Книга: Howard Thomas «On the Loss of the Teeth and On the Best Means of Restoring Them»
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Howard Thomas
Infobox Person
name = Howard Thomas
birth_date = c.1909
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
known_for = Producer; television executive
employer = BBC Radio; ABC Weekend TV;
spouse = Hilda (1934-1986)
children = 2
Howard Thomas CBE (c.1909—
Early career
Thomas began his career typing invoices for a firm of wire-drawers in
That job enabled Thomas to mix with advertising agents and through networking he obtained a position with F John Roe, one of Manchester's advertising agencies.
From there he moved to the
Commercial radio
At London Press Exchange, Thomas worked in the commercial radio section, at first writing, then producing commercial packages for companies including Cadbury's. These packages, usually of music or variety acts interspersed with subtle commercials for the sponsor, were then placed on Radio Luxembourg and similar
In this position he came to the attention of the
However, at the outbreak of
BBC radio
On the outbreak of war, the BBC had closed its existing two Regional Programme and National Programme stations and replaced them with a single national station, the Home Service (now
This move was criticised as it led to boredom amongst the listeners during the
As the Phony War ended, the BBC decided to introduce an entertainment-based national radio station, primarily for the men under arms. The new service, the Forces Programme, required popular programming that the BBC had not, until that point, generally produced. The BBC hired many new producers from the former commercial agencies, including Howard Thomas.
Ack Ack Beer Beer
Thomas's first assignment was to produce the programme "Ack Ack Beer Beer", an entertainment and variety programme for anti-aircraft and
Under Thomas, the programme developed into a miscellany of variety, talk, music and comedy, using whatever talent was available near the evacuated Variety Department's studios in
incerely Yours, Vera Lynn
With Bristol now a victim of
In London he spotted singer
The show was a hit, both with the forces and the country at large, although the senior officers of both the
To assuage critics of "Sincerely Yours", Thomas introduced the programme "I Am John Bull", featuring military marches and "strong" music. The programme was not successful.
hipmates Ashore
The BBC Forces Programme provided distinct programming for each of the armed services. However, the Merchant Navy, not being classed as an armed service and under the patronage of the Ministry of Labour, was not included.
Howard Thomas began a programme named "Shipmates Ashore" aimed at this audience. The programme was set in a Merchant Navy club and quickly became an effectively real club, with free beer and "companionship" for visiting merchant seamen. The show featured a mixture of music, singing, comedy and information (in the form of a "ship's newspaper") as well as providing a platform for discussion of issues of interest to the sailors. The programme was presented by
The Brains Trust
No history of the UK "
The programme featured the learned Professor Cyril E. M. Joad, previously rejected for radio for his strange speaking voice; the writer and zoologist
However, the popularity of the programme, dealing as it did with matters of controversy and politics, caused complaints of left-wing bias from within the BBC and from commentators outside. The BBC attempted to modify the format of the programme to avoid this but also sought to avoid damaging the shows popularity. With military criticism of "Sincerely Yours", general complaints about the bawdy humour in "Shipmates Ashore" and political criticism of "The Brains Trust", the BBC sought a scapegoat and pressured Howard Thomas to leave. In 1944, he resigned.
British Pathé
On leaving the BBC, Howard Thomas joined the
Thomas relaunched the ailing Pathé Gazette as Pathé News, began hiring new camera operators and pioneered the switch to colour film. He also arranged for the Pathé archives, then of little or no intrinsic value to the company, to be indexed and properly preserved for future use.
ABC Weekend TV
By the 1950s, it was becoming clear that television was eating into the audiences for cinema. Frustrated at his inability to convince the Associated British Picture Corporation that it should either expand into production of popular
He was offered the job of General Manager of
The ITA made a last-ditch attempt to get the Associated British Picture Corporation involved in commercial television as a replacement for Kemsley-Winnick. The board of the company was finally convinced to try, and signed a contract with the ITA on
Howard Thomas was appointed as managing director of the company and hired
Thames Television
In 1966, the ITA had announced that the pattern of broadcasting for Independent Television was to change from 1968. All contractors would be required to reapply for their contracts, and, though there would be one more contract available than before (for
Howard Thomas had planned for ABC Television to apply for the extended London weekends contract (with an application for the Midlands seven-day contract as a stand-by). However, the appearance of a consortium of major figures from the BBC and Rediffusion under the leadership of David Frost made this difficult. The London Television Consortium (later
The ITA's solution was to ask ABC and Rediffusion to merge to form a new company. They specified that ABC would have a slim majority of the shares, and that the managing director would be Howard Thomas. In practice, the merger proved impossible due to outside interests held by both parent companies. Instead, the parent companies formed a joint company called Thames Television Holdings Limited (trading as Thames Television), which took over the staff of ABC in
Thames retained the London weekdays licence until
Retirement
The Independent Broadcasting Authority set a limit on the age of managing directors of ITV companies, specifying that they retire at the age of 75.
When Howard Thomas reached this age, Thames Television Holdings (the company that held the shares in Thames formerly held by the now-defunct Associated British Picture Corporation) promoted him from Thames Television to become chairman of Thames Television International - then a subsidiary of Thames but previously known as
Family
Howard Thomas married Hilda in 1934 and they had two daughters, Rosemary and Carol. Carol married Brian Collis and Rosemary married Michael Glacier. Howards first granddaughter Susannah Collis was born in 1963 and shortly after Carol gave birth to another daughter named Annabell in 1965.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967.
ee also
* The Avengers
*
*
References
* Thomas, Howard "With An Independent Air" London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1977 ISBN 0-297-77278-3
* Sendall, Bernard "Independent Television in Britain: Volume 1 - Origin and Foundation 1946-62" London: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1982 (reprinted 1984) ISBN 0-333-30941-3 pp68, 82-84, 312, 359
* Graham, Russ J [http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/howardthomas/ Howard Thomas: Independent broadcaster] TVHeroes from Electromusications by Transdiffusion 2005, accessed 3 February 2006
* Bowden-Smith, Chris (Ed.) [http://www.transdiffusion.org/abc/ ABC at Large] Telemusications from Transdiffusion 2002, accessed 3 February 2006
* Elen, Richard G [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/521981/index.html British Film Institute Screenonline - ABC] undated, accessed 3 February 2006
* Elen, Richard G [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/457866/ British Film Institute Screenonline - Thames] undated, accessed 3 February 2006
External links
*
* [http://www.transdiffusion.org/abc/ ABC at Large]
* [http://www.transdiffusion.org/tmc/thames/ Talk of Thames]
* [http://www.britishpathe.com/ British Pathé]
Persondata
NAME = Thomas, Howard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Producer and television executive
DATE OF BIRTH = c. 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =
Источник: Howard Thomas
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Howard Thomas | On the Loss of the Teeth and On the Best Means of Restoring Them | Книга представляет собой репринтное издание. Несмотря на то, что была проведена серьезная работа по… — Книга по Требованию, - Подробнее... | 2011 | 684 | бумажная книга |
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