Southern Television's Start Up from the Late 1960's 

It's wonderful to see this after all these years. I first saw this footage on the day Southern TV opened up in the 1950s after which we were spoilt with a choice of TV channels. My dad told us kids to be quiet and watch the pictures because we would never see them again!!! THIS IS SOUTHERN TELEVISION ON CHANNEL 11 - this announcement was later dropped when channel 10 came online. I often hear Southern Rhapsody on Angel Radio. BBC was broadcast on channel 3 in central southern England. Happy memories. Thanks for posting.

Glad this piece of music along with the southern scenes has been posted. Emotional watching it as the last time I recall seeing it was with my late father about 1972. Proud of him as he was a broadcasting engineer with the I.T.A. later I.B.A. initially working from Hougham, Dover transmitter station. Thank you for posting.

OH MY GOD !!!!!!.......I REMEMBER THIS MUSIC.....I HAVENT HEARD THIS SINCE I WAS A CHILD !!!.......INCREDIBLE FIND !!!......I REMEMBER THIS MUSIC WOULD PLAY IN THE MORNING WHILE ON THE TV SCREEN THERE WOULD BE B&W IMAGES OF SCENERY , WHITE CLIFFS AND SEAGULLS .......And NOW ITS JUST COMING UP ON THE SCREEN ...!!!!!.....HAVENT SEEN THIS SINCE I WAS 6 !!!!.....YIPPPEEEE !!!!.....LOLOL........WONDERFUL !........THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS !.....BROUGHT TEARS OF JOY TO MY EYES !........XXX

Wow I too am back in my youth there's tears in my eyes too.. the middle bit always gets me. I have been humming that to all my grandchildren to get them to sleep for years. Thanks from South Australia..happy memories.

I'm a little girl again! I remember rushing home from school in the sixties to watch Crossroads, and this piece of music always preceeded it. Particularly nostalgic to see the views of the South of England.

I agree Supergran1000, I watched it every day from around the start to the end, almost every day. We had a rubbish TV but we always made sure it was warmed up enough to play this intro :-) staring at the screen expectantly until the pictures started. It had a lovely feel good factor about it :-) Really nice to see it again.

That's the best quality copy of the film I've seen. Thank you for putting it on RU-vid.

G'day Bluechickens, Thanx for posting this. The Southern Symphony always gives me goosebumps! Wonderful memories of a time gone by. I haven't seen this start up for a long time so thanx again.

I quite agree with you supergran 1000. The voice is that of [the late] great Brian Nissen who also went on to work for TVS untill her retired in 1985. The view of the horses in Bashley is just 100 yards from where I live in The New Forest! Great Video! GOD BLESS!

Very emotive for me as I listened to this preparing to watch Crossroads. Thanks for posting!

0:35. Brian Nissen: This is Southern Independent Television, transmitting on the Chillerton Down and Dover stations of the Independent Television Authority.

The track is now available from Radio Six Records as a download - 15 themes from ITA companies on a compilation "Start The Day". Go to All Celtic Music's website and search under Radio Six Records...

Wow 1970's Southern England watching TV before all the others in the house got up. Thank you

You can stand in that same spot at Corfe Castle today and see nothing has changed.

Did you know Angel Radio play this every Sunday at 4.20 at the end of the request show because Angel Radio transmits on DAB from Chillerton Down Mast where Southern TV transmitted from 1958-81.

How I wish I could go back to those innocent days in Dibden Purlieu, coming back from school and this being on.

Quite superb. Well done for posting

Remember this first time i have seen or heard it since the sixties

In the mid to late 1970's there used to be a full list of transmitters operating displayed on the screen and the announcer listing them all.

There are versions somewhere with the original Julian Pettifer voice over. The music is recorded by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Brian Nissen, Fred Dineage, Jack Hargreaves

I still remember this tune. Didn't they used to have pictures of oast houses and such like?

Elated to find this music after so long (via the Richard Addinsell Wikipedia entry). I'd been trying to find, via various interweb 'anorak' websites, something about this music that was ingrained from my tv-viewing childhood in the mid-to late 60s and where the borders of Hampshire and Wiltshire met. I also recall the opening featuring stills of oast-houses etc, as mentioned downthread. Very pictorial composition and a powerful musical evocation - set in my memory - of waves plangently striking the S.Coast from the White Cliffs, through the Solent, to Purbeck and Dancing Ledge.

In the early years of colour transmission, the Test Card 'F' text originally said "ITA Southern Independent Television" in the bottom box before being changed around 1971 to "ITA Southern Television," both in the same Venus Bold Condensed font.

I assume this was originally issued on one of the library 78s that was made available only to broadcasting stations ( Not sold in shops) on labels such as Conroy, Boosey & Hawkes, Southern, KPM, Harmonic etc, although I've seen around a 1000 different titles from the early 1950's to 1969 this one has eluded me. I say this as the background & themes played on tv programmes many are from these 78s up to 1969. These labels also issued 33rpm but not 45s except for a small run during 1960 on the Southern label. If you like light orchestral music do a search for these 33/78 records as there is some real fantastic listening melodies on them that never get airplay, it is what record collecting is all about "Discovery" & yes I remember as a child hearing "Southern Rhapsody" on tv at start-up times & always liked it then the same as I do now.

I remember Ollie Kite and Kites Country. Always in black and white, but Ollie was always able to describe the clolour. Pity he died so sudden as he did

Brian Nissen sounding awfully like Noel Coward there :)

Halcyon days

Maybe, but where is the Saturday Banana in the car park? 😀

All very well, but as someone who lives in the old Southern area I can tell you that the audio needs to be around 5% slower in order for the "station that serves the south " to come in over the music. It did not resolve in silence - that was usually the clock.

Is this real?