Driving and Restraining Forces: Toward the Marketization of Broadcast News in the United Kingdom in the 1990s

Abstract

Television news broadcasting evolved rapidly in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. All aspects of the newscast changed and broadcasting became properly marketized. There were clear societal driving and restraining forces at play in the UK during this time. Key driving forces, including competition, new technology, and American consultants spurred on television news development. Restraining forces, such as a resistance to change, money, unions and a fear of Americanization slowed down development. The 1991 Independent Television franchise auction and the privatization movement were both driving and restraining forces. Rich data were derived from primary sources, in particular archival material from the Frank N. Magid Associates European archives and in-depth interviews with Magid staff and UK journalists active in the 1990s.

Notes

1 Michele Hilmes, “Introduction,” in The Television History Book, edited by Michele Hilmes (London: British Film Institute, 2003), 2.

2 See, for example, Craig M. Allen, News is People (Ames: Iowa State Press, 2001); Charles, L. Ponce de Leon, That’s the Way It Is: A History of Television News in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015); Albert T. Primo, Eyewitness Newsman (Old Greenwich, CT: Primo News Services, 2008).

3 Joe George, interviewed by researcher, September 25, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

4 Ned Warwick, interviewed by researcher, November 8, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

5 George interview.

6 Madeleine Liseblad, “The Role of American Consultants in the Development of Television News Broadcasting in the United Kingdom in the 1990s” (PhD diss., Arizona State University, 2018).

7 Jay G. Blumler and Wolfgang Hoffman-Riem, “New Roles for Public Television in Western Europe: Challenges and Prospects,” Journal of Communication 42, no. 1 (1992): 31; Herbert Schiller, Mass Communications and American Empire, 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc., 1992), 137.

8 Denis McQuail, Mass Communication Theory (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994); Trine Syvetsen, “Paradise Lost: The Privatization of Scandinavian Broadcasting,” Journal of Communication 47, no. 1 (1997): 120–127.

9 Neil Postman, “The Social Effect of Commercial Television,” in Critical Studies in Media Commercialism, edited by Robin Andersen and Lance Strate (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 47.

10 Jerome Bourdon, “A History of European Television News: From Television to Journalism And Back?,” Communications 25, no. 1 (2000): 64.

11 Catherine Johnson and Rob Turnock, “Introduction: Approaching the Histories of ITV,” in ITV Cultures: Independent Television Over Fifty Years, edited by Catherine Johnson and Rob Turnock (New York: Open University Press, 2005).

12 Mitchell, G, Ash, “Cultural Contexts and Scientific Change in Psychology: Kurt Lewin in Iowa,” American Psychologist 47, no. 2 (1992): 198–207; Eric B. Dent and Susan Galloway Goldberg, “Challenging ‘Resistance to Change',” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 35, no. 1 (1999): 25–41; Linda Dickens and Karen Watkins, “Action Research: Rethinking Lewin,” Management Learning 30, no. 2 (1999): 127–140; Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Psychology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988); Stephen Cummings, Todd Bridgman, and Kenneth G. Brown, “Unfreezing Change as Three Steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin's Legacy for Change Management,” Human Relations 69, no. 1 (2016): 34.

13 Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in the Social Sciences (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951).

14 Chris Hendry, “Understanding and Creating Whole Organizational Change through Learning Theory,” Human Relations 49, no. 5 (1996): 624.

15 Bernard Burnes, “Kurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change: A Re-appraisal,” in Organization Change: A Comprehensive Reader, edited by Wyatt Warner Burke, Dale G. Lake and Jill Waymire Paine (San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, 2008), 226–254. John Child, Organization: Contemporary Principles and Practice, 2nd ed. (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2015); Karl E. Weich and Robert E. Quinn, “Organizational Change and Development,” Annual Review of Psychology 50, no. 1 (1999): 226–254.

16 Donald G. Godfrey, “Consultants,” in Encyclopedia of Television News (Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999), 51–52.

17 Grant McCracken, The Long Interview (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1988), 9.

18 Brian Winston, “CBS Evening News, 7 April 1949: Creating an Ineffable Television Form,” in Getting the Message: News, Truth, and Power, edited by John Eldridge (New York: Routledge, 1993), 181–209; Martin Conboy, Journalism: A Critical History (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004), 197.

19 Jason Jacobs, “Early Television in Great Britain (the Coronation),” in The Television History Book, edited by Michele Hilmes and Jason Jacobs (London: British Film Institute, 2003), 71.

20 Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Sound and Vision, vol. VI (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), 457.

21 Winston, “CBS Evening News, 7 April 1949: Creating an Ineffable Television Form.”

22 Tom O'Malley, Closedown? The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979–1991 (Boulder, CO: Pluto Press, 1994).

23 H. Hubert Wilson, Pressure Groups: The Campaign for Commercial Television in England (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1961), 13.

24 Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Competition, vol. V (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 3.

25 Asa Briggs, The BBC: The First Fifty Years (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985).

26 Russell Braddon, Roy Thomson of Fleet Street (New York: Walker, 1966), 240.

27 Lisa Buckingham, “Farewell to ITV's Years of Bonanza as Franchisees Lose Out on Wheel of Fortune,” Guardian, September 10, 1992, 13.

28 Bernhard G. Wedell, Broadcasting and Public Policy (London: Michael Joseph Limited, 1968), 51.

29 Jackie Harrison, “From Newsreels to a Theatre of News: The Growth and Development of Independent Television News,” in ITV Cultures: Independent Television over Fifty Years, edited by Catherine Johnson and Robert Turnock (New York: Open University Press, 2005), 123.

30 Asa Briggs, Governing the BBC (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1979), 11.

31 Peter Goodwin, Television under the Tories (London: British Film Institute, 1998); Tom O’Malley, Closedown? The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979–1991 (Boulder, CO: Pluto Press, 1994).

32 “The BBC Story, 1980s,” BBC, downloads.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/1980s.pdf, 3.

33 Report of the Committee on Financing the BBC (Home Office, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, July 1986), para. 592.

34 Ibid, para. 592.

35 United Kingdom, Broadcasting in the 90s: Competition, Choices and Quality: The Government's Plans for Broadcast Legislation (Home Office, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, November 1988).

36 Brian Wenham, “Airwaves Up for Grabs: The White Paper on Broadcasting is the Biggest Bomb Put Under British TV in Half-a-Century,” Observer, November 13, 1988, 34.

37 Emily Bell, “ITV's franchise fiasco,” Observer, October 20, 1991, 33.

38 Ron Powers, The Newscasters: The News Business as Show Business (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978), 78.

39 Andrew Davidson, Under the Hammer: The Inside Story of the 1991 ITV Franchise Battle (London: Heinemann, 1992).

40 Emily Bell, interviewed by researcher, October 18, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

41 Angus Simpson, interviewed by researcher, October 18, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

42 Laurie Upshon, interviewed by researcher, November 19, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

43 “Executive Summary of Findings on Television News and Current Affairs in Wales,” January 1992, BBC Wales, Frank N. Magid Associates Company Archives, Non-Local TV Shelf, Marion, IA, 3.

44 Mike Hais, interviewed by researcher, October 4, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

45 Charles Munro, interviewed by researcher, October 4, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

46 George interview.

47 Richard Myers, interviewed by researcher, October 17, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

48 Alan Fisher, interviewed by researcher, October 7, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

49 Tom Sattizahn, interviewed by researcher, November 10, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

50 Bell interview.

51 Richard Sambrook, interviewed by researcher, November 8, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

52 Lindsay Charlton, interviewed by researcher, October 16, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

53 Penny Chrimes, interviewed by researcher, November 20, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

54 James Cooray Smith, “British Television Once Sounded Like Britain. But Then the ITV Mergers Happened,” CityMetric, October 18, 2018, https://www.citymetric.com/business/british-television-once-sounded-britain-then-itv-mergers-happened-4286.

55 Charlton interview.

56 George interview.

57 Upshon interview.

58 Bell interview.

59 Stewart Purvis, interviewed by researcher, October 18, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

60 Stuart Prebble, interviewed by researcher, October 31, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

61 Charlton interview.

62 “Executive Summary of Findings on Television News and Current Affairs in Wales,” 3.

63 Ibid, 3; “UK Living and Wire TV Product Review,” May 1994, Telecommunications International, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA, 8.

64 Granada Television, “Executive Summary of Findings – Image Survey,” May 1991, Frank N. Magid Associates Company Archives, International TV Shelf, Marion, IA, 24.

65 Ibid, 24.

66 Ulster Television, “Executive Summary of Findings,” April 1991, Frank N. Magid Associates Company Archives, International TV Shelf, Marion, IA, 23.

67 Ibid, 23.

68 Ibid, 23.

69 BBC Wales, “Summary of Research Findings,” October 1993, Frank N. Magid Associates Company Archives, Non-Local TV Shelf, Marion, IA.

70 Munro interview.

71 Bell interview.

72 Sambrook interview; Simpson interview.

73 Bell interview.

74 Chrimes interview.

75 “UK Living and Wire TV Product Review,” 6.

76 Ibid.

77 Munro interview; “UK Living and Wire TV Product Review”; “The Family Channel Analysis,” June 1994, Telecommunications International, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA.

78 Hais interview.

79 Charlton interview.

80 “Selected Tables,” December 1991, BBC Wales, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, non-local TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings on Television News and Current Affairs in Wales”; “Selected Tables on First Tracking Study,” September 1993, BBC Wales, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, non-local TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Summary of Research Findings”; “Executive Summary of Findings – Image Survey,” Granada Television; “Selected Tables 5.40 News Directed Viewing Survey,” June 1992, Independent Television News, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings 5.40 News Directed Viewing Survey,” June 1992, Independent Television News, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Selected Tables,” February 1991, Scottish Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings,” March 1991, Scottish Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Selected Tables,” March 1991, Ulster Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings,” Ulster Television; “Selected Tables,” August 1992, Ulster Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings on Television News and Current Affairs in Wales,” 2.

81 “Summary of Research Findings,” BBC Wales, 4.

82 “Executive Summary of Findings on Television News and Current Affairs in Wales,” BBC Wales, 2.

83 Sambrook interview.

84 “Opportunity Analysis and Programming Assessment of Anglia Television,” March 1991, Anglia Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings,” May 1991, Anglia Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Regional Programs: Today and Tomorrow,” March 1990, Central Television, Frank N. Magid Associates, company archives, international TV shelf, Marion, IA; “Executive Summary of Findings – Image Survey,” Granada Television.

85 Munro interview.

86 Mackie Morris, interviewed by researcher, November 10, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

87 Carla Hargis, interviewed by researcher, December 22, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

88 Jeff Puffer, interviewed by researcher, December 7, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

89 Reagan Ramsey, interviewed by researcher, October 30, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

90 Terry Page, interviewed by researcher, October 26, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

91 Sattizahn interview.

92 Roger Bolton, interviewed by researcher, November 2, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

93 Charlton interview.

94 Purvis interview.

95 Upshon interview.

96 Fisher interview.

97 Prebble interview.

98 Barbara Gibbon, interviewed by researcher, October 30, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

99 Myers interview.

100 Upshon interview.

101 Sambrook interview.

102 Simpson interview.

103 Fisher interview.

104 See, for example, Marvin Barrett, Moments of Truth? (New York: Cromwell, 1975); Marvin Barrett and Zachary Sklar, The Eye of the Storm (New York: Lippincott & Crowell Publishers, 1980); Ron Powers, “Eyewitless News: Many Local TV News Shows Have Become Cybernetic, Modular Twinkies of the Airwaves,” Columbia Journalism Review 16, no. 1 (1977): 17–24; Ron Powers, The Newscasters: The News Business as Show Business (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978).

105 Myers interview.

106 Prebble interview.

107 Gibbon interview; Chrimes interview.

108 Gibbon interview.

109 Alan Douglas, interviewed by researcher, October 23, 2017. Digital recording and transcript in researcher’s possession.

110 Sambrook interview.

111 Upshon interview.

112 Munro interview.

113 Hais interview.

114 Bolton interview.

115 George interview.

116 Sattizahn interview.

117 Fisher interview.

118 Gibbon interview.

119 Douglas interview.

120 Chrimes interview.

121 Upshon interview.

122 Emily Bell, “ITV Bidders Tune in to Brooke's Late Show,” Observer, June 20, 1993, 31; Jason Nisse, “Yorkshire Switches Off Tyne Tees Operations,” Independent, March 14, 1993, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/yorkshire-switches-off-tyne-tees-operations-1497665.html.

123 “UK Living and Wire TV Product Review,” Telecommunications International, 4.

124 Ibid.

125 Purvis interview.

126 Sambrook interview.

127 Upshon interview.

128 Gibbon interview.

129 Prebble interview.

130 Myers interview.

131 Prebble interview.

132 Munro interview.

133 George interview; Munro interview; Purvis interview; Rosie Millard, “Back With a Bong: A Year After its Revamp, News at Ten's Ratings are Up. But has it Sold its Soul?” Guardian, November 8, 1993, A15.

134 Purvis interview.

135 Ramsey interview.

136 Page interview.

137 Munro interview.

138 Warwick interview.

139 Joan D. McMahon, “Lewin's Force Field Theory Applied to Behavior Change in a College Health Course,” Journal of School Health 56, no. 3 (1986): 109–110.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Madeleine Liseblad

Madeleine Liseblad is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at Middle Tennessee State University.