Anyone remember the 1978 strike at YTV, which took them off air over Christmas/New Year? I seem to remember BBC been on strike for a couple of days too,so viewers in Yorkshire had no TV at all. The 3-2-1 Christmas Special could not be shown til late January 1979, and for about 3 months we had "Friday Night is catch up time, when the network series we missed were shown.

"YTV was forced off the air by more industrial action over the whole of Christmas, 1978. This partially coincided with a two-day national shutdown of both BBC channels by strikes in December of that year, meaning that for those two days viewers in the region had no television at all. Many of ITV's Christmas programmes were eventually shown in the Yorkshire region in early 1979, after the dispute had ended"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_Yorkshire

Yes he was, Yorkshire TV was on a few months when they had a strike the ITA as it was then put Granada TV back on while it was sorted out, To be honest when we lost Granada TV in 1968 we in Yorkshire didn't know just what we had lost meaning Granada IMHO was far better than Yorkshire TV, People were getting in touch with The Yorkshire Evening Post paper saying can't we keep Granada instead.

It knew a blind eye would be turned, though.

Don't forget when SKY started it actually had the status of a "pirate" broadcaster as it had no UK Government licence.

If it was broadcasting 0n a satellite that owned by Luxembourg Company would that not make it the same as radio Luxembourg which I do not think was ever regarded as a pirate

If it was broadcasting 0n a satellite that was owned by Luxembourg Company would that not make it the same as radio Luxembourg which I do not think was ever regarded as a pirate

They still broadcast on an satellite owned by an Luxembourg company. So, if we follow your logic, Sky is a channel from Luxembourg.

One effect would be that the birth rate would shoot up between May and July next year.

Point taken where was the uplink before the merger with BSB

It as more that Greg Dyke playing a clever game of bluff with the unions in the mid-80s at LWT that then produced wider change throughout the industry.

I dont watch ITV so if it went off air due to a strike i wouldnt miss it.

as long as the internet also went down a lot in that time too!

The location of the owner of the satellite is irrelevant.
It's where the broadcast emanates from .
While Sky originally broadcast from outside the UK their UK only service that started in 1989 was uplinked from the UK so needed a UK licence for that .
Channels aimed at the UK but broadcast from outside the UK don't need a licence unless they want to be included on cable or within the Sky Guide
Similarly channels aimed at other countries still need a licence if they broadcast from the UK , as with some of the Scandinavian channels that broadcast to their own countries but use a UK licence to circumvent the restrictions they would face on adverts on kids tv if they broadcast from their home country

The location of the uplink is not the indicator where the channel is from.

Example: NHK World News is a Japanese channel, but technically it's not possible to transmit it directly from Japan to the satellite (it would have to to transmit through the crust of the earth). That's why it's uplinked by Sky in London.

It was a strange time, we'd just been through the winter of discontent and a massive energy crisis with fuel shortages and soaring inflation and then the television, or the most popular part of it, goes off the air. Even The Times wasn't being published due to industrial action and there was a spoof version doing the rounds in 1979..

Was that where he told the unions that LWT was able to run a back-up service for an indefinite period if they went on strike?

Ah so in the days of analogue satellite you could broadcast from international waters (with stable enough base) and not need any licence as there was no EPG so you just told people what transponder frequency you were at! In fact you could still do that with free to air TV on Dsat but you just couldnt be on any EPGs!
Interesting you can uplink from what ever country you choose, as long as its in range though, to get round your own countries laws!

[quote=lotrjw;67885866]Ah so in the days of analogue satellite you could broadcast from international waters (with stable enough base) and not need any licence as there was no EPG so you just told people what transponder frequency you were at! In fact you could still do that with free to air TV on Dsat but you just couldnt be on any EPGs!
Interesting you can uplink from what ever country you choose, as long as its in range though, to get round your own countries laws![/QUOTE

So where did sky uplink from before 1989

Much is written by many posters who claim that the Conservative government of the 1980s set out to destroy the Trade Union movement - yet the legislation they passed did nothing to prevent an individual from joining a trade union nor from trade unions representing members.

What they did do was ensure the trade unions acted with a level of responsibility - which is something which had been expected of employers for many years.

Example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Act_1980

"It restricted the definition of lawful picketing and introduced ballots on the existence of the closed shop where it operated, needing 80% support of the workers to be maintained."

In other words, allowing an employee to, shock horror, not have to join a trade union.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Act_1982

"The Act's main provisions came into force on 1 December, 1982. The statute:[3]
a. Gave the government the power to issue compensation to some of those who were fired from their jobs due to the closed shop under the Labour Government's legislation between 1974 and 1980. The people entitled to compensation are those whose sackings would have been unlawful if the clauses of the Employment Act 1980 had been law at the time.
b. Extensively enlarged the amount of money that can be awarded in compensation to those who are unlawfully fired for not belonging to a trade union in a closed shop. The compensation in these cases, under the Act, are between £12,000 and £30,000 and can be lessened if a tribunal discovers that the employee contributed to his own dismissal.
c. Deemed it unlawful to sack a worker for not being a trade union member in a closed shop where the closed shop arrangements have not been approved in the previous five years by the necessary 80% of workers or 85% of workers voting in secret ballots. This clause came into force on 1 November 1984 to enable trade unions and employers enough time to organise ballots.
d. Outlawed "trade union labour only contracts". This makes it unlawful to deny to put companies in tendering lists or to award or offer contracts to them for reasons that they do not hire trade union members. Also, it removes the immunity from those who pressurise employers to act in this way or who organise industrial action to inhibit non-trade union companies from honouring their contracts.
e. Immunity from civil action for trade unions was brought into line with individual trade union officials, therefore making trade unions open to damages, depending on the size of the trade union, between £10,000 and £250,000 where they are responsible for unlawful industrial action.
f. Lawful trade disputes were restricted to those disputes between employers and their workers concerning working conditions, wages, etc. This new definition therefore excludes disputes between an employer and a trade union where (i) none of the workers are in a dispute, (ii) disputes between trade unions and workers, (iii) and disputes connected only to working conditions, wages, etc. and not about them either mainly or wholly. This definition also does not include disputes on foreign matters unless the jobs of the workers striking in Great Britain are likely to be affected by the outcome of the dispute. Immunity is removed from secondary action when taken by workers of one company to pressurise another company where there is no dispute between their workers and employers.
g. Empowered employers to fire striking workers and not face unfair dismissal claims if he sacks all workers involved in the strike at a particular workplace on particular day. This allows employers to selectively fire striking workers, like those who continue to strike whilst other workers have returned to work.
h. Firms with more than 250 workers were required to include a statement in their annual report documenting the action they have pursued to develop arrangements for involving and consulting their workers. This clause came into effect on 1 January 1983.
i. Sections of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 which the Courts had interpreted as giving immunity to those who "sit-in" or "occupy" their workplaces were repealed."

Again, much here to support an individual in terms of whether or not they wished to join a union.

ITV could go on strike now and nobody notice for weeks....

The rules have not actually changed from the days of analogue but in the digital world an EPG spot is a necessity .It is actually possible to use the Sky HD box to watch HD and digital channels from elsewhere - all you need to do is swing your dish round and enter the relevant details but you won't ever find the channel on the EPG.

The porn channels that you can watch on other satellites do target the UK but as they broadcast from outside the UK they don't need a UK licence - not that they would actually be able to get one anyway.
TV3 is for Norway , Sweden and Denmark and they've used the UK for their broadcasts as long as I can remember so they can ignore the rules governing advertising within kids tv shows that affect broadcasters at home.
Not sure if it still happens but back in the 90's before hardcore was legal here TV1000 ( sister channel of TV3) also broadcast from the UK but when it came to the late night porn they had to switch to an uplink from outside the UK for the duration of the porn film

By you, perhaps.

ITV's current viewing figures tend to suggest otherwise.

Now, if Channel 4 were to go on strike....... I mean, how would we cope without 'Come Dine With Me'. ?!

Sky actually broadcast from a small television facilities operation in central London - before Murdoch bought the entire operation.

I can tell you what he said and it went along the lines of,

We need to reduce staff numbers if we are to remain competitive in the 1991 licence rounds. Here's what I propose. I will offer anyone who agrees to take voluntary redundancy so much money that you will never have to work again unless you want to. On top of that, if you want to retire and take your pension, LWT will top it up to the full amount and let you take it in full from age 50.

And I can tell you what the result was,
So many staff jumped at his offer that LWT had trouble manning the place.

In fact his offer was so generous, that staff who remained in LWT's employment at the time still regard it as the opportunity of a lifetime and can walk away with a redundancy package many others can only dream of - to this very day.

But then again, he and Bland devised a scheme to so enrich themselves personally in the run up to the 1991 licence round that the Financial Times described the rewards they gave to themselves as 'completely out of proportion to the effort put in, and the risks taken by the management in order to retain the broadcasting licence'. Still think he's a good negotiator? Or perhaps only for himself.

and even more is written by those who repeat, without question or analysis, the outpourings of the right-wing press.

There are a few, however, who lived through the period in question and know of the intimidatory effect on new employees of Thatcher's hatred of organised labour.

So if it was broadcast from the UK it must have had permission from the UK government so I would not have considered it a pirate