SAS  Interference December 2024

In March this year we did an issue on pirate TV so this time we are going legal Talking Pictures TV. They have been described by CBS as Britain’s largest independent TV station. The business is run by a small team founder Noel Cronin, daughter Sarah Cronin-Stanley along with her husband Neill Stanley.  The story is well worth telling as television is dominated by large networks and corporations running streaming services.

To understand the development of TPTV we need to know about Noel who has an extensive background in the cinema industry.

Noel Cronin BEM – Currently aged 74 spent his entire career in the industry. Starting as a post boy for the film company Rank Organisation. From this he progressed in the 70s to editing cinema ads and public information films and subsequently involved in film distribution (Dandelion Films) and video DD Video (aviation videos for the enthusiast I have a few of those). Over 20 years ago, he set up Renown Pictures to buy as many older British films as possible. He then distributed their rights to terrestrial channels. When those channels started losing interest, he changed track. In 2016 Sarah explained to the Watford Observer "People were interested in the big titles but her father Noel wanted to save the smaller, more obscure titles, from getting lost”. With the support of Sarah and Neil, he started licensing films for DVD release under the Renown Pictures name and set up a B movie film club. Renown Pictures are according to their website “are the largest independent distributor of the British ‘B’ films and own one of the worlds largest privately owned collections of film rights.” Films are restored by outsourcing to specialist laboratories and saving many films for posterity.

The Cronins were surprised by the amount of interest the releases received proving just how popular they still were. They used social media to advertise the business for DVDs to buy etc. The best example is they sold 750,000 copies of Scrooge (1951) with Alastair Sim. This is considered by most as the best film version Neil securing the rights on this for a very reasonable price. Although I love the character he plays in Green for Danger (1946).

Talking Pictures TV This was the next step. In an excerpt on Facebook Noel was being interviewed by his grandson and asked why did you decide to launch Talking Pictures? The answer “was a love of old British films, and he had acquired a big library from the BBC, he approached other cable, satellite and TV stations they didn’t want to know (“we don’t run Black & White after 6 o’clock”) so he and Sarah decided to start their own TV station.The Cronins run the station themselves scheduling, acquiring new films and carry out the day-to-day tasks of managing the channel at home.

Getting On Air

TPTV is said to have been in the making since 2007 but serious preparations started in 2012.. The next step was to approach broadcasting networks to help set the station up. They won’t say which ones but as they say in films “we can look at the usual suspects”. Whoever they approached didn’t think there was a market for it. This led to the logical conclusion setting up an independent channel Cronin-Stanley later explained in the same Watford Observer the channel specialises in "the things people have forgotten".

Noel Cronin has been quoted that it took “faith and self-investment” to get TPTV to be launched. They tried writing business plan after business plan to secure investment. But no one was interested in putting money forward for a channel that focused on black and white films. Thus, they forged ahead on their own along with some money from a bank. TPTV finally launched on 26th May 2015 on Sky as a slot became available sold by a broadcaster for £150,000. By that September Noel Cronin took the step of expanding onto terrestrial TV Freeview. Financial considerations meant at first it was only available in a limited Geographic area in HD only. At home we could see the listings in the Radio Times (which helped secure many new viewers) and seeing many features and films of interest. But from 30th November 2017 coverage expanded to 90% of Freeview households. It became available on Freesat channel 306 in February 2016, Virgin Media on 1 June 2017.

TPTV 

Is a family affair founded by producer/editor Noel Cronin and run by his daughter Sarah Cronin-Stanley with her husband Neill Stanley. It is literally a household affair, running Talking Pictures TV from their house in Hertfordshire.

Technical work is outsourced to specialists, everything else is done by them in-house. In the Footage Detectives on 17th November, they said we have no bank of TV screens just the one which shows the output.

Format.

This year the Footage Detectives showed a visit by CBS TV who were astonished that Noel does scheduling in eight week chunks the old-fashioned way by hand on cards laid out on his desk, you can still see this on TPTV at cbs news feature

When the station started the Renown Pictures catalogue was the backbone of material and still forms a large proportion of aired programming. Many of these black and white films were once regularly shown on terrestrial channels nowadays only the best-known classic films being aired. Sarah Cronin-Stanley explained to the Watford Observer in 2016 that "People were interested in the big titles but he [her father Noel wanted to save the smaller, more obscure titles, from getting lost” Cronin-Stanley later explained that the channel specialises in "the things people have forgotten".

These are backed up with bought in film packages from the US and even the BBC! It took three years to secure 400 B movies from them and which, the Beeb were no longer showing.

Early TV series are also sourced from the US, including those of Four Star Productions (rights owned by Noel), plus the archive of Southern Television (ITV contractor 1958 to 1981 also now owned by Noel Cronin). They also have various Thames TV series (secured via Fremantle). Movies are usually copied directly from reels of film (some having to be restored). As 35mm is a Hi definition format restoration gives excellent results, Noel Cronin says that choosing what to buy is “based on suitability for the channel and then price”.

In-house productions for example -The excellent Footage Detectives 5pm Sundays (a must see in our house) and Glimpses are also shown.

Despite the channel relying on nostalgia they aim is to keep the station feeling fresh by refreshing their titles so viewers only see the same films about three times a year. Although this time-period spacing may also depend on the rights package they have secured.

As well as older black and white material, the channel isn’t exclusively so. Many films are in colour e.g ‘Riddle of the Sands’ 1979. Where you learn how the Germans pronounce Norderney and even 1990s films Nicole Kidman’s To Die For 1995 and many TV series like Rumpole of the Bailey are also in colour.

The number of 1930s films shown has been reduced as they get less feedback from viewers but there is still an occasional series fronted by Melvyn Hayes.

Documentaries

These are a spotlight on the past and sadly a Britain that no longer exists.

Glimpses consist of short educational films and also some private films acquired shown under this banner.

Look at Life a series of mini documentaries produced for the cinema by the Rank Organisation. BBC Scotland / BBC4 did a brief documentary series on these films produced for the cinema by the between 1959 and 1969. Look out for Fish and Ships featuring the Ross Revenge or a sister ship. Despite viewers’ interest these only showed extracts the rights of which were then owned by ITV. It shows how the Beeb has changed. I am sure that in the 70s or 80s they would have aired them completely. Surprisingly despite the interest in Britain in Film it was TPTV who secured the rights to show the restored and unedited films.

The Bain Collection – these are travelogues across the UK, Europe and beyond. a bit like look at life. Shown on BBC4 as Harold Bain’s Britain and now showing on TPTV as they secured 40 complete films to show and are trying for more.

Whilst the TV station is set in the past the Cronins utilise social media to gain maximum publicity and created TPTV Encore catch up TV plus a brand new App. They discovered that early morning slots when most UK channels were still showing teleshopping that they were gaining an audience. Viewers were switching on in the morning and continuing with the station all day. The channel quickly became popular and after a few months getting onto Freeview.

Viewership increased from 2 million in 2018 to 6 million as reported by the BBC news in 2020 during the COVID epidemic. TPTV regularly gets articles in the press and even on the BBC news. The station also gained lots of viewers via word of mouth.

In an April Footage Detectives showed a visit by CBS TV who were astonished that Noel does scheduling the old-fashioned way by hand on cards laid out on his desk, planning up to 8 weeks in advance. You can still see their piece on TPTV at cbs news feature

This CBS film is well worth a watch they treated the station very seriously.

Advertising is outsourced to a company Media15 and Noel has recently described TPTV as profitable. Main costs are transmission facilities and securing rights packages from other sources. On major networks ad breaks can seem rather abrupt in a show but TPTV appears to take more care. It is quite apparent that on the Footage Detectives that they are securing viewers from a younger demographic. Not just the grey pound but also the generation below that and even those in their 20s and 30s.

My article is a bit too factual and doesn’t convey the warmth of this station. It is run by people who love what they are doing and have great knowledge of their subject interacting with the viewers. It has an ethos more akin to early ITV days or when the BBC was mainly run from Broadcasting Centre. Now I’ll give you an example of this. My sister remembered a film in lots of detail but couldn’t remember the title. Noel picked this out from his head Snowball (1960) and showed it on TPTV. Can you think of another TV network who will put on a film or show if you request it? She hasn’t been the only one. Noel will do his best to show a film it provided they have the rights. The viewers love this station and quite rightly so.