[WillPS]

This thread is really interesting… right up my street! This might be a teeny bit OT, but it’s relevant…. I’m aware TV-am was fed directly to the TX sites outside of the main ITV distribution network… however who made the decision for it to be transmitted that way? Was it a IBA requirement? Surely it would have been easier for TV-am just to be fed to the ITV companies and they could then handle regional advertising for them etc? And I believe GMTV had its own way of transmission as well, albeit linked to the local companies? Anyone able to shed some light?

It's worth remembering that until the IBA was disbanded ITV (the network) was theirs and the various franchised operators were merely "programme contractors"; the broadcaster was the IBA no matter which ITV region you lived in. As such, each programme contractor would provide the IBA with a compliant signal which the IBA would take care of emitting.

The IBA made the arrangements with regards to the breakfast TV contract, not the regional programme contractors (some of which tried quite hard to stop it from happening). Their transmission arrangement was entirely consistent with how they operated at the time - but it was also pragmatic given the context.

This differed from the arrangement post-93, where each regional franchise in effect became the broadcaster, with their own responsibility for getting their programming broadcast - and as such they could form whatever arrangements they wanted/needed to in order to get the programming to its audience in the manner committed to. They each held the contracts with their transmission contractors, in a total reversal of the situation with the IBA. They also had far more ability to choose which elements of their broadcast they handled themselves, which they contracted to eachother (such as overnight playout), which they formed joint ventures to handle (such as LNN) and which they contacted to third parties.

In the case of GMTV it was doubly convenient to let the regions handle the last mile to the transmitters since they were contracting out all the regional news back to the regional franchisees anyway. It was cheaper and simpler for all concerned.