and the ITC agreed to introduce a 'quality threshold' to prevent high bidders with poor programme plans from joining the system. Another safeguard was the 'business plan' which determined if a bidder could maintain the payments due and still retain money for programme making. Other changes were also made as part of the act: ITN, the news provider for ITV, was no longer to be exclusively owned by ITV companies. Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a government-owned corporation, patterned after the BBC. It would also begin to sell its own advertising – a function previously provided by each ITV company as a return for subsidising the channel. One further change in the 1990 Act related to the way the ITV networking system was run. Since the 1960s, the Independent Television Companies' Association's Programme Controllers' Committee, representing the 'Big Five' network companies (Thames, LWT, Central, Granada and Yorkshire) had decided which programmes had aired in network programme time slots. This had the effect of excluding smaller ITV companies, as well as independent production companies. Following lobbying by independent producers and TVS, the Act required that ITV's scheduling be performed by a nominated person independent of the regional companies, and that a 25% threshold of independent production be required. This led to the creation in 1992 of the ITV Network Centre, a central body in charge of the network schedule, with, for the first time, a single ITV Director of Programming. 1991–2002 1991 ITV franchise auctions Following the changes laid out in the Broadcasting Act 1990, a franchise round was announced by the ITC on 16 October 1991 for licences beginning 1 January 1993. A number of companies bid for the licences including: As a direct result of the franchise bid: Thames Television controversially lost the London weekday franchise to Carlton Television. However, Thames continued to produce programmes for ITV and other channels, such as The Bill, This Is Your Life, Mr. Bean and Minder. TV-am lost the national breakfast television franchise to Sunrise Television, which changed its name to Good Morning Television (GMTV) before launch because of a dispute with British Sky Broadcasting over the name 'Sunrise'. TVS lost the South and South East England franchise to Meridian Broadcasting. TSW lost the South West England franchise to Westcountry Television. ORACLE lost the national teletext franchise to Teletext Ltd. All