World in Action output. For the first 35 years of its existence, ITV had a near-monopoly of television advertising revenue. Roy Thomson, who ran Scottish Television famously described ITV as a "licence to print money". In return for this income, the broadcasting regulator insisted that the ITV companies broadcast a proportion of their programmes as public service TV. Out of this was born the network's reputation for serious current affairs, eagerly grabbed by programme makers under Granada's founder Lord Sidney Bernstein. Some of the most prominent figures in 20th-century British broadcasting helped to create "World in Action", in particular Tim Hewat, "the maverick
World of Sport (UK TV programme) Bank Holiday editions. Dickie Davies also took over as host in 1968 and would remain the face of the show until it ended in 1985. Other presenters were Fred Dinenage, Steve Rider and Jim Rosenthal. The programme's title was originally "Wide World of Sports" (much like the US programme), this was changed after about six weeks because all the initial programmes featured sports from within the UK and early Programme Editor John Bromley felt that "Wide" World of Sports would have looked rather silly. The show included popular segments such as "On the Ball" (a preview of the day's football