• Last time we told how Val Parnell brought modern quick-fire variety to the London Palladium for the first time and then, after the war, started a season of international variety . . .

FIRST American to top the bill under the new regime at the London Palladium was Mickey Rooney. But Mr Rooney failed to please either the public or the critics. Yet, if he had heeded “The Guv’nor’s” advice the story might have been very different.

At the Monday morning run through, showman Val sat in the empty stalls and watched Rooney run through his act. He crammed in everything—singing, dancing, playing drums and a few impressions.

“You’re doing too much”, Val Parnell told him. “Your act lacks cohesion. It’s too scrappy, much better to slow it down”.

But the star from Hollywood thought he knew better . . .

Another American artist who didn’t do too well was the comedian Jack Carson. His opening night was hardly a success. This was largely due to his insistence on including comedy material which Mr Parnell told him would have little appeal to London audiences. Afterwards he changed it and had a much better reception.

CHARLES HENRY’S PUSH

After congratulating Danny the Marquis said he thought his cousins would also like to see the show. Danny, not realising who they were, said “Sure, bring them along”.

And they came, too — Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. They brought their parents along as well — the King and Queen. Val Parnell was there to welcome them, the first time a reigning monarch had ever been to an ordinary music-hall performance and the first time Royalty had sat in the stalls with the paying public.

But Val Parnell not only brought vaudeville back to London, but according to Jack Benny he did the same for New York too.

Writing about Val Parnell in “The Hollywood Reporter”, Mr Benny has pointed out that the fabulous success of the variety seasons at the London Palladium were also responsible for the reopening of the Palace Theatre, New York, as a vaudeville house with Judy Garland topping the bill and Max Bygraves in support.

MAX’S CHANCE

Judy Garland was the most nervous star. She was so frightened on her opening night that Charles Henry, Val Parnell’s production manager who still assists him in our “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” series, had to push her on the stage from the wings.

Another nervous performer — Danny Kaye.

“A great worrier beforehand”, says Mr Parnell, “and until he got started, a bundle of nerves. But from that moment on he was terrific”.

Danny Kaye was Val Parnell’s biggest success. He followed Mickey Rooney into the London Palladium in the summer of 1948 and certainly did more than any other performer to establish the London Palladium as the great Mecca of international vaudeville.

On the second night of his opening, Vai Parnell took the Marquis of Milford Haven back stage to meet the American star. The theatre had been packed and the Marquis had seen the show standing at the back of the circle.

It was “V.P.” who gave Max his first big chance too, putting him into the Palladium to deputise for Ted Ray. And he found Ted Ray at the Palace, Luton, giving him a free pass for the Palladium so that he could watch other performers, improve his style.

Peggy Mount came down from Wolverhampton Rep. to audition for the role of the witch in a Palladium pantomine. She was so good that Vai Parnell gave her the job on the spot—after the dress rehearsal increased her salary. It was her first West End part.

LAS VEGAS

The fame of the Palladium bills even reached Las Vegas. The year before ITV started “The Guv’nor” took a party of British performers for a six weeks season at the Desert Inn. They were billed as “Palladium Varieties” and offered a typical London Palladium show — slick and fast moving with twelve acts on the bill.

On opening night, the manager of the Desert Inn took Mr Parnell aside.

“You’ve too many acts, you’ll run overtime” he told him.

“How much do you bet?” Val Parnell replied.

“I bet you 200 bucks [$2,300 in today’s money, allowing for inflation – Ed] you don’t get through the show under ninety minutes”, said the manager.

WITH A SMILE

The two men shook hands and when Val’s “Palladium Varieties” closed in seventy-five minutes the American paid up with a smile. He didn’t want his customers kept away too long from those gaming tables.

This, then, is something of the show business background to ATV’s Val Parnell.

In the world of British entertainment, his position is unique.

And it was only natural that when Lew Grade — then a variety agent — foresaw the possibilities of commercial television he should seek the help of the man for whom he had supplied so many of the star acts for the London Palladium and the Moss circuit.

“Val” he told him over the phone “You’re in commercial television”.

“But — what’s all this Lew?” asked Val.

“Don’t argue” said Lew “Leslie (his brother) and I are forming a company to apply for a TV licence … and we want you in with us”.

Val Parnell asked for more details — and agreed. But a few minutes later he was back on the phone … to Lew.

“Lew, there’s a snag in this” he told him “I’ve an exclusive contract with Moss Empires and I’ll have to get an okay from that Board”.

This was obtained and it followed that when Moss Empires finally entered the commercial television field in 1953 through its shareholding in ATV, Val Parnell was put on the TV Board. A few months later he was asked by the Board to take over the managing directorship of the company with Lew Grade as his deputy. Things remained this way until last year when he resigned as Managing Director.

But, as he has already indicated, Val Parnell will still be with us … as executive producer of his “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” series and he also retains his seat on ATV’s Board.

Writing in the Daily Mirror at the time his resignation was announced, Clifford Davis called Mr Parnell “The Last of the Great Showmen”.

I can’t think of a better description … or a finer tribute.

The post The Val Parnell Story: When Judy Garland had to be pushed on… appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Last time we described how Val Parnell rose from 5s-a-week office boy to become General Manager of the vast Moss Empires theatrical concern.

Since then, right up to the time he joined ATV as full time Managing Director five years ago, he booked every act for the Palladium and he built up Moss Empires into the world’s biggest chain of live theatres controlling not only the Palladium but 30 other theatres and music halls.

At that time, the Palladium was a cinema — and losing money. Parnell persuaded his board to let him bring his Birmingham policy to the London Palladium.

At the start, it was far from easy. Parnell’s biggest competitor was the Stoll circuit. As well as his provincial theatres. Sir Oswald Stoll [his granddaughter, Yvonne, works in ATV’s Press Office] also ran the London Coliseum and the Alhambra in Leicester Square (the latter site is now filled by the Odeon).

Sir Oswald presented the cream of the international variety talent available. And again he operated barring clauses to prevent Parnell from booking their acts.

TO SMASH STOLL

Parnell set out to smash the Stoll circuit’s grip on the West End music-hall – and he did. He found his own acts and whenever a Stoll artist was available he booked him for Moss Empires.

Gradually the Palladium bills began to outshine those of the Coliseum and Alhambra. Acts that Stoll booked to top the Coliseum bill on their own appeared at the Palladium in support of other performers.

Parnell used the same techniques he had used at Birmingham. He booked many more acts per programme. And the performers had to cut their material, streamline their routines. In most cases Parnell did it for them.

The West End was offered modern, quick fire variety at the London Palladium for the first time. And you could get a reserved scat in the back of the ground floor for only 2/6 [12½p in decimal, about £7 in today’s money, allowing for inflation – Ed] and up in the top balcony a reserved numbered seat for 1/- [5p in decimal, about £3 in today’s money, allowing for inflation – Ed].

He found new stars too. Older music-hall patrons will remember Billy Bennett. “The Guv’nor”, as Parnell was called, gave him his bill matter of “Almost A Gentleman”. He also wrote some of his songs. He found and brought to stardom Layton and Johnstone; Sid Field and Max Miller and many more.

NO HOLIDAY

And the same judgment which was in later years to launch Bruce Forsyth and Norman Vaughan also brought the Crazy Gang into being. This was in 1931 and “V.P.”, busy booking weekly variety bills, found he hadn’t time for a holiday.

So he had the idea of putting a show into the Palladium which could run for more than one week — to enable him to get away to the seaside.

The first Crazy Show featured Nervo and Knox, Naughton and Gold and a husband and wife comedy team Billy Caryll and Hilda Mundy.

Parnell had some trouble persuading Nervo and Knox to appear with Naughton and Gold – there had been a row between them over “stealing” material. At the Monday morning band call the trouble flared up again and Parnell had to go down to the theatre to make peace between them.

Parnell gave the comics a free hand to get laughs. They were joined by the comedy juggler Eddie Gray (Parnell also gave him his “Monsewer” title) and later Flanagan and Allen were added to the team.

FLANAGAN & ALLEN

Parnell brought Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen as unknown comics to the Holborn Empire where they were an immediate and sensational hit—he later added them to the Crazy Gang and Bud Flanagan (Allen having retired) stayed with the Gang until its recent break up.

One of Parnell’s first Palladium revues after the war was “High Time” with Tessie O’Shea. Jewell and Warris and Nat Jackley.

Tessie O’Shea made her entrance on an elephant but at a matinee performance she was thrown into the orchestra pit. This put Tessie out of the revue for three months — an accident which never would have happened if its trainer had realised the elephant was 12 months pregnant. Six months later she gave birth.

After “High Time”, Val Parnell put in another revue “Here There and Everywhere”. In between he ran five week’s variety — George Formby topping one bill; Laurel and Hardy the other.

JERRY ALLEN’S START

He also turned his attention to the Prince of Wales Theatre — presenting Sid Field in a revue there. This was “Piccadilly Hayride” and it gave a whole crowd of talented newcomers their first West End break—among them Terry-Thomas, Derek Roy and swing organist Jerry Allen, now resident with his trio in our Midlands “Lunch Box” series.

He altered the Hippodrome, so that it could present a floor show type of entertainment “Starlight Roof”.

The stars of “Starlight Roof” were Vic Oliver, Pat Kirkwood and Fred Emney. Among many unknowns, three people were auditioned by him to whom he gave their first Chance in this show. They were Michael Bentine. Jean Carson and Julie Andrews, who was then 12. Bentine offered a comedy act with a chair back and a rubber plunger; Jean Carson played a cigarette girl and was understudy for Pat Kirkwood. Julie Andrews sang a soprano solo. The show ran for two years.

With three shows running in the West End. Val Parnell began to plan future policy. It was then he decided to build the London Palladium into the world’s No. 1 vaudeville theatre.

STAR HUNT

To succeed, however, he needed stars — big top of the bill attractions. In January 1946, he flew to New York on his first international star hunt.

But not only stars, he brought back a whole list of good supporting acts — reasoning he had to offer the public something special if he wanted them to pay 14/6 [72½p in decimal, about £22.50 today] for a stalls seat. This is why big time, international variety came to the Palladium under Parnell’s management.

The list of stars who came to appear for him still reads like an international Who’s Who of Show Business… Danny Kaye; Lena Home; Johnny Ray; Bob Hope; Jack Benny; Kay Starr; Guy Mitchell; Dorothy Lamour; Duke Ellington; Grade Fields; Ella Fitzgerald; Edgar Bergen; Martha Raye; Phil Harris; Jean Sablon; Danny Thomas; Betty Hutton; Frank Sinatra; Eddie Fisher; Judy Garland; Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; Sch-nozzle Durante; Sophie Tucker; Howard Keel; The Andrew Sisters; Tony Martin; Allan Jones; Jo Stafford; Nat “King” Cole; Benny Goodman…

They were all given the star treatment — dressing rooms were redecorated, modernised and the current headliner had his or her name outside the famous No. 1 dressing room — on a brass plate with the date of appearance. The plates were unscrewed — mounted on polished wood and given to them as a souvenir at the end of their engagement.

He booked Katherine Dunham’s Dancers for the Prince of Wales Theatre. One girl in the show also had a small solo spot in which she sang a number. Her name? One of this year’s Royal Variety Show performers — Eartha Kitt.

NEXT TIME: Mickey Rooney’s flop . . . when Charles Henry had to push on Judy Garland . . . Peggy Mount’s début . . . how Max Bygraves got his chance.

The post The Val Parnell Story: Crazy, Gang Crazy! appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

VAL PARNELL gives up his post as our Managing Director this month and will be succeeded by Mr Lew Grade, his Deputy.

He has had a remarkable career — rising from a 5/- a week office boy to holding Managing Directorships of two of Britain’s biggest entertainment organisations — Moss Empires and then ATV.

He built up Moss Empires into the world’s biggest theatre circuit — at one time controlling 30 theatres and music halls.

He has brought the public — first in theatres and then on television — the world’s greatest entertainers. Many of them were unknown performers till “V.P.” gave them their first chance.

He came into commercial television at the start. In 1957 he took over as full time Managing Director of ATV and turned our £1,500,000 losses into a profit.

He will still continue his association with the Company — as Executive Producer of “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” and as a Director of ATV.

But now, for the first time in 57 years, “V.P.” will no longer arrive in a theatrical or television office in the morning for the start of a day’s work …

VAL PARNELL was born into show business.

His father was Fred Russell, a famous top of the bill entertainer and the pioneer of ventriloquism as it is known today.

Fred Russell was the first “vent” to face an audience with a single dummy. Till then, ventriloquists worked with as many as a dozen dolls. Arthur Worsley, Peter Brough and all the others have followed in his footsteps.

REVOLUTIONISED

Years later, it was his son who revolutionised the British Music Hall by streamlining running orders, cutting artistes’ time on the stage and presenting, for the first time. “High Speed Variety” as we know it today.

Val Parnell, born on St Valentine’s Day, was two years old when his father gave up the editorship of the Hackney Gazette to become a full time entertainer with his Pearly King dummy “Coster Joe”.

He had been given a tryout at the Palace Theatre — for £10 [about £1,100 in today’s money, allowing for inflation – Ed]. He did so well he stayed 20 months.

At that time, Victorian England was rocked with a sensational divorce case involving an Irish politician named Parnell and Kitty O’Shea, a married woman. To avoid confusion, Thomas Frederick Parnell became Fred Russell.

For the next 40 years Fred Russell was a star. He was a contemporary of Marie Lloyd, Little Tich, Charles Chaplin—all the great entertainers in the lush golden hey-day of British music-hall.

But conditions were very different to those today. Artistes had little or no protection. There was no standard contract between managements and performers. Fred Russell saw the need for variety performers to organise themselves.

With the help of a few fellow performers he organised a trade union — the Variety Artistes’ Federation. And Fred Russell became its first chairman.

BRIEF STRIKE

Managements, however, didn’t take too kindly to the idea. And although, after a brief strike, the music-hall performers won the right to negotiate conditions of employment and obtained a standard contract which, with modifications, is still in use today, Fred Russell found himself ostracised.

For four years he was unable to secure any worthwhile bookings in this country. So, instead, he embarked on World tours visiting America, Australia, Canada, South Africa and other countries — anywhere where they spoke English.

The postscript to this, of course, is that earlier this year his son found himself in dispute with the same union his father founded. But, fortunately for all, the disagreement was short lived.

Fred Russell died in 1957 — aged 95. And there is a bronze bust to “Variety’s First Gentleman” in the foyer of the London Palladium.

TOY THEATRES

With this background, it is no surprise that his son’s first playthings were toy theatres.

At 13, Val Parnell ran away from boarding school in Margate, to enter show business. But he never thought of himself as a performer. It was the managerial side that attracted him.

His first job — as a 5/- [25p in decimal, about £26 now] a week office boy with Sir Walter de Frece, husband of Vesta Tilley, who ran a theatrical company and a few small theatres. At night, he went to Pitman’s to learn shorthand.

When he was 15, he added 12/6d [62½p in decimal, about £64 now] to his 7/6d [37½p in decimal, about £38 now] a week wages by going from his day time office job to sell tickets at night at the box office at the Metropole Theatre, Camberwell.

BOOKING ACTS

A couple of years later he was booking acts for four small provincial theatres.

The end of 1914 saw Parnell in the army and he served overseas until 1919 when he returned to England to resume his employment with Sir Walter de Frece.

When de Frece sold out to the Charles Gulliver circuit, Val Parnell became booking manager for 10 of Gulliver’s provincial theatres — one of these was the newly opened Birmingham Hippodrome.

Here, Val Parnell found himself in opposition to two Moss Theatres in the same town. Both were regarded as No. 1 dates.

The stars naturally preferred working for the well established Moss circuit. And, just to make things more difficult, all Moss contracts had a barring clause against appearances at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Parnell, finding he couldn’t get headline attractions, decided on a new policy. For a start, he booked many more acts per bill. He cut their time, streamlined their routines. And at Birmingham Hippodrome, modern fast moving variety was born.

In 1928, the Gulliver circuit was sold to The General Theatre Corporation and Val Parnell took over the booking of the whole chain of theatres, including the London Palladium. In 1931 the newly formed General Theatre Corporation took over the management of The Moss Empire Chain of Theatres and Val Parnell became General Manager and in complete charge of the booking of all artistes and attractions.

NEXT TIME: His battle with Sir Oswald Stoll . . . The start of the Crazy Gang . . . When Tessie O’Shea fell off an elephant . . . How Jerry Allen of “Lunch Box’’ got his start.

The post The Val Parnell Story: They called his father ‘Variety’s first gentleman…’ appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

PHILIP DORTÉ, ATV’s Midlands Controller, was only 22 when he was offered a job by the General Electric Company of America to work on the development of radio at their Schenectady works in New York.

From Downside he had gone to Cambridge but finding no provision there for the study of electrical engineering he attended Faraday House instead.

After reading a paper on radio to students at the Institute of Electrical Engineers, the young Dorté was approached by a member of his audience.

“Would you like to work for us in New York?” asked the G.E.C. man [sic: American General Electric was known as G.E.; the unrelated British General Electric was G.E.C. – Ed]. The young radio engineer jumped at the chance.

At New York, however, his sense of humour at once got him into trouble.

“Do you suffer from moral turpitude?” asked the immigration official.

“I said ‘Yes'” recalls Mr. Dorté “and I spent the night on Ellis island. The next morning the G.E.C. people had to come and get me out”.

In America he worked on the development of both TV and talking pictures and when his company secured the contract to build Toronto’s first high powered radio station, Mr. Dorté was put in charge.

While in Canada, he had the idea of approaching the French Government to secure a concession for broadcasting commercial radio programmes to Britain.

The French agreed and Mr. Dorté formed Radio Publicity Ltd. — in opposition to Mr. John Reith, as he then was, and his British Broadcasting Company.

“I suppose, I must have been the first Englishman to see the possibilities of commercial radio” he recalls.

“These were sponsored programmes and we had plenty of advertisers too — Black Cat cigarettes; Revelation suitcases and Grosvenor House Hotel…”

Transmissions were beamed to London on long wave. Tom Ronald, BBC sound radio producer, was one of the announcers.

Soon after this, Captain Leonard Plugge obtained a similar concession to operate Radio Normandy — on medium wave.

“Captain Plugge suggested an amalgamation” says Mr. Dorté, “I was agreeable but the rest of the Board were against it. I resigned.”

From commercial radio, Mr. Dorté switched to talking pictures. Basil Dean was just starting Ealing Studios and with his knowledge gained in America, Mr. Dorté was put in charge of the sound recording side.

From Ealing he joined Michael Balcon at Gaumont British, working in the old Lime Grove studios, now used by the BBC.

“I went on location abroad for all the big British films of that time” he says “This kept me out of the country for months on end. My wife took a dim view of this.

“Then one day I met an old friend of mine, John Hytch at the BBC, He told me the BBC were just about to start a television service and why didn’t I join them?”

Mr. Dorté thus became the BBC’s first TV Head of Outside Broadcasts. And for the next few years everything he organised was a FIRST.

“The first O.B. was the Coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1936″ he says. “Then there was Wimbledon, the Boat Race, a show a week from the London Coliseum and both the 38 and 39 Derbies.”

In the Spring of 1939, Mr. Done joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve. It was while he was doing an O.B. from the London Zoo that his wife came round with his calling-up papers.

With his TV and engineering background, he was a natural for radar.

Demobilised with the rank of Group Captain, he was awarded the OBE (Military Division) for his services.

As BBC TV expanded, Mr. Dorté switched over to films, becoming Head of TV Films in 1949.

“It was a constant battle with the film industry” he recalls “I fought them all the time. Finally I told them that if they wouldn’t co-operate with us over the question of newsreel coverage, we would start our own.

“They roared with laughter. They reminded me that cinema newsreels were fast going out of business. They said I didn’t stand a chance.”

Events proved Mr. Dorté right. He even put out a better service than the cinemas — by providing the BBC with a different newsreel daily as against the twice a week offering in the cinemas. And he started a Children’s TV Newsreel too.

In 1954 he quit the BBC to join Mr. Norman Collins as a senior executive of the original Associated Broadcasting Development Company which later merged with Moss Empires and other interests to become ATV.

In the early days of ITV he was seconded to Independent Television News for a year, then — as he puts it — Val Parnell asked him if he’d start the Company’s Midlands Operation.

“I’m still starting it” he says.

The post He pioneered commercial radio 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.

“Trading Profit £5.5 million”

“Another Excellent Year”

In my 1964 Statement I was able to report “an excellent year’s trading”, and I added that I had “every confidence in your Company’s prospects for the ensuing year”.

I am now happy to be able to say that my prediction has proved justified. Associated Television Limited has enjoyed another excellent year — in fact, despite the effects of 8 months’ levy on turnover, the second most profitable in the 10 years’ history of your Company’s activities.

The consolidated Profit and Loss Account shows that the profit of the Group, before taxation, stands at £5,522,348 [£88.9m in today’s money allowing for inflation – Ed] for the 52 weeks to 4th April, 1965.

EXPORTS

This year has been historic as the first in which ATV has broken into the American networks. The series “Danger Man” — re-named “Secret Agent” in the United States — was sold to CBS. Its reception was unprecedented. Following upon three shows which hod failed one after the other it promptly reached first place in the national ratings for programmes in that time period. In consequence, CBS has now placed an order for a further series of “Secret Agent” for next winter. The United States contracts for “Secret Agent” alone ore worth more than $3,000,000 [$30m].

The unique puppet series, “Stingray”, has now earned the highest prices ever paid in syndication — that is to say in sales to individual stations throughout the United States The revenue from this series will, it is estimated, exceed $1,500,000 [$15m] in the United States alone.

During the year 1964/65, overall exports to some 100 Countries throughout the world have resulted in a Sales revenue of nearly £2,000,000 [£32.2m]; and in the current year this figure should be passed by a very substantial margin.

EXCHEQUER LEVY

The levy on turnover, collected by the Independent Television Authority on behalf of the Exchequer, will be in force for the whole 12 months of the ensuing financial year (1965/66). This levy rises at the top end of the scale to no less than 45% of advertising receipts — the highest rate of discriminatory taxation in the history of British industry.

It would be idle to pretend that the effect of the levy on your Company’s profits will not be adverse. It cannot be otherwise. On the other hand, it would be totally misleading to attempt any direct equation between the amount of the levy and the resultant amount of the profits.

In the first place, your Company’s revenue from advertising is substantially higher than it has been at any time in its history: this is due to the exceptional performance of the ATV Sales department. Secondly, internal economies affecting every phase of the ATV operation except programme production have already shown good results. Thirdly, the benefits of diversification are apparent in the form of additional revenue coming from sources which are not subject to the television levy.

EXPANSION

ATV’s policy has been one of planned expansion in those fields in which your Directors and their Management have the widest background of experience and therefore the greatest contribution to make for the future. It was in line with that policy that your Company made its largest and most important single investment by acquiring the whole of the share capital of the Stoll Theatres Corporation Ltd , and of Moss Empires Ltd.

In London, the Stoll Theatres Corporation controls — either freehold or leasehold — the following theatres Coliseum (leased to Cinerama Ltd); Palladium; Victoria Palace; Hippodrome (leased to “Talk of the Town”); Apollo; Her Majesty’s; Globe; Queen’s; Lyric; Phoenix; and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. And in the provinces: Birmingham Hippodrome; Bristol Hippodrome; Brighton Hippodrome; Liverpool Empire; Manchester Palace; Manchester Hippodrome (site awaiting development); Morecambe Winter Gardens; Nottingham Empire (closed); Nottingham Theatre Royal; and Stoll Picture Theatre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Considerable as these interests are, they do not in any sense constitute a monopoly of the live theatre, either in London or in the provinces. Nevertheless they do provide a wide and substantial bridge between Television and the Theatre, and I am fully satisfied that this is to the advantage of both.

Still pursuing our line of planned expansion within the entertainment industry, in October of last year your Company purchased a controlling interest in M Berman Ltd., one of Britain’s leading firms of film and theatrical costumiers.

ATV AWARDS

Throughout the country the programmes produced by Independent Television have been preferred to those produced by the BBC in the ratio of 64% to 36%, and the programmes of ATV have greatly contributed to this success. Indeed, never before have so many distinctions for programmes been earned in any one year by the artists, personalities, writers and producers connected with a single Company.

The Guild of Television Producers and Directors made four ATV awards; The Screen Writers Guild made four ATV awards; The Variety Club of Great Britain made three ATV awards; and The Television Society two ATV awards. The awards constitute the acceptance of the outstanding position of Mr. Bernard Braden as the ITV personality of the year, and of “The Plane Makers” as the outstanding dramatic series of the year.

AUDIENCE

The Authority’s transmitter in the London area, where ATV is responsible for the week-end operation, reaches a potential audience of 13.8 million. In the Midlands, where ATV is responsible for the week-day operation, the audience has — as a result of the opening on 30th April, 1965, of the Authority’s Membury relay transmitter — now risen from a potential audience of 8.7 million to one of 9.2 million. This increase in audience potential will in due course be reflected in the revenue-earning potential of the Midand operation.

THE MIDLANDS

During the year we have entirely reshaped the pattern of our regional programmes in the Midlands. At a regular time throughout the week-days, our viewers now see a daily Midlands news and news magazine programme (“ATV Today”). ATV Midlands moreover has established the first successful five-day-a-week serial in British television. This programme, “Crossroads”, originating in the Alpha Studios in Birmingham, has now spread across almost the whole national network, and regularly appears in the regional Top Ten ratings. A national critic recently went so far as to say: “‘Crossroads’ is the biggest television success of 1965”.

COMMONWEALTH

In the past I have indicated that our investment in television companies in Canada has proved disappointing because of the heavy initial losses which these companies incurred. I am now, for the first time, able to report that the companies are soundly profit-making and that the value of ATV’s Canadian holdings has correspondingly increased.

ATV (Distributors) Pty. Ltd., is in the happy position of having been able to arrange sales in Australia of all the major ATV series and programmes which they have been asked to handle.

EDUCATION

ATV has continued to produce three fully networked programmes for schools. These have been well received throughout the entire country In the Midlands, where ATV maintains its own Education Officer, the number of schools in which there are provisions for regular viewing has increased during the year from 1,130 to 1,480.

Outstanding in the field of adult education was the series devised by Mr. Harold Wiltshire, Director of Adult Education at Nottingham, and produced by ATV in co-operation with that University. For the first time in the history of adult education on television in this country, the series (on basic economics) offered viewers the opportunity to enrol for a correspondence course based on the programmes and to have personal contact with tutors. Over 1,600 viewers enrolled, and a further course on a national basis is now being planned.

PYE RECORDS

Pye Records, which is 50% owned by ATV, has enjoyed a year of overall success and of individual successes.

On no fewer than five occasions, records under the Pye label reached the Number One position in the British Top Ten listings. Moreover, during this period British pop discs in general, including those of Pye Records, achieved a new fashionable status in the American market. No one would ever presume to predict how long any trend will continue in the pop record field particularly in the U.S.A. but, as a result of the sudden British boom — described by some critics as a “cult” — the dollar earnings of Pye Records more than doubled. Elsewhere in the world, where the trends are usually steadier, overseas sales of Pye Records have shown on increase of more than 50%.

BOWLING

Ambassador Bowling profitably operated 10 Tenpin Bowling Alleys with a total of 273 bowling lories. Three new Centres were opened during the course of the year — in Hounslow, Wolverhampton, Edgware.

Approximately 250,000 people visit our Centres each week. Tenpin Bowling is a sport which covers all age groups but, it should be noted, by far the greatest numbers fall between the ages of 16 and 26.

“TV WORLD”

The new weekly Midlands programme journal, “TV World,” published by Odhams Press Ltd. and jointly owned by ATV which provides the week-day programmes in the Midlands and by ABC Television Ltd. which provides the Midlands week-end programmes, was launched on 26th September, 1964. Its success was immediate. The circulation has grown consistently and now stands close to the 700,000 mark.

MUZAK

Though in the post the growth of this service of background music for offices, factories and public areas has proved slower than anticipated, the position has appreciably improved during the past year. The total value of contracts secured stands at a figure in excess of £1,000,000 [£16.1m], and is now growing rapidly as the benefits of the service become more widely appreciated.

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

It would have been impossible for me to write in such confident terms of ATV’s overall buoyancy and prospects for the future if it were not for the vigorous, zealous and able leadership given to the Company by the Managing Director, Mr. Lew Grade. I also send my most sincere thanks and those of my colleagues on the Board to all the Staff throughout the Group for their loyal and hard work.

The post ATV financial results: 1965 appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.

Despite this crack, the Paladin of the Palladium is no ruthless tyrant or despotic czar.

He is the genial boss of the Moss Empires music hall circuit of 24 theatres that provide entertainment for nearly half-a-million people every week.

He is also Chief Executive of Associated TeleVision, and, in a fortnight’s time, will again be presenting Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

It takes a long time to get to know Val Parnell. Unlike most of the people in the profession, he doesn’t go in for the hail-fellow-well-met approach and a lot of effusive conversation.

He is head backroom boy of a vast domain of show business, and mostly he keeps himself to himself.

Audiences can raise the roof

After his wife Helen, Val Parnell loves the Palladium best of all. It is his pride and joy, and he can rightly boast that it is the greatest and most famous music hall in the world.

To top the bill at the Palladium is the ultimate ambition of every variety act in both hemispheres.

Stars like Danny Kaye and Bob Hope sacrifice enormous fees in America to experience the thrill of hearing a Palladium audience raise the roof.

Jack Benny tells a story of how he met Danny Kaye in New York, just after Danny had returned from enjoying London’s twice-nightly applause.

“What time is it?” said Jack to Danny.

“Six-fifteen and eight forty-five,” replied Danny.

Val has the happy knack of making friends of the stars he employs.

On his desk is a paperweight with the inscription: “To Val — the real star of the London Palladium — from Frank Sinatra.”

Guest of honour

Comedian Danny Thomas gave him a Christmas present of cigars with the comment: “To Val, my friend and boss — a rare combination.”

They like him as a man and they respect the fact that he knows the business inside out. And so he should, as son of the once-famous ventriloquist, Fred Russell — still sprightly at the age of 94.

When Fred Russell was a guest of honour at a Press Club dinner some time ago, Val was there as well.

Someone introduced the grand old man as “Fred Russell, the father of Val Parnell.”

“No,” corrected Val, “I’m the son of Fred Russell — and proud of it.”

In the photograph above you see him standing beside the portrait of his father that he keeps on the piano in his office.

“What about a smile?” asked the photographer as he posed for the picture.

”I never smile,” said Val. He looked at me and asked: “What have I got to smile about?”

But there was a twinkle in his eye.

Come to think of it. I’ve rarely seen him smile. For years I’ve met him backstage, front-of-the-house, in the auditorium rehearsing a Royal Variety Performance, and at all sorts of private parties — and I’ve hardly ever seen him smile, except in greeting a friend.

It’s not that he hasn’t a sense of humour or an appreciation of fun; he can judge the effect of a comedian on an audience long before he hears the laughter.

Once he gave an audition to a not-very-funny comic.

Judging effect

“I’m sorry,” said Val, “but I don’t want any profanity at the Palladium.”

“But,” the man protested, “I don’t use any swear-words.”

“I know,” said Val. “But the audience would.”

Though born into show business, Val did not hanker after grease-paint and footlights. He preferred the business side. He eventually became assistant to the famous George Black, whom he succeeded as boss of Moss Empires when Black died in 1945.

Val’s love of the Palladium amounts to a sort of fanaticism. With a gleam in his eye usually associated with fathers speaking of their first-born, he said to me:

“Do you know that up in the half-crown gallery they’ve got the same carpet as the fourteen-and-sixpenny stalls… at £4 17s. 6d. a yard?

Down in the cellar

“Do you know that it cost £6,000 to put in a new cloakroom downstairs? That’s because we’re over some wine cellars, and thousands of bottles of wine had to be moved out for the job — and then moved in again.”

A final anecdote…

Early in the war a neurotic Negro artist tried to get a Palladium date — and failed.

He called at the Moss Empires’ offices, declaring drunkenly that he would shoot Val Parnell if he didn’t give him a job.

“Mr. Parnell,” said an anxious secretary, “there’s a man downstairs who says he’s going to shoot you.”

Replied Val: “Tell him to get in the queue.”

The post Val Parnell – Paladin of the Palladium appeared first on THIS IS ATV NETWORK from Transdiffusion.