Final Broadcast
In 1980, all ITV regional franchises were up for renewal and the IBA decided that ATV's lack of regional programming and production was hampering the Midlands. It insisted that the new applicant for the franchise should be more clearly based in the region and have separate facilities for the East and West Midlands. Although ATV won the new franchise, it was required to change its name and restructure the company.
The final edition of ATV Today aired at 6pm on 31 December 1981 and was presented by John Swallow with Wendy Nelson reading the station's last news bulletin. The following day, the programme was replaced by Central News, which would launch separate news services for the East Midlands in 1983 and the south of the region in 1989 before reverting to a largely pan-regional service in 2009.
Read more about this topic: ATV Today
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