The ILEA announced in 1967 that it would start delivering its television service in September 1968, initially scheduled to broadcast from the Laycock Television Centre. By 1969, the service was to be received by nearly all schools in its area of jurisdiction. The Educational Television Service opened in September 1968 by initiative of
Christopher Chataway. The station's first facilities were located at a converted high school in
Highbury while studios at
Battersea were being built. By arrangement with the
GPO, using the GPO Television Service infrastructure for cable systems, the service ran on several channels on its cable network. The initial studios were also used for a re-enactment of
The Man with the Flower in His Mouth in 1968, the same play that was played on the
BBC's experimental television service in 1931. In 1970, the Battersea studios became operational. These studios were opened by the service's chief engineer Walter Kemp, who had done the same for the facilities of the now-defunct
Television Wales and the West in both
Cardiff and
Bristol. The service maintained high production standards, and the equipment was of broadcast quality. Programmes, especially those aimed at children, were on par with BBC and ITV productions. The privatisation of the GPO and its conversion to
British Telecom led to the end of the service in March 1979. By the end of 1979, more than 75% of ILEA area schools had obtained such machines, thanks to a deal with a commercial rental company which offered discount prices. The ILEA was abolished in 1990. ==References==