On this Day 1975: ATV East Midlands News Centre launched

ATV’s new East Midlands operation was launched on this day with a racing car featuring current ‘Miss ATV’ Elaine Gent while from Crossroads came ‘Harriett’ the 1927 Morris Oxford vintage car. Also in Nottingham to celebrate the news centre opening were ATV Today reporters Bob Warman and Bev Smith.

The news centre followed conversations ATV Head of Programmes Charles Denton had held with the IBA, who were unhappy with how ATV had been covering the East Midlands part of the region. The Nottingham base aimed to increase coverage of the area. Charles had however been warned that it may be ‘too little, too late’ and this proved to be correct with parent company ACC launching ATV Midlands Limited in 1980 to little success. Plans for that company to replace ATV Network Limited from 1982 onwards were rejected by the TV regulator despite a promised major East Midland production base.

The ATV East Midlands News Centre in 1979.

The ATV East Midlands News Centre was based in the Theatre Royal Nottingham which was part of a theatre chain ACC – Associated Communications Corporation – had interests in at the time. With the launch of Central News in 1982 a new location was used for news gathering in the East Midlands.

The Theatre Royal opened in 1865; in 1867 the Clarendon Hotel (later re-named the County Hotel) joined it directly next door and it became the home of many star names appearing at the theatre. Notably, Agatha Christie stayed there in October 1952 for the premiere of her new play The Mousetrap. However, by the 1970s the hotel had fallen out of favour and the Theatre Royal management, in association with ATV, purchased the site to expand the theatre facilities – including new dressing rooms, stage door, scene dock and admin offices – it also created an East Midlands news base for ATV Network. The demolition of the site announced in 1974 was met with much local opposition.