Page "Thames Television" Paragraph 21

Consequently, the franchise loss became a subject of political debate, with changes brought about by the 1990 act being cited as the primary reason for an operation such as Thames being able to lose its licence to broadcast.

That the then Conservative government had passed such an act, caused accusations of direct responsibility to be levelled on former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in particular, who had presided over its creation.

Opinions vary on the matter of political motivations ; some cite the documentary " Death On The Rock ", which may have caused displeasure to the then government, whilst others link it to a more general ideological dislike of the way ITV had been run at the time, with ' excessive over-manning ' and the fact that programme production was generally limited to franchise holders ( sometimes critically referred to as barriers to entry ) being seen as examples of why more commercial freedom and competition was needed within the network.