Exit TV-am

Abstract

The political winds of change in the Thatcher years which led to the White Paper Broadcasting in the ’90s: Competition, Choice and Quality. The Government’s Plans for Broadcasting Legislation (Cm 517) in November 1988 have been described in detail in Chapter 8, Vol. 5 of Independent Television in Britain. The following chapters also covered the battle of the Broadcasting Bill in 1989/90, which resulted in the Broadcasting Act 1990, and the licence process, bids, winners and losers which were the outcome of this change. In brief, the so-called ‘beauty parades’ and personal interviews which had resulted in TV-am’s award of the breakfast-time contract were abolished. They were replaced by a more objective and quantifiable system.