''ITV 50'' was a special event around September 2005, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the

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 ...

terrestrial television network's launch; the official anniversary was stated as being 22 September, the anniversary of the first ITV region,

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, ...

, beginning broadcasts. Other regions, though not launched in 1955, were also involved in the celebrations, broadcasting network and local ''ITV 50'' celebration programming. All

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 ...

regions received ''ITV 50'' presentational material including branded graphics and station idents. STV (then Scottish and

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...

) and UTV screened much of the networked ''ITV 50'' content, using some of the ''ITV 50'' presentation.

Introduction

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 (presented by

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holly ...

and

Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter and actress. From 1998 to 2002, she hosted the ITV children's show ''SMTV Live,'' for which she won a BAFTA Children's Award, and its spin-off chart show '' C ...

), a special edition of

Ministry of Mayhem ''Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown'' (previously titled ''Ministry of Mayhem'' and ''MoM'') was a British children's entertainment programme, which was broadcast on ITV (later CITV) from 10 January 2004 to 1 July 2006. Overview ''Ministry ...

, a '' World of Sport'' retrospective, a seven-week '' Gameshow Marathon'' (presented by

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...

), the launch of an "Avenue of the Stars", and most notably, a five-part documentary series presented by

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

which chronicled ITV's history. The regional companies owned by

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 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 the ...

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 and ...

, 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 on

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...

programming.

Special products

There were a number of special products released to mark the anniversary. The

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issued special ''ITV 50'' postage stamps. A book, ''ITV: The People's Channel'', was published. Two CD compilations of music from ITV programmes were released.

Associated releases

Books

*''ITV: The People's Channel'' *''ITV Culture: Independent Television Over Fifty Years'' *''Fifty Years of ITV (Piano solo book)''

Albums

*''ITV 50: The Album'' *''ITV 50 Cult Themes''

DVDs