Independent Broadcasting Authority

The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television (ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Authority) – and commercial and independent radio broadcasts. The IBA came into being when the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 gave the Independent Television Authority responsibility for organising the new Independent Local Radio (ILR) stations. Independent Television Commission formally replaced the IBA on 1 January 1991 in regulatory terms, however the Authority itself was not officially dissolved until 2003.

The IBA appointed and regulated a number of regional programme TV contractors and local radio contractors, and built and operated the network of transmitters distributing these programmes through its Engineering Division. It established and part-funded a National Broadcasting School to train on-air and engineering staff.

The IBA's approach to regulation was more robust than its successors, and it assumed the ultimate role of the broadcaster (whereas today, TV licensees are termed "broadcasters in their own right"). The IBA took a very "hands-on" approach and placed the interests of the viewer before anything else. For example, if two ITV licensees wanted to merge, or another wanted to change its broadcast name, this would require approval by the IBA. This direct approach extended to programmes also; the IBA could (and did) place limits on how many soap episodes could be shown per week, if they believed programme quality would be compromised.

As well as setting guidelines on advertising content, quantity and timings, the IBA also operated monitoring systems for the quality of programme content and the technical quality of programme play-out.

There were also limits on the value of prizes that could be given away - this dated from the broadcast of the UK version of Twenty One in 1958 in which a contestant won enough money to buy both a car and a house. In 1960, two years after the scandal in America, the IBA's predecessor (the ITA) imposed a £1,000 cap on the value of prizes that would increase over the years to £6,000 in 1981 and be lifted in 1993. British versions of popular American quiz shows had to be adjusted - The $64,000 Question having a maximum prize initially of 64,000 sixpences (£1,600) in the late 1950s, and in the early 1990s of just £6,400. "The Six Thousand Four Hundred Pound Question" was only asked every other week so as not to break the regulatory £3,200/week maximum.

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