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Associated British Corporation
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Associated British Corporation (otherwise known as ABC Television or ABC Weekend Television) was one of a number of commercial television companies set up in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to safeguard their business by getting involved in television which was taking away their cinema audiences. In this case, the parent company was the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), who initially did not wish to become involved in the new broadcasting system, but were persuaded to do so by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) and the head of their Pathé News subsidiary Howard Thomas, who became the new company's managing director.
Kelmsley Winnick, one of the consortia that had been awarded a franchise in 1954 collapsed, the ITA approached ABPC to step into the breach.
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Encyclopedia
Associated British Corporation (otherwise known as ABC Television or ABC Weekend Television) was one of a number of commercial television companies set up in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to safeguard their business by getting involved in television which was taking away their cinema audiences. In this case, the parent company was the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), who initially did not wish to become involved in the new broadcasting system, but were persuaded to do so by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) and the head of their Pathé News subsidiary Howard Thomas, who became the new company's managing director.
History
When Kelmsley Winnick, one of the consortia that had been awarded a franchise in 1954 collapsed, the ITA approached ABPC to step into the breach. Accordingly, the Corporation agreed to take up the franchises to broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays to the Midlands and the North of England. The contract agreeing to do so was signed on 21 September 1955, the day before Independent Television (ITV) launched in London.
This gave the new ABC five months to come on air in the Midlands, the service launching on 18 February 1956. Soon afterwards, they were also up and running in the North - they went on air there for the first time on 5 May 1956. They were aided in part by the failure of the original contractor; Kelmsley-Winnick had ordered over £1 million (2008 equivalent:£18.8m) of production equipment from manufacturer Pye which they sold onto ABC at a much discounted price .
ABC's original presentation style was criticised by the ITA for being bland and too much attached to the existing ABC Cinemas brand. Taking this criticism to heart, ABC Television developed a strong corporate identity, effectively becoming the first British TV station to recognise the importance of corporate branding. Its new animated logo showed three triangles joining up to form a bigger triangle (in geometry the points of a triangle are often labelled 'A', 'B' and 'C'), accompanied by a xylophone playing 'la-te-doh' (or 'A-B-C' on the tonic scale).
Networked programmes from ABC included the drama series Police Surgeon,The Human Jungle, Redcap, The Avengers, the series of one-off plays in ABC's Armchair Theatre, the pop shows Thank Your Lucky Stars and Oh Boy!, the children's science fiction program Emerald Soup, plus the gritty dramas Callan and Public Eye (both of which continued as Thames productions after 1968).
Weekend franchises were scrapped - except in the London area - in the 1967 round of franchise renewals. ABC then looked further afield, pinning its hopes on the London weekend franchise, although they also picked the new Midlands seven-day contract as a second choice.
Studios
ABC operated three production sites and had a further sales office. The main production facilities were the former Warner Studios located at Teddington, Middlesex. Although outside of their contract area, ABC operated a London base as many celebrities couldn't venture outside of the capital to record programmes as they were often starring in theatre plays in the West End. Upon the merger with Rediffusion this site became the main production base for the new company Thames Television and is still in use as an independent facility, Teddington Studios.
Within their constituency ABC operated a northern studio centre, converted from a former Capitol cinema in Didsbury, Manchester. They also had a sales office based in Television House in the centre of the city. Following the merger the studios were leased to Yorkshire Television in 1967 for recording pre-launch programming whilst their own studios were being constructed and in 1970 was sold to Manchester Polytechic and was the base for their theatre and television school. After moving to the University's All Saints campus, the site was demolished in 1996 to make way for blocks of flats.
In the Midlands they formed a joint venture with Midlands weekday licensee ATV to oversee the running of a production and transmission facility to be used by both. Alpha Television Limited purchased a former cinema in Aston, near Birmingham and extended it by the construction of additional studios and office space; the site was known as the Alpha Studios.
In 1968 ABC vacated the premises as a result of its move to London. Faced with high costs for converting the studios to colour production ATV opted to build new studios in the heart of Birmingham, subsequently named Alpha Tower. In 1970 they also left the site and Alpha Television went into voluntary liquidation and the site sold. In 1974 the commercial Independent Local Radio station BRMB bought the centre and converted it into a radio station, remaining there until the late 1990s. The original cinema has since been demolished but the additional office space still remains.
The 1968 Contract Round
In the event, ABC were offered the London weekdays franchise on condition that it formed a joint company with Rediffusion, London. This was agreed, with profits being shared equally between the two but with ABC maintaining control over the new company, Thames Television.
Thames Television in turn lost its franchise in the 1991-2 round of franchise renewals, although the company continues to exist as an independent programme producer, now a part of the FremantleMedia Group and known as Talkback Thames.
Names used
Company names:
- Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited (1955-1968)
- Associated British Corporation (1966-1970s on exports and on continuing productions on Thames)
On-air names:
- Associated British (1956)
- ABC Television (1956-1968)
- ABC Weekend Television (1964-1968)
Initials used:
Nicknames used:
- All Bloody Commercials (joke nickname attributed to Bob Monkhouse)
Slogans used:
- ABC - Associated British Corporation in the North (1956-1958)
- ABC - Associated British Corporation in the Midlands (1956-1958)
- ABC, your Weekend Television (1958-1964)
- ABC, your Weekend Television in the North (1964-1968)
- ABC, your Weekend Television in the Midlands (1964-1968)
See also
- Category:Associated British Corporation productions
External links
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- , 1960s from 625.uk.com (Macromedia Flash 6 or later required)
- , c.1964 from 625.uk.com.
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