How old is ITV

A.� ITV was launched on September 22 1955, and it soon went on to steal nearly 70 per cent of the BBC's viewers. There were around 4.5 million television licence holders in 1955, and 95 per cent of the population could receive television. However, only 12 per cent could get the new ITV channel, and they all lived in and around London. In that first week at the end of September, viewers in the capital watched two of the most popular game shows ever: Take Your Pick and Double Your Money. They were the first British game shows to give cash prizes and led to Churchill dismissing the new channel as 'this tuppenny Punch and Judy Show' before it had even started. The success of ITV quickly spread and it was broadcast across the nation, showing hit shows such as Fanny's Kitchen with Fanny and Johnny Craddock and Sunday Night at The Palladium.

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Q.� What happened to the shows

A.� They were both phenomenally successful, attracting millions of viewers. Take Your Pick was presented by Michael Miles, who brought the show over from Radio Luxembourg. It was eventually dropped in 1968. Miles returned with Wheel of Fortune but died in 1971. Before he died, he calculated he had given away �500,000 in prizes. Double Your Money was presented by Canadian ex-pilot Hughie Green. The show was axed in 1968, but he went on to present The Sky's The Limit� and Opportunity Knocks - both popular ITV programmes.

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Q.� When did commercials start

A.� With the birth of ITV came commercials, or 'natural breaks' as they were known. The very first commercial was transmitted on September 22 1955 at 8.12pm and was for Gibbs SR Toothpaste. It featured a tube of toothpaste embedded in a block of ice, a lady by the name of Meg Smith brushing her teeth 'up, down and around the gums' and heard BBC presenter Alex Mackintosh declare : "It's tingling fresh. It's as fresh as ice. It's Gibbs SR toothpaste."

It was chosen to be the first by drawing lots woth the other 23 opening night offerings which included Guinness, Surf, National Benzole, Brown & Polsen Custard, Lux, Summer County margarine, Batchelor's peas and Brillo. Probably the best known commercial of that year was John Halas and Joy Batchelor's animated production of Murraymints where the Murraymints characters were Guardsmen in their bearskins.

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By Katharine MacColl