Odds and Sods

 I should start by saying some of these have appeared on Broadwcast at some point and some where alluded to by Ford on PMF sometime ago so none of this is new or exclusive to this site. These clipping I obtained from the Proquest database at the British Library. My reason for doing so was just out of curiosity about TIE's later years. I am posting this for reference purposes.

 

Variety in either 1982 or 1984

From Variety in the 1980's

An advert for TIE's HK station - Nothing to do with DW

Here is a document that details how long Thomson was contracted to manage each station - Sorry if these aren't in the right order. It's a real shit trying to arrange these:

 

About Bermuda

The Stirling Consortium: TIE Ltd and the Thomson Connection

Canadian-born Lord Roy Thomson

Certain individuals and organisations involved in bringing television to the Commonwealth manage to escape widespread notoriety. So what was the role of the Thomson Organisation in proliferating British television material throughout the globe?

The Beginning

Back in the sixties, Africa was seen as a potential growth market for the future. Companies and even first world governments wanted to get in on the act. Businesses wanted to sell equipment, TV producers wanted to sell programmes and the British government wanted to spread positive propaganda via COI (Central Office of Information) prints which were either free or very near free. In parallel to this, Communism was still seen as a very real and present danger in the sixties. The concept of the dangerous Marxist was reinforced by Ethiopia's fall to Communism in 1974. 

As the seventies set in, the growth market that had been imagined never materialised. Prominent traditional forms of mass media such as radio and even newspapers, in countries with often poor literacy rates, were proving stubbornly hard to displace. However, Thomson Television International pioneered the management agent technique. This proved very successful as they became the biggest installer of television broadcasters around the world.

Many early television services in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia were focused towards education. Through distribution of COI prints and newsreels TIE (Television International Enterprises Ltd) had plentiful access to cheap programming which met the educational agenda for a lot of emerging Commonwealth broadcasters, and of course, by spreading positive British propaganda there was incentive for the government to give subsidies in order for Thomson and TIE to win contracts in what was part of ‘Operation Flavia’. In return, TTI/TIE provided access to the distribution network of what was at the time the largest Television operator in the developing world. A perfect ecology of business co-dependencies.

Stirling’s organisation was often part of a much larger consortium.  TTI (Thomson Television International Ltd) headed the consortium with American firms NBC and RCA as minor members. TTI formed in August 1962, with a capital of £100 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Scottish Television. In 1957, Canadian-born Lord Roy Thompson bought Scottish Television and over the course of his career went on to own over 200 newspapers all over the globe and had interests in printing, publishing and travels besides his television interests. Consequently, Thomson had the papers which could print listings and promote the stations. Thomson was also a driving force behind the formation of TIE, in 1959, when Stirling was short of funds after his exploits with Capricorn in Rhodesia and some gambling debts. In Smear!: Wilson and the Secret State by Stephen Dorril and Robin Ramsey, it states: 

"Stirling also set up a commercial television company, Television International Enterprises, with funding from Lord Thomson of Times newspapers." 

Stirling’s involvement with Capricorn would cost his business the television contract in Rhodesia, but Thomson as part of the consortium that set up the original RTV station didn’t lose out. TIE eventually went on to win their first contract in Kenya with as part of a consortium that included Thomson. This would set a pattern for most of TIE’s later installations - more on Kenya here: http://theshuzblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/kenya-see-what-i-did-there-part-1.html and here: http://theshuzblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/guildhall-business-library-part3.html As Stephen Dorril stated in his 2002 book (MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service), Stirling often employed Current or Ex-SAS in order that they could travel under the cover of TIE business but TIE was a legit business in itself:  

Setting up the Stations

Along came the Stirling/Thomson consortium promising tailor-made television stations designed to suit any budget that would eventually pay for themselves through the sales of advertising spots. Most consortium members would provide finance in order to win a contract. Minor members like NBC/RCA often got equipment deals, but unlike the French set ups, Thomson wasn't tied to any manufacturer and often used British equipment. TIE got programme supply but couldn't dictate programme policy (as well as selling advertising which was crucial) and TTI provided:

1. Management services
2. Finance and budgetary concerns
3. Arranging credit with suppliers
4. Design of the stations and field surveys for transmitters
5. Hiring contractors and building the station
6. Training and hiring of staff
7. New governmental legislation and official internal procedures
8. Collection of TV licence fee

Thomson became consultants for the term of the agreement (usually, a minimum of five years, but possibly up to fifteen) and withdrew a consultancy fee. Later on, TIE took more of a backseat as minor consortium member being asked to provide some finance and to focus more on programming supply and selling advertising spots, as well as producing programmes through their subsidiary TIE (Productions) Ltd. Obviously, without programmes to draw in viewers there would be no advertising revenue. TV sets were imported and rented. Some were in public places like cafes where people could congregate to view the new medium.  Local programming was expensive to produce and was never able to achieve the quality that was obtainable from the US and certainly not at the prices on offer to third world countries with programmes being available at a fraction of what they had cost the overseas broadcaster to produce. With local broadcasters often producing as little as 20% of their own programming, although there were exceptions such as the Ghana Broadcasting corporation who had set out to make 75% of their own programming and largely stuck to their commitment from the inauguration of their service right up to present day. Ghana has been an exemplary figure in Commonwealth broadcasting, but out of the ordinary none the less. Thomson as the world’s largest media magnet of the time was able to open doors for TIE through association and Stirling was well connected as it was. TIE supplied programmes to TTI stations it had helped set up but also TTI stations which it hadn’t on occasion as evidenced by the Pathe letter that names a certain bicycling chain here: http://theshuzblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/tie-and-avengers.html

SLTV being built

Through the consortium, training could be sought either by TV station employees attending a training course in Scotland at the Thomson foundations highly prestigious Nuffield Institute or with secondment of staff from foreign broadcasters. The Thomson foundation was a joint enterprise between Thomson, the BBC, various independent UK TV producers and the British government that didn't just train staff but also produced COI films. Some of these were made by the students who were then allowed to take the prints back to their native organisation. Even Rediffusion stations like Malta and Canadian owned stations like Ghana sent their staff there.

So, Thomson had a financial interest in TIE; however, I don't think that was the only reason that TTI leant on TIE so heavily. TIE did offer a unique service after all. The one-stop-shop combination of providing programmes, at a competitive rate, to stations with genuine troubles sourcing the material and selling advertising spots to help finance the stations proved a very powerful draw to the ruling powers of nations that saw a television service as a prestigious achievement. The allure of Thomson’s ability to supply programmes through TIE and the connections that TTI could offer was so alluring that in the late-sixties the Japanese government heavily funded the NEC's (Nippon Electric Company) bid for Pakistani television, mainly to win the contract to supply the equipment, NEC then allowed Thomson a 15% stake in the Pakistan national broadcaster on a debenture basis in order to gain access to television programmes. The Italian government had offered Ethiopia a TV station for free! Many of these broadcasters would not have gotten off the ground for decades to come without the assistance that TTI’s consortium offered. However, the TV stations may have been tailor-made considerations towards fulfilling contracts seemed homogenised and without consideration for cultural requirements. 

The Customer is Always Right

As for TTI’s significance, they mean seem pretty unimportant for observers of the Omnirumour, but together they were a world-beating partnership. Thomson helped set up more TV stations across the globe than anybody. So, TIE's success in no small part to providing a service that benefited both sides of any agreement and helped raise them above their competitors. Thomson was the impetus and TIE was the vital life-blood of the stations. Comparisons can be drawn to the service which TIEA Ltd provides as the company doesn't just ask broadcasters to hand over old material for repatriation, or to intrusively snoop around their premises. 

"I know of no better illustration of the way reciprocal obligations can reach long and powerfully into the future than the perplexing story of $5,000 of relief aid that was exchanged between Mexico and Ethiopia. In 1985, Ethiopia could justly lay claim to the greatest suffering and privation in the world. Its economy was in ruin. Its food supply had been ravaged by years of drought and internal war. Its inhabitants were dying by the thousands from disease and starvation.Under these circumstances, I would not have been surprised to learn of a $5,000 relief donation from Mexico to that wrenchingly needy country. I remember my feeling of amazement, though, when a brief newspaper item I was reading insisted that the aid had gone in the opposite direction.Native officials of the Ethiopian Red Cross had decided to send the money to help the victims of that year’s earthquakes in Mexico City.

It is both a personal bane and a professional blessing that whenever I am confused by some aspect of human behavior, I feel driven to investigate further. In this instance, I was able to track down a fuller account of the story. Fortunately,a journalist who had been as bewildered as I by the Ethiopians’ actions had asked for an explanation. The answer he received offered eloquent validation of of the reciprocity rule: Despite the enormous needs prevailing in Ethiopia, the money was being sent to Mexico because, in 1935, Mexico had sent aid to Ethiopia when it was invaded by Italy(“Ethiopian Red Cross,” 1985). So informed, I remained awed,but I was no longer puzzled. The need to reciprocate had transcended great cultural differences, long distances,acute famine, many years and immediate self-interest. Quite simply,a half-century later, against all countervailing forces, obligation triumphed." - Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

The Future

TIEA, like TTI and TIE used to, offers a vital and mutually beneficial service to its customers at an affordable price to help preserve the cultural heritage of nations that may struggle to otherwise afford it. 

www.pact.co.uk/news/news-detail.html?id=africa-buys-up-british-tv-programmes
"Sub-Saharan Africa has been revealed as one of the fastest-growing buyers of UK-produced TV programmes in the past year, new research from Pact, in conjunction with BBC Worldwide and ITV Studios Global Entertainment, reveals. The UK Television Exports Survey 2014/15 (full PDF version below) showed that exports to South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa grew by over a third (35%) in the past year. In particular, sales of TV programmes grew by 21% from £8.4million to £10.2million." - See more at: www.pact.co.uk/news/news-detail.html?id=africa-buys-up-british-tv-programmes#sthash.Kq4TGeZ5.dpuf

And, only forty years later than Thomson Television International predicted! TTI was dissolved on 22 Sep 2015.

Lord Roy Thomson (1894-1976) by Stephen Ward

Sources:

Files from the National archives: DO 191/234, FO 1110/1724

http://gallifreybase.com/w/index.php/TIE_Ltd

Smear!: Wilson and the Secret State 

by Stephen Dorril and Robin Ramsey 

Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

The Daring Dozen: 12 Special Forces Legends of World War II

By Gavin Mortimer

War plc: The Rise of the New Corporate Mercenary

By Stephen Armstrong

MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service

By Stephen Dorril

www.pact.co.uk/news/news-detail.html?id=africa-buys-up-british-tv-programmes

www.pact.co.uk/news/news-detail.html?id=africa-buys-up-british-tv-programmes#sthash.Kq4TGeZ5.dpuf

https://www.duedil.com/company/00733456/thomson-television-international-limited

The Best Things in Life aren't Always Free: The Rise of ETV

One of the reasons that companies, and even governments, were keen on getting into the television broadcasting business in Africa is because it was believed that Africa growth market for mass media. This proved to be incorrect. The main form of mass media in Africa then and now is Radio, followed by the newspapers, of which many were owned by Thomson.

Why did the Italian government offer the installation of a television station to the nation of Ethiopia for free? The benefits for them would have been broadly the same for any other government. The Japanese government helped fund the NEC bid for Pakistan television with the intent to win bids to supply the equipment. Similarly, the federal German Government gifted a transmitter to the Sudan and the British government also made a similar gift to Singapore as a token of goodwill. Under these circumstances, how could TIE and Thomson hope to compete?

TTI (& TIE) turned to the UK government for subsidies. They also attempted to sweeten deals by collecting revenue from licence fees, selling the stations advertising through TIE’s Sales subsidiary, and arranging manufacturer credit and loans for the host nation. And all in addition to offering cheap, accessible programmes, swiftly.

Thomson as the leading consortium member responsible for setting up ETV had tried to arrange a loan of £70,000 from the National Provincial Bank (who handled the Ethiopian Emperor’s private account) who sought permission from the exchange control section of the Bank of England who in turn required permission from the exchange control people at the Treasury who rejected the loan without appeal because “the grant of a loan to an overseas body would contravene the exchange control regulations”. The news was not well-received as Thomson had already promised to secure the loan on behalf of the Ethiopian government this obviously didn't go down well.

A few different solutions were proposed by the British government. These included allowing a loan for Thomson to buy foreign currency on the exchange. However, the idea of purchasing of foreign currency was rejected by Thomson because of the high commission fees and a lack of willingness to pay interest on payment to themselves. The national Provincial Bank also rejected the suggestion. The idea of Thomson writing off the £70,000 had itself had been considered but Thomson was contractually committed to establishing a television service in Ethiopia, a contract they went to great lengths to win, and it was in the interests of the British government that the project went ahead.

The Ethiopian Emperor's eventual decision to go ahead with Thomson was down to the extra services that Thomson could offer: A tailor-made station to be able to suit their budget (although a lot of stations were of the peg due to the unpredictable nature of the decision makers), training of staff, help setting up legislation and supply of programmes through TIE. Last but not least was the fact that the Emperor wanted the television service up and running in just three weeks in time for the anniversary celebrations of his coronation. Something the Italian government certainly wouldn't have had the experience technical know-how or connections to have been able to acquiesce. It wasn't free but it was working debt that through sales of advertising would hopefully pay for itself whereas the Italians would have given no help with the administration of the station or starting the television service running. So a mixture of long term planning and a customer is always right attitude saved the day.

The Municipality Building in Addis Ababa

Despite all the behind the scenes turmoil, the station in Addis Ababa was up and running in just three weeks, and at that time held the record for being the fastest television station to be put together in the commonwealth. Housed in the Municipality Building with an initial transmitter strength of just .01 KW. Various corners had to be cut and ex-Thomson equipment was imported from the Thomson station in Kenya. The rest were flown in from London. The first transmissions were on the 2nd of November 1964, and so Ethiopian TV began putting out roughly three hours of programming a night with about half of it local programming, the rest imported. Originally all local programming was live until the studio managed to obtain a second hand and well used VTR.

The station's yearly income was £80,000 a year and local programming cost them £350 per half hour to make. An episode of Bonanza cost them £20. They also got a few free from the French Embassy in Addis Ababa, a French edition of Panorama every fortnight. Most evening though you could get Star Trek, UFO, Rawhide, Robin Hood, Dr. Kildare, The Defenders, Espionage, Flying Doctor or Land of the Giants in English with subtitling or dubbing. On average 60% of the programmes TIE supplied to their clients were US material and the rest British. Although, The Avengers didn't go down well with a large section of Ethiopian TV viewers were not keen on Steed's Judo practising female companion. Ethiopians had a strong sense of social responsibility and commitment to educational programming. Steptoe and Son were also frowned upon as was a football match that included scenes of rioting at half-time which fell victim to the censor's scissors. Canned content accounted for up to 75% of airtime in the early days with 25% of programming going out live.

From that auspicious start, the current landscape is quite unrecognisable. This is most likely due to the Marxist uprising 1974 which potentially means Ethiopia could have negated any recall of BBC material. Only transitioning to colour broadcasts in 1979, ETV only imports two percent of programmes currently and the quality of television is some of the worst in the world. Ethiopia only ever purchased Doctor Who up to and including The Chase although omitting The Time Meddler.

The current home of Ethiopian Television in Churchhill Road

Based on what I have written above I wouldn't dismiss anything being found in Ethiopia but unless there is some great unknown then I don't see how exactly anything would return from here but I am sure there is plenty of scope for a return of some sort.

Crazy Speculation:

In Ethiopian culture, it's deemed extremely impolite to turn down an offer. They take this to such an extent that when people were submitting bids to set up television they signed with Thomson but everybody else continued to think that they were in pole position to win the contract for some time after. Is it, therefore, silly to suggest that possibly they didn't want to screen Doctor Who anymore but through social custom and incompetent staff they continued to receive material that they weren't going to use? They settled the cost of programming on an annual basis along with the consortium fee, so it could have gone undetected for a while.

Sources:

www.broadwcast.org

The Universal Eye: World Television in the Seventies by Timothy Green (May 1972)  Available on Amazon

Files from the National archives: FO 953/2203

Kenya see what I did there? (Updated)

In 1959, David Stirling resigned as chairman of the Capricorn Society and formed Television International Enterprises. As the Director of the TIE, the responsibility fell to him to bid for the contract to set up Rhodesian TV. This failed. Richard Hughes, in his book, Capricorn: David Stirling’s African Campaign, suggests the reason for this was “Probably because the government, not unreasonably from their perspective, thought he would use it to further his radical politics”.

Success arrived with the opening of the television station in Nairobi, October 1962. The first transmitting station, set on a farmhouse in Limuru, transmitted with a 15 mile range. This, however, was no unmitigated success. Upon winning the Rhodesian contract, RTV bid to open the new station in Kenya. The bid failed due to the tactics employed during negotiations.

J.C.R. Proud, television adviser to the secretary for technical cooperation, had this to say in a letter to Alan Bates the Financial Secretary of Mauritius in November 1961:

J.C.R Proud also had this to say of TIE to P R Noakes of the Colonial Office:

TIE’s ability to bicycle film prints quickly and cheaply was a major factor in winning the contract to set up the television service in Mauritius. This became a significant selling point for TIE and Thomson. Possibly, even vital when competing against governments offering free television stations to developing countries, usually so that companies in their countries would acquire turnkey leases and contracts to supply equipment.

Paying advertisers are one of the main sources of income for a television broadcaster. And the maximum amount of revenue requires the biggest audience that you can attract with as many of the best quality programmes that you can at least afford. It’s an ongoing cost. Whereas a TV station is one lump sum that the Stirling consortium was prepared to help with by training staff, obtaining and setting up equipment, drafting legislation, securing loans and manufacturer credit. Programmes are what prompts people to buy a television set that requires a license which at least in part helps with the running cost of the station. In the end, it was TIE’s ability to provide cheap programmes from the world’s leading lights of television at a lower price than they could afford to get by themselves coupled with the ability to sell advertising spots that won the contract to install  Ethiopian television. In theory, this all sounds fine and well but in practice, it wasn't without its share of problems.

In the top image, Interlude films are mentioned this is another term for COI (Central Office of Information) films which were distributed by CETO (The Centre for Educational Television Overseas). On average 40-50 of these films were made a year and produced by the BBC or sometimes independent television companies. Mainly for educational purposes and were often distributed for free or at very little cost.

The following extract is from 'Broadcasting in Kenya: Policy and Politics 1928 - 1984' by Carla Wilson Heath:

During the sixties, Kenya bought in about 60% of its television programmes as their facilities had not been designed for extensive local production and mostly stuck to a diet of light entertainment with Tom Jones, Rolf Harris, the Andy Stewart show, the Planemakers and Not in Front of the Children from the UK, plus selected episodes of Peyton Place and Disneyland. The reason for this being that the censors in Kenya took the power of television as propaganda very seriously.

Here is a quote by James M. Coltart - Managing Director of the Thomson Organisation - in 1963:

"Recently in Britain an organisation was set up by the Nuffield Foundationin conjunction with independent television companies, the B.B.C. the Governmentand others, a Centre for Educational Television Overseas and thisorganisation has been operating now for a year in the preparation of educationalprogrammes for overseas television. Some of those programmes are on filmand some as package deals for local production. They also have their programmedirectors visiting country after country arranging seminars witheducationalists and assisting the local television stations with live educationalproductions."

Unfortunately, these well-meaning directors and engineers would often pick up various illnesses, helping to spread them from one local population to another as they passed through one African nation to another.

So that is one problem solved. I would also like to point out that we can see that TIE planned to bicycle the prints round, at least, four countries. Not out the woods yet, though ...

Sources:

Capricorn: David Stirling’s African Campaign by Richard Hughes

https://books.google.com/books?isbn=186064919X

Broadcasting in Kenya: Policy and Politics 1928 - 1984 by Carla Wilson Heath

The Universal Eye: World Television in the Seventies by Timothy Green (May 1972)  Available on Amazon

James M. Coltart - African Affairs, Vol. 62, No. 248 (Jul., 1963), pp. 202-210Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African Society

http://www.kbc.co.ke/the-history-of-kenya-broadcasting-corporation/

Files from the National archives: CO 1027/312, CO 1027/498, CO 1027/513, FCO 141/12179, FO 953/2155

http://marsanditscanals.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/aden-to-bermuda-and-beyond-part-3.html