London News Network - Transmission

Transmission

Aside from merging the production of news and sports programming for the region into the new venture, LWT and Carlton took the view that instead of having two transmission centres in different buildings, neither on air at the same time as the other, it would make financial sense for the transmission departments to be merged as part of the new company. To that end, from the start in 1993, LNN took over responsibility for the transmission of Carlton and LWT to the viewer at home.

The companies stopped short of handing over full control of presentation and scheduling, however, and planning and scheduling staff, along with the continuity announcers (the "voices" of the stations), were retained separately by Carlton and LWT. This meant that, uniquely for the time, the transmission controllers (later "network directors" - a change only in name) and the continuity announcers worked for different companies and answered to different management.

Carlton and LWT effectively shared the position of what was known as "nominated contractor" in the ITV network. The responsibilities of this ranged from contingency planning and coordinating the network's response to, for example, major breaking news to the provision of the "Network Feed", this being the "clean" feed of programmes to all the other contractors in the ITV Network. To this end, LNN operated two transmission feeds: one to the London transmitter at Crystal Palace and its dependent relays, and another to the other ITV control rooms around the country. The latter was provided without announcements, commercials or interstitial material (except during times of a "presented feed", such as during the shared overnight service). The network feed was known as "KRS-17/67" - referring to the circuits (17 the original analogue and 67 the latterday digital) allocated to it by BT Broadcast between the South Bank and the BT Tower (The London Television Centre stands on a stretch of the South Bank known as the "King's Reach", and "KRS" an acronym for "King's Reach Studios").

The LNN transmission department has latterly been absorbed into the merged ITV plc as the Southern Transmission Centre, the management and operation of which has been outsourced to Technicolor Network Services. As a result, playout has now left LWT's London Television Centre and has been relocated to Technicolor Network Services' hi-tech, HD capable broadcast centre in Chiswick.