Ignored by many who analyse the success of the James Bond franchise, MI6 pulls focus on the film debuts on television through the years... Updated [5th April 2011]: Updated with "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" dates and all available BARB viewing figures for UK television...

James Bond On TV
13th October 2007 / 5th April 2011

James Bond has a cinematic history stretching back over 45 years, but one element often overlooked by historians analysing the cultural phenomenon of 007 is the impact that television has had on the series fan base.

Although UK television viewers got to enjoy the Bond outings on the small screen in the correct order, they would have to wait much longer than fans in the US for ITV to broadcast the films. Thirteen years would pass since "Dr No"s release in theatres before ITV made UK history with the broadcast first Bond film in 1975. ITV bought the rights for the first six James Bond films for £850,000 in 1974. One irked cinema owner described the sale as "not only killing the golden goose, but auctioning off the eggs". A steady stream of 007 on UK TV then followed, with an impressive burst of four films within 18 months during the lead up to the cinematic release of "The Spy Who Loved Me' in 1977.

Above: Straight shooter. The Roger Moore era aired on US and UK television in chronological order on the same network for all seven of his James Bond outings.

The Roger Moore era enjoyed its TV debuts without controversy in both the UK and USA, with all seven films airing in consecutive order on the same network - on ITV in the UK, and on ABC in the USA. "The Man With The Golden Gun" had the distinction of airing before the next film had been released in US theatres, mainly due to the three-year gap between productions. "Moonraker", which for years held the Bond box-office record, still holds the record of shortest time to network television in the USA, making its premiere on ABC in just 2 years, 4 months and 24 days after its cinematic premiere. Bond fans in the UK got to enjoy four of Moore's outings making their TV debuts during the Christmas holidays. This sure-fire ratings winner was not lost on ITV, who often re-run Bond films during public holidays. Time For A Station Break During the cinematic hiatus between "Licence To Kill" (1989) and "GoldenEye" (1995), when producer Cubby Broccoli was embroiled in legal action against the studios over unfavourable television deals for the films, a three year vacuum occurred after ABC aired "The Living Daylights" in 1990. Eventually, the rights to "Licence To Kill" ended up at Fox, who aired the film in 1993 - the first and last time the network secured a Bond television premiere.

After the dust had settled, NBC aired their one and only Bond TV premiere with "GoldenEye" in 1998, then CBS secured the rights to the rest of the Pierce Brosnan era films, paying $20 million for "The World Is Not Enough" alone (it had first refusal on the film after previously purchasing "Tomorrow Never Dies"), which it broadcast three weeks ahead of "Die Another Day" opening in cinemas across the country.

Over in the UK, "Tomorrow Never Dies" was the first Bond film shown on television ahead of the US networks, with Brosnan's second outing airing on ITV a month before the next film had been released in theatres - another first for the franchise. It is also the earliest a Bond film has been shown on UK television following cinematic release. ITV went one step further with the 1999 outing "The World Is Not Enough", airing it a whole year before "Die Another Day" would premiere in theatres. Up Next... A bidding war erupted in the UK in 2006 over the broadcast rights to Daniel Craig's first outing as 007 when rival Channel 4 upped the ante against ITV for "Casino Royale". Unconfirmed press reports claimed that ITV paid around £25 million GBP for rights to Sony Pictures International and MGM, which also included the entire back catalogue of Bond films.

Above: Now pay attention 007, your latest mission will be an effective marketing tool for your next outing two years from now... "Tomorrow Never Dies" helped warm up audiences on UK television a few weeks ahead of the cinematic release of "The World Is Not Enough" in 1999.

ITV screened the film for the first time in September 2009, at least a year behind most European countries, to a modest average of 5.1m viewers. The technical presentation of Daniel Craig's debut may have detracted some, as ITV elected to broadcast the movie in full screen 'pan and scan' format, rather than widescreen and contained several edits.

Over in America, "Casino Royale" made its terrestrial debut on ABC (the first Bond film premiere on the network since "The Living Daylights") almost four years after its theatrical release. On cable, USA Network won another heated bidding war. The NBC Universal-owned channel beat out the three networks and cable channels Spike TV, TNT, and FX for the film. Beginning in 2009, USA has a five-year window to air the film. The deal was said to be worth $20 million. NBC also broadcast the film on SyFy Channel.

The 2008 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" took over two years to make it to the free-to-air small screen in the UK, but for national broadcaster ITV1, it was worth the wait. Bond boosted ITV to the top of the Saturday night prime-time ratings average with 22.4% of the national audience, even though only 4.7m tuned in - proof that overall network television viewing is on the decline. A further 232,000 watched 'time shifted' within 24 hours.

Facts & Figures
The table below contains television premiere details for the USA and UK, including the number of days since release (DSR) for the film opening in national theatres. The network is listed for the USA entries, whereas all films made their television premiere on ITV in the UK.

* The dates listed for television premiere in the USA are those of network television freely available to the whole country, rather than pay-per-view, subscription or cable channels.

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