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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 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 bureaux and offices in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
, New York,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, Sydney and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
ITN produces the daily news programmes for
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
,
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 ...
and Channel 5 in the UK, and in recent years has diversified to produce a wide range of content including documentaries, sports, advertising and digital material for a range of international clients. Between 1955 and 1999, ITN was more commonly known as the general brand name of ITV's news programmes. Since 8 March 1999, ITV has used '' ITV News'' as the brand name for its news programmes, though ITN continues as the network's news provider. The network's largest franchise owner,
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 ...
(through its Channel 3 franchising subsidiary ITV Broadcasting Limited), is the largest shareholder of ITN, owning 40% of the company's shares. Other shareholders are
Daily Mail and General Trust Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British multinational media company, the owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and several other titles. The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chairman and controlling shareholder of the company. The head office i ...
,
Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
and Informa plc, each owning 20% of shares.


History

ITN was founded in May 1955 by a consortium of the initial four Independent Television (later ITV) broadcasting companies, with former
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP
Aidan Crawley Aidan Merivale Crawley (10 April 1908 – 3 November 1993) was a British journalist, television executive and editor, and politician. He was a member of both of Britain's major political parties: the Labour Party and Conservative Party, and wa ...
as editor-in-chief. The first bulletin was broadcast at 10 pm on 22 September 1955 on ITV's launch night. The bulletin was presented by former champion athlete Christopher Chataway. From the start, ITN broke new ground by introducing in-vision and named 'newscasters' (rather than the BBC's nameless and sound-only 'newsreaders'), and reporter packages. The unique, probing reporting style of
Robin Day Sir Robin Day (24 October 1923 – 6 August 2000) was an English political journalist and television and radio broadcaster. Day's obituary in ''The Guardian'' by Dick Taverne stated that he was "the most outstanding television journalist of ...
caused shock among politicians, finding themselves questioned continually for information – this had never been the case with 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. ...
...
. There was also some early tensions with the ITV companies.
ABC Weekend TV ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one ...
, the ITV contractor for the north and Midlands on weekends, immediately called for shorter ITN bulletins. While the ITA ruled on a minimum of a 20-minute bulletin, disagreements with the ITV companies over ITN's budget triggered the resignation of its news editor
Aidan Crawley Aidan Merivale Crawley (10 April 1908 – 3 November 1993) was a British journalist, television executive and editor, and politician. He was a member of both of Britain's major political parties: the Labour Party and Conservative Party, and wa ...
after just one year in 1956. He was replaced by Geoffrey Cox. Throughout the early years, ITN continued to develop its service to the ITV network with an agenda to firstly, fulfil its public service broadcasting requirements and secondly satisfy the ITV companies by attracting viewers. Under this method, ITN continued to differentiate itself from the BBC by conducting probing interviews, introducing more human interest stories and bringing ordinary people on to screen by using so-called 'vox pops' (interviews, usually held in the street, with members of the general public), all of which were seen as a radical departure at the time in British broadcasting. As the ITN reporter and later ITN political editor
Julian Haviland Julian Arthur Charles Haviland (born 8 June 1930) is a British print and broadcasting journalist of over sixty years' standing. He was a lobby correspondent at Westminster for over twenty years, and is the former Political Editor of Independent ...
, put it: "My view was that at ITN we must be at least as responsible and accurate as the BBC, without being so damned boring". As ITV expanded, each ITV company that made up the network's federal structure had to purchase a stake in ITN and to continue to finance the company. In 1967, ITN was given the go-ahead by the ITA to provide a full 30-minute daily news programme at 10 pm on ITV. There was further tension with the ITV executives as they were sceptical of the idea that viewers would want a full 30 minutes of news every Monday to Friday and they were also losing valuable peak time slots which could be used for the sale of commercial advertising. '' News at Ten'' began broadcasting on 3 July 1967 with a newscaster team consisting of
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 ...
, Andrew Gardner,
George Ffitch George Norman Ffitch (23 January 1929 – 5 July 2001) was an English newsreader, television presenter, radio personality and journalist. He began working for ITN as an industrial and political correspondent and later a programme editor when it wa ...
and
Reginald Bosanquet Reginald Tindal Kennedy Bosanquet (9 August 1932 – 27 May 1984) was a British journalist and broadcaster who was an anchor of '' News at Ten'' for ITN from 1967 to 1979.Eddie Dyj"Bosanquet, Reginald (1932–1984)" BFI screenonline Early ...
. It was initially given a 13-week trial run; however, the programme proved to be extremely popular with viewers and continued for a further 32 years. ''News at Ten'' was to become one of the most prestigious news programmes of its time in British history with a reputation for high-quality journalism and innovation. ITN's ''News at Ten'' also prompted the BBC to gradually expand its 20:50 news bulletin from ten minutes to fifteen, twenty and then twenty-five minutes. '' The Nine O'Clock News'' began broadcasting in 1970 as ''News at Ten's'' rival. ITN also established other programmes in the ITV schedule. ''First Report'', a lunchtime bulletin began in 1972 and by 1976, ''News at 5.45'' commenced. This was a period when ITN enjoyed its greatest plaudits, following Lord Annan's 1977 report on the future of broadcasting, which declared: "We subscribe to the generally held view that ITN has the edge over BBC news." ITN obtained the contract to produce ''
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
'' when the channel started broadcasting in 1982. The programme was launched by
Peter Sissons Peter George Sissons (17 July 1942 – 1 October 2019) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He was a newscaster for ITN, providing bulletins on ITV and Channel 4, before becoming the presenter of the BBC's ''Question Time'' between 1989 ...
,
Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian- British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...
and
Sarah Hogg Sarah Hogg, Viscountess Hailsham, Baroness Hogg, Baroness Hailsham of Kettlethorpe (born 14 May 1946) is an English economist, journalist, and politician. She was the first woman to chair a FTSE 100 company. Biography She was born Sarah Elizabe ...
. The hour-long programme has been broadcast at 7 pm since it started and has a reputation for high-quality journalism and thorough analysis. Further expansion came with the launch of overnight television on ITV in 1988, with ITN providing hourly news bulletins, as well as the half-hour ''ITN Morning News'' to conclude the overnight schedules. Until the 1990s, the individual ITV companies had an obligation to provide a national news programme, which required them to take a share in the ITN operation. Following 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 ...
, ITN had to apply and bid for a licence to provide such services on these ITV networks, and would have to fight competition in order to preserve its services, as had become the case with other ITV franchisees. The Broadcasting Act also allowed the Independent Television Commission to introduce ownership rules for news providers. The move was to transform the company from a 'cost centre' to a 'profit-making business'. The move saw 400 staff made redundant, and the closure of a number of international bureaux to claw back a £10 million deficit in order to provide a competitive product to obtain the ITV news contract. Within three years the company turned to profit in 1993 with suggestions at the time that the company should be listed on the stock exchange. The company launched ''
5 News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...
'' in 1997 following the foundation of Channel 5. The 1990s saw major changes to the television landscape in Britain. The growth of multichannel television saw ITV's share of audience fall. Against this backdrop ITV itself became increasingly commercially aggressive. This was to be a major turning point in ITN's history which saw a reduction in the ITV news contract. By this period the main ITV companies Granada and Carlton had also viewed unfavourably the scheduling of ''News at Ten'' which became a subject of dispute between ITN and the ITV companies. ITN favoured keeping the bulletin; however, the ITV companies claimed audiences were lost at 10 pm as the news interrupted films and drama programming. ''News at Ten'' eventually ended in March 1999 with ITN's flagship bulletin moved to 6.30 pm with a shorter late night bulletin at 11 pm. Consolidation of the ITV network under a unified ITV brand also saw the removal of the on-screen ITN brand which was replaced with '' ITV News''. From this point, the ITN brand was gradually phased out and it is now only referenced to in the end production caption. In 1997, ITN started producing the
Royal Christmas Message The King's Christmas Message (also known as The Queen's Christmas Message in the reign of a female monarch, formally as His Majesty's Most Gracious Speech, and informally as the Royal Christmas Message) is a broadcast made by the sovereign of t ...
every other year. The early years of the 21st century was to prove to be a challenging period. The axing of ''News at Ten'' caused public outcry and ITN's viewership figures fell by 13.9% Political pressure and pressure from the media resulted in ITV bringing back a shorter 20-minute bulletin at 10 pm three nights a week. The programme eventually lost share to the
BBC News at Ten ''BBC News at Ten'' formerly known as the ''BBC Ten O'Clock News'' or the ''Ten O'Clock News'' is the flagship evening news programme for the BBC News channel and British television channel BBC One on weekdays and Sundays at 10:00pm. Huw Edwa ...
(which launched in 2000 to capitalise on ITV's move) and ITV eventually axed the programme again in 2004 and moved the bulletin to 10:30 pm before bringing it back to 10 pm again in 2008. The biggest challenge came in 2001 when
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 ...
bid to supply network news to ITV as part of a consortium. ITN eventually succeeded and was awarded a contract extension to 2008. In January 2005 Sky News took over supplying bulletins to Channel 5; ITN had produced ''
5 News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...
'' since its launch in 1997 and the contract was returned in February 2012, following a change of ownership at Channel 5. In August 2000, ITN launched its own 24-hour news channel in the UK, broadcast on satellite, cable and digital terrestrial. It was 50% owned by ITN and 50% owned by
NTL NTL may refer to: Companies * NTL Incorporated and NTL Internet, later Virgin Media, communications media company ** NTL Ireland, later Virgin Media Ireland * Arqiva, UK company formerly ''NTL Broadcast'' and ''National Transcommunications L ...
. Carlton and Granada gradually bought out the two stakes and renamed the channel the
ITV News Channel The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, ITV Digital (until 2002), Freeview (latterly only between 6:00 am a ...
. It closed down on 23 December 2005. Poor ratings in comparison to
BBC News 24 BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
and Sky News, and ITV's desire to re-use the channel's allocation on
Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...
, were cited as the reasons. In March 2004 following its acquisition of the
London News Network London News Network (or LNN) was a television news, production and facilities organisation in London. It was created in 1992 as a joint operation between London's two ITV contractors, Carlton Television and London Weekend Television, with each ...
, a company previously owned by the now merged Carlton and Granada, ITN began producing local news bulletins for the
ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...
region. ITN produced '' More4 News'' between 2005 and 2009. In 2007 it began producing
Setanta Sports News Setanta Sports News was a television channel from Virgin Media Television and Setanta Sports. The channel launched on 29 November 2007.
; however it closed in 2009. Between 1996 and 2002, it also owned a share of
London News Radio LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...
, which was based at ITN's Gray's Inn Road headquarters and operated the
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...
and News Direct London radio stations. ITN used to operate a radio news service on behalf of
Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...
(IRN) but on 15 October 2008, IRN announced that
Sky News Radio Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations aro ...
was to replace ITN as its main supplier from March 2009. While news production remains the cornerstone of ITN's business model, the company has diversified from its original remit. ITN Source (originally ITN Archive) is one of the world's largest sources of historical film. ITN Productions creates multi-platform content for major global brands, covering genres such as factual, entertainment, news and corporate production. Clients that commission award-winning programmes from ITN Productions include major UK and international broadcasters such as ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, History and Discovery, with television commissions including ''Climbing Great Buildings'' on BBC2 and ''Mud Men'' on the History Channel.


News and current affairs programmes


ITV News

ITN has produced all national news bulletins on ITV since the network was launched on 22 September 1955. Originally the ITN logo and brand featured prominently on all news bulletins on ITV; however, since March 1999, bulletins have been branded as '' ITV News''. Trademarks of ''ITV News'' include the use of the clock-face of the
Elizabeth Tower Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...
of
Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
, the chimes of Big Ben punctuating the day's headlines and the signature theme tune; ''The Awakening'' by
Johnny Pearson John Valmore Pearson (18 June 1925 – 20 March 2011) was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist. He led the ''Top of the Pops'' orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the ...
. Throughout the early years, ITN established programmes in the ITV schedule including ''First Report'' at lunchtime, ''News at 5.45'' in the evening and the flagship ''News at Ten''. Today, ''ITV News'' on weekdays broadcasts the ''
ITV Lunchtime News The ''ITV Lunchtime News'' is the afternoon news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 1:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Nina Hossain. ...
'' at 1.30pm, the ''
ITV Evening News The ''ITV Evening News'' is the evening news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Mary Nightingale. ...
'' at 6.30pm and ''
ITV News at Ten ''ITV News at Ten'' (or more commonly ''News at Ten'') is the flagship evening news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in July 1967. The bulletin was the first permanent 30-mi ...
'' with bulletins broadcast at various times on weekends. ITN has at times interrupted the ITV schedule to provide updates on major breaking stories of national and international importance including the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, London bombings, 2005 or events involving the British Royal Family. ITN has covered every general election since 1959 for ITV, providing comprehensive coverage of the counts throughout election night and has also broadcast special programmes covering the
UK budget The Budget of His Majesty's Government is an annual budget set by HM Treasury for the following financial year, with the revenues to be gathered by HM Revenue and Customs and the expenditures of the public sector, in compliance with government ...
speech given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. ITN's history is inextricably linked to that of ITV as prior to 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 ...
each of the ITV companies owned a share. In the 1990s, under new ownership, it was accused of abandoning its previous news style, which was broadsheet in style to mid-market tabloid with news stories that focused on personalities in the news, leading to accusations of
dumbing down Dumbing down is the deliberate oversimplification of intellectual content in education, literature, and cinema, news, video games, and culture. Originated in 1933, the term "dumbing down" was movie-business slang, used by screenplay writers, mean ...
. ITN's most famous news programme, '' News at Ten'' was also controversially replaced by an 11 pm news bulletin in 1999, said to be in order to allow ITV to broadcast films without the interruption of a 10 o'clock news bulletin. ''News at Ten'' was subsequently re-instated in 2001 after heavy public criticism over the change. The restored programme was 10 minutes shorter than its predecessor and carried less in-depth news coverage. It was also broadcast at a later time at least one day a week, which meant it was often jokingly referred to as ''News at When?'' There was increasing speculation that the ''News at Ten'' would again be moved, after under-performing against the BBC's ''Ten O'Clock News'' on
BBC One 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, ...
which broadcasts every day at 10:00 pm. In October 2003, 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 ...
gave ITV approval to move'' News at Ten.'' The '' ITV News at 10.30'' launched on ITV on 2 February 2004 (the day that ITV in England, Wales and Southern Scotland came under the ownership of a single company) and was presented by Sir
Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian- British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...
. The programme was longer than its predecessor and carried an integrated regional bulletin, as well as more business stories, a nightly sports update and a preview of the following day's newspapers. Mark Austin took over main presenting duties on 16 January 2006. The rebranded programme again saw new titles, this time featuring people walking over the face of Big Ben and has lately followed a more "sensationalist" approach to its main headlines. When ITV executive chairman
Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...
joined ITV, he made it clear that he saw news as the key in defining any channel. On 14 January 2008, the ''News at Ten'' returned, presented by
Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
and McDonald returned to his duties again. Mark Austin joined Etchingham as co-presenter in 2009. As of October 2015,
Tom Bradby Thomas Matthew Bradby (born 13 January 1967) is a British journalist and novelist who currently presents the ''ITV News at Ten''. He was previously political editor for ITV News from 2005 to 2015, and presented '' The Agenda with Tom Bradby'', ...
has been the main presenter on the programme. The ''
ITV Evening News The ''ITV Evening News'' is the evening news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Mary Nightingale. ...
'' has, since it was launched in 1999, been the network's most popular bulletin. Its main presenter is
Mary Nightingale Mary Nightingale (born 26 May 1963) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the '' ITV Evening News'' since 2001. Education and early career Nightingale was educated at St Margaret's School, an independent s ...
. In March 2004, ITN took over production of
ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...
's regional news programmes, which relocated from The London Television Centre on the South Bank to ITN's
Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at the City of London boundary, where it bisects High Holborn, and ends at King's Cross and ...
base. On 24 January 2022, ITV announced that the 6:30pm ''ITV Evening News'' will be extended to an hour from March 2022, making it the third hour long news programme ITN will be producing for the national PSB channels in 2022, along with ''Channel 4 News'' and ''5 News at 5''.


Channel 4 News

ITN is home to
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
, having produced the programme since the channel's inception in 1982. The Channel 4 News flagship programme is 55 minutes of in-depth news and current affairs broadcast at 7 pm each weekday and at 6:30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekday evening programme was anchored by journalist Jon Snow for 32 years until 23 December 2021, with the programme now being presented by a range of newscasters, including '' Unreported World'' presenter
Krishnan Guru-Murthy Krishnan Guru-Murthy (born 5 April 1970) is a British journalist. He is the lead presenter of ''Channel 4 News''. He also presents '' Unreported World'', a foreign-affairs documentary series. Early life Guru-Murthy's father, an Indian consul ...
. A five-minute-long news summary goes out Monday to Friday at midday. The bulletin replaced Channel 4's 30-minute ''News at Noon'' programme in late 2009, six years after its launch during the Iraq War of 2003. ITN created '' More4 News'' when the digital channel
More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content When ...
was launched in October 2005. It ran at 8 pm, immediately after Channel 4 News. It was originally presented by Sarah Smith;
Kylie Morris Kylie Morris is an Australian journalist who was the Washington, D.C. correspondent for the UK's ''Channel 4 News'' until August 2019. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1998 after working with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She began w ...
took over presenting duties in June 2007 and Smith was posted to the US as Channel 4 News' Washington correspondent. In December 2009 Channel 4 cancelled ''More4 News''.


5 News

From the launch of Channel 5 in 1997, ITN provided the news bulletins for
5 News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...
. However, in January 2005, ITN lost the contract, which was awarded to Sky News. In 2011 ITN regained the contract in a three-year deal to provide news for Channel 5 from early 2012, but on a much-reduced budget. The deal followed an agreement by Sky and Northern & Shell, the then-owner of Channel 5, to terminate the 5 News contract early. In addition to a number of short bulletins, ITN provided two main half-hour evening news programmes for Channel 5 until 2021. In September 2021, Ofcom approved the removal of the 6.30pm news slot by Channel 5 in order for the ViacomCBS channel to schedule '' Neighbours'' at 6pm and '' Eggheads'' at 6.30pm with a new hour long ''5 News'' programme going out on the channel at 5pm. Ofcom's approval of the channel's new conditions recognised that there will be still three-hours of news between 5-8pm over all the main public service broadcasters’ channels, and that Channel 5 was still committed to delivering more than 280 hours of news each year. The relaunched hour long ''5 News at 5'' was first broadcast by the channel on 8 November 2021, with the programme presented by Sian Williams and Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije. In addition to the channel's news, ITN was given an extra hour slot by Channel 5 in January 2022 to extend their daily current affairs phone-in and discussion show ''
Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...
'' each weekday morning.


''The Wright Stuff/Jeremy Vine''

In 2018, ITN secured the contract for Channel 5's topical morning debate and chat show ''The Wright Stuff'', just before the host of 18 years, Matthew Wright, announced he was going to leave the programme. Wright was replaced by BBC Radio 2 presenter
Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...
, who had been hosting a lunchtime phone-in debate show on the radio since 2003, with the programme becoming eponymously named when Vine took over in September 2018. In 2022, the programme was extended by Channel 5, with the extra hour being known as ''Jeremy Vine Extra'' as it is presented by Storm Huntley rather than Vine, who starts his radio show at noon.


Other programmes of note


Channel 5 Royal Documentaries

ITN's royal documentaries have been a ratings winner for Channel 5 on Saturday nights, with programmes released about the current monarchy under names such as ''Harry and Meghan: Two Troubled Years'', ''Charles and Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting'' and ''Fergie & Andrew The Duke & Duchess of Disaster''. Documentaries about the past members of the British Royal Family are also getting good viewing figures, with a programme about
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
(whose reign was from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936) achieving a rating of 1.4 million viewers when it was first broadcast. Most of these documentaries feature archive clips with contributions from historians and royal watchers like former BBC royal correspondent
Jennie Bond Jennifer Bond (born 19 August 1950) is an English journalist and television presenter. Bond worked for fourteen years as the BBC's royal correspondent. She has most recently hosted ''Cash in the Attic'' and narrated the programme ''Great Briti ...
or
Lady Colin Campbell Georgia Arianna, Lady Colin Campbell (''née'' Ziadie, born 17 August 1949), also known as Lady C, is a British Jamaican author, socialite, and television personality who has published seven books about the British royal family. They include ...
. As well as the British Royal Family, the slot had also been used to schedule an ITN documentary called ''The Grace of Monaco: Hollywood Princess'' about
Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...
, the American actor who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in April 1956, one of the few ITN royal titles featuring foreign-born royalty.


Other Royal Documentaries

ITN also made the documentary ''Charles: Our New King'' for Beyond Rights, with the programme scheduled for a transmission slot on Channel 4, The
Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facili ...
(in North America), SBS and M6. Similar to ITN's programmes for Channel 5, the programme was a trawl through its Royal archive with experts like
Ayesha Hazarika Ayesha Hazarika (born 15 December 1975) is a Scottish broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former political adviser to senior Labour Party politicians. Early life Hazarika was born in Coatbridge, Scotland, to parents of Indi ...
, Bonnie Greer, Polly Toynbee and Ian Skelly analysing various points in King Charles' life.


Operations


ITN Productions

ITN Productions was formed in February 2010 and incorporates the non-news operations of ITN, including the former ITN On, ITN Factual and ITN Corporate divisions. ITN was one of the first companies to provide news content for 3G mobile phones, when it struck a deal to provide daily news bulletins for the 3 network in 2003. It has since expanded its video news service providing news, sport and showbiz content to a wide range of broadcasters, newspapers and websites. Showbiz bulletins from ITN are broadcast daily on a number of television channels, including
FYI Daily ''FYI Daily'' is a 60-second daily entertainment news round-up. Broadcast on ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe, it generally airs mid-way through films. Prior to 2010 it was simply branded as ''Entertainment News'', and before that was ''Showbiz News' ...
on ITV2, ITV3 and
ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classic ...
, and ''Entertainment News on 5'' (formally called ''Access'') for Channel 5's range of channels. A daily showbiz breakfast show, ''The Breakfast Fix'' was broadcast on 4Music along with showbiz updates under the name of ''The Fix''. From August 2013, ITN Productions was awarded the contract to produce the Premier League online and mobile highlights service for
News UK News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...
. Content appears on '' The Sun'' and ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' subscription websites and mobile apps. Digital content is supplied to sports news video agency SNTV. ITN Productions also creates factual programming for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 as well as international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel,
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and National Geographic. ITN has produced shows for Sky, with one of its later programmes being '' Harrow: A Very British School''. ITN also supplied programming to the now-closed
Teachers TV Teachers TV was a UK government–funded website and former free-to-air distance education television channel which operated from 2005–2011. The website provided video and support materials for those who work in education, including teachers ...
service.


Former operations

ITN began its own ''
World News World news or international news or even foreign coverage is the news media jargon for news from abroad, about a country or a global subject. For journalism, it is a branch that deals with news either sent by foreign correspondents or news agenc ...
'' bulletins in the late 1980s, which were shown around the world on local television channels, particularly on PBS stations in the US, where presenter
Daljit Dhaliwal Daljit Dhaliwal (born 8 September 1962) is a British newsreader and television presenter. Dhaliwal is a former news presenter for the Al-Jazeera English news service that broadcast from Washington DC. Previously, she was the anchor chair of ...
(now with
Al-Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...
) enjoyed cult status. These were discontinued in 2001, in the face of competition from dedicated news channels such as BBC World (now known as
BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and ...
), although it still provides footage to
CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...
and reports often appear on ''
PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...
''. Its ''ITV Evening News'' bulletin was shown on the
Newsworld International Newsworld International (NWI) was an American news-oriented cable and satellite television network that operated from June 1994 to July 2005. The network carried a mix of newscasts from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other internation ...
cable channel in the US. From December 1997 to April 2003, ITN held a 49% stake in European news channel Euronews. ITN launched a 24-hour news channel on 1 August 2000, which in 2002 was sold to the main ITV companies Carlton and Granada, and rebranded as the
ITV News Channel The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, ITV Digital (until 2002), Freeview (latterly only between 6:00 am a ...
. It was closed down in 2005. On the same day, ITN launched a 24-hour radio station called ITN News Radio. It broadcast nationally on the
Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It cont ...
multiplex until 2003. In 2005, ITN became a shareholder in Espresso Group, a provider of digital content to more than 60% of primary schools in the UK and also internationally. Espresso services feature an extensive library of broadband teaching resources and student activities to motivate pupils and support teachers, including content from ITN Source. In May 2008, the Education Clip Library, a unique, video licensing service for educational publishers and broadcasters around the world, was launched. It is aimed at educational publishers and broadcasters seeking to add video to their instructional products and services. Espresso was acquired by Discovery Education (part of Discovery Communications) on 7 November 2013.
Setanta Sports News Setanta Sports News was a television channel from Virgin Media Television and Setanta Sports. The channel launched on 29 November 2007.
was a 24-hour sports news television channel produced by ITN and jointly owned by Virgin Media Television and
Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...
, launched on 29 November 2007. The channel ceased broadcasting on 23 June 2009, when Setanta's UK operation were placed into administration following financial difficulties. In October 2008, ITN founded digital production company Diagonal View as a joint venture together with digital entrepreneur Matt Heiman. The company packages footage from the ITN archive and syndicates it to a range of commercial partners including Myspace,
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and
MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...
. In March 2017, the company was sold to Sky, who paid £2.6m for ITN's stake. ITN Consulting was the management consultancy arm of ITN, combining the resources of ITN with the consulting team's experience to advise global media companies on issues spanning all areas of strategy and operations, including financial planning, marketing, scheduling and content, recruitment, and interim management. With partner Venture Consulting, it had offices in London, Milan, Dubai, Singapore and Sydney. It operated as a network with its consultants working on engagements globally and focused "on how strategy can be implemented to deliver to real change". ITN Consulting stated that "an understanding of how global, regional and local media markets conflict and come together enables them to identify the opportunities this creates". They took an external, outsider perspective as well as having the viewpoint of senior "insider" media executives. ITN Consulting was extensively involved in the development of business plans for local TV in the UK. It also consulted a range of national broadcasters on improving performance. The unit closed in 2012. ITN Source (formerly ITN Archive) licensed video footage from ITN's one million hours of archive content including news, drama, celebrity, comedy, music, wildlife, natural history and film. It also syndicated on-the-day news footage generated by ITN to other broadcasters and producers worldwide. The service represented the moving image libraries of
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
, ITV (including
ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...
),
ANI Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...
, UTV Media,
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, Fox Movietone,
Gaumont-British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 1 ...
, Nine Network and other specialist collections. The division was closed at the end of 2016, when ITN outsourced its archive sales to Getty Images.


Corporate affairs


Headquarters and studios

ITN has been based at 200
Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at the City of London boundary, where it bisects High Holborn, and ends at King's Cross and ...
since 1991. The purpose-built headquarters were designed by architect
Sir Norman Foster ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 8 May 1991. The building also houses the ITV Network Centre and
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
offices. Prior to the redevelopment, the site was the location of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' offices from 1974 to 1986, and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' offices from 1961 to 1976. ITN's first base was Ingersoll House on Kingsway, before moving across the road to
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, ...
's newly converted
Television House Television House is the former name of a building on Kingsway in London. From 1918, it was the base of the Air Ministry, and later from 1955, was the headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion/Rediffusion London, Independent Television News (ITN), ' ...
shortly before the first broadcast. In August 1969, the company moved to ITN House at 48
Wells Street Wells Street is a street in the City of Westminster. It runs from Riding House Street in the north to Oxford Street in the south. It is crossed by Mortimer Street and Eastcastle Street. It is joined on its western side by Marylebone Passag ...
, close to the BBC's Broadcasting House. As of December 2020, there are three operational television studios based at ITN. Studios 1 and 2 are located in the basement of the building, with both studios measuring 2,438 sq ft in size each. Studio 1 is currently used by the ITV national news bulletins and the ITV News London bulletins, and comprises a full green screen backdrop in the studio, with two desk areas facing each other. Studio 2 is used by Channel 5 News and also produces Jeremy Vine's morning show on Channel 5. Studio 6 is located adjacent to the atrium of ITN and has been home to Channel 4 News since 1999.


Leadership

The Chief Executive of ITN is Rachel Corp. A former ITV News Editor, Rachel succeeded
Deborah Turness Deborah Mary Turness (born 4 March 1967) is an English journalist, former CEO of ITN, and current CEO of BBC News. Prior to this she held two positions in NBC News International where she was president of NBC News (2013–2017) and later ...
in September 2022, when Turness left to join the BBC. Prior to Turness, ITN was led by Anna Mallett, who left to join Netflix. Mallett had been in post for around two years, having joined the company in April 2019. The Times reported in 2022, that one former ITN staff member signed a secrecy clause or NDA after accepting a financial settlement and agreeing to drop allegations of victimisation and sex discrimination inside the company. The woman said she raised her grievance in 2020 after ITN’s then chief executive, Anna Mallett, told staff she wanted to create “a culture where people feel confident to speak up”.


Ownership

The current shareholders of ITN are: *
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 ...
(40%) *
Daily Mail and General Trust Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British multinational media company, the owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and several other titles. The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chairman and controlling shareholder of the company. The head office i ...
(20%) *
Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
(20%) * Informa (20%) Upon its inception, ITN was jointly owned by all the ITV operating companies, with shareholdings split roughly in proportion to each company's advertising income. However, 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 ...
allowed the ITC to set ownership rules. It was decided to limit the ITV companies to a maximum joint 49% stake, with no single company allowed more than a 20% holding. The powers were abolished by the
Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...
.


Parodies

ITN has been spoofed several times on ITV's ''
The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...
'', namely in one 1971 show with the logo reading "NIT" instead of "ITN" and with Hill as Reginald "Boozenquet" and Andrew Gardner. ITN was also spoofed in a sketch in 1978 with Benny Hill as Angela O'Rippon, a parody of
Angela Rippon Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
, and as Ann Afford, a parody of
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 ...
. It was also spoofed in a black and white 1971 show and a 1973 episode.


See also

*
List of ITV journalists and newsreaders As the oldest commercial television network in the UK, ITV has employed many journalists and newsreaders to present its news programmes as well as to provide news reports and interviews during its history. Since the ITV network began, Independe ...
*
Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Itn Television news in the United Kingdom Television production companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in London Mass media companies based in London 1955 establishments in England International Emmy Awards Current Affairs & News winners Daily Mail and General Trust ITV (TV network) Thomson Reuters Informa