ITV (TV channel)

*This article is about the British television channel. For the ITV Network as a whole, see ITV (TV network). For the regional franchise serving Scotland, see STV (TV channel). For the regional franchise serving Northern Ireland, see UTV (TV channel). For the channel's owner, see ITV plc.*

### Picture format

576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)

### Country

England and Wales (STV available in Scotland and UTV available in NI)

### Broadcast Area

England, Wales, South Scotland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands

### Formerly called

**ITV1**
 (2001 to 2013, and later reverted to the ITV name)

### Replaced

Anglia Television, Border Television, Carlton Television, Central Independent Television, Channel Television, Granada Television, HTV, LWT, Meridian Broadcasting, Tyne Tees Television, Westcountry Television and Yorkshire Television
 (on 28 October 2002)

### Sister channel(s)

ITV2
ITV3
ITV4
ITVBe
CITV
ITV Box Office

## Terrestrial

### Freeview

Channel 3
Channel 33 (+1)
Channel 103 (HD)

## Satellite

### Sky

Channel 103 (SD/HD)
Channel 176 (HD) (parts of England and Scottish Borders)
Channel 203 (+1)
Channel 803 (SD) (parts of England & Wales)
Channel 973 (AD & +1) (ITV London)

## Cable

### Virgin Media

Channel 103
Channel 113 (HD)
Channel 114 (+1)
Channel 853 (AD) (ITV London)

**ITV** is a commercial television channel in the United Kingdom. Previously a network of separate regional television channels, ITV currently operates in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

From 2001 until 2013, the channel was called **ITV1**. In 2004, Granada Television acquired Carlton Communications to form ITV plc.

ITV is the biggest and most popular commercial television channel in the United Kingdom. ITV and its predecessor channels have contended with BBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However, in line with other terrestrial channels, ITV's audience share has fallen in the era of multi-channel television.

## History

*Main article: History of ITV*
Following the creation of the Television Act 1954, the establishment of a commercial television service in the UK began.

The **Independent Television** service, or ITV, was made up of regions, with each region run by different companies. The three largest regions (London, the Midlands and the North of England) were subdivided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. ITV existed in a region-heavy form from its inception to the 2000s, although the switch was gradual.

ITV1 became the generic on-screen brand name used by the twelve franchises of the ITV Network in the United Kingdom. The brand was introduced in 2001 by Carlton- and Granada-owned franchises, initially used alongside the local regional name. However, it became the sole on-air identity in 2002 when the two companies decided to create a single unified playout of the channel, with regional references only used prior to regional programming. Carlton and Granada went on to merge in 2004, creating ITV plc which now owns thirteen of the fifteen regional ITV licences.

The ITV1 name was only used in England, Wales, Southern Scotland and Isle of Man until Channel Television adopted the name in January 2006, bringing it to the Channel Islands. As national continuity is often used on Channel Television, ITV1 national branding had been seen on the station for several years previously.

The licencees that used the ITV brand were Anglia Television, Border Television, Carlton Television, Central Independent Television, Channel Television, Granada Television, HTV, London Weekend Television, Meridian Television, Tyne Tees Television, Westcountry Television and Yorkshire Television.

ITV Wales & West was the only exception, using the name *ITV1 Wales* at all times for the Welsh part of its broadcast area as it has a higher regional commitment. Latterly the *ITV1 Wales* name was only used on breakbumpers and regionally advertised programmes till 2013. Non ITV plc-owned licencees on the network generally did not refer to the ITV name.

The network production arms of the ITV-plc owned licencees have been gradually combined since 1993 to eventually form ITV Studios.

## Subsidiary channels

### ITV HD

A high-definition simulcast of ITV, **ITV HD**, debuted on 2 December 2009 with the technical launch of the Freeview HD service. The channel has its roots in ITV HD, which began as a trial service in 2006 on a low-power digital terrestrial (DVB-T) channel from London's Crystal Palace transmitting station, and on Telewest TV Drive cable service. The channel was revived on 7 June 2008 in time for the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament, this time exclusively available on the Freesat digital satellite service With its debut on Freeview HD, the channel was re-branded as ITV1 HD in December 2009.

### ITV +1

On 1 September 2009 it was announced that ITV would get a one-hour timeshift on digital satellite and Virgin Media, on 1 October 2009, subject to the Competition Commission's ruling on the contract rights renewal system. However, on 18 September 2009, it was announced that ITV1 +1 had been postponed until further notice. Prior to this announcement, EPG data for the service had appeared on satellite.

The Competition Commission delayed the final decision in its review of ITV's Contract Rights Renewal undertakings to the end of February 2010 because it had to consider the "significant" submissions it has received.

On 19 January 2010, the Competition Commission delivered its provisional findings, ruling that audiences for both ITV1 +1 and ITV1 HD will be accredited to ITV1's commercial impacts. The Competition Commission recognised that the broadcaster had been deterred from launching new ways of delivering ITV1, because of the way media buying is currently conducted under the established contracts rights renewal (CRR) mechanism. However, the regulator rejected ITV's proposed removal of large elements of the "outdated" CRR Undertakings while maintaining an obligation on ITV to offer ITV1 airtime on "fair and reasonable" terms. The Competition Commission announced that such a change would leave the process too open to interpretation and that they were "not likely to be either practicable or effective in addressing the adverse effects of the merger".

On 12 May 2010, the Competition Commission stood by its provisional decision to retain the contracts rights renewal system – but it added that the mechanism should be dropped at some point and that the entire UK TV ad sales market needs a review. "ITV1 remains a 'must have' for certain advertisers and certain types of campaign," said the chairman of the CRR review group at the Competition Commission, Diana Guy. "Despite all the changes in this market, no other channel or medium can come close to matching the size of audience that ITV regularly provides. So the essential reason for the CRR undertakings remains: to protect advertisers and other commercial broadcasters." The ITV chief executive, Adam Crozier, said that the ruling was "out of touch and damaging for the interests of creative Britain". He added that it was "unlikely" that ITV would look to seek a judicial review but that ITV would redouble its lobbying campaign for a liberalisation of regulation and "urgent modernisation" of competition law. But the commission said there was "virtual unanimity" among advertisers, media agencies, commercial broadcasters and trade bodies that CRR should be kept "in some form". The commission confirmed that the CRR remedy should be broadened to include ITV+1 and ITV's high definition channels.

On 27 July 2010, the House Of Lords confirmed plans to launch an inquiry into the television advertising market, which "paid particular attention" to the CRR mechanism. The Lords committee investigated the declining revenues that commercial broadcasters gain from the sale of advertising across their networks. The members also considered possible changes to current ad market regulation, including the CRR system, product placement rules and the scheduling and sale of advertising. The committee wanted to hear evidence on the current levels of regulation and what impact a relaxation of the rules could have had on the commercial broadcasting sector. Interested parties submitted written evidence to the inquiry on 24 September 2010, with oral evidence been heard in October. A written report was expected to follow in late 2010 or early 2011.

On 3 August 2010, ITV plc announced the launch of ITV1 +1 would take place in Q1 2011, with BARB later reporting that the channel would be launched on 11 January 2011. In December 2010 full testing of all six regions began on satellite.

ITV1 +1 was launched on 11 January 2011 on Freesat channel 112, Freeview channel 33, Sky channel 131 and Virgin Media channel 114. ITV1 broadcasts 22 different editions of digital satellite, but the timeshift service originally only transmitted six macro regional variants:

* London
* South East Macro (encompassing Meridian Broadcasting and Anglia Television)
* West Macro (encompassing Wales & West and Westcountry Television)
* Central
* Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Macro (encompassing Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television)
* Granada/Border Macro (encompassing Granada Television and Border Television)

On 1 March 2012, four additional variations were launched for the Anglia Television, Tyne Tees Television, West and Westcountry Television regions, with the South East Macro becoming Meridian Broadcasting, West Macro becoming Wales and Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Macro becoming Yorkshire Television.

The channel was rebranded as ITV +1 on 14 January 2013 as part of the rebranding of ITV's television channels and ITV's online services.

## Availability outside the UK

ITV channels are available on cable and IPTV in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In the Republic of Ireland, ITV (as UTV) was widely available, however, UTV Ireland was launched in 2015 and replaced UTV in the Republic of Ireland.

Since 27 March 2013, ITV London has been offered by British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to members of HM Forces and their families around the world, replacing the BFBS3 TV channel, which already carried a selection of ITV programmes.

## External links

* ITV at itv.com

Template:Media in the United Kingdom