Everything about Associated British Corporation totally explained
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 didn't 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 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.
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!, 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.
Goodbye To Associated British Corporation
After 12 years of brilliance, with a few early hiccups, ABC were determined to go out in the style their viewers had become accustomed to. Clips of continuity from their final two weekends on air reveal a real sense of fun - “sampling” Len Barry’s “1, 2, 3” during their weather announcement, and making jokes about the editor of the
TV Times. The good-humoured billing in that organ for their farewell programme “Goodbye From ABC” - “put out the studio cat for the very last time” - reflects their good grace, but then, after all, they'd a new London contract to look forward to in two days’ time.
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
talkbackTHAMES.
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:
ABC (1956-1968)
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)Further Information
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