Editing Associated-Rediffusion (section)

===Rebranding and loss of franchise===
In 1964, the company simplified its name to Rediffusion Television and rebranded the station on screen as "Rediffusion London", with a very hip 1960s style, the face of [[Swinging London]] in the shiny prosperous new Britain. However, the new Rediffusion did not survive for long – in October 1967 the [[Independent Television Authority]] announced to the company's shock that there was no place for Rediffusion in the redrawn franchise pattern.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Spencer Wills |first=John |title=Statement to shareholders |event=Associated-Rediffusion AGM |date=19 December 1967 |via=Transdiffusion's Rediffusion, London |url=https://rediffusion.london/sentenced-to-death |access-date=2019-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210204/https://rediffusion.london/sentenced-to-death |archive-date=14 January 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following changes to the ITV network structure, which resulted in the abandonment of the Midlands and North weekend franchises held by [[ABC Weekend TV]], ABC lost all its franchises along with the rights to take over the Midlands, held by [[Associated Television|ATV]], or the London weekend franchise, awarded to the [[London Weekend Television|London Television Consortium]]. To preserve the sizeable ABC, the ITA proposed ABC and Rediffusion should form a new company: [[Thames Television]]. This was not a merger or "[[forced marriage]]" as is commonly stated and is an [[urban myth]].{{cn|date=December 2021}} [[Associated British Pictures Corporation|ABPC]], the parent company of ABC, and BET, the parent company of Rediffusion, created Thames as a separate entity. Thames would use the resources and staff of ABC's [[Teddington Studios]] and Rediffusion's [[Television House]].  Rediffusion's parent company, [[British Electric Traction|BET]], took a 49% stake in Thames, and was under-represented in the management of the new company – a state of affairs to which Rediffusion strongly objected. The [[Independent Television Authority|ITA]] replied that either Thames took the new contract, or ABC took over. Rediffusion chose the former and went off the air on 29 July 1968 at 12:26 am.<ref>{{Citation |title=Last ever closedown of Rediffusion London |url=https://soundcloud.com/transdiffusion/last-ever-closedown-of-rediffusion-london |language=en |access-date=2022-11-13}}</ref> Employees based at [[The Fountain Studios|Wembley]] went to work for [[London Weekend Television]] whilst those at Television House were employed by Thames. Some managerial and presentation staff re-located to the new [[Yorkshire Television]] in [[Leeds]].

Much of Rediffusion's programme library was either lost or destroyed following the creation of Thames. Surviving titles from the Rediffusion archive are held by the [[BFI National Archive]] at [[Berkhamsted]], [[Hertfordshire]]. Most titles are the intellectual property of [[Archbuild Limited]], with the exception of some of Rediffusion's musical output such as ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]'' which was for a long time owned by [[Dave Clark (musician)|Dave Clark]] International, and latterly by [[BMG Rights Management]]. Some Rediffusion shows have been rediscovered in recent years. In the late 1980s, a series of five ''[[At Last the 1948 Show]]'' compilations was found in the archives of [[Sweden|Swedish]] broadcaster, [[Sveriges Television|SVT]]. In 2020 The British Film Institute released the most complete box set possible of the restored series, including all ten surviving episodes, two almost completely reconstructed episodes, and the complete audio of a further episode with fragments of film.<ref name=":0" />