Independent Television in Britain

A companion to volume 3 "Politics and Control, 1968-80", this book covers aspects of the same period and completes the history of Independent Television from its origin and foundation to the end of 1980. The division between volumes 3 and 4 reflects the system whereby a regulatory body, which was by statute the publisher and the editor of all programmes, employed contractors to undertake the primary function of programme-making. This arrangement built stresses into the structure, and plenty of instances of tension between the supervisors and supervised are recorded. Other drawbacks were an Authority more reactive than "proactive"; the need for much industry and inter-company decision-making by committee; and a short-term approach to planning resulting from limited-period contracts and the uncertainty of renewal.