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109-576: The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs ) are the British Phonographic Industry 's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored by Britannia Music Club ), but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trusts Show . The awards were first held in 1977 and originated as an annual event in 1982 under

218-464: A gentlemen's agreement between the two sides not to poach each other's imported shows. Thames paid £55,000 a show compared to the £29,000 of the BBC. The deal brought condemnation from the BBC and from other ITV stations, who feared the BBC would poach their imports, pushing up prices. The BBC planned to delay transmission of the episodes of Dallas that it already had, with the hope to broadcast them at

327-429: A politician getting a soaking , or one of the country's biggest stars offering another out for a fight? Probably not." —Gemma Peplow, entertainment reporter for Sky News , Brit Awards 2021: From Geri to Jarvis – the biggest moments in show's history . In 1998, Danbert Nobacon of the band Chumbawamba emptied a bucket of iced water over then- Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . Despite apologies on behalf of

436-411: A wardrobe malfunction as her cape had been tied too tightly so it could not be unfastened in time, before adding: "I had a little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head. And I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am to make sure I was compos mentis. I know how to fall, I have fallen off my horse many times." In the leadup to the 2016 U.S. presidential election , Katy Perry

545-603: A 'peace' sign on the back. The now iconic red, white and blue mini-dress was worn during the Spice Girls' performance of their Number 1 song " Who Do You Think You Are ". In 1998 she sold her dress in a charity auction to Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas for a record £41,320, giving Halliwell the Guinness World Record for the most expensive piece of pop star clothing ever sold. This performance won the Spice Girls

654-539: A 13-part documentary series about the era of the America silent cinema. This series, produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill , was followed by the company sponsoring Thames Silents , a project undertaken by Brownlow and Gill of the restoration and screenings (in a limited number of cinemas and on television) of major films from the silent era. The two men followed Hollywood with series dedicated to leading comics of

763-494: A 35% pay rise. Two years later in May 1977, another strike occurred when production assistants at Thames refused to operate new video equipment. Thames proceeded to sack all the technicians for breach of contract. The following month, both sides backed down over the issues, with all technicians returning to work. The worst strike to hit the network originated at Thames. Failure to reach agreement on pay increases and shift allowances in

872-562: A British military ceremony in Gibraltar . The documentary was regarded almost as treason by many Conservative politicians, and The Sunday Times made claims about one of the witnesses interviewed which were later found to be libellous. The following year, in 1989, Thames ended the contract of Benny Hill , a stalwart at the station since 1969. It was believed that the comedian was dismissed because his shows were considered offensive and politically incorrect , but John Howard Davies said

981-489: A Thames subsidiary founded in 1976 which made animated series for children. During the hours after Rainbow and before the children's slot, Good Afternoon was transmitted, a magazine programme. It began after the IBA allowed non-schools broadcasting in this period of the day, when the government relaxed the regulations around daytime television and featured interview editions undertaken by such broadcasters as Mavis Nicholson , and

1090-415: A bucket of iced water over then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . These moments took place in the 1990s when the ceremony had a reputation for being "a little shambolic, unpredictable and, at times, anarchic" with a criticism it has lost its edge since then and "evolved into a more polished, sanitised affair." The BRIT Awards were broadcast live until 1989, when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted

1199-426: A contract with Morecambe & Wise . The comedians had worked for the BBC since 1968 with major national success, but the decisive factor leading the duo to leave the corporation was Thames's offer to feature them as main leads in a film made by the company's Euston Films subsidiary. The comedy duo's leading scriptwriter, Eddie Braben , did not initially move to ITV with them, and with Eric Morecambe's failing health,

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1308-487: A female in the UK pop industry. We've all seen the white male dominance, misogyny, sexism, and lack of diversity. We're proud of how we've stuck together, stood for our group, surrounded ourselves with strong women, and are now using our voices more than ever." Little Mix also called out the awards ceremony for the lack of nominations and wins for female groups in the category while paying homage to previous "female bands" including

1417-519: A form of protest at the way Michael Jackson sees himself as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing. I just ran on the stage. I didn't make any contact with anyone as far as I recall." 1996 saw the height of a feud between Britpop bands Oasis and Blur . The differing styles of the bands, coupled with their prominence within the Britpop movement, led the British media to seize upon

1526-515: A group of silhouetted female dancers mimicking the zombies from the band's music video. The performance received rapturous cheers and applause. English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud marked their first ever performance at the 2009 ceremony, by performing their single " The Promise ". The performance saw the members, Cheryl Cole , Kimberley Walsh , Sarah Harding , Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle appear as though they were naked, with their modesty being covered by pink feather fans . This performance

1635-531: A pair of large inflatable female legs. As the performance continued, her male backing dancers stripped to their pink briefs whilst dancing with the Union Jack flag. It is widely believed that Halliwell lip-synced her performance. In addition to all this, the performance is famous for being performed on the same night that the Spice Girls received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music , which Halliwell declined to accept with her former bandmates. When it

1744-460: A reputation for drama with such series as Jenny, Lady Randolph Churchill (1974), with Lee Remick as the mother of Winston Churchill . It won an Emmy as the best series in its category, as Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978), about the abdication crisis , did later. Other successful series in the genre from this period include Shades of Greene (1975–76), Rock Follies (1976), and Armchair Thriller (1978–80). These programmes were made in

1853-426: A secure online website to vote, and the voting is scrutinized by Electoral Reform Services . The concept of fan voting was abolished after the 2019 Brit Awards, but brought back in 2022. Coldplay are the act with most performances ever, with five opening presentations and eight overall, followed by Take That and band member Robbie Williams , who performed seven times each. Adele has performed at five ceremonies,

1962-461: A separate entity, but it, along with Talkback's own logo continued to be used separately until 2006, when a new logo for Talkback Thames was introduced. However, on 1 January 2012, the Thames brand was revived and Talkback Thames has now been split into four different labels: Boundless, Retort, Talkback and Thames , within the newly created FremantleMedia UK production arm. From its formation in 1954,

2071-406: A significant reaction throughout the UK on social media. In 2021, Little Mix 's win for British Group marked the first time that a girl group had won that award since it was first introduced in 1977. The group used their acceptance speech to call out white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity in the industry. Fellow group member Leigh-Anne Pinnock stated "It's not easy being

2180-528: A stage show, culminating with Jackson as a 'Christ-like figure' surrounded by children. Jarvis Cocker , of the band Pulp , mounted the stage in what he would later claim as a protest at this portion of the performance. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) backside in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police but was told he would not be prosecuted. Regarding his actions, Cocker said, "My actions were

2289-495: A weekly consumer programme, which eventually became a programme in its own right; Money-Go-Round . Thames also produced The World at War (1973–74), a 26-part history of the Second World War using unseen footage and interviews, often of high-level participants. The series, narrated by Laurence Olivier , was commissioned in 1969, took four years to produce, and cost a record £4m (approx £47m in 2018). Thames gained

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2398-405: A widely criticised show in which little went as rehearsed. From 1990 to 2006, the event was recorded and broadcast the following night. From 2007, The BRIT Awards reverted to a live broadcast on British television, on 14 February on ITV . That year, comedian Russell Brand was the host and three awards were dropped from the ceremony: British Rock Act , British Urban Act and British Pop Act . For

2507-453: A year with seven in total. The first awards ceremony was in 1977, as "The BRITish Record Industry BRITannia Awards", to mark the Queen 's Silver Jubilee and was televised by Thames Television . There has been an annual ceremony since 1982. The 1988 BPI Awards was the first of the ceremonies to be broadcast on live television . The BBC had previously broadcast the ceremony from 1985, with

2616-784: Is the recognised charitable arm of the BPI. It was conceived in 1989 by BPI and a collection of music industry individuals. The BRIT Trust is the only music charity actively supporting all types of music education. Proceeds from the BRIT Awards and The Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS) go to the BRIT Trust, which has donated almost £30m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation. As of 2024, beneficiaries include The BRIT School , Nordoff and Robbins, East London Arts and Music , Music Support, and Key 4 Life . Opened in September 1991,

2725-772: The BRIT School is a joint venture between The BRIT Trust and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Based at Selhurst in Croydon, the comprehensive school describes itself as the leading performing and creative arts school in the UK and is completely free to attend. It teaches over 1,400 students each year aged from 14 to 19 years in music, dance, drama, musical theatre, production, media and art and design. Students are from diverse backgrounds and are not required to stick to their own discipline; dancers learn songwriting, pianists can learn photography. In August 2023,

2834-475: The Classic BRIT Awards . The organising company, BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of the BPI. Proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the BPI that has distributed almost £30m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation in 1989. In September 2013, the BPI presented the first ever BRITs Icon Award to Elton John . The BPI also endorsed the launch of

2943-473: The Grosvenor House Hotel . At the time there was a BBC electricians' strike in effect, and the organisers decided to use a non-TV events production company, called Upfront, to manage the show. Despite the show being picketed, the event was transmitted as intended. For a while, the outdoor broadcast scanner was rocked on its wheels by the protesters and they managed to shut off the power to one of

3052-693: The Independent Television Authority (ITA) offered broadcasting licences to different companies for weekday and weekend service in its first three Independent Television network locations, the London area, the Midlands, and the North. The initial six contracts were parcelled out to different companies. Associated-Rediffusion (Rediffusion) won the London weekday service while Associated Television (ATV) operated weekends. ATV also won

3161-626: The Mercury Prize for the Album of the Year in 1992, and since 2016 has organised the Prize. The recorded music industry's Certified Awards programme, which attributes Platinum, Gold and Silver status to singles, albums and music videos (Platinum and Gold only) based on their sales performance (see BRIT Certified Awards ), has been administered by the BPI since its inception in 1973. The BRIT Trust

3270-641: The Official Charts Company with the Entertainment Retailers Association; and awards UK music sales through the BRIT Certified Awards. Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies, including ( Sony Music UK , Universal Music UK , Warner Music UK ), and over 500 independent record labels and small to medium-sized music businesses. The BPI council is the management and policy forum of

3379-488: The Outstanding Contribution to Music . Mercury (who had been suffering from AIDS since 1987 but had not disclosed it to the public) did not make a speech, as Brian May did the talking on behalf of the other members, but his gaunt appearance was noticeable. In 1992, dance/art band The KLF was awarded Best British Group (shared with Simply Red ) and were booked to open the show. In an attempt to hijack

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3488-678: The Post Office Tower and the Tower of London —it was named Thames Television, after the River Thames . This name had been previously considered and rejected by London Weekend Television. On 30 July 1968, Thames began broadcasting to London. The opening week was disrupted by sporadic strike action; the following week, the action had spread to all of ITV and resulted in the creation of a management-run ITV Emergency National Service for some two weeks. Each week Thames broadcast from

3597-575: The Sid James vehicle Bless This House (1971–76), and Love Thy Neighbour (1972-76), with a controversial take on race relations. Another sitcom, Man About the House (1973–76), was successful enough for two spin-offs, George and Mildred (1976–80) and Robin's Nest (1977-81). The company took over the This Is Your Life format in 1969, several years after the BBC had dropped

3706-590: The Spice Girls , Sugababes , All Saints , and Girls Aloud etc, who all had made significant contributions to pop culture in the UK but were overlooked by the Brit Awards. At the Brit Awards 2024 , English singer-songwriter Raye received seven nominations, making her the most nominated artist in a single year breaking a record held by Gorillaz, Craig David and Robbie Williams. Furthermore, she broke

3815-595: The 1979 pay round resulted in technicians switching off power to the transmission facilities at the Euston Road centre on 6 August. After management restored power, the technicians walked out. Within four days, all but one ITV station had gone off-air after the ACTT asked members at other companies to walk out in claim for a 15% pay rise. The network was off the air for 10 weeks. Other Thames shows included This Week (known as TV Eye between 1979 and 1985), Rumpole of

3924-416: The 1989 awards, Andy Bell of Erasure kissed George on stage to cheers from the crowd, with Bell stating it was an act in protest against Section 28 introduced by Margaret Thatcher 's Conservative government that prohibited the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools. The 1990 awards ceremony saw the last public appearance of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury . Queen appeared at the ceremony to receive

4033-535: The Authority to offer the possibility of a programme company of real excellence." The resultant company was awarded the contract to serve London on weekdays. Control of the new company would be given to ABC, a move unpopular with Rediffusion. Questioning the ITA's decision, Rediffusion attempted to slow down the merger: only the threat of giving the licence solely to ABC made it relent. To assist Rediffusion financially,

4142-462: The BBC, via the IBA, £300,000 in compensation to make up the shortfall in additional cost for new episodes of Dallas . The most controversial programme Thames broadcast was the documentary " Death on the Rock ", part of the current affairs This Week series. The programme questioned the authority of British troops who had shot dead suspected IRA members allegedly planning a terrorist attack on

4251-678: The BPI which search for members' repertoire across more than 400 known infringing sites and generate URLs which are sent to Google as a DMCA Notice for removal within hours of receipt. Additionally, personnel are also seconded to the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit to support anti- "piracy" operations. Thames Television Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion ) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation —soon taken over by EMI —owning 51%. Like all ITV franchisees at that time, it

4360-543: The BPI. It is chaired by the Chair of BPI, and includes the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer (COO), General Counsel, Chief Strategy Officer and 12 representatives from the recorded music sector: six from major labels – two each from the three "major" companies – and six from the independent sector, who are selected by voting of all BPI independent label members. BPI has represented

4469-626: The Bailey , the game shows Strike It Lucky , Give Us a Clue and Name That Tune , and the drama Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest . Thames sitcoms during the 1980s and early 1990s included Keep it in the Family , Never the Twain , After Henry , and Mr. Bean . The Mr. Bean pilot episode , starring Rowan Atkinson as the titular character, was first broadcast on ITV on 1 January 1990, and

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4578-727: The Department for Education approved BPI’s plan to open a new specialist creative school in Bradford, West Yorkshire, inspired by the successful model of the BRIT School in Croydon. The BPI administers the BRIT Certified Platinum, Gold and Silver awards scheme for music releases in the United Kingdom. The level of the award varies depending on the format of the release (albums, singles or music videos) and

4687-432: The ITA insisted that the new company have two sets of shares: voting shares which would allow ABC to have control (with 51%) and 'B' shares which were to be split equally between the two, thus sharing profits fairly. The structure of the new company was also a problem. A merger between the two existing contract holders A.B.C. Television Limited and Rediffusion Television Limited was impossible, owing to internal politics, as

4796-624: The March 2021 The Brits Are Coming with Griff . The December 2021 launch show was hosted by Amfo and Maya Jama . The 2023 edition took place on 11 February 2023 and was held, for the first time, on a weekend. The nominees for 2023 were announced via the BRITs social platforms on 12 January 2023 by Jack Saunders and Vick Hope . In 1987 the BPI Awards ceremony was held in the Great Room at

4905-436: The Midlands and North, who would instead be served by a single seven-day schedule. The London weekday/weekend split schedule remained the same, although the weekend contract was extended to include Friday evenings, but was opened to new applicants. As a result of the changes to the schedule, ABC was at risk of losing both of its existing franchises, the weekend services that would be going away. Consequently, ABC applied for both

5014-402: The Midlands seven-day operation and the contract to serve London at the weekend, preferring the latter. It was widely expected that the company would be awarded the London weekend franchise. Instead, after an impressive application by a consortium led by David Frost and others, this market was awarded to what became London Weekend Television . This led to a serious problem for the ITA as ABC

5123-605: The Queen's 'naughty bits' and a fatal friendly fire incident involving a British soldier killed by American armed forces in Iraq. ITV received over 300 complaint calls from viewers. He would again instigate controversy the following year at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards . Adele won the British Album of the Year widely regarded as the most coveted award. Less than half a minute into her acceptance speech, host James Corden

5232-410: The UK charts to Number 1, and in the process, made Adele the first artist in the UK since The Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums at the same time. The performance had all lights down and focused on Adele and her piano. Madonna 's live return to BRIT Awards after 20 years was widely promoted in the media in the days leading up to the ceremony and during the show itself. During

5341-522: The UK, the BRIT Awards have featured some of the most notable events in British popular culture, such as the final public appearance of Freddie Mercury , the Jarvis Cocker protest against Michael Jackson , the height of a high-profile feud between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur , the Union Jack dress worn by Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls , and a Chumbawamba member throwing

5450-465: The artists who have been nominated at the upcoming ceremony. Previous hosts include Jonathan Ross and Kate Thornton . The 2013, 2014 and March 2021 host was Nick Grimshaw , followed by Reggie Yates and Laura Whitmore in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Emma Willis hosted The BRITs Are Coming in 2017 and again in 2018 when it was broadcast live for the first time. Clara Amfo hosted the 2019 launch show and Alice Levine hosted in 2020. Grimshaw hosted

5559-469: The auspices of the British record industry's trade association, the BPI . In 1989, they were renamed The BRIT Awards. Mastercard has been the long-term sponsor of the event. In addition, an equivalent awards ceremony for classical music, called the Classic BRIT Awards , was held annually between 2000 and 2013, before being revived in 2018 but has not been held since. The highest profile music awards ceremony in

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5668-490: The authority. During the interview process, several members of Rediffusion management also appeared in interviews for applicants for other regions, principally the consortium of which David Frost was a member, as well as the interview for Rediffusion, leading the ITA to question the loyalty at the company. The outcome proposed by the ITA was a " shotgun marriage " between ABC and Rediffusion. "The combination of these two companies," announced ITA Chairman Lord Hill , "seemed to

5777-410: The award for "BRITs Hits 30 – Best Live Performance at The BRIT Awards" at the 2010 BRIT Awards , with Samantha Fox presenting the award to Geri Halliwell and Mel B . Three years following the iconic Spice Girls performance, Halliwell, now a solo artist, performed her new single " Bag It Up " at the 2000 BRIT Awards . The performance featured Halliwell emerging, whilst dancing on with a pole, from

5886-442: The background. He ended the speech by saying, "Invoice me for the microphone if you need to", dropped it to the ground , and left the stage. That night they became the first act to win both British Album and British Group three times. The speech divided both press and audience, being labeled as both "pretentious twaddle" and a sincere defence of the genre, as well as garnering reactions from other musicians, with Johnny Marr saying it

5995-440: The band from EMI Europe, Chumbawamba were unrepentant, saying, "If John Prescott has the nerve to turn up at events like the Brit Awards in a vain attempt to make Labour seem cool and trendy, then he deserves all we can throw at him." The host of the 2007 awards ceremony, comedian Russell Brand made several quips relating to news stories of the time including Robbie Williams entering rehab for addiction to prescription drugs ,

6104-414: The big GE video screen projectors. Upfront was then asked to organise the following year and persuaded the BPI to move the event to a larger venue, starting the trend that continues to this day, albeit at The O2, and with a different production company (MJK Productions). In 1989, the ceremony was broadcast live and presented by Fleetwood Mac 's Mick Fleetwood and singer Samantha Fox . The inexperience of

6213-416: The children's show Magpie (1968–80), intended as a rival for Blue Peter on BBC1 , and The Tomorrow People (1973–79), a science fiction series commissioned as an answer to the BBC's Doctor Who . For preschool children there was Rainbow , which started in 1972 and ran for 20 years. The programme used animation and graphics created by Stop Frame Productions, which later became Cosgrove Hall ,

6322-406: The company had treated the ITA high-handedly in interviews. In the early days of ITV, the company had worked hard to keep the network on-air during financial crises that threatened the collapse of other companies, particularly Granada. It was reported that Rediffusion's chairman Sir John Spencer Wills felt the ITA owed his company a 'debt of gratitude' for this, a comment which particularly annoyed

6431-488: The crime from 1998 and its return to the hour long slot and then became much more a soap opera in 2002 (when individual story titles were dropped) until coming full circle dealing predominantly with crime again in about 2007 for the last few years of its existence. In January 1985, the company made a deal with international distributors for US production company Lorimar to purchase the UK broadcasting rights for US drama Dallas , at that time transmitted on BBC1 . This broke

6540-466: The decision was taken because of falling ratings, very high production costs and Hill was looking tired. The show at its peak had 21 million viewers, while the last episode had nine million. Through the early 1980s, Thames experienced a series of local disputes while management deliberately confronted contractual ‘rackets’, and pursued the introduction of new technologies based on operational requirements rather than precedent. For Thames’s management, this

6649-543: The end of its ITV franchise. These included Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983), Jack the Ripper (1988), Capital City (1989–1990), Selling Hitler (1991), and Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1992). The Bill (1984–2010) began as a one-hour series of separate stories in 1984, but from 1989 until 1998 was broadcast several times a week, usually in a 30 minute slot. Its storylines became overly melodramatic and focussed far more directly on particular police characters rather than

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6758-482: The event, the duo collaborated with grindcore metal band Extreme Noise Terror to perform a death metal version of the dance song " 3 a.m. Eternal ", complete with flame-throwers, and ending with Bill Drummond firing blanks from a vintage machine gun over the audience. KLF publicist/announcer Scott Piering stated " Ladies and gentlemen, The KLF have now left the music business ". The performance prompted conductor Sir Georg Solti to walk out in disgust. Producers of

6867-570: The eventual run lasted beyond Thames holding of its franchise. Less well-known is its adaptation of Andy Capp (1988), starring James Bolam . Two of its post-franchise sitcoms found more success when they transferred away from ITV – Men Behaving Badly , which moved to the BBC in 1994 and Is It Legal? , which moved to Channel 4 in 1998. Both were written by Simon Nye and co-produced by independent company Hartswood Films . A few years after The World at War , Thames broadcast Hollywood (1980),

6976-494: The first time. Streaming's contributions to chart-eligible sales totals for singles and albums are calculated using the methodology employed by the Official Charts Company for consumption at title level. In April 2018, a new Breakthrough certification was introduced, pertaining to an artist's first album to reach 30,000 sales. Additionally, the programme was re-branded as BRIT Certified, with public promotion of

7085-407: The five songs Blur played were broadcast on ITV . On 2014 Arctic Monkeys won the British Album of the Year . When the band got up on stage to receive the award, lead singer Alex Turner , started his speech by testing the mic and then talked about the cyclical nature of rock music, saying that even if its popularity declines it will never die as a music genre, while the rest of the band laughed in

7194-423: The hosts, an ineffective autocue, and little preparation combined to create an unprofessional show that was poorly received. The hosts continually got their lines mixed up, a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson was never transmitted and several guest stars arrived late on stage or at the wrong time, such as Boy George in place of The Four Tops . In accepting the award for British Group from Boy George at

7303-444: The interests of British record companies since being formally incorporated in 1973, when the principal aim was to promote British music and fight copyright infringement . In 2007, the association's legal name was changed from "British Phonographic Industry Limited (The)" to "BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited". In September 2008, the BPI became one of the founding members of UK Music , an umbrella organisation representing

7412-400: The interests of all parts of the industry. In July 2022, YolanDa Brown was appointed chair of BPI, replacing Ged Doherty , who had served in that role the previous seven years. In July 2023, Jo Twist was appointed chief executive of BPI, replacing Geoff Taylor, who had served in the role since 2007. BPI founded the annual BRIT Awards for the British music industry in 1977, and, later,

7521-548: The landmark of one billion career UK streams – as calculated by the Official Charts Company. Recipients to date include RAYE , Billie Eilish , Queen , The Rolling Stones , Olivia Rodrigo , Katy Perry , Whitney Houston , Mariah Carey , Wizkid and Coldplay . In Autumn 2023, Ed Sheeran was presented with a special edition Gold BRIT Billion Award, celebrating his achievement as the first British artist to surpass ten billion career UK streams. The BPI have developed bespoke software and automated crawling tools created in-house by

7630-609: The last appearance of Nigel Kneale 's best known creation in Quatermass (1979). In this era, Euston also made single one-off dramas such as The Naked Civil Servant (1975). On 1 December 1976, the punk band the Sex Pistols were interviewed live on Thames's regional news magazine programme, Today . Members of the group uttered obscenities during their interview with Bill Grundy . Grundy, in his introduction, said they are "as drunk as I am", but later claimed his comment

7739-623: The last time, on 16 February 2010, Earls Court in London was the venue for The BRITs. The BRIT Awards were held at the O 2 Arena in London for the first time in 2011. The BRIT Award statuette given to the winners features Britannia , the female personification of Britain. Since 2011, the statuette has been regularly redesigned by well known British artists, architects, and designers including Vivienne Westwood , Damien Hirst , Tracey Emin , Peter Blake , Zaha Hadid , Anish Kapoor , David Adjaye , Yinka Ilori and Es Devlin , Pam Hogg , Olaolu Slawn and Rachel Jones . Robbie Williams holds

7848-522: The level of sales achieved. Although the awards programme was for many years based on the level of shipments by record labels to retailers, since July 2013 certifications have been automatically allocated by the BPI upon the relevant sales thresholds being achieved in accordance with Official Charts Company data. Since July 2014, streaming media has been included for singles and from June 2015 audio streams were added to album certifications. In July 2018 video streams were included in singles certifications for

7957-420: The middle finger. But that finger was to the suits at The BRIT Awards, not to my fans". Adele received an apology from the show's organisers, who stated; "We send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short. We don't want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night's biggest award. It tops off what's been an incredible year for her." Due to the tight schedule, only three of

8066-458: The most amongst female artists. There have been numerous acts, both groups and individuals, that have won multiple awards. The table below shows those that have won four or more awards. British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry ( BPI ) is the British recorded music industry's trade association . It runs the BRIT Awards ; is home to the Mercury Prize ; co-owns

8175-485: The network with a long-running, broad-based and extensive series of programmes, several of which either continue or are well-remembered today." Thames covered a broad spectrum of commercial public-service television, with a strong mix of drama, current affairs and comedy. After Thames was acquired by FremantleMedia it was merged with another Fremantle company, Talkback , to form a new independent production company, Talkback Thames ; consequently, Thames ceased to exist as

8284-492: The new shows never gained the audiences or matched the esteem they had previously enjoyed. One of the early anchor presenters was radio DJ Tom Edwards . Like most of ITV, Thames was beset by conflicts with trade unions, notably the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians ( ACTT ). A two-week technicians strike in the summer of 1975 shut down the whole of ITV with the technicians being bought off with

8393-491: The new station, the only individuals named or specified in all 15 franchise awards. ABC had majority control of the new company and the make-up of its board predominantly (and eventually fully) came from ABC. The use of ABC's old studios at Teddington meant the workforce was predominantly ex-ABC, although those at Kingsway were ex-Rediffusion. After some discussion as to the name of the new company—some directors favoured ABC London, while others suggested Tower Television to reflect

8502-507: The oldest recipient of now defunct British Male Solo Artist . Bowie used his acceptance speech, delivered in his absence by Kate Moss , to urge Scotland to remain part of the UK in the September 2014 Scottish independence referendum . His speech read: "I'm completely delighted to have a Brit for being the best male – but I am, aren't I Kate? Yes. I think it's a great way to end the day. Thank you very, very much and Scotland stay with us." Bowie's unusual intervention in British politics garnered

8611-502: The performance of " Living for Love ", she walked onstage wearing an oversized cape. When standing on stairs situated on the stage, the cape's cord failed to separate, so when Madonna's backing dancer pulled the cape behind her, she fell down the stairs and noticeably hit the stage hard. She paused momentarily as her backing music continued, before she managed to separate herself from the cape and then continued performing. In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show , Madonna blamed her fall on

8720-538: The programme being assumed by the BRIT Awards' social media outlets and digital properties. Former Chief Executive Geoff Taylor justified the change by stating that it was part of an effort to cross-promote the certifications with "the UK's biggest platform for artistic achievement". In May 2023, BPI launched an expansion of the BRIT Certified Awards Scheme with BRIT Billion, which celebrates outstanding achievement in recorded music by surpassing

8829-400: The record for the most BRIT Awards, 13 as a solo artist and another five as part of Take That . Girl group Little Mix made history at the Brit Awards 2021 , when they became the first female group to receive the award at the ceremony after 43 years since it was first introduced. In 2024, English singer-songwriter Raye , broke the record for the most nominations received by a single artist in

8938-479: The record for the most wins received in a single night with six in total. Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell , wore a Union Jack dress . Spicemania was at its height in the UK and the Spice Girls had just cracked the US as well, reaching Number 1 with their debut single and album. Halliwell was originally going to wear an all-black dress, but she thought it was too boring so her sister sewed on a Union Jack tea towel , with

9047-528: The rivalry between the bands. Both factions played along, with the Gallaghers taunting Blur at the 1996 BRIT Awards by singing a rendition of " Parklife " when they collected their award for Best British Group (with Liam Gallagher changing the lyrics to "Shite-life" and Noel Gallagher changing them to " Marmite "). "There's no denying they're a lot slicker, a lot tamer now than they were in their '80s and '90s heyday. Will we ever see another stage invasion,

9156-410: The same time Thames broadcast its new purchases. Ultimately, pressure from several ITV companies (especially Yorkshire Television ) to the IBA, forced Thames to sell the series back to the BBC at a loss. Bryan Cowgill , the managing director of Thames left the company, as he believed his position was untenable since the board was unwilling to support his plans to buy the series. In October, Thames paid

9265-468: The show in 1964. Another BBC favourite was comedian Benny Hill , the star of The Benny Hill Show (1969–89), who was placed under contract. Hill spent most of the rest of his career with Thames. The Sooty Show , cancelled in 1967 by the BBC, now aired on Thames and began on the first day of transmission. It continued after Harry Corbett 's retirement in 1975 with his son, Matthew Corbett , and lasted on Thames until late 1992. The company also produced

9374-481: The show then refused to let a motorcycle courier collect the award on behalf of the band. Later that evening, the KLF dumped a dead sheep outside the venue of an after-show party, and later buried their BRIT Award statuette at Stonehenge signifying their abhorrence of the music industry. In 1996, Michael Jackson was given a special Artist of a Generation award. At the ceremony he accompanied his single " Earth Song " with

9483-487: The shows from 1982 to 1984 not broadcast on television. The BBC continued to broadcast the renamed BRIT Awards, live in 1989 and pre-recorded from 1990 to 1992. ITV have broadcast the awards since 1993, pre-recorded until 2006 and live from 2007 onwards. BBC Radio 1 has provided backstage radio coverage since 2008. For many years, ITV have aired a launch show in January titled The BRITs Are Coming , which reveals some of

9592-622: The silent era, Unknown Chaplin (1983) and Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987). A programme on Harold Lloyd ( The Third Genius ) followed in 1989. Hollywood and the Chaplin series were narrated by the actor James Mason . Unusually for a commercial broadcaster, Thames also produced lavish versions of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Thames's subsidiary production company Euston Films continued to produce many of Thames's highest-profile drama contributions to ITV network programming to

9701-465: The speech, "A lot of people thought I was waffling away on drugs, but I wasn't. I just can't pretend getting an award was something I've dreamed about since I was a kid, because it isn't." In 2022 when an interviewer implied the speech was akin to performance art, Turner seemed to agree. Wet Leg 's singer Rhian Teasdale quoted part of Turner's speech, during the 2023 ceremony , as the band won New Artist . At 67 years of age, musician David Bowie became

9810-569: The start of transmissions on Monday until its handover to London Weekend Television at 19:00 on Friday. (From 1982, the handover time was 17:15.) The former ABC studios at Teddington became Thames's main production base. Thames's corporate base moved to its newly constructed studios and offices on Euston Road (next to Euston Tower ) in 1970, when it relinquished Television House , Rediffusion's former London headquarters. The Teddington studios were highly desirable, as they had participated in colour experiments and were already partially converted by

9919-468: The then standard 'hybrid' studio video/location film format, but the British industry was in the slow process of dropping the multi-camera studio format for drama, excepting soaps, to making the genre entirely on film. The Thames offshoot Euston Films was founded in 1971 to specialise in drama output made entirely on film, then still a rare practice. Euston made the police series The Sweeney (1975–78), Danger UXB (1979), and Minder (1979–94), plus

10028-501: The time of the franchise change, and as such had been sought after by both Thames and LWT. When Thames was formed, the new company acquired numerous other properties of the former franchise holders. Rediffusion's main studio complex at Wembley was leased to London Weekend Television by order of the ITA before being sold to Lee International in 1977. ABC's Midlands base in Aston, Birmingham (see Alpha Television ), co-owned with ATV,

10137-476: The variety show Opportunity Knocks , Armchair Theatre , the last series of The Avengers , and the detective thrillers Callan and Public Eye , all inherited from ABC. The comedy Do Not Adjust Your Set , though, originated with Rediffusion, and if nominally a children's show, was one of the forerunners of Monty Python's Flying Circus . More conventional sitcoms, all of which began in Thames's early years, included Father, Dear Father (1968–73),

10246-403: The weekday service in the Midlands, while ABC Weekend TV operated the weekend service. Granada Television won daytime service in the North, and ABC the weekends. Geographical and structural changes to the network led to the first significant shakeups of the network, a process that started in 1967 to take effect from 1968. As part of these changes, the separate weekend service was eliminated in

10355-423: Was "quite poetic". When asked a few days later, Turner said, "In public, I'm a quiet guy, so doing anything in front of lots of people always makes me nervous. I'm known for my music, not how well I deliver a speech. People always assume if you're in a band that's been on the scene for ages that you're going to be really confident, but that's not true at all." In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone , he re-addressed

10464-451: Was a broadcaster, a producer and a commissioner of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and, as one of the "Big Five" ITV companies, for networking nationally across the ITV regions. After its loss of franchise in 1992, it continued as an independent production company until 2006. The British Film Institute describes Thames as having "served the capital and

10573-405: Was a joke, and had allowed the bad language to illustrate the character of the individuals in the group. The interview filled two minutes at the end of the programme, but the production team feared trouble in the studio if they stopped the programme mid-air. Thames's telephone switchboard was jammed by complaining viewers. Responding to the incident, Thames said in a statement: "Because the programme

10682-540: Was a major endorsement for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton , performing at many of her rallies and speaking at public events. After Donald Trump won the election, Perry returned to recording her fifth studio album and in February 2017 released " Chained to the Rhythm ". During the performance, she was joined onstage by two large skeletal puppets dressed as Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May . The performance

10791-457: Was a materialist operation with a clear dimension, and to weed out unscrupulous bargaining and working practices. In the summer of 1984 a major strike was called, this time, over Thames's management unilaterally issuing new rostering schedules (overtime payments for transmission staff), and the use of new cameras and editing equipment. There were no internal discussions of the potential savings that could be derived from new shift patterns, but there

10900-587: Was a merger between their respective parent companies Associated British Picture Corporation and British Electric Traction . The answer was found to be a new holding company , Thames Television (Holdings) Ltd. ABC's parent, the Associated British Picture Corporation was taken over by EMI in 1969, and in 1979 became part of Thorn EMI . The ITA ordered ABC's managing director Howard Thomas and its director of programmes Brian Tesler to be appointed in similar capacities at

11009-431: Was a popular station, whose productions earned vital foreign currency - one such series was The Avengers . Its station management and presentation style were also well-admired. While they were still in the running for the seven-day service in the Midlands, it was clear this would be won by ATV, who was also a large earner of overseas revenue, having won the Queen's Award for Export in 1966. In programming, Rediffusion

11118-427: Was a strong sense that union controls had to be removed before the company embarked on increasing its operations. The technicians walked for a few hours on Monday 30 July, but the station was able to return just one day as management and administration staff took over their roles. On Monday 27 August, ATTC technicians walked out again over the new shift patterns; the strike ended on 3 September 1984, at 1p.m. after

11227-411: Was also notable as a backing dancer fell offstage at the end of the performance whilst wearing a house costume. According to The BRIT Awards website, the list of eligible artists, albums, and singles is compiled by the Official Charts Company and submitted to the voting academy, which consists of over 1,000 members of the music industry, including the previous year's nominees and winners. The voters use

11336-501: Was announced that past Brit Award recipient Damon Albarn , and his project Gorillaz , would be taking the stage at the 2002 Brit Awards, no one knew what to expect. The four cartoon members of the band performed the song on giant life size screens (an early version of a 3D hologram ) without the Blur frontman being present at all. The band performed their hit single " Clint Eastwood " alongside UK underground rap group Phi Life Cypher and

11445-525: Was forced to cut Adele off in order to introduce Blur who were due to perform an eleven-minute set as they had received the Outstanding Contribution to Music and the ceremony was running over its allotted time. Adele was visibly annoyed and proceeded to raise her middle finger and the producers of the show came under fire on Twitter for the decision. Following the incident Adele said "I got cut off during my speech for Best Album and I flung

11554-412: Was live, it was impossible to foresee the language that would be used." The press continued to be interested in the incident for several days. Grundy was suspended and Today ended soon afterwards; his career never recovered. Over time, Thames replaced Today with a more conventional news offering as seen on other ITV stations. Thames at Six was launched, later Thames News . In 1978, Thames secured

11663-547: Was nominated in the 2010 ceremony for the "BRITs Hits 30 – Best Live Performance at The BRIT Awards", alongside Oasis and The Who , which the Spice Girls eventually went on to win. Adele performed her song " Someone like You " at the 2011 BRITs with only a piano accompanying her. Her emotional performance was received with a standing ovation at the O2 Arena and the video has received 187 million views so far on YouTube. The performance launched "Someone Like You" 46 spots up

11772-451: Was originally considered stuffy but in the previous contract round of 1964, it had re-invented itself, dropping the name Associated-Rediffusion in favour of the trendier Rediffusion London, to reflect the cultural changes of the time, with its output altered accordingly. By the time of the 1967 negotiations, Rediffusion believed that its contract renewal for London weekday service was a formality, and its application reflected this complacency:

11881-529: Was sold in 1971 when ATV moved to new colour television facilities. Its northern base in Didsbury , Manchester , was used by Yorkshire Television prior to its Kirkstall Road studios in Leeds being completed, and eventually sold to Manchester Polytechnic in 1970, with a lease on sales offices in central Manchester being surrendered. The station continued formats inherited from its predecessors. These included

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