TV Live Podcast

Sky's £1.6 billion acquisition of ITV's broadcast and streaming business is more than just another corporate deal. It marks one of the biggest changes to British broadcasting in decades and raises important questions about the future of television in the streaming era. In this episode, Rob Francis explores why the deal happened, what it means for ITV, Sky and viewers, and whether this merg...

In this episode, we explore the extraordinary story of the 1979 ITV strike, the industrial dispute that brought commercial television across most of the United Kingdom to a complete standstill. We'll look at how a pay dispute at Thames Television escalated into the longest strike in British television history, why almost every ITV region went off the air, and how the tiny Channel Television in...

April 1964. A brand-new channel. A carefully planned launch night. Fireworks ready. Cameras rolling. Britain watching. And then, just before the start… everything goes dark. No broadcast. No opening show. No grand debut. Just a power cut, a stunned control room, and a very awkward silence. Rob Francis looks back on the night television didn’t go to plan.

Rob Francis looks at the removal of News at Ten in 1999, a decision that changed the shape of ITV’s evening schedule and broke one of British television’s most familiar habits. It explores how a programme that had defined the 10pm slot for over 30 years ended up being pushed aside for commercial flexibility, and why that choice still draws criticism today. From the early success of News at Ten to...

For decades, ITV was a network of regional broadcasters with strong local identities, but in 1999 Carlton Television replaced Central and Westcountry with its own corporate brand. In this, the 20th episode of the new TV Live Podast, Rob Francis looks back at how media ownership changes and the ITV hearts rebrand helped push the network towards a single national identity, and how Carlton’s approach...

Seventy years after Granada Television first launched from Manchester, Rob Francis looks back at the broadcaster that helped redefine British television through programmes such as Coronation Street, World in Action and Brideshead Revisited. This episode explores Granada’s fierce northern identity, the vision of Sidney Bernstein, the creation and later splitting of “Granadaland” in 1968, and the ri...

In this episode, Rob Francis looks at how the Independent Television Authority reshaped the ITV network in 1967, why the need to protect ABC Weekend TV led to the creation of Thames Television, and how Rediffusion found itself pushed into a new structure where it no longer held control of the franchise it had built. Along the way, we explore the tension between creative success and corporate power...

Rob Francis takes a deep dive into TV-am, the station that promised to change mornings forever but spent years fighting ratings disasters, boardroom coups, presenter sackings, and even being saved by a puppet rat. From David Frost and the Famous Five, to the rise of Roland Rat, the rivalry with the BBC’s Breakfast Time, and the brutal franchise loss that handed breakfast television to GMTV, this i...

London Weekend Television was meant to change everything, a bold new voice for ITV built on culture, ambition, and big ideas, yet within seconds of launch it was already falling apart, from strikes that took it off air to a schedule that drove viewers straight to BBC1, this is the story of how London Weekend Television got it so wrong, and why David Frost’s grand vision collapsed under the weight...

In this episode, we take a closer look at the latest cuts at the BBC, where up to one in ten jobs are set to go as the corporation searches for £500 million in savings. On the surface, it’s a story about finances, rising costs, and a changing media landscape, yet beneath that sits a much bigger question about what the BBC is becoming, and what it risks losing along the way. With warnings from unio...

In this episode of the TV Live Podcast, Rob Francis takes a hard look at the fall of TVS - the company that bid the most money, had the experience… and still lost its licence. Was it really pushed out by a broken system? Or did it overreach, overspend, and make one fatal mistake at the worst possible moment? From bold ambition to a £59 million gamble that nobody believed, this is the story of how...

This is the story of how one of ITV’s founding giants lost its way, why the Midlands demanded something better, and how Central Television emerged from the ashes of ATV with a promise to finally put the region first.

In this episode, Rob Francis tells the story of how Television Wales and the West lost its ITV franchise, even while its programmes and reputation were strong. We explore the quiet politics behind the decision, the arrival of Harlech Television , and the human cost for staff in Cardiff and across Wales.

In this episode, Rob Francis tells the quietly dramatic story of how Westward Television lost its place on the ITV map and slowly, and almost gently, became Television South West , in a change that reshaped broadcasting in the south-west of England far more deeply than most viewers ever realised. Rob looks beyond the headlines to explore boardroom battles, regulatory pressure, bruised egos and the...

Southern Television was a trusted presence on screens across the south of England for more than two decades, but when it lost its ITV franchise in 1980, the reaction was anything but gracious. In this episode, Rob Francis how a broadcaster that had once seemed untouchable became bitter, petty, and openly mocking of its successor. From the infamous “Portakabin TV” song in its final news bulletin to...

In the first of a new series of the TV Live Podcast, Rob Francis takes a critical look at the 1989 ITV on-air look. Where it came from. What it was trying to fix. And why it exposed deep problems inside the network it was meant to unite. This isn’t a nostalgia trip. It’s a story about branding without authority, design without conviction, and a broadcaster that wanted to be one thing, but couldn’t...

In 1996, Tyne Tees - one of the North-East’s most beloved TV stations - was abruptly rebranded as Channel 3 North East . Sleek, corporate, and utterly soulless, the rebrand alienated viewers and turned a regional favorite into a forgettable number on the dial. Led by Bruce Gyngell, the ambitious chief executive of Yorkshire‑Tyne Tees, the move was meant to modernize the network - but it backfired...

This episode of the TV Live Podcast takes you back to 1991, when British television changed forever. The ITV franchise auctions turned the familiar world of commercial TV upside down — Thames Television, TV-am, TVS, and others lost their licences, while newcomers like Carlton, Meridian, and Westcountry stepped in to take their place. In this episode, Rob Francis explores the high-stakes bids, poli...

Independent Television didn’t slip quietly into British life. It arrived in the 1950s with new voices, bright lights, and a challenge to everything the BBC had done for decades. In this episode, Rob Francis explores how a single switch-on reshaped the national mood, opened the door to competition, and changed the rhythm of the living room. From regional pioneers to the first commercial break, this...

This episode looks at how British television handled the early hours of Sunday 31 August 1997, when the first reports of the Paris car crash involving Diana, Princess of Wales began to emerge. It follows the BBC’s overnight coverage, ITV’s delayed response, and the moment when every major channel shifted into a single day of rolling news. Rob Francis reflects on watching events unfold as a twelve-...

This episode looks at the future of STV’s news service in Aberdeen and what the planned closure of the North bulletin means for the region. I explore how local news shaped the North East, why losing a dedicated service hits harder than a simple schedule change, and why the identity of this part of Scotland is tied to the stories told about it. There’s history, reflection, and a blunt look at what...

President Donald Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for a billion dollars over a Panorama documentary that edited his January 6th speech in a way the corporation now admits was misleading. In this episode, Rob Francis examines what really happened, why it matters, and what it reveals about the fragile relationship between truth, journalism, and political power. Can the BBC survive this without lo...

As Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness step down, Rob Francis asks what their departures really say about the state of Britain’s public broadcaster. In this episode of the TV Live Podcast, he unpacks months of scandal, misjudgment, and fear inside the BBC - from the Trump edit to the Gaza documentary - and explores how an institution built on truth has become paralysed by s...

Before rolling news, before 24-hour channels and endless scrolls, there was ITN - the independent newsroom that changed how Britain saw itself. In this episode, we trace the history of Independent Television News, from its 1955 launch as a bold challenge to the BBC’s monopoly to its evolution into one of the world’s most respected news brands. Featuring the voices, controversies, and innovations t...