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The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
network in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
ITV.
Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and financed by the annual
television licence
A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence ...
fee payable by each household which contained one or more television sets. The new
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
government elected in 1951 wanted to create a
commercial television
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...
channel, but this was a controversial subject—the only other examples of commercial television were to be found in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, and it was widely considered that the commercial television found there was "vulgar".
The solution to the problem was to create the
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 un ...
which would closely regulate the new commercial channel in the interests of good taste, and award franchises to commercial companies for fixed terms. Aware that TV coverage of the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
in the U.S. had been interrupted by advertisements, one of which featured celebrity
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...
J. Fred Muggs
J. Fred Muggs (born March 14, 1952) is a Common chimpanzee, chimpanzee born in the African colony of French Cameroon that forms part of modern-day Cameroon. Brought to New York City before his first birthday, he was bought by two former NBC pages ...
, a clause was included in the Act banning advertising breaks during broadcasts featuring the
royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...
.
The first commercial franchises were awarded in 1954, and commercial television started broadcasting in stages between 1955 and 1962. The first advertisement aired by ITV promoted
Gibbs SR toothpaste at 20.12hrs local time on 22 September 1955. Household cleaners were the most frequently advertised products over the 1955–1960 period.
References
{{UK legislation
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1954
ITV (TV network)
1954 in British television
Media legislation
BBC
History of television in the United Kingdom