ATV Today - History

History

Regional television came to the Midlands on 17 February 1956 with the launch of ATV's weekday ITV service. The first news programme, a daily 5-minute bulletin called ATV Midlands News, was broadcast on 7 May 1956 - three months after the channel first went on air. But following pressure from the Independent Television Authority for ATV to commit itself to greater regional coverage, ATV Today began on Monday 5 October 1964 as a 20-minute daily magazine programme, supplementing the Midlands News bulletin and airing at 6.15pm each weeknight. The programme introduced viewers to more light-hearted journalism not seen on television at the time. One of the programme's longest-serving and best known reporters was the late John Swallow, a journalist who brought his own individual style of reporting both serious and lighter stories from the Midlands to television screens.

ATV Today reached its peak during the 1970s when it was watched on a daily basis by some three million viewers. By now airing for 30 minutes from 6pm, ATV Today was a popular mainstay of television in the Midlands, and alongside hard news coverage, it maintained its light-hearted and knockabout style of presenting. The emphasis was on entertainment rather than what was seen as a more starchy, sober alternative offered by the BBC's Midlands Today.

The programme was responsible for launching the television careers of many household names in British television. Among those who started as reporters and presenters on ATV Today are Chris Tarrant who joined in 1972 initially as a reporter and newsreader but later specialised in light hearted stories, and Bob Warman, who presents Central Tonight to the present day.

As a result of the success of ATV Today, the station launched a number of other regional programmes for the Midlands. Farming Today reported on countryside matters throughout the 1970s, and the long running crime series Police 5, hosted by Shaw Taylor, was first introduced as part of ATV Today during the 1960s.