   associated television (atv), a former british television company, was awarded the franchise by the independent television authority (ita) to provide the independent television service at weekends for the london region. this service started on saturday, 24 september 1955 and was extended until sunday, 28 july 1968. atv was also awarded the franchise to provide the weekdays independent television service for the midlands region. this service started on friday, 17 february 1956 and was extended until monday, 29 july 1968. subsequent to the changes made by the ita to the regional structure of the independent television service, atv was awarded the franchise to provide a seven day independent television service for the midlands region which started on tuesday, 30 july 1968 and was finally extended until 00:34h on friday, 1 january 1982. ==history== ===formation===  the company was formed from the merger of the associated broadcasting development company (abdc) under the control of norman collins, and the incorporated television programme company (itc) under the control of prince littler and lew grade, two showbusiness agents. lew grade is famously attributed  with having said that a broadcast licence was "a licence to print money", although it has also been attributed to lord thompson of fleet. both companies had applied for a contract to become one of the new itv stations. abdc won the contract but had insufficient money to operate it; itc failed to win a contract, mainly due to a perceived conflicts of interest resulting from the business operations of grade and li
ITV_franchisees Mergers_and_acquisitions Music_publishing_companies_of_the_United_Kingdom Television_channels_and_stations_established_in_1955