was one of the original ,
1982 . It also used the name '''Southern Independent Television''' on-air from 1964.
When the
Independent Television Authority advertised for applicants to run the south of England station in 1958, Southern Television beat eight other applicants for the contract. Its initial shareholders were
Associated Newspapers , The
Rank Organisation and the
Amalgamated Press , each holding one third of the company. Associated Newspapers was allowed to remain a shareholder in Southern only on the condition that it sold its remaining 10% stake in
Associated-Rediffusion to avoid owning parts of two ITV companies (a very different situation from today). The Amalgamated Press dropped out of the consortium before the station went on air. This led to Associated Newspapers and Rank increasing their stakes to 37.5% each and
D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd taking the remaining 25%.
Notable programmes produced by Southern over the years included ''Out Of Town'', a countryside programme introduced by ''; and ''
Worzel Gummidge '', starring
Jon Pertwee as the eponymous walking
Scarecrow . Generally the company produced more networked children's programmes than adult programmes, scoring a particularly strong seller internationally with an adaptation of
Enid Blyton 's
Famous Five . Also worth noting was the children's programme ''The Saturday Banana'', hosted by
Bill Oddie (then at the height of his fame as one of
The Goodies ) which saw the erection of a twenty foot high fibreglass banana outside the studios, supported by its peeled 'skin'.
Southern's failure to win a renewal of its contract in the
1980 bidding session was met with anger and disbelief by its board of directors. Although the
Independent Broadcasting Authority gave its usual reason for the decision (the competitor offered a better mix of programmes and greater investment in the new 'dual region' that was the south and south-east), the station's non-local ownership also swayed the balance against it. Another factor was the company's very conservative (and possibly dull) nature and that with a new decade dawning, the south of England would be a radically different area (which it turned out to be). It was felt that Southern's application was, understandably, more of the same reliable formula which in time would have not reflected the possibilities for the area.
The winning bidder was
Television South (TVS), who spent months trying to persuade Southern to sell its studios; until it finally succeeded, TVS was forced to use portable offices in Southern's car park as offices. Finally, Southern agreed to lease its studios for the production of TVS programmes and to sell them to TVS outright at the end of
1981 . The handover was tinged with acrimony on behalf of Southern, who appeared to take their anger at the decision out on TVS, rather than the IBA who had made the actual choice. In their final programme, ''And It's Goodbye From Us'', a song was featured, deriding the incoming TVS as 'Portakabin TV' and deriding them for choosing Maidstone as a production base in the newly-enlarged dual region (deliberately not mentioning that Southern themselves would have built a studio complex in Maidstone if they had won the 1982 franchise).
The the closing credits of the network's final programme ended with an animated version of their starbust logo spinning into a starry sky, their acoustic guitar
Jingle playing with a deep extended echo, and the screen slowly fading to black. There were no closing announcements, no suggestion to turn your reciever off, nor even the customary playing of "
God Save The Queen ". The transmitters were simply, and abruptly, shut down.
In
2005 , the old Southern studios were closed and scheduled for demolition after the relocation for the current owners
Meridian Television .
Southern Television's programme archive was sold to Southern Star Group. The names "Southern Television Ltd", "Southern Independent Television" and "Southern Television", and the star device idents (1958-81), transferred to
Art Attack producer Nic Ayling in 2004, and Southern now trades as an independent production company.
Ashtar Galactic Command , a famous interruption of Southern's broadcasting by an outside force.
