TV-AM
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| Based in | Breakfast Television Centre, Camden Town, London, United Kingdom |
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| Broadcast area |
National (Breakfast at 6 am until 9.25 am) |
| First airdate | 1 February 1983 at 6 am |
| Closed | 31 December 1992 at 9:25 am |
| Replaced by | GMTV |
| Owned by | Self |
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise. Its daily broadcasts were between 6 am and 9:25 am.
Throughout its nine years and eleven months of broadcast, the station regularly had problems resulting in numerous management changes, especially in its early years. It also suffered from major financial cutbacks hampering its operations. Though on a stable footing by 1986 and winning its ratings battle with BBC Breakfast Time, within a year further turmoil ensued when industrial action hit the company.
Despite these setbacks, by the 1990s TV-am had become the UK's most popular breakfast show. However, following a change in the law regarding TV franchising, the company lost its licence. It was replaced by GMTV in 1993.
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) awarded the breakfast franchise to TV-am on 28 December 1980.
Although the initial launch date was set for June 1983, the IBA allowed the station to bring forward its start date to 1 February 1983 in response to the launch of the BBC service Breakfast Time two weeks earlier.
This hurried start affected the company in two ways. Firstly, ITV had failed in its negotiations for royalties and rates for advertising on the new Channel 4 and the breakfast service with the actors' trade union, Equity. The union instructed its members to boycott the new station, which meant there was little or no revenue from advertising in the early days.
Secondly, it was believed that the BBC's breakfast service would be highbrow, focusing on news and analysis, so TV-am had developed its new service to copy that. However, the BBC launched a lightweight, magazine-style programme that mimicked the style of United States breakfast television. With the launch of the BBC's Breakfast Time brought forward at short notice this gave little time for TV-am to redevelop its plans.
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