Better on ITV than the BBC

[Tubby Isaacs]

Better on ITV than the BBC

ian.64 wrote: Bottle Boys. Written by Vince 'Love Thy Neighbour' Powell. Starring Robin Askwith.

I can barely remember it. Which is good.

Mrs X has a problem with her tits.
They keep pecking holes in the milk bottle tops.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Better on ITV than the BBC

George wrote:

I think ITV may have done Speedway better, and horse racing equally as well apart from the BBC having the really big races back in the 80s (Grand National, Derby).

It's actually surprising how many of British racing's top meets were on commercial broadcasters long before O'Sullevan hung up his microphone let alone when the BBC gave up the ghost all together in 2012.
I believe all the flat classics were on ITV during the first half of the 80's (the Shergar 1981 Derby certainly was) and coverage then shifted to C4 when World Of Sport was given the elbow. The BBC eventually wrestled The Derby back at some point but the Guineas and the St Leger have remained on commercial TV ever since.
Cheltenham was lost to C4 in the mid 90's and it was really only Ascot, The National and probably Goodwood which they clung on to till the bitter end.

Julian Wilson was keener on the flat than national hunt, I think. Wonder if he was influential in keeping hold of Goodwood and Ascot?

ITV had York and the Ebor meeting as early as the 80s, possibly long before. That was a big meeting you'd have thought could have been on BBC.

[George]

Better on ITV than the BBC

Peter O'Sullevan on the other hand always struck me as having a genuine love of NH. I seem to remember Sea Pigeon (who lived to a grand old age) was annually paraded at the Ebor.

[Satchmo Distel]

Better on ITV than the BBC

Granada probably did music better than the BBC: they had The Beatles on before the BBC did (at least on TV) and they had Tony Wilson's "So It Goes" before the BBC would touch punk (Old Grey Whistle Test only played bands that had released an album). However, I can't recall ITV having anything to do with ska or reggae until Madness made it kiddie-friendly.

Bill Grundy of course made his own special contribution to punk history.

[anton pulisov]

Better on ITV than the BBC

Tubby Isaacs wrote: I much preferred the Election Night coverage on ITV. The BBC could barely disguise their glee. Tom Bradby on ITV probably votes Tory, but was trying to be even-handed. He had quite a nice light touch too.

Yeah, Nick Robinson may as well have been wearing a Tory election badge.

[gavc23]

Better on ITV than the BBC

Granada always had the more eclectic mix of presenters than BBC North West - ranging from Tony Wilson and genial Bob Greaves to a worrying blend of Stuart Hall and Fred Talbot via Elton Welsby on sport.

[Giggler]

Better on ITV than the BBC

gavc23 wrote: Granada always had the more eclectic mix of presenters than BBC North West - ranging from Tony Wilson and genial Bob Greaves to a worrying blend of Stuart Hall and Fred Talbot via Elton Welsby on sport.

I loved Granada Reports when I was growing up but I was still immensely proud to work on North West Tonight.

[gavc23]

Better on ITV than the BBC

Giggler wrote:

Granada always had the more eclectic mix of presenters than BBC North West - ranging from Tony Wilson and genial Bob Greaves to a worrying blend of Stuart Hall and Fred Talbot via Elton Welsby on sport.

I loved Granada Reports when I was growing up but I was still immensely proud to work on North West Tonight.

Thinking back, the fact that within the last 20 years families made an actual decision as to which regional news programme they would watch on a Friday evening - and that the decision could even cause an argument - seems preposterous.

But my mum and dad were genuinely engaged about the merits of BBC or Granada and did their best to get us kids on their side.

[3 Colours Red]

Better on ITV than the BBC

North West Tonight had Gordon Burns however (even though he was most famous for a certain ITV show that I really should have mentioned in the theme tune thread by now).

Mind you, I always preferred Granada simply because they actually took into account that North Wales was a dual region in terms of transmitter coverage, so you'd get to see highlights of Wrexham's matches on the news(at least when we were in the league and ITV had the rights).