A dark day for Independent TeleVision
devolution
All that was most dreaded, has finally happened. Two of the most corrupt
companies in the world have been allowed to merge, much to the disgust of
Independent Television campaigners and critics alike.
C&G now control 80% of Channel 3 (ITV) - originally meaning Independet
TeleVision.
Programmes can only get worse. It's all about money, and shareholders - sod
the public, sod the viewers, sod the football clubs, sod the ITV Digital
subscribers, sod the Nation...
....also SOD THEIR OWN STAFF...
A comment from one of their own Staff:
"I currently work for one of the companies and am seriously thinking of
leaving. The merger is a joke and will force our staff to be reduced and for
the 2 companies to potentially lose some of its most decent employees.
Hunger for money and greed from the people in charge of companies has
ensured it will be a very unhappy place to work for us - the people they are
affected the most. " - Jason, UK
How the damn heck did the Government allow these companies to degrade the TV
format even further, after their illegal activities surrounding ITV
Digital - why does not someone get a sodding wind-up order sent back to
Carlton and Granada, as they are STILL liable as parent companies for the
huge debts that they owe subscribers and others.
THE PRESS HIGHLIGHT THEIR CONTINUAL DREADFUL FAILURES AND CORRUPTNESS:
"ITV .. is still consistently beaten by BBC One for audience share. "
"...ratings are flat during daytime and off-peak periods..."
"...Crossroads failed spectacularly..."
"The days when ITV marketed itself as 'Britain's most popular button' seem a
distant memory - Media analyst Graham Lovelace"
"Q: How did the Government allow this merger to go ahead? A: Allegedly,
Carlton and Granada bosses are donors to Labour."
NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT FROM VIEWERS:
"ITV's problems stem from the centralisation that has crept in over recent
years. Whatever happened to ... the great companies such as ATV, Southern
and Thames? A single-block ITV will only mean more mental bubble-gum and
tacky reality shows, as well as the loss of regional programming." - Declan
McGeough, Belfast, Northern Ireland
"This merger is being done for only one reason, MONEY and has nothing to do
with improving the quality of what the viewer will or will not have
presented to them. The only people benefiting from this are the CEO's and
the shareholders, everybody else looses including the employees." - Frank,
UK
"It looks like the nail in the coffin for any trace of regional output.
Since GMG took over regions like Tyne Tees the programme quality has
suffered terribly, and regional identity has gone down the drain. Only 10
hours a week are allocated for the ITV1 regions, including News programmes,
and I fear this merger will reduce that figure even more, eventually leaving
only one great big ITV1. Of course they will just fill it in with more
episodes of Coronation Street and You've Been Framed." - Adam, NE England,
UK
".... ITV still owes over Ł180m to ... the struggling football clubs ....
this merger is not good news and should not go ahead. " - John Harding, UK
"Along with Sky TV they are both trash TV companies pumping out trashy
programmes for a viewing public who don't have anything better to do with
their lives other than sit in front of a box eating their pre-packaged,
microwaved TV dinner dinners washed down with a with cold can of lager. So
no, there won't be an improvement in quality because it's all about ratings
and therefore advertising revenues. Trash TV sells. " - Nick B, UK
"ITV is losing the plot, a bit like most of their dramas! ... repeats and
drivel ... I would also appreciate a return to the days of adverts then
programmes, rather than adverts, then sponsorship details then programmes.
" - Glen, UK
"Let's face it, if it wasn't for Coronation Street, no-one would watch ITV.
This merger won't make any difference. " - Chris, UK
"If it had spent less money on paying footballers to buy flats and Ferraris,
ITV would not be in this mess..."- Tim, UK
"When Carlton took over our local station, HTV West, all the familiar
presenters and news staff were sacked and replaced by bland nonentities from
the Home Counties. The damage has already been done - this just rearranges
the ruins of regional programming." - John Rogers, England
"It seems that when ITV1 ditched regional continuity in favour of a national
team of announcers, it was the laying of the foundation stones for the
merger today. " - Tony, UK
"More lowest common denominator, more mediocrity, more cheap TV." - Wendy,
UK
"ITV went down the pan ... in the early 1990s This gave us the likes of
Carlton and the slippery slope to the present nationalised, bland network,
complete with inane idents. This merger is a final sad blow to a once great
network whose strength was its regional structure. An American takeover will
finally bury ITV. ITV plc? ITV RIP. " - Anthony, England
"Another blow to the 'little guys' out there. With so much rubbish on TV
lately, it's only going to get worse. It's funny, the idea of splitting up
the regions was to create more competition but with ITV and Granada buying
everything up and now dominating the market - how can it be classed as
competition?" - George Williams, England
"I think this is likely to lead to a diminishing of regional identity within
ITV programmes." - David Hazel, UK
"Let's hope the celeb idents get dumped soon.." - James, UK
"The range of television productions is bound to suffer, as will the most
important thing of all -regional identity. Patricia Hewitt and the Labour
government have a lot to answer for. "- Rex Orr, UK
"It would make no difference to me, I have not watched a programme on ITV
for years. " - Tim Nicholson, England, UK
"ITV should never have been about one or two companies ruling the roost. The
whole basis of the ITV system is now long gone, and with it is the "license
to print money" that used to carry with the ownership of franchises. A major
overhaul of the network is needed to send ITV back to its roots - quality
public service. " - Stephen Howie, Stafford, UK
"TV these days is all about audience share. They have to go for the biggest
audiences possible otherwise the shareholders will be baying for blood.
Therefore, the TV companies have to go for the lowest common denominator -
as a TV company gets bigger, so the lowest common denominator gets lower. In
this case, the amalgamated TV company will be in a position whereby it can
dictate what an entire nation will be forced to view - and it will be of the
worst possible quality. " - Toby, Spain
"The two companies already have a stranglehold on TV output. The BBC has
tried to emulate them to win viewers, to the detriment of the medium as a
whole. They should be forced to sell off the other regional companies they
took over so we can return to the days of quality programming over cheap
imports and endless adverts." - Jeff, UK
"ITV cannot get much worse. Most of its content has been dumbed down to
attract a diminishing market share. Commercial television used to be a
licence to print money in the UK, but the glory days are over for ITV. All
they can do is to consolidate to save money." - Paul T Horgan, UK
"I remember being told the 1990 Broadcasting Act was 'good for viewers'.
Instead we now have an ITV obsessed with money, producing cheap and tacky
programmes and pointlessly broadcasting it all 24 hours. " - Steve, Wales
"So is reality TV programme "The Merger" on the cards? "- Kirk, Guernsey, CI
"I don't see that it will have any effect. The same old second rate
programmes plagued with adverts in between. Why would a merger change this?
"- Chris May, Milton Keynes, England
"Unfortunately the damage has already been done as ITV has lost its unique
selling point - regionality. I'm sure this merger is not about improving
quality, it's just about making money. "- Helen C, UK
"Well, two companies producing rubbish can be made into one company
producing rubbish. That can only be a good thing!" - Steve G, UK
(Comments from BBC News site)
-------
LETS ALL TAKE A LEAD AND BOYCOTT ALL OF THE PRODUCTS SEEN ON THE ITV ADVERT
BREAKS. WITHOUT ADVERT MONEY THEY CANNOT SURVIVE.
IF YOU'RE FEELING REBELLIOUS, SEND BRICKS AND RUBBISH IN ENVELOPES AND
PARCELS FREEPOST TO CARLTON AND GRANDA'S OFFICES - SEE HOW THEY LIKE A TASTE
OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE.
One last quote:
"F*CK YOU CARLTON F*CK YOU GRANADA." - The UK Viewing Public
Hiram Hackenbacker
<nor...@noaddress.no> wrote:
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3170796.stm
>
>All that was most dreaded, has finally happened.
Wow the end of the World as we know it.
--
Hiram Hackenbacker
Basil
> LETS ALL TAKE A LEAD AND BOYCOTT ALL OF THE PRODUCTS SEEN ON THE ITV
ADVERT
> BREAKS. WITHOUT ADVERT MONEY THEY CANNOT SURVIVE.
>
> IF YOU'RE FEELING REBELLIOUS, SEND BRICKS AND RUBBISH IN ENVELOPES AND
> PARCELS FREEPOST TO CARLTON AND GRANDA'S OFFICES - SEE HOW THEY LIKE A
TASTE
> OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE.
>
> One last quote:
> "F*CK YOU CARLTON F*CK YOU GRANADA." - The UK Viewing Public
>
As Fox News wouldn't put it... fair and balanced? ;-)
Mungo
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3170796.stm
>
> All that was most dreaded, has finally happened.
Yeah, the longest most boring newsgroup post ever.
>
> IF YOU'RE FEELING REBELLIOUS, SEND BRICKS AND RUBBISH IN ENVELOPES AND
> PARCELS FREEPOST TO CARLTON AND GRANDA'S OFFICES - SEE HOW THEY LIKE A TASTE
> OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE.
Strange, I don't remember Carlton and 'Granda' ever sending me bricks
and rubbish in envelopes and parcels - mind if they did I could build a
nice new BBQ and I'd have something to burn in it.
> One last quote:
> "F*CK YOU CARLTON F*CK YOU GRANADA." - The UK Viewing Public
>
Grow up.
--
Mungo
Simon Slavin
"devolution" <nor...@noaddress.no> wrote:
>[snip]
Just a quick heads-up that this post was cross-posted to
alt.media.itv.digital,
rec.arts.tv.uk,
uk.media,
uk.media.tv.sky,
uk.tech.digital-tv,
uk.tech.tv.sky
It was not on-topic for all of those groups. If you decide to
post a follow-up please post it only to those groups where your
post is on-topic. Thanks for your help.
Peter Hewitt-Dutton
there!
"devolution" <nor...@noaddress.no> wrote in message
news:blv17j$bal$1...@hercules.btinternet.com...
^Joey Joe Joe-Joe^
Watch out there's a netcop about
David Robinson
>
> All that was most dreaded, has finally happened.
Actually, I thought it was a god day, in that it made it transparently
clear (to anyone naive enough to doubt it before) exactly what kind of
government we have.
The merger can go ahead "subject to controls on advertising rates".
That's what the trade and industry bod said. No mention of controls to
protect local output (the small amount that remains), in fact no
thought for the viewers _at_all_.
The whole approach to media regulation is even more market driven and
"stuff the listeners and viewers" than even the Tories managed.
Remember - only big business matters to new Labour. Ordinary people
don't.
Cheers,
David.
Mark
"devolution" <nor...@noaddress.no> wrote in message
news:blv17j$bal$1...@hercules.btinternet.com...
AD C
The only problem now is that it will open up ITV for a take over and we
do not want an Amercian broadcaster to come in, We get enough American
junk as it is.
Vidcapper
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3170796.stm
>
>All that was most dreaded, has finally happened. Two of the most corrupt
>companies in the world have been allowed to merge, much to the disgust of
>Independent Television campaigners and critics alike.
>C&G now control 80% of Channel 3 (ITV) - originally meaning Independet
>TeleVision.
>Programmes can only get worse.
I find that almost impossible to imagine. :)
--
Paul 'US Sitcom Fan' Hyett
Dom Robinson
says...
> > IF YOU'RE FEELING REBELLIOUS, SEND BRICKS AND RUBBISH IN ENVELOPES AND
> > PARCELS FREEPOST TO CARLTON AND GRANDA'S OFFICES - SEE HOW THEY LIKE A TASTE
> > OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE.
>
> Strange, I don't remember Carlton and 'Granda' ever sending me bricks
> and rubbish in envelopes and parcels - mind if they did I could build a
> nice new BBQ and I'd have something to burn in it.
>
--
Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor)
/* 950 DVDs, 261 games, 33 videos, 67 cinema films, 69 CDs, laserdiscs & news
/* old school, futurama game, about schmidt, ghost recon: island thunder
"Everyone's a winner!" - Newsgroup troll 'Time To Burn' on the lack of choice
foistered upon viewers by broadcasters who don't watch their own output