ATV’s other studio production centre at Elstree should be reviewed.

I need hardly say that, at the appropriate moment, ATV Network will automatically be applying for the continuation of the 7-day Midlands franchise which it has held since 1968, following on the 5-day Midlands franchise granted at the inception of Independent Television in 1954.

Film Production

ATV Corporation, through its ITC Entertainment subsidiaries, is already one of the world’s major film producers, and over the years I have been at pains to stress the large-scale investment required to finance film production. It is therefore highly gratifying to be able to draw attention to this year’s earnings from the film division, and to remind shareholders that the flow of revenue from this source is just beginning.

In order to streamline the marketing operation of ITC Entertainment films, a new subsidiary – ITC Film Distributors Ltd. – has been formed.

The setting up of a new American subsidiary, Marble Arch Productions Inc., marks yet a further stage in the Corporation’s progress.

Theatre

The Stoll-Moss Theatre Group had a most successful year. “A Chorus Line” continued to break all records at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. In addition, the past ten months have seen such productions as “Filumena”, “Cause Celebré”, The Old Country”, “Donkey’s Year”, “The Kingfisher”, and “The Rear Column”. Our new international star policy has brought many of the world’s most famous artists to the London Palladium, including Bing Crosby, Sammy David Junior, Julie Andrews, Shirley MacLaine and Liberace, as well as the record-breaking American musical, “Annie”, to the Victoria Palace.

Music Publishing, Records and Tapes

Music publishing has enjoyed an excellent year. There has been a substantial investment in the development of a background music library and considerable effort has been made in the development and encouragement of new writers.

In the UK, ATV Music was placed in the top three music publishers for 1977 by “Music Week”, and our USA company had its most successful year to date.

The Results of Pye Records showed further improvement, with The Brotherhood of Man and The Muppets scoring notable successes.

Other Interests

Property

Bentray Investments has made conspicuous progress and now ranks among the outstanding property-owning companies in the UK. Profits over the past three years have risen by no less than 45% and the valuation of Bentray’s assets, recently completed by outside valuers, shows an increase of over £11 million [£57.1m] in the period.

Theatrical Costumiers

Bermans & Nathans, our theatrical costumiers, has shown steady improvement with a continuing development of its export business.

Telephone Answering

Following the reorganisation at Ansafone, previous losses have been converted into a profit and we expect the current year to produce record results.

Insurance

The Marbarch Insurance Group is trading profitably and we plan considerable developments both at home and overseas.

Licensing

ATV Licensing made excellent progress in all fields and is one of our most rapidly expanding subsidiaries.

Copies of the Report and Accounts are available from The Secretary, Associated Communications Corporation Limited, 17 Great Cumberland Place, London W1A 1AG.

The post ATV financial results: 1978 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“The Company’s present position and prospects are both excellent”

• The improvement in the Group profit before taxation to £6,626,000 [£42.4m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] is attributable to the greatly improved results achieved by the Film Division and the economic recovery which has taken place within Independent Television. Earnings per ‘A’ Stock Unit were 7.56p [48.47p] and the total dividend is 4.3p [27.56p].
• Strict internal economies were introduced at ATV Network in every field, except that of direct expenditure on programmes. These measures, combined with an intensive drive by the Network’s admirably-directed Sales Department and an upturn in the national expenditure on television advertising, succeeded in producing a profit of £2,409,000 [£15.4m].
• Our most important recent development has been the formation of a new Anglo-American company, Associated General Films, which will serve to consolidate our position as a major force in the international film industry.
• Profits from investment in a greatly expanded programme of film production – £1,139,000 [£7.3m] against £337,000 [£2.2m] – have exceeded our expectations and I can confirm that really substantial earnings will accrue this year.
• Music Publishing continues to be a major contributor to earnings and Pye Records finished the year in spectacular style by winning the Eurovision song contest.
• In a year generally regarded as a difficult one for the theatre, Stoll-Moss has succeeded in coming forward with improved results.
• Our property company now owns some 1.8 million sq. ft. of lettable space and we have let twenty-four of the twenty-seven floors in the ATV tower block in Birmingham.
• Our policy of diversification has once more fully justified itself.

Copies of the Report and Accounts for the year to 28 March 1976 are available from the Secretary, Associated Television Corporation Limited, ATV House, 17 Great Cumberland Place, London W1A 1AG.

This illustration depicts some of ATV Corporation’s interests. In addition to the seven day-a-week television franchise for the Midlands, group activities include film making, theatres, record, tape and music publishing companies, and the manufacture and supply of telephone answering equipment. The Group’s prestige tower block in Birmingham – the ATV Centre – is also shown.

The post ATV financial results: 1976 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“ATV Network remains the keystone of the Company’s operations. Nevertheless it is my firm intention that the corporation should comprise a wide variety of operations all with strong potential”

Results and Dividend

I am pleased to be able to report a Group Profit of £7,268,000 [£65.5m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] before taxation which is marginally above the record profit made last year. The earnings per ‘A’ Ordinary Unit after taxation were 8.64p [77.85p] (1972/73, 10.42p [93.88p]). Your Board has decided to recommend an increase of the dividend to 5.125705p [46.18p] per ‘A’ Stock unit. This is equivalent to an increase of 5 per cent in the rate of the dividend (the maximum permitted under Phase III of the Government’s Counter-Inflation Legislation) making a total for the year of 30.067 per cent.

Television

In the year under review the prosperity of your Company clearly reflected the economic state of the nation. It was thus a year of sharply contrasting fortune. The first nine months proved highly profitable. Indeed, if the results for that period could have been maintained, the figure of profit would have been conspicuously the highest in the Company’s history. The final quarter, however, spanned the disastrous weeks of the energy crisis. ATV Network, in particular, was gravely hit.

Here it should be borne in mind that, in the past, the operation of the television franchise has been responsible for approximately half the profits of the Corporation. It therefore speaks highly for the healthy state of the other diversified activities that the figure for Group profit should remain virtually unaffected.

I am happy, moreover, to be able to say that the severe setback suffered by Commercial Television in the winter of 1973 and the early spring of 1974 proved to be only temporary. Confidence in the medium as an essential element in efficient salesmanship has been re-affirmed by the manufacturers, and the advertising revenue of ATV Network already shows full recovery.

Your Board welcomes the statement by the Authority that, subject to appraisal during 1974 of the performance of the Companies, no change in the present allocation of franchises will be made before 1979.

Diversification

Your Board has vigorously pursued its policy of expansion into other fields, and future possible acquisitions are constantly being investigated. The acquisition last year of 80 per cent of Ansafone Holdings Ltd. has abundantly justified such a policy. Elsewhere, there has been steady growth in the principal divisions already within the Group.

Film Production

Your film producing and distributing subsidiaries ITC–Incorporated Television Company Ltd., Independent Television Corporation (U.S.A.), and ITC of Canada — have all been exceptionally active.

Theatres

Despite the dislocation caused by the power cuts, petrol shortages and impaired train services during the winter months of 1973/74, your subsidiary Stoll Theatres Corporation Ltd. enjoyed a reasonably satisfactory year.

Records, Tapes and Music Publishing

Your record company, Pye Records, and your cassette and cartridge tape company, Precision Tapes, have both experienced exceptional success. Together with ATVs music publishing operations, they have returned a profit 83 per cent higher than last year’s at a figure of £2,502,000 [£22.6m].

Property

The results of your property subsidiary, Bentray Investments, have been most satisfactory, and your major development, ATV Centre, Birmingham, is now a valuable contribution to Group finances.

The post ATV financial results: 1974 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“Pretax profit highest in Group’s 17-year history”

The Seventeenth Annual General Meeting of Associated Television Corporation Limited was held in London on September 28th 1971. The following are extracts from the Statement by the Chairman, Lord Renwick of Coombe, K.B.E., for the year ended 26th March, 1972:

Results

The Group Profit of £6,240,000 [£70.3m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] before taxation is the highest in the 17-year-old history of your Company.

This wholly admirable result shows an improvement of 27 per cent on the profit for the preceding year and fully justifies the confidence which I expressed at the time of the half-yearly interim statement.

This confidence remains unimpaired. Accordingly, your Board has recommended an increase in the total dividend for the year from 28½ per cent to 30 per cent, and proposes to recommend an increase in the Corporation’s share capital and a scrip issue.

Approximately half the Group Profit was derived from the Network operation and half from diversified activities. This is entirely healthy. And it is in both these fields that a continuing growth is to be foreseen.

Prospects for Television

From the Autumn of this year, the enforced restriction on broadcasting hours will be lifted, and ATV Network will be able to transmit programmes from mid-day onwards and thus provide the housewife with a full afternoon service of news, entertainment and information. This long-awaited development in the ATV Network operation is something which your Board has always been seeking.

The lifting of the restriction will mean that Independent Television in the Midlands will be on the air for an extra 40 hours a week. This extension of the Service will offer entirely fresh opportunities not only for new programmes, both local and national, but also for both new and established local and national advertisers.

The market demand is certainly unquestionable, and the extension of hours should be seen against the background of the year’s trading in which advertising revenue rose by nearly 14 per cent, from £14,255,000 [£160.5m] for 1970-71 to £16,232,000 [£182.8m] for 1971-72. It was this increased volume of sales, together with the reduction of Turnover Levy (£2,483,000 [£28m] for 1971-72 as against £3,865,000 [£43.5m] for 1970-71) which enabled the Network to do more than absorb the increase of nearly £600,000 [£6.8m] in the rental payable to the Authority.

Export Potential

Nor is large-scale growth foreseeable only in the operation of Television in the U.K. The export potential both for film series and for Special Programmes is enormous, and your production and distribution subsidiary ITC-Incorporated Television, and your American distribution subsidiary, Independent Television Corporation, are once again in a dominant position in the market. This situation could not have been achieved without a massive investment of some £7,000,000 [£78.8m]. Benefits from the income generated by this investment will be reflected in the current and subsequent years.

The other main subsidiaries are all in good order and offer assurance for the future.

Theatres

Stoll Theatres Corporation and Moss Empires enjoyed a year which fell only slightly below the previous record year and the present year promises well.

It remains to be said, however, that over the whole world of the theatre hangs the ominous question mark of Value Added Tax. If this tax — from which newspapers, for example, are to be completely exempted — is applied indiscriminately to the theatre, then the results will inevitably be far-reaching and deplorable. Such a tax, without alleviation, may well compel the eventual closure of certain Provincial theatres.

Records & Tapes

I am happy to be able to report that Pye Records has more than maintained its 10 per cent share of the total UK record production. Precision Tapes has, in its first two years of trading, achieved sales amounting to nearly one-third of the total UK market for tape cassettes and cartridges.

Music

Northern Songs’ music catalogue has been further strengthened by a new seven-year co-publishing agreement to cover future compositions with Paul and Linda McCartney. In order to rationalise, the whole of ATV’s interests are shortly to be re-grouped and controlled by ATV Music Limited.

Planned Music, which provides the Muzak service is also steadily expanding.

Indeed, within the Group the results of only two of the subsidiary companies, Ambassador Bowling and Bermans & Nathans, have proved disappointing.

Property & Investment

Of especial importance to the Corporation is your subsidiary, Bentray Investments Ltd., which is responsible for all ATV properties.

The last valuation of Land and Buildings was made in 1966, and a full re-valuation is being undertaken during the current year. This operation will serve not merely to enable a realistic figure to be quoted under Fixed Assets, but to provide a proper financial basis for the development of various of the Group’s valuable properties in London and elsewhere.

Up to date, Bentray’s major development — representing an investment of some £12,000,000 [£135m] — has been confined to Birmingham. The 29-storey, 200,000 square-foot office tower at ATV Centre will be available for tenancies by December.

In the Spring of 1973 the Holiday Inns Hotel at the Centre will be ready for occupation. During the coming year, therefore, the greater part of the whole six-acre complex will become revenue earning.

In June 1972, ATV’s holding of 4,290,000 shares in British Relay Wireless and Television Ltd., was disposed of for a profit before tax of £2,519,810 [£28.4m] and the cash inflow will serve most usefully to reduce current finance charges.

Directorate, Management and Staff

To the Corporation’s Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive, Sir Lew Grade, I must extend not only my thanks but my congratulations. ATV and Sir Lew are by now synonymous.

Finally, I extend my thanks to Management and Staff at all levels in Birmingham, Elstree, London, New York, Toronto, Sydney, Paris and Lausanne.

The post ATV financial results: 1972 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“Altogether a most excellent year….”

The Fifteenth Annual General Meeting of Associated Television Corporation Limited was held at ATV House, Great Cumberland Place, London, W.1. on 24th September, 1970, at 12 noon.

The following are extracts from the Statement by the Chairman, Lord Renwick of Coombe, KBE, for the year ended 29th March, 1970:-

Not only is the Group profit (after levy but before taxation) of £5,635,000 [£73.5m] the fourth highest in ATV’s history, but this outstanding result has been achieved despite the fact that the profit from your television subsidiary, ATV Network, has fallen away by no less than £2,152,000 [£28.1m].

In short, the Corporation’s long pursued policy of planned expansion in the entertainment industry is now reaping the reward of earlier long-term investment, and the warning in my last Annual Report of the impending unhealthy state of Independent Television has been sadly kustified.

I will deal later with the causes, mostly foreseeable but unfortunately beyond the Board’s control, of the current decline in the television Industry. For the moment I will confine myself to those aspects of the Group where there is every indication of continuing prosperity.

FILMS. First must come film production and distribution which contribute no less than 41% to the Group profit. The success in this sphere of your subsidiary companies, Independent Television Corporation of America and Incorporated Television Company Limited of England, represents an altogether remarkable personal achievement on the part of the Group’s Chief Executive and Managing Director, Sir Lew Grade. Until the mid-sixties, British-made television production was regarded as virtually unsaleable in the United States. The degree to which a transformation has occurred may be judged from an article in the April issue of America’s leading entertainment journal, “Variety.” I will quote the opening paragraph;

“Sir Lew Grade may do single-handedly to American television what it took four strapping Liverpool boys to do to American popular music. The British video impresario, who heads Associated Television there, is all by himself the first major foreign influence in the hitherto all-American tele industry.”

MUSIC. Equally gratifying have been the results of ATV’s expansion into music publishing. With the acquisition of Northern Songs, which owns the musical copyrights of Lennon and McCartney, your Corporation now possesses a commanding property. Profits of Northern Songs for the eleven months to the end of March, 1970, considerably exceed the profits for the preceding full year, and the volume of business is steadily increasing.

Taken in conjunction with Pye Records, which continues to hold an important and growing position in the international disc market, ATV’s operations in music and records are now firmly and broadly based. The profits from this division amount to 32% of the Group’s total.

THEATRES. ATV’s theatrical interests are of key importance within the Group, and the Stoll Theatres Corporation and its subsidiary, Moss Empires, under the chairmanship of Mr. Prince Littler, have once again enjoyed a good year. I am pleased, moreover, to be able to report that results for the current year are substantially better than for the year under review.

CRISIS IN THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY

In July, 1969, the rate of Turnover Levy was increased to a level calculated to extract a further £3 million from the industry. This, as I had already given warning would happen, immediately produced a crisis which changed the whole financial structure of Independent Television and endangered the very existence of some companies not protected by diversified operations.

In April, 1970, the Turnover Levy rate was amended to provide for a remission of £5 million. This purely stop-gap relief was, however, offset by the fact that over the year 1969/70 national television advertising revenue had itself declined by some £5 million. This decline is symptomatic of the state of the country’s economy. It is not possible to forecast the date by which the Government will feel able to take measures to raise, rather than to depress, the level of domestic spending upon which all domestic advertising depends. What is possible to forecast is the date by which the Independent Television industry will find itself unable to finance its increasingly costly operations. This date is 1971.

TURNOVER LEVY. Clearly, the Turnover Levy, which is imposed on revenue, and is required to be paid before meeting operational expenses and before paying Corporation Tax on profits (if there are any), should be abolished altogether leaving the Television Companies to make their contribution to the Exchequer entirely through Corporation Tax in the usual way. This would remove the invidiousness of a discriminatory levy imposed upon a single industry, and would place Independent Television upon an equal footing with all other commercial operations. On this basis – and on this basis alone – can the return both to shareholders in Independent Television Companies and to the Exchequer be made fair and equitable.

BROADCASTING HOURS. Because of the limitation on broadcasting hours, ATV Network alone is denied extra revenue of not less than £½ million [£6.5m] per annum. Any review of Independent Television must take into account the effect on the industry of the new major franchise — Yorkshire — granted by the Authority in 1968. While we welcome this recognition of Yorkshire’s independent status, it cannot be overlooked that the introduction of a fresh contributor to the Independent Television network has meant that other contributing companies have been left with considerable under-utilized studio facilities.

The redistribution of franchises in 1968 brought with it, moreover, heavy capital demands on some companies for the provision of new studios. ATV Network’s own development in Birmingham, for example, has called for some £6 million [£78.2m]; and this capital investment comes on top of some £1.5 million [£19.6m] previously required for the conversion of ATV’s Elstree studios to Colour on the 625-line standard.

Finally, rising costs — not least labour costs – within the industry continue to erode and, in many instances, entirely erase the narrow margin of profit which remains after the payment of the Levy.

AWAITING GOVERNMENT ACTION. The Independent Television Authority is no less concerned than the companies at the gravity of the situation which has arisen, and all the figures for the industry have been submitted for investigation by the Prices and Incomes Board. It is not too much to say that the whole future of Independent Television now depends action by the Prices and Incomes Board, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

On behalf of the Board, I pass on my thanks and appreciation to members of the Management and Staff at all levels.

The post ATV financial results: 1970 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

“Results no less than excellent”

Profits, tax and levy

The Consolidated Profit and Loss Account shows a profit for the Group, before Levy and taxation of £11,059,311 [£171m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed]. This represents an increase of £1,699,370 [£26.3m] over the results of the previous year (£9,359,941 [£144.7m]).

Moreover, this year’s trading has had to bear the full brunt of 12 months’ Levy on Television Advertising Revenue. Thus, the sum of £5,432,366 [£84m] had to be set aside for this purpose, as against the sum of £3,837,593 [£59.3m] for the 8 months of the year to the 4th April, 1965 — the year in which the Levy was introduced.

Taxation for the year amounts to £2,780,325 [£43m] as against last year’s figure of £2,752,639 [£42.6m]. In total, therefore. Levy and taxation have consumed no less than £8,212,691 [£127m] (74%) of the Group profit.

It should furthermore be noted that this figure of Levy and taxation payable to the Exchequer is in addition to the sum of £985,253 [£15.2m] payable to the Independent Television Authority for the rental of the London and Midlands Transmitters.

Nevertheless, the Group profit after Levy and taxation amounts to the final figure of £2,846,620 [£44m] as compared with £2,769,709 [£42.8m] for the previous year.

EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY

In June your Directors announced the intention of recommending a final dividend of 10%, making a total of 26% for the year. The year’s accounts were accordingly drawn up on this basis.

In view, however, of the Government White Paper, “Prices and Incomes Standstill”, I have to tell you that your Directors now feel bound to recommend that the final dividend should be 6½% and not 10%, thus leaving the total dividend at 22½%, as for the previous year.

EXPANSION

The Chairman of a Company which is expanding so rapidly as Associated Television naturally finds himself at a disadvantage in preparing a Report which must suffer some delay before it can reach the hands of the shareholders.

Accordingly, even though these developments have occurred after the end of the financial year under review, I feel that I should report several new acquisitions to your Group’s interests.

First, there is our joint undertaking with Chappell’s in music publishing through our acquisition of a 50% interest in two companies New World Music Limited and Jubilee Music Inc. Secondly, there is the 50% interest in a new publishing company to be formed jointly with the International Publishing Corporation to operate in the general field of educational and industrial training publications and in connection with television programmes.

Thirdly, we have now acquired the remaining 50% of Pye Records making the company a 100% subsidiary of ours.

In addition we have acquired the remaining 49% minority interest in J. Rosenthal (Toys) and are arranging for the acquisition of a 7½ % interest in an insurance company already established by IPC, Reeds Paper Group and Eagle Star.

THEATRES

In my last Report, I referred to your Company’s “largest and most important single investment” in the shape of the acquisition of the whole of the share capital of the Stoll Theatres Corporation and of Moss Empires.

I am now happy to be able to speak of the eminently satisfactory – indeed substantially improved – results of the Theatre Croup, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Prince Littler.

A new record was established for the London Palladium; and, throughout the West End, our theatres played to well-filled houses. Conspicuous among other successes has been Noël Coward’s repertoire of three plays at the Queen’s Theatre which played to capacity business, and “Hello, Dolly!” at Drury Lane.

It is nevertheless sad that the theatre industry, so recently relieved of the burden of Entertainment Tax, should now be saddled with rising costs deriving from the Selective Employment Tax.

ATV NETWORK

In my last year’s Statement I referred to your Company’s policy of “planned expansion”. As this expansion of activities extended into fields other than television, it became increasingly apparent to your Board that a completely new Company framework was required. Accordingly, steps were taken to reconstruct the Group in such a way that the parent Company would become purely the holding Company of its various trading subsidiaries – including a new subsidiary company to be entrusted with the Television Service operated under licence from the Independent Television Authority.

In April, 1966, this major move was completed. A subsidiary company, ATV Network, was created. It was to this new company that, with the agreement of the Independent Television Authority. the Programme Contract with the Authority and the ancillary television activities were transferred.

TV WORLD

The Midlands programme journal for Independent Television is published by Odhams Press Limited on behalf of ATV Network and ABC Television Limited. The success of the magazine has been unprecedented, and sales have risen steadily to well beyond the 700,000 mark.

MERCHANDISING

In none of your Company’s subsidiaries has expansion been more rapid or more satisfactory.

The publishing venture, in association with the News of the World Organisation of the two magazines “TV Century 21” and “Lady Penelope”, has proved eminently successful, and their combined circulation is over the million mark.

The new subsidiary company, J. Rosenthal (Toys), which markets products associated with television programmes is now equipped to become the major distributor in this field, and shows substantial profits.

COLOUR

Colour on the 405-line standard could be made immediately available to the entire British receiving public in the existing VHF services. Those viewers content to watch only black-and-white pictures would remain entirely unaffected. If 405-line Colour Television were authorised in the New Year, ATV Network alone could immediately contribute not less than 20 hours of Colour programmes a week to the Independent Network.

In order that this country should not lag behind in the development of Colour Television, we therefore advocate the earliest possible introduction by the ITA of colour on the 405-line standard in the existing VHF service. By this Autumn, ATV Network’s Studios in London and Elstree will be equipped for Colour operations in the various international line-systems.

EXPORTS

For the first time in television history, British series have been purchased simultaneously by all three American TV Networks. Columbia Broadcasting System purchased 45 episodes of “Secret Agent” (known to British viewers as “Danger Man”), the National Broadcasting Company purchased “The Saint”, and “The London Palladium Show”, and the American Broadcasting Company purchased “The Baron”, “Court Martial” (jointly produced with MCA), and “McGill”, a new series for next season. The triple jackpot of selling to all three networks has at last fallen into British hands.

I am glad, moreover, to be able to say that, for the Eastern Hemisphere, the sales curve of ITC continues to point sharply upwards. Indeed, for the first six months of the current calendar year total sales approximate to the whole of the previous 12 months’ turnover. These sales have been made in more than 50 different countries.

FILM-MAKING

Another intensive programme of film production is currently in hand, including “The Saint” and “McGill” together with a new Patrick McGoohan series “The Prisoner”.

PYE RECORDS

This is the first Annual Report in which I am able to refer to Pye Records as a wholly-owned subsidiary, even though the results contained within the Consolidated Profit and Loss Account reflect only the dividends received under the 50% ownership which then existed.

During the past year, Pye Records has maintained a leading position within the industry. Although in the United States the sudden vogue for British Pop records has somewhat declined, sales have remained good and the overseas sales of Pye Records in other markets have shown a steady improvement.

THE MIDLANDS

At no time in your Company’s history, has the operation of the weekday licence played so conspicuous a part in Midland affairs and the scope of local programming has notably increased.

The first successful five-day-a-week serial, “Crossroads”, originates in Birmingham, and has proved to be nationally popular.

Another Midlands ATV Network programme – this time designed for the young – “Tingha and Tucker” has, as a result of its overwhelming local popularity, now won itself a place in the national Sunday network.

MUZAK

It is all the more agreeable, bearing in mind the originally slow acceptance of this commercial and industrial amenity, to be able at last to refer to its established success. Growth has been rapid, and the daily Muzak audience in the British Isles now numbers some 2,000,000 persons.

BOWLING

In the year under review, the ten bowling centres, comprising 273 bowling lanes, produced satisfactory results showing an improvement over the previous year.

The effects of the Selective Employment Tax cannot do other than affect future profitability.

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

The debt which your Company owes to the efforts of its Managing Director, Mr. Lew Grade, can in no way be exaggerated. His energy, flair and foresight are apparent in every phase of the Company’s operations and, once again, I most gladly take this opportunity, on your behalf, of thanking him.

I am glad, too, to place on record how fortunate I feel that the Company was to secure the services of Mr. Robin Gill as Deputy Managing Director. The top management team of Mr. Lew Grade and Mr Robin Gill has proved an inestimable asset in the Company’s manifold and expanding affairs.

No less do I and my co-Directors wish to thank all members of Staff throughout the Group. The present healthy and vigorous condition of the Company could never have been achieved without their loyal and devoted work.

The post ATV financial results: 1966 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Your television subsidiary, ATV Network Ltd, commenced its new contract with the Independent Television Authority on the 30th July 1968. The results for this past year have therefore included approximately four months of the old licence period when the company operated partly in the Midlands and partly in the London area, and eight months of the new licence period when our operation was for all seven days of the week in the Midlands.

The Board of this subsidiary company was reconstituted during the year and two very distinguished figures with widespread involvement in the life of the Midlands accepted our invitation to become directors. Dame Isabel Graham Bryce had retired some two years previously as a Member of the ITA. She has, thus, a detailed knowledge of the working of IndependentTelevision and clear views about its future development and its responsibility in each region of the country. In addition, her work as Chairman of the East Midlands Hospital Board and in many other fields of social work in the Midlands, gives ATV Network a new strength.

Sir George Farmer is Chairman of the Rover Car Company and brings to your Board a lifetime of experience from the exceptionally competitive British engineering industry. He is also a Director of the great British Leyland Motor Corporation, and his knowledge of modern industrial practices, of labour relations work and marketing, including the vital export field, will be an immense benefit to the Company. Sir George’s interests also include his Chairmanship of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Pro-Chancellorship of Birmingham University.

In addition, Mr Leonard Mathews, the General Manager in the Midlands, was elected a Director during the year. We welcome all three.

The repercussions of the Independent Television Authority’s decision to change the structure of the industry have been both profound and disturbing.

A very great deal of time has been involved, both in internal reorganisation of ATV Network, and also in arriving at new networking and other arrangements for the exchange of programmes between the various companies for the new licence period.

A new contractor was brought into the group of companies which supply the network with most of its programmes. Thus five companies were called upon to make the same number of programmes as four did previously-with a commensurate rise in everyone’s costs. In the initial months of the new licence period ATV Network, therefore, found itself with a reduction in total output.

Subsequent network re-scheduling resulted in a sudden considerable increase in the total output required from ATV’s studios. This produced a most difficult and continuing problem for our staff at Elstree and Birmingham.

Television Levy

The increase in the Levy announced in the Chancellor’s Budget speech came like a bombshell. It is quite clear that a major miscalculation has been made. The financial viability of ITV had been drastically altered as a result of the redistribution of licences and the past decisions of the Government to change the line standard from 405 to 625, and to introduce colour. These decisions, together with the requirement for new Midland studios, created an additional capital requirement, which will amount to about £7 millions in ATV Network alone. Your Board had come to the conclusion before the Budget that every effort should be made to impress upon the Chancellor that the Levy should be reduced.

We have made representations and will continue to press the Government with the utmost vigour to make a very substantial reduction in the Levy.

Staff relations

Almost immediately following the change of licence last summer, the industry was subjected to a major and quite unnecessary national strike by its ACTT members. This strike was created partly by the lack of confidence within the industry as a result of the licence change. Only after the industry had suffered considerable losses was it possible to return to the ordinary negotiating machinery and ultimately find a solution.

Concurrently with the negotiations with ACTT, the industry reached new agreements with its other major Unions – NATKE, ETU, NUJ and Equity. It is well worth mentioning that the new agreement reached with Equity was extremely complex but was negotiated with great goodwill, with each side adjusting its position so that benefits could flow to both.

It is the earnest hope of your Board and the Board of ATV Network, that a new basis of sound relations has been created within the company for the future. Short term productivity agreements were reached both at our Elstree studios and at Birmingham to cover our present production activities. We have now asked each of the main Unions to negotiate with us long term productivity deals protecting both their individual interests and your company’s throughout the remaining five years of the present television licence. We have been pleased with the initial response from the Unions to these proposals. They are now under detailed negotiation but we will need the full understanding of our Union employees that the only way the company can afford to pay additional wages beyond the exceptionally high levels which already apply in this industry is in return for further direct calculable improvements in individual productivity.

New Midland Studios

We are well pleased with the progress in completing our new television studios at Paradise Centre in Birmingham. Both our architects and the equipment manufacturers have worked well with us to ensure that the new studios will be available for transmissions from the target date next month.

By the early part of 1970 all parts of the Paradise Centre Television Studios will be fully operational.

Programmes

The centre of ATV Network’s activities is in its programmes. In spite of the many difficulties of the past year, ATV has once again produced a wide range of programmes of all types. Some of the highlights of the past year are shown on page 13.

There have been indications of a reduction in the total amount of viewing for television programmes. The largest proportion of the decline has fallen to BBC programming in spite of its control of two channels and monopoly of free advertising for its television programmes on BBC radio – a very great advantage which BBC Television enjoys. In the last six months, ATV Network’s proportion of the total television audience has risen substantially, and now stands at approximately 56%, with BBC1 and BBC2 combined having 44%.

ATV Network’s Educational Advisory Committee has been reconstituted under the Chairmanship of Professor Ronald Maudsley.

ITN

Like the rest of the industry ITN must operate on the 625 line system and in colour later this year. ITN’s Board therefore had no alternative but to agree plans for the building of a new ITN Studio Centre in London. These studios when equipped will cost about £1.5 million and represent a further large but unavoidable capital outlay for the industry. There will also be higher running costs when programming is in colour.

We were delighted to hear that Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, have agreed to honour the industry by making the official opening of these studios in November.

UN’s major news programme, ‘News at Ten’, continues to appear regularly in the Top 20 charts and draws widespread international acclaim.

Your Managing Director, Mr Robin Gill, became the Chairman of ITN during the year.

Viewing Hours

Last Autumn the Government allowed a tiny extension in the hours of broadcasting available to the BBC and ITV. We were grateful for this first indication that our long-standing request for the complete removal of all restrictions on the hours of broadcasting might yet be brought about.

We do most earnestly recommend that this restriction should be removed. It is wholly out of date and against the interests of the viewer. There are significant minority and other groups in the population who cannot be reached so long as such restrictions continue to apply.

TV Times

The year saw the unhappy closing of our very successful Midland magazine TV World. This came about as a result of the ITA’s new policy, which required all companies to use one programme magazine for the whole country.

The new national magazine was a re-creation of the TV Times. This new project involved heavy pre-operational charges, and it has taken a very considerable time to produce a continuing trading profit from the venture.

EVR (Electronic Video Recording)

ATV Network continues to keep a careful watch on the many technological developments within the television and electronic industries.

One of the most promising of these developments is a process for playing cassetted programmes through your home television set. This system is called EVR and we are pleased that the first full programme produced for this new system will be one of ATV’s.

Some of ATV Network’s programmes in the past year

Plays
‘Macneil, Cornelius and Emlyn’ a trilogy by Alun Owen shown in world markets as ‘Male of The Species’*, ‘A Heritage and its History’ adapted from novel by Ivy Compton Burnett, ‘A Matter of Diamonds’ by Paul Lee, ‘Retreat’ by John Hale, ‘The Marrying Kind’ by David Reid, ‘Colombe’ adapted from Jean Anouilh, ‘The Square on the Hypotenuse’ by Anthony Skene, ‘Uncle Jonathan’ by Linette Purbi Perry, ‘Stealers of Darkness’ by Jacques Gilles, ‘A Most Unfortunate Accident’ by John Bowen.

Drama Series
‘The Power Game’, ‘Fraud Squad’, ‘Love Story’, ‘Crimebuster’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘Honey Lane’, ‘Virgin of the Secret Service’, ‘Driveway’.

Light Entertainment and Comedy
‘This is Tom Jones’, ‘The Liberace Show’, ‘The Des O’Connor Show’, ‘George & The Dragon’ starring Peggy Mount and Sid James, ‘It’s The Bachelors’, ‘The Golden Shot’, ‘Goodbye Again’ starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cooke, ‘The Big Show’, ‘The Jimmy Tarbuck Show’, ‘The Real Mike Yarwood’, ‘Stars’ with Maurice Woodruff, ‘With Bird Will Travel’, starring John Bird, ‘John Brown’s Body’, starring Peggy Mount & Naunton Wayne, ‘It Must Be Dusty’, with Dusty Springfield.

Late Night Shows
‘Tonight with Dave Allen’, ‘Tonight with David Nixon’.

Current Affairs
‘Man of The Month’ including Governor Wallace, Dr Borlaugh, Deputy Prime Minister Allon of Israel, General Lemnitzer, Dr Lindt of the Red Cross. ‘Midland News’, ‘ATV Today’, ‘Police Five’, ‘Meet The Mayor’, ‘The Power from Beyond’.

Documentaries
‘Big Fish, Little Fish’ by Anthony Firth*. ‘The Lion & The Dragon’ by Robin Brown, ‘Welcome to Britain’ by Ross Devenish, ‘The Three Happiest Years’ by Norman Swallow, ‘Anything Can Happen’ by Hugh Raggett, ‘The Old Boys’ by Ken Ashton, ‘Hospital’ by David Rea.

Sports & O.B.’s included:
‘Wimbledon 1968’, ‘Cup Final 1968’, ‘Royal Show 1968/69’, ‘British Grand Prix’*, ‘Sportsweek’, ‘Sports from the Midlands’, ‘Major Football Matches’.

Religion
‘All Creatures Great & Small’ by Jean Morton, ‘Once More with Feeling’ Music, ‘The Church and I’ Discussion Panel.

Children’s Programmes
‘The Tingha and Tucker Club’.

Education
‘Towards Mathematics’, ‘Primary French’, ‘Ici La France’, ‘The Universe’ with Sir Bernard Lovell.

* Programmes which have won International Awards

Amongst those appearing in our programmes have been the following: Anne Bancroft, Shelly Berman, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Harry Corbett, Jim Dale, Phylis Diller, Sacha Distel, The Fifth Dimension, George Gobel, Engelbert Humperdinck, Sid James, Michael Jayson, Tom Jones, Nemone Lethbridge, Liberace, Anna Calder-Marshall, George Maharis, Mireille Mathieu, Barbara Murray, Peggy Mount, Des O’Connor, Sir Laurence Olivier, Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Marjorie Proops, Juliet Prowse, Lynn Redgrave, Cliff Richard, Peter Sellers, Paul Scofield, Sheila Scott, Lord Soper, Ann Todd, Terry-Thomas, Dame Sybil Thorndike, Kenneth Williams, Patrick Wymark.

The post Annual Report 1969 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.