No ITV

If the British government had not decided the BBC did not need any competition, and did not allow the setting up of ITV (Independent TeleVision, for the Ignorant Foreigners (TM)- initially a single channel comprised of a network of regional franchises) in 1955, what might the impact on broadcasting be? How might it affect BBC programming with no competition, and assuming this situation persists until the '80s at least, how will it affect television history during what I might think of as the "Golden Age" in the '60s and '70s? How long is it going to be tenable, or could we see a BBC-owned satellite service?
 
Well, around the 1970s/1980s is when many of the European countries began opening up to the idea of privately-owned TV channels. Thus, if ITV didn't exist in the 1950s, it would probably be formed in either the 1970s at the earliest or the 1990s at the latest.
 
See: Swedish TV (i.e. crap)

What sort of programming do you have in Sweden?

I can see programming of a higher standaard (at least by upper-class and Middle England standards) up until the introduction of commercial TV in what I imagine might be the '80s, and I expect it wouldn't be done in the way it was, with public service commitments being part of the deal. Expect much worse TV much more quicky. Presume less innovation as less need for the Beeb to define itself in the wake of ITV.
 
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