The politics of monochrome - why did the UK take so long to authorize color TV?

[BMR]

It is rumored that early British TVs had a propensity to catch fire, requiring that they be unplugged when not in use One of the brands sold was Bush, occasionally referred to as the "Burning Bush" :

I remember when I was around six or seven (circa 1980) my dad having the back off our Bush set that had stopped working and looking at the valves and saying something like if they are orange then they are working but if they go red then they are going to catch fire. I thought he was joking, but maybe he was right.

We brought a Decca shortly afterwards, with a six year guarantee. It lasted 20, and it's replacement is looking good for it's 10 birthday.



Contrary to what you may be told, not everything was made better back then.........

 

[desertv]

BTW-"valves" over there are what we call "tubes" over here..remember "tube testers"?

 

[blackgold]

When I was over in Ireland in 1972, I was shocked to find that TV didn't go on until the Angelus at 6 during the August holidays, except to cover sports. Some of the programs I saw were very weird...and what was surprising was that while RTE was a State broadcaster, it had commercials on between the shows! Back then, RTE was the only game in town. And of course, nobody had colour TV sets, except in the hotels.

 

[BMR]

When I was over in Ireland in 1972, I was shocked to find that TV didn't go on until the Angelus at 6 during the August holidays, except to cover sports.

Yes. Broadcasting hours were much shorter back then in both the UK and Ireland. Even the BBC often had the test card during the day.

Some of the programs I saw were very weird...and what was surprising was that while RTE was a State broadcaster, it had commercials on between the shows!

That is quite common. Quite a few state broadcasters in Europe have commercials as well as a licence fee. The BBC doesn't of course.

 

[TVWorldwide]

Back then, RTE was the only game in town.

However, for most Irish people, RTE was never really the only game in town; much of the Republic's population could pick up the BBC and ITV from transmitters either in Northern Ireland or Wales. According to Timothy Green's 1972 book The Universal Eye, "Where reception is best, two-thirds of the Irish homes watch British commercial television, the remaining third being split between the BBC and RTE. Irish television was originally started in an attempt to distract the Irish from British television."

To draw a somewhat symplistic television analogy, the UK has traditionally been to Ireland what the U.S. has been to Canada.

 

[w9wi]

Back then, RTE was the only game in town.

However, for most Irish people, RTE was never really the only game in town; much of the Republic's population could pick up the BBC and ITV from transmitters either in Northern Ireland or Wales. According to Timothy Green's 1972 book The Universal Eye, "Where reception is best, two-thirds of the Irish homes watch British commercial television, the remaining third being split between the BBC and RTE. Irish television was originally started in an attempt to distract the Irish from British television."

To draw a somewhat symplistic television analogy, the UK has traditionally been to Ireland what the U.S. has been to Canada.

It's my understanding there are a fair number of translators located within the Irish Republic relaying the BBC and ITV. It seems they've been there for some time. (initially illegally -- like early translators in the U.S. -- but now licensed)

 

[BMR]

It's my understanding there are a fair number of translators located within the Irish Republic relaying the BBC and ITV. It seems they've been there for some time. (initially illegally -- like early translators in the U.S. -- but now licensed)

Yes there are. British TV has always been popular in Ireland.

From Wikipedia "The current regulations, Wireless Telegraphy (UHF Television Programme Retransmission) Regulations, 2009 [52] will be the last for deflectors, all deflector licences expire in Dec 2012 and will not be renewed due to the roll-out of DTT in Ireland."

Now that is interesting, because DTT in Ireland isn't going to carry British channels. I wonder if deflectors will go back underground and continue as pirates? (although of course there is the option of getting British TV via satellite now)

 

[BMR]

Getting back to the main topic.....I want to share this link with you http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8369202/BBC-delays-3D-TV-decisions-until-2012.html because I think it is as close as we can get as to understanding the thoughts of the BBC bosses of the pre colour era

This article shows how the BBC can be conservative and take their time over new innovations. For satellite operation Sky, 3D is an opportunity to get more subscribers, or to get existing ones to pay more. For the BBC, who's income is fixed by the licence fee, 3D is just another expense at a time when things are already under pressure, and a possible white elephant if they spend money on it and it doesn't take off . They are also waiting to make sure the current version of 3D is the finished article. The last thing they want to do is go with 3D as it stands, only for a better system (maybe even a goggles free version) to come out soon.

They are not ruling 3D out but in the words of the article are "planning a series of limited technical trials of 3D production technology, including at Wimbledon this summer, but described them as “experiments” designed to “explore the creative potential of the new format, evaluate the different technology options and help us contribute to the standardisation process"

I believe this is precisely the mentality which the BBC would have had in the 1960s as regards colour.

 

[Mr. Mike]

I believe that India went to color in the early 80's sometime.

In developing countries, the balance of trade was an issue. If they did not have a domestic
color television industry countries were reluctant to have their consumers start streaming cash
out of the country by rushing to buy imported color TV's. Many small countries held on to
black and white for this reason.

The balance of trade was an issue not just in developing countries, but also some Western European ones. Despite the postwar recovery, the UK and other European countries had a significantly lower standards of living -- and smaller domestic markets -- than the U.S. in the 1960s. Even when color television was introduced, it took quite a few years for the number of color sets to surpass the number of black-and-white sets. Adding to the expenses was the fact that the TV license fee was, in several countries, higher for color sets.

Also, most countries outside of the Americas had television monopolies, where one or two broadcasting organizations operated all TV services. These corporations had no competitive reason to introduce color early on -- and tended to see color primarily as an added expense.

Speaking of the Americas, here's a list of countries in Latin America (South and Central America and the Caribbean to some extent) that began color transmission, with date in parentheses (full disclosure: this was taken from Wikipedia's entry on the introduction of color TV by country, which is still incomplete to some extent) :

Argentina (1978, full color transmission began almost immediately after the 1978 World Cup)
Bermuda (1968)
Bolivia (1979)
Brazil (1972. full color transmission began three years later)
Chile (1978, full color transmission began a little over a year later)
Colombia (1973)
Costa Rica (1973)
Cuba (1958, reintroduced in 1975)
Dominican Republic (1969)
Ecuador (1974)
El Salvador (1973)
French Guiana (1974)
Guatemala (1970, first country in Central America to begin colorcasts)
Haiti (1975)
Honduras (1973)
Jamaica (1975)
Mexico (1963, full time color transmission began soon after the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City)
Netherlands Antilles (1973)
Nicaragua (1973)
Panama (1972)
Paraguay (1981)
Peru (1976, full color transmission began four years later)
Puerto Rico (U.S. territory) (1966)
Trinidad and Tobago (1969)
Uruguay (1979)
Venezuela (1973, full time color transmission since 1980)

Noticeably absent are, among others, Grenada, Dominica, Belize, Guayana, and Suriname, which is why I mentioned that the full list on Wikipedia was incomplete as of this writing.

Here's the web link in case anyone's interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_color_television_in_countries