1991 ITV Franchise Auctions on:
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In 1963, the ITA chairman, Lord Hill of Luton, initiated a review of all the ITV companies following the release of the Pilkington Report, which saw the launch of BBC2 and heavily criticised ITV. This review would review a company's performance, and either grant them an extension to their service licence or replace the company with another in that region. This process was repeated frequently throughout the early life of ITV and lasted approximately ten years. Reviews like this also ensured that the companies maintained their high performance by maintaining the possibility of the loss of their licence. The new licences also included clauses which took into account the promise of an " ITV2" UHF channel to be launched if the Conservative Party won the 1964 general election.
Despite the review, no company lost its position as the local ITV contractor for their region and all licences were extended for another three years (starting July 1964), although several of the major companies were instructed to strengthen the regional emphasis of their on-screen identities. The only change to the network was the formation of a single Wales and West franchise, operated by TWW, following the collapse of WWN and its subsequent takeover by TWW. WWN ran into trouble when it had problems with the construction of its transmitter network, as well as strict provisions in its contract to produce a large amount of
Another franchise review was called by the ITA on 12 June 1967, for contracts running from the end of July 1968, that was to drastically change the structure of ITV itself. The review aimed to ensure that the ITV system was ready for the impending arrival of colour broadcasting, and also to again allow for the potential start of ITV2, should the Conservatives win any general election held after 1970. The behaviour of some of the companies only reinforced the ITA's assumptions of 'arrogance' following the few changes in the last franchise round: Rediffusion London's department managers also popped up in similar roles for rival applications and TWW reapplied for their contract under both their own name and that of WWN/Teledu Cymru as a tax dodge. As a result, Lord Hill had made it clear in 1966 that "all bets were off" on the next franchise round and that the regions themselves might change. Therefore, in the period between the interviews of each applicant and the announcement of the changes, the newspapers speculated wildly about the likely changes: suggestions were made of Scottish Television exiting the system, Rediffusion London moving to replace Southern Television and various other wild ideas.
In the end, the changes made to the ITV regions were as follows:
*The weekend franchises in the North of England and the Midlands were abolished.
*The North of England region was split into two new smaller regions, the
Following the passing of the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972, the ITA was reconstituted as the
accessed 12 June 2006. The next franchise round in 1974 produced no changes in contractors, as the huge cost in switching to colour television would have made the companies unable to compete against rivals in a franchise battle. It also allowed the companies to recoup the cost and to return to normal service. Some slight changes were made to the
On 28 December 1980, the IBA announced via Lady Plowden, the then chair of the IBA, that it had reviewed the ITV broadcasting licences again, for contracts beginning on 1 January 1982. A few changes were made to the ITV structure, with the creation of dual regions for the South and
As a direct result of the franchise bid:
*
Despite these larger companies having launched their own services a few years previously, Granada Television, Carlton Television and UNM collaborated to launch a new service on 7 December 1998: ITV2. The new channel expanded network ITV programmes and launched on multiple services, giving additional appeal to the style of ITV itself in light of new competition from channels operating on satellite television, satellite, cable television, cable and more recently digital terrestrial television. However, ITV2 only launched in
From 2002, the ITV network began to consolidate again. On 28 October 2002, the Carlton Television and Granada Television regions adopted a History of ITV television idents#October 2002 – October 2004, new presentation package featuring the network's celebrities, which resulted in the regions becoming known as ITV1 at all times, the region names only appearing prior to regional programmes. This look also marked the centralisation of continuity in the Carlton Television and Granada Television regions to
ITV at Fifty
(Transdiffusion)
Independent TeleWeb
(Independent Television Commission, ITC, 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Itv History of ITV, ITV (TV network) History of television in the United Kingdom, ITV History of companies of the United Kingdom, ITV History of television channels, ITV Cultural history of the United Kingdom, ITV 1950s in British television, ITV 1960s in British television, ITV 1970s in British television, ITV 1980s in British television, ITV 1990s in British television, ITV 2000s in British television, ITV 2010s in British television, ITV 2020s in British television, ITV
The history of ITV, the
The Independent Television network came about as a result of the
which until then had a monopoly on broadcasting within the United Kingdom, was made up of numerous companies providing a regional television service and would also generally provide programmes to the network as a whole. Each individual company broadcast on United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
" Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
Independent Television began as a network of independently-owned regional companies that were both broadcasters and programme makers, beginning with four companies operating six stations in three large regions in 1955–1956, and gradually expanding to 17 stations in 14 regions by 1962. Each regional station was responsible for its own branding, scheduling and advertising, with many peak-time programmes shared simultaneously across the whole network.
By 29 February 2016, 12 regions in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
shared national ITV branding and scheduling, and, together with a 13th region UTV in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, were owned by a single company, ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
. A further two regions in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
carry STV branding and are owned by the STV Group
STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...
.
1955–1964
Formation
The Independent Television network came about as a result of the Television Act 1954
The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV.
Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the Briti ...
, which paved the way for the establishment of a commercial television
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...
service in the United Kingdom and created the Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 un ...
(ITA). The act itself was not without controversy, and much debate ensued both in the British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
and the British Press, and it was passed on the basis that the ITA would regulate the new service and ensure that the new service did not follow the same path taken by the American networks (which were perceived as 'vulgar' by some commentators). For example, it was made obligatory that commercials be clearly distinguishable from programmes. At the time, programmes in the USA were normally sponsored by a single company, so it was not uncommon for a game show host
A game show host is an individual who manages a game show, introduces contestants, and asks quiz questions to test the knowledge of said contestants. They may also have other duties pertinent to production.
History
In 1938, Freddie Grisewood w ...
to step away from their podium after a round to sell cars or ''The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
'' to segue into an ad for cigarettes with no perceived change from show to advertising.
The new "Independent Television" network, named due to its independence from the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...405-line
The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture.
It wa ...
VHF and was responsible for providing a local service, including daily news bulletins and local documentaries, and for selling advertising space on their channel: this measure ensured that all the independent companies were in competition with each other and that no single broadcaster could gain a monopoly over commercial broadcasting. However, national news was not provided by the individual companies and was instead provided by Independent Television News
Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...
(ITN). Each regional service had its own on-screen identity to distinguish it from other regions, since there was often a sizeable overlap in reception capability within each region.
Upon the creation of the network, six franchises were awarded for London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the Midlands and the North of England with separate franchises for weekdays and the weekends. The companies in these regions were known as 'The Big Four' and consisted of Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
(London weekday), ATV (Midlands weekday and London weekend), Granada Television (North of England weekday) and ABC (North of England and Midlands weekend). These companies were generally the best known and provided the most network output.
Launch
The first ITA contractor to begin broadcasting was the London weekday contractor Associated-Rediffusion, on 22 September 1955 beginning at 7.15pm. On the first night of telecasts, the BBC, who had held the monopoly on broadcasting in Britain, aired a melodramatic episode of their popular radiosoap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''The Archers
''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...
'' on the BBC Home Service (later became BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
in 1967). In the episode, core character Grace Archer
Grace Archer (also Fairbrother) is a fictional character from the BBC's long-running radio soap, ''The Archers''. She was one of the original characters and was played by Monica Gray and then Ysanne Churchman. The episode depicting her death was b ...
was fatally injured in a fire, and it was seen as a ploy to keep loyal viewers and listeners away from the new station. The first full day of transmissions was 23 September 1955 when Britain's first female newsreader Barbara Mandell
Allada Barbara Grenville Wells (15 July 1920 – 25 August 1998), known professionally as Barbara Mandell, was a British journalist, broadcaster, newsreader and travel writer. She became the United Kingdom's first female newsreader after she was ...
appeared. The London weekend contractor ATV launched two days later.
The other franchises launched within a year of the London launch, and other contracts were awarded by the ITA between 1956 and 1961. All the franchises had launched by September 1962:
ITV was admitted as an active member of the European Broadcasting Union through the Independent Television Companies' Association Ltd together with the ITA on 1 January 1960.
1964–1968
In 1963, the ITA chairman, Lord Hill of Luton, initiated a review of all the ITV companies following the release of the Pilkington Report, which saw the launch of BBC2 and heavily criticised ITV. This review would review a company's performance, and either grant them an extension to their service licence or replace the company with another in that region. This process was repeated frequently throughout the early life of ITV and lasted approximately ten years. Reviews like this also ensured that the companies maintained their high performance by maintaining the possibility of the loss of their licence. The new licences also included clauses which took into account the promise of an " ITV2" UHF channel to be launched if the Conservative Party won the 1964 general election.
Despite the review, no company lost its position as the local ITV contractor for their region and all licences were extended for another three years (starting July 1964), although several of the major companies were instructed to strengthen the regional emphasis of their on-screen identities. The only change to the network was the formation of a single Wales and West franchise, operated by TWW, following the collapse of WWN and its subsequent takeover by TWW. WWN ran into trouble when it had problems with the construction of its transmitter network, as well as strict provisions in its contract to produce a large amount of Welsh-language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has al ...
programming. This meant that WWN lost a lot of money and, despite some help from other ITV companies, it declared itself bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
on 26 January 1964 – the only ITV company to have ever done so.
Overall, the regional companies made a profit within the first few years of their existence; the largest regions especially so. Roy Thomson, the Canadian founding chairman of Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
, described the ownership of an ITV franchise as "a licence to print money".
1968–1974
Another franchise review was called by the ITA on 12 June 1967, for contracts running from the end of July 1968, that was to drastically change the structure of ITV itself. The review aimed to ensure that the ITV system was ready for the impending arrival of colour broadcasting, and also to again allow for the potential start of ITV2, should the Conservatives win any general election held after 1970. The behaviour of some of the companies only reinforced the ITA's assumptions of 'arrogance' following the few changes in the last franchise round: Rediffusion London's department managers also popped up in similar roles for rival applications and TWW reapplied for their contract under both their own name and that of WWN/Teledu Cymru as a tax dodge. As a result, Lord Hill had made it clear in 1966 that "all bets were off" on the next franchise round and that the regions themselves might change. Therefore, in the period between the interviews of each applicant and the announcement of the changes, the newspapers speculated wildly about the likely changes: suggestions were made of Scottish Television exiting the system, Rediffusion London moving to replace Southern Television and various other wild ideas.
In the end, the changes made to the ITV regions were as follows:
*The weekend franchises in the North of England and the Midlands were abolished.
*The North of England region was split into two new smaller regions, the North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. Seven-day contracts were specified in both these new regions, as well as in the Midlands.
*Separate weekday and weekend franchises continued in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
; however, the handover time was moved from the beginning of Saturday to Friday at 7.00pm.
The ITV companies themselves changed considerably. Some merely had their contracts changed, while others were replaced altogether by new companies. The changes were as follows:
*TWW controversially lost the Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
franchise to a new company, Harlech Television (later shortened to HTV on 4 April 1970). Unhappy with the development, TWW ceased broadcasting on 4 March 1968 – nearly five months before its contract was due to expire – with the ITA providing an interim service until Harlech Television took over on 20 May.
* ATV lost the London weekend franchise to a consortium led by David Frost, called the London Television Consortium, which was soon renamed London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
. It had been expected that ABC would take over this franchise.
*ATV was awarded the seven-day contract for the Midlands region, replacing ABC at the weekends.
* Granada Television was awarded the seven-day contract for the new North West region, again replacing ABC at the weekends.
*Two consortia applied for the new Yorkshire region, Telefusion Yorkshire and Yorkshire Independent Television. The region was awarded to Telefusion, on the basis that it merged with Yorkshire Independent. The merged company took the name Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
, replacing Granada on weekdays and ABC at the weekends.
*Rediffusion and ABC were asked to form a joint company for the London weekday franchise, in an attempt by the ITA to keep ABC in the network. This company, Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
, was controlled by ABC, who owned 51% while Rediffusion owned 49%.
*Roy Thomson, later Baron Thomson of Fleet, was required to divest himself of most of his holding in Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
.
These changes resulted in the "Big Four" of Rediffusion, ATV, ABC and Granada, who had produced most of the network output, being replaced by a new "Big Five" of Thames, LWT, ATV, Granada and Yorkshire.
In addition, the Independent Television Publications company was formed to produce a national ITV programme schedule listings magazine. This magazine was called the ''TV Times
''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...
'', originally the title of the London listings magazine (and also briefly used by the Midlands magazine). It replaced all of the regional magazines, except the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
publication, which continued until 19 October 1991.
Before the changes were implemented, however, the prime minister Harold Wilson appointed Lord Hill as chairman of the BBC Board of Governors and replaced him with Herbert Bowden
Herbert William Bowden, Baron Aylestone, (20 January 1905 – 30 April 1994) was a British Labour politician.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Bowden was a councillor on Leicester City Council (1938–45) and president of Leicester Labour Party in 19 ...
, also known as Lord Aylestone. He reviewed the changes Hill had made, but allowed them to stand.
1968 strike
The implementation of the ITV changes led toindustrial unrest A labour revolt or worker's uprising is a period of civil unrest characterised by strong labour militancy and strike activity. The history of labour revolts often provides the historical basis for many advocates of Marxism, communism, socialism and ...
in the companies. Although there were no job losses in the system – this was an ITA stipulation – people were forced to move from Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
to Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, from London to Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and, perhaps less troublesome, from one part of London to another. Many staff stayed in the same jobs in the same locations, but now had a different employer. Since this meant that staff were being made redundant (albeit with a guaranteed job to go to), the unions required redundancy payments. However, these payments led to problems in staff not receiving them, who were changing company but not location, as in the case of the Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also prov ...
. The unions asked for payments to be made in those cases; the companies responded by drawing the line, and wildcat strikes broke out in the weeks before and after the changes came into effect.
By Friday, after the changes, a mixture of strike action and management lock-outs had taken ITV off the air, and for most of August 1968, the regional network was replaced with a single national service run by management. By September 1968, with both sides claiming victory, all workers had returned to work. However, memory of this strike would cause more industrial unrest in the decades that followed.
Post-strike and colour television
This era also saw the introduction of colour television to the network and the introduction of the new 625-line system. During the 1960s, some commercial companies proposed the introduction of colour on the 405-line system, but the General Post Office insisted that colour should wait until the higher-definition 625-line UHF system became standard. ITV eventually introducedPAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
colour on this system from 15 November 1969, simultaneous with BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and two years after BBC2. This did not, however, spread immediately across the United Kingdom, but some regions had to wait a few more years before colour was available:
This was primarily due to the cost incurred in purchasing new broadcasting equipment and the subsequent studio upgrade that usually accompanied it.
Colour strike
Thecolour strike
The Colour Strike was a period of industrial action by technicians at all ITV companies from 13 November 1970 to 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black-and-white were having their first transmission as late as Dec ...
was an industrial action by technicians at all ITV companies between 13 November 1970 and 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black and white were having their first transmission as late as December 1971) who, due to a pay dispute with their management refused to make programmes in colour.
Post-colour strike
Colour was available to nearly 100% of the United Kingdom from 1976, with theChannel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
being the last region to be converted. This enabled the 405-line system to be phased out between 1982 and 1985.
Three-Day Week
The British government imposed early close downs of all three television channels (BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
, BBC2 and ITV) from 17 December 1973 in order to save electricity during the Three-Day Week, following overtime ban by the National Union of Mineworkers between strike action in the power supply
A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a ...
industry and effects of the oil crisis. The early close downs forced ITV (including 14 regional companies) to end their broadcasting day at 10.30pm, thus costing the network much of its advertising revenue. The restrictions were lifted temporarily on 24 December 1973 ( Christmas Eve) to allow the public to enjoy festive programming. The restrictions recommenced on 7 January 1974, and ended on 8 February to paved its way for the upcoming general election.
1974–1981
Before the 1979 dispute
Following the passing of the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972, the ITA was reconstituted as the Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...
(IBA) who took on the same role as the ITA but were also were given responsibility of the then-new Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...
stations.
In 1971, the Bilsdale UHF transmitter, based on the border between Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
and Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
and much disputed over, was assigned to Tyne Tees Television. Information gained from scanned image from the ITA Yearbook 1968. To compensate for this, the IBA allowed Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television to consolidate slightly into a new venture: Trident Television
Trident Television Limited was a British holding company with broadcasting interests. Trident acquired Halas and Batchelor (well known for their cartoons), Scarborough Zoo, Windsor Safari Park, Trident Casinos, Playboy Club, Watts & Cory Scen ...
. Trident originally managed advertising sales for Tyne Tees Television and Yorkshire Television but was allowed a reverse takeover
A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...
of both companies; Tyne Tees Television and Yorkshire Television did however retain their own studio bases, management, boards and on-screen identity.Tyne Tees TV official websiteaccessed 12 June 2006. The next franchise round in 1974 produced no changes in contractors, as the huge cost in switching to colour television would have made the companies unable to compete against rivals in a franchise battle. It also allowed the companies to recoup the cost and to return to normal service. Some slight changes were made to the
Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
franchise area however, as the Belmont transmitter in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
switched from Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
to Yorkshire Television, boosting the broadcast area.
Launch of Oracle teletext
This period also saw the launch of the Oracleteletext
A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories
Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
service. It was officially launched in 1978, a few years after the launch of the BBC's Ceefax
Ceefax (, punning on "seeing facts") was the world's first teletext information service and a forerunner to the current BBC Red Button service. Ceefax was started by the BBC in 1974 and ended, after 38 years of broadcasting, at 23:32:19 BST ( ...
service and offered news and information delivered through the remaining lines of information in the television transmission. The service began to see improved takings following a heavy promotional campaign using the slogan ''Page the Oracle'' and the inclusion of the software as standard in most new television sets at the beginning of the 1980s.
1979 dispute
ITV suffered an eleven-week industrial dispute in 1979, leading to the subsequent shutdown of almost all ITV broadcasts and productions. It began at London'sThames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
when electricians, who were EETPU members, refused to accept what they considered to be a derisory pay increase. The management attempted to operate a normal service, but other transmission staff, who were ACTT members, refused to co-operate, pointing out that equipment and wiring turned on by non-EETPU members could be potentially dangerous. Thames management interpreted this as a walkout. When Thames' management consequently ordered the striking staff to "return or else", the broadcasting union, the ACTT, instructed members at thirteen other ITV stations to walk out in solidarity. The only company unaffected was Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
, as the unions recognised that industrial action there could lead to the station's closure, as its small audience made it vulnerable to any loss of advertising revenue.
ITV viewers encountered blank television screens on the morning of 10 August 1979, and were left without any programmes. Later on, an apology caption would broadcast in 14 of the 15 ITV regions. Strangely, the caption achieved ratings of around one million, from TV sets left on in the hope that the strike would end. Only one ITV company broadcast anything during this time, that being Channel Television, who broadcast a time-restricted service of local programming, films and imported television series (on film, as Channel had no videotape facilities at the time).
An example of the emergency schedule offered by Channel Television during the strike can be seen here below, with the schedule for Thursday 6 September 1979:
* 1.20pm – Channel News and Weather
* 1.30pm – Closedown
* 5.00pm – '' Puffin''
* 5.05pm – ''Call It Marcaroni''
* 5.30pm – ''Lost Island''
* 6.00pm – Report Extra
* 7.00pm – ''Al Oeming
Albert Frederick Hans Oeming (April 9, 1925 – March 17, 2014) was a Canadian wildlife conservationist, zoologist, professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Oeming co-founded the professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling and owned th ...
''
* 7.30pm – '' The New Avengers''
* 8.30pm – Film: '' Slightly Scarlet'' (1956)
* 10.00pm – Channel News and Weather
* 10.05pm – '' Cash and Company''
* 11.00pm – Channel News Headlines and Weather
* 11.05pm – Closedown
All other regions showed a specially-made apology caption generated by the IBA, which was for a time amended to include an appeal on behalf of the West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers.
History
West Yor ...
in their hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper
Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...
. The only other content broadcast outside of the Channel Television region was the IBA's Engineering Announcements
''Engineering Announcements for the Radio and Television Trade'', sometimes abbreviated to ''Engineering Announcements'', was a weekly magazine of news and information intended for technicians and salespeople in the United Kingdom, produced and ...
.
Post-1979 strike
The strike ended with victory for the unions in a dispute, estimated to have cost the companies £100 million in lost revenue. Channel alone lost £10,000 per week due to the strike. Technicians saw a 45% increase in their salary, from £8,000 to £11,620. Programming resumed at 5.38pm on Wednesday 24 October 1979. Returning viewers were greeted with a new jingle, "Welcome home to ITV", sung by the Mike Sammes Singers. The first night's schedule back after the strike was filled by programmes already "in the can" before the strike commenced. Both '' Crossroads'' and '' Coronation Street'' aired special introductions to their first episodes back, to inform viewers of the events in both soaps, where they left off back in July 1979. The first night schedule was networked fromThames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
in London to all ITV regional companies across the United Kingdom as part of their national emergency schedule, and was as follows:
* 5.45pm – ITN News at 5.45 with Leonard Parkin
Leonard Parkin (2 June 1929 – 20 September 1993) was a British television journalist and newscaster who worked for both the BBC and ITN.
Born in Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire, he was educated at Hemsworth Grammar School, Yorkshire. ...
* 6.05pm – ''The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...
'' (with special guest: Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...
)
* 6.35pm – '' Crossroads''
* 7.00pm – ''George and Mildred
''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from '' Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple ...
''
* 7.30pm – '' Coronation Street''
* 8.00pm – ''3-2-1
''3–2–1'' was a British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host.
It was based on a Spanish gameshow called '' Un, dos, tres... res ...
'' with Ted Rogers (guest starring Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...
and Anna Dawson
Anna Dawson (born 27 July 1937) is an English actress and singer.
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, Dawson spent part of her childhood in Tanganyika, where her father worked. She attended the Elmhurst Ballet School and after training at the Central ...
)
* 9.00pm – '' Quatermass'' (Part 1)
* 10.00pm – News at Ten with Alastair Burnet
Sir James William Alexander Burnet (12 July 192820 July 2012), known as Alastair Burnet, was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work in news and current affairs programmes, including a long career with ITN as chief presente ...
and Anna Ford
Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...
* 10.30pm – Film: '' Chinatown'' (1974)
* 1.00am – Closedown
When the strike ended, ITV had the task of luring back viewers from the BBC. This proved difficult as production of original programming had stopped and would not be available for several months; ITV therefore suffered in the ratings at the hands of the BBC. Two and a half months after ITV began broadcasting again, it was finally ready to air additional original programming and viewers began switching back. This strike was to be the last major strike for ITV as the power of the broadcasting unions began to wane, even though minor disputes plagued the television industry in the 1980s, and the dispute was the longest in the history of British television.
1982–1990
On 28 December 1980, the IBA announced via Lady Plowden, the then chair of the IBA, that it had reviewed the ITV broadcasting licences again, for contracts beginning on 1 January 1982. A few changes were made to the ITV structure, with the creation of dual regions for the South and South East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
, and the East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and West Midlands. These regions were created following the push for more regional news. The company operating these regions had to provide a regional news service for both regions and provide studio facilities in both areas. The franchise round concluded with the following changes:
* ATV was re-awarded its contract for the dual Midlands region, but was considered by the IBA to have not focused on the region enough. As a result, changes were ordered including the diluting of existing shareholdings, greater production facilities in the contract area and the sale of ATV Elstree Studios
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...
; to emphasise these actions the company was told to rename itself. It settled on the name Central Independent Television
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...
.
* Southern Television lost its licence for the South and South East England, in favour of South and South-East Communications, but later renamed Television South
Television South (TVS) was the ITV franchise holder in the South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, initially as 'Television South plc' and ...
(TVS).
*Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV (TV network), ITV franchise-holder for the South West England, South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a ...
also lost its licence for South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
, being replaced by Television South West
Television South West (TSW) was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Devon.
History
Origins and Launch
On 28 Decembe ...
(TSW) before ended up taking over Westward Television on 11 August 1981, but continued to use the Westward Television name until 1 January 1982.
*The new nationwide breakfast television service was awarded to TV-am
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...
.
*Trident Television
Trident Television Limited was a British holding company with broadcasting interests. Trident acquired Halas and Batchelor (well known for their cartoons), Scarborough Zoo, Windsor Safari Park, Trident Casinos, Playboy Club, Watts & Cory Scen ...
was ordered to sell the majority of its holdings in Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
and Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
, and the two companies became independent of each other again.
*The Bluebell Hill transmitter in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
was transferred from Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
/LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
to TVS, to increase the size of TVS' South East sub-region.
This period saw the ITV companies, and the BBC, expand their services further into the day than previously. A large part of this was a result of the franchising of a breakfast service in 1980. TV-am was awarded this contract and given a provisional start date of May 1983. There had been other programmes previously, such as Yorkshire's ''Good Morning Calendar'', which had shown that the public were interested in a breakfast service. As a result, TV-am and the BBC rushed their own services to the air. TV-am would broadcast between the hours of 6.00am and 9.25am (originally 9.15am) every morning; the somewhat obscure 9.25 close time came about in order to allow time to switch transmitters from the breakfast broadcaster over to the regional ITV stations, but for the first few months on air, the close time was 9.15 as the switching process had not yet been converted fully for the broadcast of breakfast television. Today this transition is seamless, though the 9.25 anomaly remained until 2020. TV-am launched as a serious news programme on 1 February 1983. However, it changed its format soon after to attempt to copy the success of the BBC's '' Breakfast Time''.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
had launched on 2 November 1982, originally it built on the ITV network for its funding whereby the regional companies they selling airtime. This arrangement ended on 31 December 1992 after which a 'funding formula' continued, whereby the ITV companies would subsidise Channel 4 if it fell into the red. However, it never did, and the funding formula was withdrawn in 1998. During this 16-year period, Channel 4 and ITV would regularly cross-promote each other's programming, free of charge. Another expansion came on 14 September 1987, when ITV Schools
ITV Schools (full name: Independent Television for Schools and Colleges) was the educational television service set up in 1957 by the Independent Television Authority, broadcasting learning programmes for children ages 5 to 18 across ITV-affil ...
programming was transferred to Channel 4 (and S4C), freeing up a large section of the daytime schedule for new shows. This expansion in programming, and in advertising time, helped give the stations a boost.
1987 also saw the companies beginning to move into night-time broadcasting. This began with individual efforts by individual companies, primarily the 'Big Five' (Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
, LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
, Central Independent Television
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...
, Granada Television and Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
), before collaborative efforts resulted in the whole network operating 24 hours a day by the autumn of 1988. Notable efforts included Granada Television's '' Night Time'' (which also went out to Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
, TSW, Border Television
ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 service provided by ITV (TV channel), ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Anglo-Scottish border, England/Scotland border region, ...
, Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
and Ulster Television
UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...
), LWT's ''Night Network
''Night Network'', ''Night Time'' and ''Night Shift'' were names given to the overnight (usually between 12 and 6am) schedule of the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The first ITV company began 24-hour broadcasting in 1986, with all of the co ...
'' (which also went out to Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
), TVS' ''Late Night Late'' (which also went out to Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
) and HTV's ''Night Club''; later efforts included '' ITV Night Time'' from Thames Television and LWT (which also went out to TVS, HTV, Anglia Television and Channel Television) and ''Night Shift'' from Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television.
From 1 January 1988, each programme on ITV was no longer preceded by the identifier of the regional company that had produced the show. Another new venture was the '' ITV Telethon''. This biennial routine event held in 1988, 1990 and 1992 saw the regional companies and the national network come together to raise money for charity. The 27-hour telethons ended following the change of culture at ITV following the franchise changes in 1993. On 13 February 1989, ITV starts broadcasting a national weather forecast for the first time - previously each regional company had aired its own forecast which they had broadcast at the end of their local news programmes and at closedown.
ITV introduced its first official corporate logo and national on-air identity on 1 September 1989; this was an attempt to unify the network under one image while still allowing for regional identity. However, six companies refused to use their versions of the generic ident ( Granada Television, TVS, TSW, Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
, Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
and Ulster Television
UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...
), preferring to stick with their distinctive on-screen branding. The companies to use the generic ident for the longest time were Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
, who kept it on until 24 October 1994, and Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
, who continued to use it right up until ITV's second corporate logo was introduced on 5 October 1998.
Broadcasting Act of 1990
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
's Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
government spent much of the 1980s privatising and deregulating British industry, and commercial broadcasting was no exception. The Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
paved the way for the deregulation of the British commercial broadcasting industry, which was to have many consequences for the ITV system.
As a result of this Act, the Independent Broadcasting Authority was abolished, and replaced by two new 'light-touch' regulators: the Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
(ITC) and the Radio Authority
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
. The small Cable Authority
The Cable Authority was the United Kingdom statutory body established by the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 to regulate the newly liberalised cable television industry. It came into existence on 1 December 1984 and took on its functions with e ...
was also abolished, its powers transferred to the ITC. The act also changed the system of licence allocation for the franchises now legally known as Channel 3: the previous system where applicants needed to show good programming ideas and fine financial controls was replaced by highest-bidder auctions to determine the winner of each ITV regional franchise. This element of the ITV franchising process was very controversial; the press and the existing ITV companies lobbied to have it changed 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
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a government-owned corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
, 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 theBroadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
, 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
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
controversially lost the London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
weekday franchise to Carlton Television
Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...
. However, Thames continued to produce programmes for ITV and other channels, such as ''The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused on ...
'', '' This Is Your Life'', ''Mr. Bean
''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside Curtis and R ...
'' and ''Minder
A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds".
Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
''.
*TV-am
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...
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
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
over the name 'Sunrise'.
* TVS lost the South and South East England franchise to Meridian Broadcasting.
* TSW lost the South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
franchise to Westcountry Television.
*ORACLE (teletext), ORACLE lost the national teletext franchise to Teletext Ltd.
All other existing ITV companies retained their regional franchises. Due to their bids being barred on business plan grounds and therefore deemed 'too high', TSW and TVS attempted to obtain a judicial review of the ITC's decisions, and of the wording of the 1990 Act. Accordingly, the ITC held off awarding the contract to Westcountry Television until the review was completed. As the contract with Meridian Broadcasting had already been agreed, the court felt unable to conduct a review of that decision. The review of the South West franchise process took several months, but was decided in favour of the ITC.
The relaxation in the franchise ownership rules, as a result of the 1990 Act, meant that mergers between ITV companies were now possible; this was further enhanced by the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1996, which relaxed the rules even further. As a result, companies began to take each other over to increase efficiencies and to expand.
1993–1997
In 1992,Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
and Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
merged again, creating Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television plc. The two companies were permitted to merge before their existing arrangements expired in June 1992, due to the marginal nature of both companies' finances, and a need to rationalise the two companies before the franchise handover date. Takeovers began in earnest in 1994, as Carlton Television
Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...
took over Central Independent Television
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...
having held a stake in the company since 1987, Granada plc bought LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
in a hostile bid and MAI, owners of Meridian Broadcasting, took over Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
. As a result of the latter, Anglia Television's presentation and playout facilities were moved to Meridian Broadcasting's Television Centre, Southampton, base in Southampton. In 1996, Carlton Television bought Westcountry Television and increased its stake in Central Independent Television to 81%. Then, in 1997, Granada Television acquired Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television and moved the presentation and playout of Granada Television, Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television to The Leeds Studios, while STV Group, Scottish Media Group (SMG), which owned Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
, acquired Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
and began to consolidate staff at its studio base in Glasgow. Also in 1997, United News and Media, the evolution of MAI and owner of Meridian Broadcasting and Anglia Television, purchased HTV; however, few departments were consolidated.
1998–2002
By 1999, four groups owned the majority of the ITV franchises: Granada plc, Carlton Communications, United News and Media (UNM) and the Scottish Media Group (SMG), with Wireless Group, Ulster Television,Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
and Border Television
ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 service provided by ITV (TV channel), ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Anglo-Scottish border, England/Scotland border region, ...
remaining independent. From here, the companies further consolidated their channels. On 8 November 1999, a History of ITV television idents#November 1999 – October 2002, new, hearts-based on-air look was introduced and adopted by the Granada Television and UNM regions, along with Border Television and Channel Television. This look reduced regional identity to a design at the conclusion of the ident: the majority of the ident was generic to all the stations. Two months before, on 5 September 1999, Carlton Television dropped the Central Independent Television and Westcountry Television names from their on-air presentation, instead branding these regions as Carlton Television, and using the same presentation for all three regions. In the summer of 2000, following an unsuccessful attempt to merge with Carlton Television, UNM sold its three stations - Meridian Broadcasting, Anglia Television and HTV - to Granada Television. However, Granada Television had to sell the broadcasting arm of HTV to Carlton Television to comply with the then-current regulatory requirements. In July 2001, Granada Television acquired Border Television from Capital Radio Group and moved presentation and play-out facilities to Leeds.
In addition to franchise mergers, in 1998 the Independent Television Association and Network Centre formally merged, becoming "ITV Network Limited". At the same time, a new lower-case ITV network logo was introduced at the same time for use around the network and includes the tagline: "TV from the heart (of life)". The new logo design was meant to appear friendlier to the viewer.
Throughout this period, the ITV companies sought to expand into the new multi-channel environment forming in the United Kingdom. On 1 October 1996, Granada Television launched four services through a joint venture with Sky UK, BSkyB entitled ITV Digital Channels, Granada Sky Broadcasting. These four channels – Plus (British TV channel), Granada Plus, Granada Breeze (UK TV channel), Granada Good Life, Men & Motors, Granada Men & Motors and Granada Talk TV – were respectively focused on repeated entertainment programming from the Granada Television archives, women's lifestyle programming, programming for men and televised interactive debating. Granada Talk TV closed down on 31 August 1997 after only ten months on air due to low viewership, while Granada Good Life rebranded to Granada Breeze on 1 May 1998. In September 1996, Carlton Television launched Carlton Food Network, a cable-only cookery channel, and on 1 November 1996, a joint venture between Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
and BSkyB was launched, entitled Sky Scottish, and aimed mainly at Scots who lived outside Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. While Sky Scottish closed on 31 May 1998 due to low viewership, Carlton expanded its channels, launching Carlton Select on 14 February 1997 followed by Carlton Cinema (TV channel), Carlton Cinema, Carlton Kids and Carlton World on 15 November 1998. However, all but Carlton Cinema closed shortly into the new millennium, mainly due to low viewership and cost-cutting in light of the cost of funding ONdigital.
Despite these larger companies having launched their own services a few years previously, Granada Television, Carlton Television and UNM collaborated to launch a new service on 7 December 1998: ITV2. The new channel expanded network ITV programmes and launched on multiple services, giving additional appeal to the style of ITV itself in light of new competition from channels operating on satellite television, satellite, cable television, cable and more recently digital terrestrial television. However, ITV2 only launched in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, leaving SMG, Ulster Television and Channel Television to use the multiplex space in their respective regions to whatever purpose they saw fit. As a result, SMG launched S2 (TV channel), S2 on 30 April 1999 and Ulster Television launched TV You (later UTV2) on 28 June 1999, both offering similar programming tailored for their region. By 22 January 2002, however, both channels had ceased and were replaced by ITV2 itself.
On 1 August 2000, ITN, the news producer for the ITV Network, launched the ITV News Channel, ITN News Channel in a joint venture with NTL (now Virgin Media), which provided rolling news on cable, satellite and digital terrestrial. Following the increase in ITV-branded channels and services, including ITV2 and ITV Digital, the decision was taken by Carlton Television and Granada Television to rename the ITV Network in their regions as ITV1 on 11 August 2001.
Another venture initiated by Carlton Television and Granada Television was jointly bidding for the newly created DTT licence. The companies jointly bid with BSkyB for the licence under the company name British Digital Broadcasting and won; however, BSkyB was forced to withdraw following competition laws. Carlton Television and Granada Television launched the service on 15 November 1998 as ITV Digital, ONdigital, and ran the service that housed other free-to-air channels. However, BSkyB had launched its own service, Sky Digital, the previous month and following a heavy promotional campaign by Sky, which compared the Sky Digital service to ONdigital's service and always to Sky's benefit, ONdigital started making heavy losses. In a resort to keep the venture afloat, Carlton Television and Granada Television used the name of ITV to boost the success of the company. The newly named ITV Digital launched on 11 July 2001, complete with a major advertising campaign featuring Al (played by Johnny Vegas) and Monkey (character), Monkey (voiced by Ben Miller), and an exclusive deal to air the Football League on the newly created ITV Sport Channel. However, the venture was still not bringing the results required and ITV Digital went into administration on 27 March 2002, left crippled by the burden of its £315 million contract with the Football League, with the ITV Sport Channel closing two months later. This led to criticism of Carlton Television and Granada Television from SMG, Ulster Television and Channel Television which objected to the ITV name being reduced following the collapse of the service, whilst several football clubs that were covered in the Football League deal were faced with financial difficulties for many years afterwards.
2002–present
2002-2005
From 2002, the ITV network began to consolidate again. On 28 October 2002, the Carlton Television and Granada Television regions adopted a History of ITV television idents#October 2002 – October 2004, new presentation package featuring the network's celebrities, which resulted in the regions becoming known as ITV1 at all times, the region names only appearing prior to regional programmes. This look also marked the centralisation of continuity in the Carlton Television and Granada Television regions to London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, with the exception of Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
The pinnacle of ITV's consolidation was the merger of Carlton Communications and Granada plc in 2004. The two companies had previously tried to merge twice before in the 1990s; however, the government and competition laws prevented this from occurring. But on 21 October 2003, the government announced that it would no longer prevent a merger from taking place, subject to safeguards being set in place to ensure the continued independence of SMG, Ulster Television and Channel Television. Carlton Television and Granada Television finally merged at the end of January 2004, with Granada Television shareholders owning 68% of the new company, ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
, and Carlton Television shareholders owning the remaining 32%. ITV plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol 'ITV' on 2 February 2004. The new company owned all the ITV regions in England, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and the Scottish Borders. The choice of the name "ITV plc" was controversial, since it could imply that the company ran the entire network, and an agreement had to be reached with SMG, Ulster Television and Channel Television before the name could be used.
The day of the merger was marked by significant changes throughout the ITV plc regions. All of the ITV plc regional news programmes received a new look in line with the national ITV News bulletins and the regional company logos were replaced officially with an ITV logo followed by the company name below – these began to appear on production captions and as part of other branded output, such as weather summaries. As a result of the merger, ITV plc was faced with a surplus of facilities it no longer needed. Studio and production facilities were replicated many times over, many of which were becoming costly to maintain due to age and difficult to justify following technological advancements. As a result, regional news moved into smaller offices and studio facilities were sold off. ITV Anglia's separate studio facility was sold off as an independent studio, as was ITV Wales & West's main studio in Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. However, ITV Tyne Tees' Television Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle studios and ITV Meridian's Television Centre, Southampton, Southampton studio complex were closed completely and demolished, both broadcasters moving to smaller regional news bureaux. The reduction in the size of the organisation and in the number of transmission centres resulted in a large number of job cuts.
ITV plc reviewed its digital channel portfolio. In June 2002, Carlton Television and Granada Television jointly bought the ITN News Channel from ITN, renaming it the ITV News Channel three months later (although the service was still produced by ITN). On 31 March 2003, the final Carlton-owned channel, Carlton Cinema (TV channel), Carlton Cinema, closed; the channel had been struggling ever since the failure of ITV Digital. Following the success of ITV2, compared to the Granada and Carlton-branded channels, a further channel - ITV3 - was launched on 1 November 2004. The channel replaced Plus (British TV channel), Granada Plus and aired archive programmes, notably drama. On 1 November 2005, ITV plc launched another new channel aimed specifically at men: ITV4. This channel became notable for airing programmes such as classic 1960s ITC Entertainment series and alternative sports such as the ''British Touring Car Championship''. The new channel featured a new-look ITV logo, which was officially rolled out across the network on 16 January 2006. The new look was more coherent than previous looks, and was also voluntarily adopted by Channel Television. 2006 also saw the launch of the CITV channel, which used the airspace previously used by the ITV News Channel which had closed down on 23 December 2005, and of the participation television channel ITV Play, which turned out to be controversial and closed down the following year.
ITV plc began to look at high-definition television on 9 June 2006, when it launched an experimental channel, ITV HD, primarily for airing the 2006 FIFA World Cup (to which ITV held the rights) and classic films. ITV HD was launched as a permanent channel in June 2008, showing its own schedule of programmes in HD acquired by ITV plc as well as live football matches. The channel re-branded as ITV1 HD in December 2009, before becoming a full simulcast of ITV1 on 2 April 2010. The launch of the simulcast service saw the end of the last Granada channel, Men & Motors, which was closed down on 1 April 2010 to make room for ITV1 HD on other platforms. On 7 October 2010, ITV plc launched ITV2#ITV2 HD, ITV2 HD, an HD simulcast of ITV2, followed on 15 November by ITV3#ITV3 HD, ITV3 HD and ITV4#ITV4 HD, ITV4 HD. All three of these channels were initially only available on the Sky UK, Sky platform.
In June 2005, Ofcom, the channel's regulator since the demise of the Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
at the end of 2003, announced huge reductions in the licence fees payable by the Channel 3 contractors (and Channel 5 (British TV channel), Five). This move reflected the significant shift towards digital viewing in the UK, and the British government's desire to switch off Analog television, analogue television signals altogether by 2012. Licence fees fell further as the shift to digital continued. Ofcom also significantly relaxed most of the remaining public service requirements on the ITV contractors; regional non-news output was a significant casualty of these cutbacks, with most regions now broadcasting no more than two hours a week in this category. An experimental internet service, ITV Local, attempted to unite regional content through an on-line user experience that combined regional news, local programming and other features.
''ITV 50''
In September 2005, the ITV network celebrated its 50th anniversary with a season of ''ITV 50'' programming that was run on the network, including a run down of ITV's 50 top programmes, a ''World of Sport (UK TV series), World of Sport'' retrospective, a seven-week ''Gameshow Marathon (British game show), Gameshow Marathon'' presented by Ant & Dec, the launch of an "Avenue of the Stars", and most notably a five-part documentary series made by Melvyn Bragg, which chronicled ITV's history. The Royal Mail issued special ''ITV 50'' postage stamps, and the regional companies owned byITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
also aired special regional retrospectives (even though none of them were themselves 50 years old), as well as using special ''ITV 50'' station identification. While Scottish Television, Scottish, Grampian Television, Grampian and UTV aired the network ''ITV 50'' programming they did not themselves air regional programmes of this sort, nor did they use the special identification. ITN also celebrated its 50th anniversary with special features in its programming.
2006–2011
In March 2006, STV Group, SMG plc announced thatScottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
and Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
were to be rebranded as STV, making Grampian the latest ITV region to lose its own regional identity. The STV brand, which works similarly to the ITV brand in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, had previously been used by Scottish Television between 1969 and 1985.
In September 2007, the then chairman of ITV plc, Michael Grade, announced huge cost-cutting plans for the company which would see the number of regional news programmes cut from seventeen to nine. These plans saw many mergers of news programmes, including the respective mergers of the programmes in the two remaining Central sub-regions (East and West), the programmes in the two Anglia sub-regions (East and West) and the programmes in the two Yorkshire sub-regions (North and South) into one programme for each region. Most controversial, however, were the merger proposals which covered two regions. These included the respective mergers of the programmes in the West and Westcountry regions into one programme from Bristol, the programmes in the two Meridian sub-regions (South and South East) and the ITV Thames Valley, Thames Valley region into one programme from Whiteley, and the programmes in the two Tyne Tees sub-regions (North and South) and the Border region into one programme from Gateshead. The new arrangement resulted in pre-recorded opt-out segments in the main programme for some regions where regional news was mandatory, such as Meridian South and South East, and where a programme crossed regional boundaries, such as Tyne Tees and Border. These changes took effect from February 2009, when Meridian began its pan-regional service. The plans also saw the end of the ITV Local online initiative, as the regional cuts affected the service hard; the service closed down in March 2009.
In November 2008, the operating licences of all the ITV plc regions were transferred to a new company, ITV Broadcasting Ltd. This essentially leaves one company producing and broadcasting programmes to the ITV regions in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
.
In November 2009, ITV plc gained full control of the breakfast broadcaster, GMTV, when it bought the 25% stake of The Walt Disney Company for £18 million. ITV subsequently announced that GMTV would be closed and replaced with two new programmes in September 2010: Daybreak (2010 TV programme), ''Daybreak'', a news and features programme, and Lorraine (TV programme), ''Lorraine'', named after presenter Lorraine Kelly and providing a platform for female debate. The official name of the company itself was changed to ITV Breakfast Ltd.
In the autumn of 2011, another step was taken towards the full unification of the ITV Network when ITV plc bought Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
.
2013 rebranding
On 15 November 2012, an overhaul of the network was announced, which involved the rebranding of ITV1 back to ITV and the introduction of a new colour-changing logo stylised as handwriting, the colours varying depending on the programming the logo was used on. The overhaul was linked to ITV's attempt to cut costs, curb debts and reduce the company's reliance on advertising. The new look was rolled out across all of ITV plc's channels and online services on 14 January 2013.ITV licence renewal for 2014
According to ''The Guardian'', ITV will increase regional news programmes inEngland and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
from nine (in 2009) back to seventeen in the future. Culture Secretary Maria Miller suggested talks about the future of ITV regional news in the south of Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. A possible new ITV franchise for Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
could be introduced, which would replace the Wales and West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
franchise, currently awarded to ITV Wales & West (formerly HTV). This is part of ITV's and Channel 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5's franchise renewal for the next ten years which will expire in 2024.
The takeover of UTV
On 19 October 2015, it was announced thatITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
would purchase UTV Media's TV interests for £100 million, subject to regulatory approval. Unlike other franchises owned by ITV, UTV would retain its brand name. The sale was finalised with ITV taking control of UTV on 29 February 2016. In 2020, UTV continuity was replaced by ITV continuity, although the UTV brand continues to be used for regional programming.
2022 rebranding
On 15 November 2022, the ITV channel, then known as ITV, rebranded back to ITV1, the former name for the channel between 2002 and 2013, alongside introducing a new presentation package and logo used across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe, thus unifying ITV's main channels. This move was done in advance before the 8 December launch of ITVX.List of former ITV franchise holders
* ABC Weekend TV (Associated British Cinemas (Television)): Northern England, North and Midlands weekend franchise (1956–1968) *Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
: London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
weekday franchise (22 September 1955 – 29 July 1968)
* ATV (Associated Television): Midlands weekday franchise and London weekend franchise (1956–1968); Midlands (7 day) (1968–1981)
* Southern Television: South of England, South and South East England franchise (1958–1981)
* Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
: London weekday franchise (30 July 1968 – 31 December 1992)
* TSW (Television South West): South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
franchise (1 January 1982 – 31 December 1992)
* TVS (Television South): South and South East England franchise (1 January 1982 – 31 December 1992)
* TWW (Television Wales and the West): Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
franchise (1958–1968). See also Independent Television Service for Wales and the West, ITSWW (March–May 1968)
* Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV (TV network), ITV franchise-holder for the South West England, South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a ...
: South West England franchise (1961–1981)
* WWN (Wales West and North Television): West Wales, West and North Wales franchise (1962–1964)
* TV-am
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...
: National breakfast television franchise (1983–1992)
* ORACLE (teletext), ORACLE: National teletext franchise (1977–1992)
Timeline
The Big Four/Five
The largest ITV companies were known as the "Big Four" before 1968 and the "Big Five" after. These companies between them provided the vast majority of networked programmes (either by producing them in-house, or commissioning them from independent production companies). The "Big Five" system effectively came to an end in 1992 with the introduction of the ITV Network Centre (as a result of theBroadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
), which changed the methods of commissioning for the network, and made it easier for the smaller ITV companies and independent companies to make shows for the network:
Slogans
*"Welcome home to ITV" (1979 after industrial dispute) *"Get Ready for ITV" (1989) *"Television from the heart (of life)." (1998) *"'Britain's favourite button." (1990s) *"The brighter side." (2009–2013) (ITV1) *"The brighter side just got brighter!" (2009–2013) (ITV1 HD) *"More than TV." (2019–present) (ITV)See also
* History of ITV television idents * Timeline of ITV * Timeline of ITV Digital Channels * Timelines of: *Sources
Notes
# Color television, Colour television in theChannel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
commenced for the first time on 26 July 1976, delays were cost of upgrading the studios due to the technical difficulties which provide several ultra high frequency, UHF links from the mainland between Television in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom (PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
) and Television in France, France (SECAM); a special receiving antenna called "Steerable Adaptive Broadcast Reception Equipment" – or "SABRE" for short – specially designed and developed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, IBA engineers was installed at Alderney and beamed over-the-air signal in Jersey.
# ''The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...
'' was not broadcast on Westward Television, Westward or Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
, both instead opting to show their local news.
# The 'quality threshold' was a subjective evaluation by the ITC of the application submitted with the bid. The 'threshold' worked in one direction – high bidders could be disqualified for not reaching it, but low bidders could not be 'promoted' for having passed it. The ITC did not announce if the lower bidders had passed the threshold or not.
# CPV-TV was a consortium led by David Frost and Richard Branson. It bid for the East of England, East, London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
weekday and South franchises, aiming to offer a centralized single service.
# The ITC at first considered failing the Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
bid, on business plan grounds.
# North East England, North East was backed financially by Granada Television.
# Lime Pictures, North West Television was a consortium led by Phil Redmond of the independent producer Mersey Television, and backed financially by Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
and Tyne Tees Television.
# The 'business plan' test was a subjective evaluation by the ITC of the business plan submitted with each bid. The evaluation tested whether the bidder could afford its programme plans and also, more importantly, afford to pay the amount it had bid. The ITC did not announce if the lower bidders had passed the business plan evaluation.
# TVS sought a judicial review of this decision, but the High Court decided it could not look into the matter as the ITC had already awarded the contract to Meridian Broadcasting.
# TSW sought a judicial review of this decision. The ITC held off from awarding the contract to Westcountry Television until the High Court had ruled. After four months, the High Court ruled that the ITC had no case to answer, and ITC confirmed the award of the contract to Westcountry.
# The ITC at first considered failing the HTV bid on business plan grounds.
# The ITC at first considered failing the Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
bid on business plan grounds.
References
External links
ITV at Fifty
(Transdiffusion)
Independent TeleWeb
(Independent Television Commission, ITC, 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Itv History of ITV, ITV (TV network) History of television in the United Kingdom, ITV History of companies of the United Kingdom, ITV History of television channels, ITV Cultural history of the United Kingdom, ITV 1950s in British television, ITV 1960s in British television, ITV 1970s in British television, ITV 1980s in British television, ITV 1990s in British television, ITV 2000s in British television, ITV 2010s in British television, ITV 2020s in British television, ITV