Cirrus@Austlit

Also known as the Associated British Corporation, ABC Television was one of several commercial television companies formed in the early days of television by cinema chains, who hoped to safeguard their business by taking part in the new technology. It broadcast exclusively on weekends, in the midlands and north of England. When changes were made to the structure of weekend television contracts in 1968, ABC Television lost our to the more established contractors, Granada and ATV, and failed to make a successful bid in the London area. It merged with Rediffusion: ABC Television ceased broadcasting on 28 July 1968, and the new company, as Thames Television, began weekday broadcasting in the London region two days later.