Timeline of Grampian Television

This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Grampian Television. It provides the ITV network service for the north of Scotland.

Events after the renaming of Grampian Television as STV North in 2006 and the replacement of North Tonight with STV News at Six in 2009 are covered on the timeline of Scottish Television.

1960s
  • 1960
    • August – North of Scotland Television is awarded the licence to cover north and north east Scotland on the condition that positions on the board are offered to the two losing applicants, Caledonian Television and North Caledonian Television
  • 1961
    • 11 January – North of Scotland Television is renamed Grampian Television as it is thought that the North of Scotland TV name would be too cumbersome.
    • 30 September – At 2:45pm, Grampian Television, the ITV franchise for North East Scotland, goes on the air.
  • 1962
    • In a bid to increase viewership, especially in the Dundee area, Grampian begins broadcasting light entertainment and music shows. Previously, Grampian's only local programming had been in news and current affairs.
  • 1963
    • No events.
  • 1964
    • Grampian is given a three-year extension to its licence. This is later extended by a further year.
  • 1965
    • No events.
  • 1966
    • No events.
  • 1967
    • Prior to the 1968 contract round, smaller regional stations sought an affiliation with one of the four major ITV companies, who would provide the bulk of their programming. Grampian links up with ABC Weekend Television.[1] Grampian goes on to retain its licence for a further seven years.
  • 1968
    • August – A technicians strike forces ITV off the air for several weeks although management manage to launch a temporary ITV Emergency National Service with no regional variations.
  • 1969
    • No events.

1970s
  • 1970
    • No events.
  • 1971
  • 1972
    • 16 October – Following a law change which removed all restrictions on broadcasting hours, Grampian is able to launch an afternoon service.
  • 1973
    • No events.
  • 1974
    • The 1974 franchise round sees no changes in ITV's contractors as the huge cost in switching to colour television would have made the companies unable to compete against rivals in a franchise battle.
  • 1975
    • No events.
  • 1976
    • No events.
  • 1977
    • Grampian makes slight changes to its logo, most notably removing the animation.[3]
  • 1978
    • Grampian Television becomes the first British television station to adopt ENG video cameras for news coverage, a move which finally allows its regional news programme, Grampian Today, to extend from three to five nights a week.[4][5] Grampian also develops its own outside broadcast unit, initially using studio equipment.
  • 1979
    • 10 August – The ten week ITV strike forces Grampian Television off the air. The strike ends on 24 October.

1980s
  • 1980
    • 7 January – Grampian Today is relaunched as North Tonight as part of an effort to reflect northern Scotland as a whole. The new programme replaces Grampian Today which had been on air since around 1978.
    • Grampian launches weekday and closedown news bulletins, called North News and North Headlines respectively.
  • 1981
    • No events.
  • 1982
    • Grampian updates its logo.[6]
  • 1983
    • 1 February – ITV's breakfast television service TV-am launches. It is a UK-wide service and therefore contains no Scottish-specific content. Consequently, Grampian's broadcast day now begins at 9:25am.
    • Grampian opens a new studio in Inverness to increase newsgathering across the Highlands and Islands.
  • 1984
  • 1985
  • 1986
    • No events.
  • 1987
    • 7 September – Following the transfer of ITV Schools to Channel 4, ITV provides a full morning programme schedule, with advertising, for the first time. The new service includes regular five-minute national and regional news bulletins.
    • Ahead of the forthcoming launch of 24-hour broadcasting, Grampian ends its closedown news bulletin.
  • 1988
    • Grampian launches weekend regional news bulletins and at the same time, all of Grampian's news bulletins are renamed as Grampian Headlines.
    • 2 September – Grampian begins 24-hour broadcasting.[7]
  • 1989
    • 1 September – ITV introduces its first official logo as part of an attempt to unify the network under one image whilst retaining regional identity. Grampian adopts the look and they make slight changes to its logo, most notably removing the animation.[8]

1990s
  • 1990
    • No events.
  • 1991
    • 16 October – Grampian retains its licence. There were three applicants for the licence and the other two bid more than Grampian. However both failed the quality threshold test.
  • 1992
    • No events.
  • 1993
    • No events.
  • 1994
    • May – Grampian expands into radio and in conjunction with Border Television, Grampian is awarded the central Scotland licence. The station, Scot FM, launches on 16 September.
  • 1995
    • No events.
  • 1996
    • July – Grampian sells Scot FM to the Independent Radio Group for £5.25 million.[9]
  • 1997
  • 1998
    • Summer – In-vision continuity is dropped with announcements made over a new black ident and slides. Grampian makes slight changes to its logo, most notably removing the animation. In September, the continuity is moved to Glasgow.
    • 15 November – The public launch of digital terrestrial TV in the UK takes place.
  • 1999
    • No events.

2000s
  • 2000
    • 28 February – Having decided not to adopt the 1999 ITV generic look, Scottish and Grampian launch a new on-screen logo.[11]
  • 2001
  • 2002
    • Grampian Headlines is renamed Grampian News.
  • 2003
    • 6 January – Scottish and Grampian adopt the celebrity idents package, albeit with their own logos attached and with idents featuring a lot more Scottish personalities alongside those of ITV1.
    • June – Grampian moves to new smaller studios in the city's Tullos area of Aberdeen.
  • 2004
    • 8 January – Grampian's regional current affairs and politics series Crossfire is replaced by a new programme, Politics Now, which is broadcast on both Grampian and STV.
  • 2005
    • No events
  • 2006
  • 2007
    • 8 January – Viewers of North Tonight begin to receive two different programmes - those in the Dundee, Angus, Perthshire and north-east Fife area receive a dedicated bulletin within the main North Tonight programme.
  • 2008
    • No events.
  • 2009
    • 20 March – The last main edition of North Tonight is aired ahead of a major revamp.
    • 23 March – STV News at Six launches across Scotland as it also replaces Scotland Today.[13] The bulletins remain fully localised although sub-regional inserts are now just five minute opt-outs.

See also

References
  1. "Grampian". Users.zetnet.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  2. TV Live: Grampian
  3. TV Live: Grampian
  4. http://scotland.stv.tv/history/273151-grampian-tv-turns-50-the-news/
  5. "The Grampian Television Studios". www.grampianstudios.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011.
  6. TV Live: Grampian
  7. TV Ark: ITV Overnight Services
  8. TV Live: Grampian
  9. Robert Powell (20 July 1996). "Grampian profits by Scot FM sale. TV company doubles its money with #5.25m deal for loss-making radio station - Herald Scotland | Sport | SPL | Aberdeen". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  10. Scottish Media buys Grampian for 105m pounds, Cathy Newman, The Independent, 11 June 1997
  11. TV Live: Grampian
  12. Ident Central: STV News 2009-2011
  13. "SMG bullish despite profit plunge". The Drum. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
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