One of the pioneers of British breakfast television - Peter Jay - has died at the age of 87.
Mr Jay formed part of the consortium that applied for the original ITV breakfast licence offered by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA).
The application was successful and TV-am, headed by Peter Jay, was offered the contract in December 1980 in a letter from IBA chair Lady Plowden. However the station would not go on air until February 1st 1983.
Peter Jay was joined by David Frost, Michael Parkinson, Robert Kee, Angela Rippon and Anna Ford. Esther Rantzen was also involved but pulled out before the station went on the air.
Peter Jay famously coined the phrase “mission to explain” to describe TV-am’s philosophy, though many did not really understand what this meant or how it would work on air every morning. In fact, the first few weeks were disastrous with abysmal viewing figures and this meant Peter Jay would be forced out of the company he loved and had worked hard to create.
He had been involved in recruitment and everything else from approving the design of the company logo and symbol, to the creation of the Breakfast Television Centre at Camden Lock, and the choice of signature tunes for Good Morning Britain and Daybreak.
Thank you Peter Jay for helping create TV-am, seen below on Hawley Crescent with the studious under construction behind him