The Making of Channel 4

Peter Catterall

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780415842082
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135018863
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Media Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Channel 4 had been a matter of controversy for years even before it came on the air in November 1982. There were lengthy debates about what its role would be and the part to be played by the ITV companies and the growing number of independent television producers. There was also political controversy over the profile of the new channel, some wishing to see it as "their" channel in response to the apparent political hegemony of Margaret Thatcher. The result was sharp conflicts, not only over programming but, as the channel became established, over its relationships with the ITV companies and its regulatory body, the IBA. These controversies in the making of Channel 4 are revisited in this volume. The opening article by Edmund Dell, the channel's first chairman, describes and explains his sometimes stormy relationship with Jeremy Isaacs, the chief executive, while the witness seminar and the other articles offer the views of Channel 4 commissioning editors and representatives from the IBA, the ITV companies, the independent producers, the Home Office and the BBC.

Index

20/20 Vision, 123

adult education, 134–7, 143

adult literacy, 135, 137, 139–40

advertising, 7, 17, 55, 63, 66

and BBC, 33, 48

revenue, 18, 20, 27, 33–4, 37, 41, 47–8, 62, 71–4, 93, 144–6, 155

rates, 19

Althusser, Louis, 107

American imported programmes, 10, 23, 26, 32, 82, 152

The Animals Film, 54, 81

animation, 157, 159

Annan, Lord, 43, 67, 79, 107–8

Annan Committee, ix, 1, 53, 57, 61, 66–7, 80, 92, 96, 99, 115

archaeology, 150

arts broadcasting, 7, 87, 138–9, 143, 145, 147, 156–7

Arts Council, 157

Association of Broadcasting Staff, 98

Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians, 98

Attenborough, David, 143

Attenborough, Sir Richard, 30, 38, 40–1, 44, 93

audience research, 140, 144, 146, 154–6

audience, broadcasting, xii, xvi–xvii, 102, 145

Avila, Kay, 153

BBC1, 1, 21, 64, 154

BBC2, 2, 4, 7, 58, 64, 66, 81–83, 85

Balhatchett, Sophie, 54

Bedawi, Zeinab, 143, 150

beekeeping, 142, 156

Benedictus, David, 57

Ben...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Abbreviations
• Chronology
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Controversies in the Early History of Channel 4
• Channel 4: A View from Within
• Establishing the Regulatory Framework of Channel 4
• A Defence of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
• Witness Seminar The Origins of Channel 4
• Channel 4: News and Current Affairs 1981–87
• Channel 4: The Educational Output 1981–89
• Notes on Contributors
• Index