'''''Tea-V Time''''' was the children's programming strand on Associated-Rediffusion, the first ITV company, in its first months of operation. It was first broadcast on 23 September 1955 as an introductory programme, given that A-R opened its services the previous evening (a Thursday) at 7:15pm, and, at the time, A-R was in charge of ITV's weekday contract for London.<ref name="TVTimes1955">{{cite web |title=TV Times |url=https://www.arts-tv.org.uk/memorabilia/TVTimes-No1-web.pdf |website=arts-tv.org.uk |date=22 September – 1 October 1955}}</ref>
''Tea-V Time'' was not the first children's programme to air on Associated-Rediffusion or ITV as a whole. The same company had a strand at 12:15, ''Small Time'', which aimed at an audience of children under the age of five, akin to the BBC's ''Watch With Mother'', airing during A-R's ''Morning Magazine'' strand. The first ''Small Time'' programme (also airing on 23 September 1955) was ''Johnny and Flonny'', a series featuring a glove puppet (Johnny) and a rabbit (Flonny), who were always in trouble. The strand aired three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).<ref name="TVTimes1955"/>
==Overview and content== The introductory programme was billed as ''What You Will See'' and announced the structure of the strand from its first full week, commencing 26 September. Each weekday was catered to a specific demographic:<ref name="TVTimes1955"/> *Mondays: ''Venture'', aimed at boys age 9 to 15 *Tuesdays: ''Elizabethan Fanfare'', aimed at girls age 9 to 15; featuring interviews with girls, half-hour plays, behind-the-scenes of theatrical and ballet performances and, once a month, a disk-jockey show *Wednesdays: ''Telebox'': aimed at all ages (including parents); featuring a serial, cartoons, "custard pie" comedy and musician Nat Temple *Thursdays: ''Flickwiz'' aimed at teenagers; featuring ''Hopalong Cassidy'' episodes, a quiz show and a competition in which childreon wrote the end of the play, with the ending being seen on the strand *Fridays. ''Bubble and Squeak'', aimed at children ages 5 to 9; featuring cartoons, plays and occasional programmes about pets
To distinguish itself from the BBC, whose strand referred to its target audience as "children" (the BBC's strand was branded at the time as ''Children's Television''), A-R referred to its viewers as "boys and girls", while ABC (later renamed ATV to avoid confusion with ABC Weekend Television referred them as "juniors".<ref name="TVTimes1955"/>
The press at the time noticed a general impression from the introductory programme alone, as, unlike the BBC, it aimed at a more "adult" audience compared to its competing strand, but planned to give children a more active role in its programming, as evidenced in its preview of ''Flickwiz'' and ''Bubble and Squeak''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ij9AAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Tea-V+Time%22&pg=PA6&article_id=6496,2832442 |title=Bright But "Bitty" Entertainment |publisher=The Glasgow Herald |language=en}}</ref>
The strand was also networked to Associated Television on its Midlands weekday service when upon launch the following year. By April 1956, ''Bubble and Squeak'' had moved to Tuesdays (replacing ''Elizabethan Fanfare''), while a new strand was added for Fridays, ''Friday Fare''.<ref>{{cite web |title=TV Times (Midlands) |url=https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1955-1959/TVT0025-22Apr56.pdf |date=22–28 April 1956}}</ref>
''Tea-V Time'' likely ended as a result of the 1956 ITV cash crisis, which primarily affected the ''Morning Magazine'' strand that included ''Small Time'', leading to ITV concentrating its efforts in the post-5pm line-up. The financial situation improved shortly afterwards, which also included the production of new children's programmes.<ref>{{cite web |title=From small time to big time |url=https://transdiffusion.org/2005/09/03/small/ |website=Transdiffusion |access-date=22 September 2025 |date=3 September 2005}}</ref> The strand no longer carried the ''Tea-V Time'' branding by June 1956.<ref>{{cite web |title=TV Times (Midlands) |url=https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1955-1959/TVT0033-17Jun56.pdf |date=17–24 June 1956}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:1955 British television series debuts Category:1956 British television series endings Category:1950s British children's television series Category:ITV children's television shows Category:English-language British television shows