Editing Kenneth Clark (section)

===Broadcasting: administrator, 1954–1957===
The year after becoming chairman of the Arts Council, Clark surprised many and shocked some by accepting the chairmanship of the new [[Independent Television Authority]] (ITA). It had been set up by the Conservative government to introduce [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], commercial television, funded by advertising, as a rival to the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]]. Many of those opposed to the new broadcaster feared vulgarisation on the lines of American television,<ref>Stourton, p. 270</ref> and although Clark's appointment reassured some, others thought his acceptance of the post a betrayal of artistic and intellectual standards.<ref>Secrest, p. 196</ref>{{refn|Clark recalled being booed at his London club, the [[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum]], after the appointment was announced, although some doubt has been cast on the reliability of his memory on this point.<ref name=dnb/>|group= n}}

Clark was no stranger to broadcasting. He had appeared on air frequently from 1936, when he gave a radio talk on an exhibition of Chinese Art at [[Burlington House]]; the following year he made his television debut, presenting Florentine paintings from the National Gallery.<ref name=genome>[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22Kenneth+Clark%22#search "Kenneth Clark"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205190458/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22Kenneth+Clark%22 |date=5 February 2018 }}, BBC Genome, retrieved 18 June 2017</ref> During the war he appeared regularly on BBC radio's ''[[The Brains Trust]]''.<ref name=genome/> While presiding over the new ITA he generally kept off the air, and concentrated on keeping the new network going during its difficult early years. By the end of his three-year term as chairman, Clark was hailed as a success, but privately considered that there were too few high-quality programmes on the network. [[Lew Grade]], who as chairman of [[Associated Television]] (ATV) held one of the ITV franchises, felt strongly that Clark should make arts programmes of his own, and as soon as Clark stood down as chairman in 1957, he accepted Grade's invitation. Stourton comments, "this was the true beginning of arguably his most successful career – as a presenter of the arts on television".<ref>Stourton, pp. 279–280</ref>