The Late Show ITV Franchise guess

On the night before the ITV franchises were announced in 1991, media journalist Ray Snoddy took a guess at which companies would be successful.

[@97channel]

Credit where it's due, he had the entire thing sussed out. Nobody could say for certain how it was all going to go, but he was spot on with his analysis, even if the exact outcome varied ever so slightly. Take him down the bookies with you, he's the man.

[@johnking5174]

In my opinion here is how the 1991 ITV franchise round should have been: Thames and LWT keep their franchise. Meridian takes over from TVS. TSW in the South West keeps their franchise. Central TV should be taken over by Carlton. STV, UTV and Grampian keep their franchises. Granada should have lost and North West TV should have won. Anglia, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire keep their franchises. Channel TV maintain theirs. Border TV maintain theirs. Merlin TV should take over from HTV in Wales/West of England. TV AM keep their breakfast franchise. In that way, Carlton would not have got their grubby hands on London.

[@GeorgeASFTHM]

It's also infuriating ironic that the "Overbid" limit that was placed on TVS' and TSW's bids and had forced them off the air at the end of 1992, could have easily allowed TV-am to automatically win if it had been enforced onto the Breakfast Television franchise, but of course as it was a national franchise, it was too lucrative for such a sanction.

[@roblancs]

Applause for Central playing its cards right and kicking the greedy ITC where it hurt.

[@krisstarring]

ITV as a whole couldn't make it over the quality threshold today.

[@Hampstead343]

Granada was in greater danger than TSW, yet Granada passed but TSW did not.

[@ziggydamaestro]

And how did Granada make it so easily over the infamous "quality threshold"? Oh, that's right, they helped to write it.

[@GeorgeASFTHM]

In the case of TSW, it wasn't the bid that was too high, it was the franchise that was too small!

[@edmund184]

Possibly the point in which British TV was destroyed?

[@CJODell12]

Thames had bid £32.5 million while Carlton had bid £43.1 million.

[@mattypad777]

In a fairer universe, I personally would have rewarded each franchise if it was different:

[@CJODell12]

1:06

[@tomosburton1756]

Even as someone that can't properly remember regional ITV[I can only remember Carlton],I like what I've seen of TSW and I think had I been around at the time I would have loved it.

[@Blubatt]

In a fairer universe, I personally would have rewarded each franchise as such:

[@DN21Media]

The guesses were good in the end.

[@revinhatol]

3:46 - In the East of England, some people there believed even Anglia joined the consortium.

[@whatamalike]

AH so disney had a hand in sunrise, that explains Diggit...

[@GeorgeASFTHM]

I am almost certain that had Thames had bid the same as its rival CPV-TV (£45m - considering that CPV they failed the qualty test), TVS and TV-am had bid the same as Yorkshire (£37m) and TSW had bid the same as LWT (£8m?), they probably would all had kept their franchises.

[@TVMocksTim]

TSW should never of been taken off air, TSW was popular with everyone its was bold and served its region well, we are a small region and we dont all like a london styled based station, TSW stood up for its self and made it feel like u were part of the ITV family, since Westcountry took over they have movd away from that family feel, and now ITV means nothing but complete and utter trash and wasting money on rubbish trying to be popular but has failed

[@williamg209two]

funny he thought another franchise battle would happen after 1991