View source for History of ITV

{{Short description|History of UK commercial TV network}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2010}}
The '''history of ITV''', the United Kingdom and [[Crown Dependencies]] "[[ITV (TV network)|Independent Television]]" commercial network, goes back to 1955.<ref name=itvplc.com>{{cite web|title=History of ITV plc|url=http://www.itvplc.com/about/history/|publisher=ITV plc|access-date=11 December 2011|archive-date=19 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319194544/http://www.itvplc.com/about/history|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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]], the [[Channel Islands]] and the [[Isle of Man]] shared national [[ITV1|ITV]] branding and scheduling, and, together with a 13th region [[UTV (TV channel)|UTV]] in [[Northern Ireland]], were owned by a single company, [[ITV plc]]. A further two regions in [[Scotland]] carry [[STV (TV channel)|STV]] branding and are owned by the [[STV Group]].

==1955–1964==
===Formation===
[[File:ITV regional map 1956.svg|right|thumb|250px|The Independent Television network in 1956, one year after first transmissions]]
[[File:ITV regional map 1962.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after all companies had begun broadcasting in 1962]]
The Independent Television network came about as a result of the [[Television Act 1954]], which paved the way for the establishment of a [[Commercial broadcasting|commercial television]] service in the United Kingdom and created the [[Independent Television Authority]] (ITA).<ref name="itvplc.com"/> The act itself was not without controversy, and much debate ensued both in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] and the [[List of newspapers in the United Kingdom|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 [[Television in the United States|the American networks]] (which were perceived as 'vulgar' by some commentators).

For example, it was made obligatory that [[Television commercial|commercials]] would have to be clearly distinguishable from programmes. At the time, programmes in the USA were normally sponsored by a single company,{{r|vadeboncoeur19550124}} so it was not uncommon for a [[game show host]] to step away from their podium after a round to sell cars or ''[[The Flintstones]]'' to segue into an [[Nicotine marketing|ad for cigarettes]] with no perceived change from show to advertising.

The new "Independent Television" network, named due to its independence from the [[BBC]] 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 [[405-line television system|405-line]] [[Very high frequency|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.

Similar to how British newspapers separate their operations between Saturdays and Sundays, versus Monday through Friday, the ITA divided the franchises between weekends and weekdays. Upon the creation of the network, six franchises were awarded for [[London]] (14 million people), the [[Midlands]] around Birmingham (10 million), and the [[Northern England|North of England]] around Manchester (14 million).<ref name="vadeboncoeur19550124">{{Cite magazine |last=Vadeboncoeur |first=E. R. |date=1955-01-24 |title=Britain's experiment with Commercial TV |url=https://transdiffusion.org/2024/06/10/britains-experiment-with-commercial-tv/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |via=Transdiffusion}}</ref> The companies in these regions were known as 'The Big Four' and consisted of [[Associated-Rediffusion]] (London weekday), [[Associated Television|ATV]] (Midlands weekday and London weekend), [[Granada Television]] (North of England weekday) and [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC]] (North of England and Midlands weekend). These companies were generally the best known and provided the most network output.

The ITA intended that the larger franchisees, with the most revenue, act as "network companies" that would produce most programmes broadcast nationally, while the other franchisees, as "regional companies", would primarily focus on programmes for their own areas. ITV companies that broadcast a program paid varying fractions of the production cost, and ITA approved all scripts.{{r|iba1976}} After choosing the first four franchisees, ITA decided that national news would be provided by a separate contractor,{{r|vadeboncoeur19550124}} [[ITN|Independent Television News]] (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.

===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 its popular radio [[soap opera]] ''[[The Archers]]'' on the [[BBC Home Service]] (later became [[BBC Radio 4]] in 1967). In the episode, core character [[Grace Archer]] was fatally injured in a fire, and it was seen as a ploy to keep loyal viewers and listeners away from the new station.

Among the programs on the first night were three excerpts from plays, including [[Margaret Leighton]], [[John Gielgud]], and [[Edith Evans]] in ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]''. At 8:12 pm, the first commercial said of [[Gibbs SR]] toothpaste: "It's tingling fresh, it's fresh as ice". [[Christopher Chataway]] was ITN's first newsreader, at 10 pm.<ref name="joseph1980">{{Cite book |last=Joseph |first=Michael |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-&-Radio-ITV/25-Years-on-ITV-1955-1980.pdf |title=25 Years on ITV |publisher=Independent Television Books Ltd |year=1980 |isbn=0 900727 81 0 |location=London |pages=8-17, 28, 33, 36 |access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> The first full day of transmissions was 23 September 1955 when Britain's first female newsreader [[Barbara Mandell]] appeared. The London weekend contractor ATV launched two days later.

Early television commercials were staid adaptations of newspaper advertisements. The British industry was unfamiliar with the format, but also did not want to seem too Americanized.<ref name="sma">{{Cite web |title=A short history of British TV advertising |url=https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/short-history-british-tv-advertising |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241203063338/https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/short-history-british-tv-advertising |archive-date=2024-12-03 |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=National Science and Media Museum |language=en}}</ref> ITV was only available to the one eighth of Britons living in the London area. Popular shows in its first year included ''[[The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel]]'', ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'', ''[[Sunday Night at the London Palladium]]'', and American imports ''[[Dragnet (1951 TV series)|Dragnet]]'', ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', and ''[[Gun Law (TV series)|Gun Law]]''.{{r|joseph1980}} 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:
{| class="wikitable"
!Franchise awarded<ref name=soundscapes>April 2001, [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME04/ITV_Appendix01.shtml "Independent Television: A short chronology (1954–1997)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923193402/http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME04/ITV_Appendix01.shtml |date=23 September 2006 }}, ''Soundcapes'' Volume 4, {{ISSN|1567-7745}}, accessed 8 May 2019</ref>
!Launch date
!Regional area
!Programme company
|-
|rowspan=3| 26 October 1954<ref>Elen, Richard, [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/457883/index.html "Associated Rediffusion / Rediffusion Television"], ''BFI screenonline'', accessed 8 May 2019</ref>
|22 September 1955
|[[London]] (weekday)
|[[Associated-Rediffusion]]
|-
|24 September 1955
|London (weekend)
|rowspan=2| [[Associated Television|ATV]] (Associated Television)
|-
|17 February 1956
|[[Midlands]] (weekday)
|-
|21 September 1955
|18 February 1956
|Midlands (weekend)
|[[ABC Weekend TV]]<br />{{small|(Originally awarded to [[Kemsley-Winnick Television]] on 26 October 1954)}}
|-
|26 October 1954
|3 May 1956
|[[Northern England|North of England]] (weekday)
|[[Granada Television]] <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|21 September 1955
|5 May 1956
|North of England (weekend)
|ABC Weekend TV<br />{{small|(Originally awarded to Kemsley-Winnick Television on 26 October 1954)}}
|-
|30 May 1956
|31 August 1957
|[[Central Belt|Central Scotland]]
|[[Scottish Television]] (STV)
|-
|26 October 1956
|14 January 1958
|[[South Wales]] and [[West of England]]
|[[Television Wales and the West|TWW]] (Television Wales and the West)
|-
|22 July 1957
|30 August 1958
|[[Southern England|South of England]] {{small|(includes [[South East England]] from 31 January 1960)}}
|[[Southern Television]]
|-
|13 December 1957
|15 January 1959
|[[North East England]]
|[[Tyne Tees Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|25 June 1958
|27 October 1959
|[[East of England]] {{small|(includes [[Lincolnshire]] and [[East Riding of Yorkshire]] from 20 December 1965)}}
|[[Anglia Television]] <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|10 November 1958
|31 October 1959
|[[Northern Ireland]]
|[[Ulster Television]] (UTV) <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|16 December 1959
|29 April 1961
|[[South West England]]
|[[Westward Television]]
|-
|5 May 1960
|1 September 1961
|[[Anglo-Scottish border|English-Scottish Border]]<br />{{small|(includes [[Isle of Man]] from 26 March 1965)}}
|[[Border Television]] <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|2 August 1960
|30 September 1961
|[[Northern Scotland|North East Scotland]]
|[[Grampian Television]]
|-
|28 March 1960
|1 September 1962
|[[Channel Islands]]
|[[Channel Television]] (CTV)  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
|6 June 1961
|14 September 1962
|[[West Wales|West]] and [[North Wales]]
|[[Wales West and North Television|Wales (West and North) Television/Teledu Cymru]]
|-
|}

Not all ITV franchisees were profitable in their early years; they benefited from the end of the [[Toddlers' Truce]] in 1957. Franchisees also broadcast shows that emphasized [[product placement]]; Parliament banned such [[admag]]s, including the popular [[soap opera]] ''Jim{{'}}s Inn'', in 1963.{{r|joseph1980}}{{r|sma}} IBA had banned "time spots", in which advertisers gave the current time and stated "time to" have a cigarette or use some other product, in 1960.{{r|sma}}

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==
[[File:ITV regional map 1965.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after Teledu Cymru had been taken over by TWW in 1964 and its area had been extended in 1965]]

An American television executive predicted in 1955 that the first six franchises, with only the BBC as competition for their population of 38 million, would be "perhaps the richest commercial television monopoly in the world".{{r|vadeboncoeur19550124}} [[Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet|Roy Thomson]] of [[Scottish Television]] described the ownership of an ITV franchise as "a licence to print money".<ref name="levy19911016">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMY91o22pDo |title=1991 ITV franchise auction |date=1991-10-16 |last=Levy |first=David |publisher=[VHS] Video Home System |time=49:15 |access-date=2025-02-19 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Overall, the regional companies made a profit within the first few years of their existence, the largest regions especially so.

In 1963, the ITA chairman, [[Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton|Lord Hill of Luton]], initiated a review of all the ITV companies following the release of the [[Pilkington Committee on Broadcasting|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 "[[Fourth UK television service|ITV2]]" UHF channel to be launched if the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] won the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|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 [[Television Wales and the West|TWW]], following the collapse of [[Wales West and North Television|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-language]] programming. This meant that WWN lost a lot of money and, despite some help from other ITV companies, it declared itself [[Bankruptcy|bankrupt]] on 26 January 1964 – the only ITV company to have ever done so.

==1968–1974==
[[File:ITV regional map 1968.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after the major change in contracts in 1968]]

From August 1968 to August 1970, ITV had 50% or higher share of television viewing hours in every month except one. For the week of 27 September 1970 its most popular program was ''[[Special Branch (TV series)|Special Branch]]'' with 6.95 million viewing homes, followed by ''[[Coronation Street]]'' and ''[[ITV News at Ten]]'' at 6.90 million homes each. 6.15 million homes viewed ''[[Dad's Army]]'', one of only three BBC shows in the top 20. While BBC had a slightly higher share of ABC1 [[NRS social grade]]d homes in the London ITV area, ITV more than doubled BBC's share of C2 homes, and also led in DE homes.<ref name="ita1971">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-&-Radio-ITV/IBA-Yearbook-1971.pdf |title=ITV 1971 Guide to Independent Television |publisher=Independent Television Authority |year=1971 |pages=128–133 |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref>

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 [[Fourth UK television service|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: [[Associated-Rediffusion|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 [[Northern England|North of England]] and the [[Midlands]] were abolished.
*The North of England region was split into two new smaller regions, the [[North West England|North West]] and [[Yorkshire]]. Seven-day contracts were specified in both these new regions, as well as in the Midlands.
*Separate weekday and weekend franchises continued in [[London]]; 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]] and [[West of England]] 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 [[Independent Television Service for Wales and the West|interim service]] until Harlech Television took over on 20 May.
*[[Associated Television|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]]'''. It had been expected that [[ABC Weekend TV|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]]''', 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]]''', 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]].

A new "Big Five" of network companies, Thames, LWT, ATV, Granada and Yorkshire,{{r|iba1976}} replaced the "Big Four" of Rediffusion, ATV, ABC and Granada, who had produced most of the network output. 

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]]'', 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]] 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 [[Board of Governors of the BBC|BBC Board of Governors]] and replaced him with [[Herbert Bowden, Baron Aylestone|Herbert Bowden]], also known as Lord Aylestone. He reviewed the changes Hill had made but allowed them to stand.

===1968 strike===
{{main|ITV Emergency National Service}}
The implementation of the ITV changes led to [[industrial unrest]] in the companies. Although there were no job losses in the system – this was an ITA stipulation – people were forced to move from [[Manchester]] and [[Birmingham]] to [[Leeds]], from London to [[Cardiff]] 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]]. 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 lockouts 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 lines|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 [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] system became standard.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

ITV eventually introduced [[PAL]] colour on this system from 1969,<ref>{{cite web|title=Chillerton Down Transmitter|url=http://www.thebigtower.com/live/ChillertonDown/Index.htm|publisher=The Big Tower.com|access-date=11 December 2011}}</ref> on the same day as [[BBC1]] and two years after [[BBC2]]. This did not, however, spread immediately across the United Kingdom, as some regions had to wait a few more years before colour was available:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Regional area
! Programme company
! Colour service date
|-
| [[Midlands]]
| [[Associated Television|ATV]] (Associated Television)
|rowspan=4| 15 November 1969
|-
| [[North West England]]
| [[Granada Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
| [[Yorkshire]]
| [[Yorkshire Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
| [[London]] (weekend)
| [[London Weekend Television]] (LWT)
|-
| London (weekday)
| [[Thames Television]]
| 17 November 1969
|-
| [[Southern England|South]] and [[South East England]]
| [[Southern Television]]
|rowspan=2 | 13 December 1969
|-
| [[Central Belt|Central Scotland]]
| [[Scottish Television]] (STV)
|-
| [[Wales]] and [[West of England]]
| [[Harlech Television]] (HTV)   <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
| 6 April 1970
|-
| [[North East England]]
| [[Tyne Tees Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
| 17 July 1970
|-
| [[Northern Ireland]]
| [[Ulster Television]] (UTV)  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
| 14 September 1970
|-
| [[East of England]]
| [[Anglia Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
| 1 October 1970
|-
| [[South West England]]
| [[Westward Television]]
| 22 May 1971
|-
| [[Anglo-Scottish border|Borders]] and [[Isle of Man]]
| [[Border Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
| 1 September 1971
|-
| [[Northern Scotland|North East Scotland]]
| [[Grampian Television]]
| 30 September 1971
|-
| [[Channel Islands]]
| [[Channel Television]] (CTV)
| 26 July 1976
|}

This was primarily due to the cost incurred in purchasing new broadcasting equipment and the subsequent studio upgrade that usually accompanied it.

Automobile companies rarely advertised on television during the 1960s because of a secret agreement between manufacturers. [[Datsun]]'s commercials in the 1970s broke the cartel.{{r|sma}}

====Colour strike====
The [[Colour Strike|colour strike]] 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 the [[Channel Islands]] being the last region to be converted.{{ref label|a|a}} This enabled the 405-line system to be phased out between 1982 and 1985.

===Three-Day Week===
The [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] imposed early close downs of all three television channels ([[BBC One|BBC1]], [[BBC Two|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 (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] between strike action in the [[power supply]] industry and effects of the [[1973 oil crisis|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 due to the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|upcoming general election]].

==1974–1981==
===Before the 1979 dispute===
[[File:ITV regional map 1974.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after the minor change in contracts in 1974]]
Following the passing of the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972, the ITA was reconstituted as the [[Independent Broadcasting Authority]] (IBA) who took on the same role as the ITA but were also given responsibility of the then-new [[Independent Local Radio]] (ILR) stations.

In 1971, the [[Bilsdale transmitting station|Bilsdale UHF transmitter]], based on the border between [[Yorkshire Television]] and [[Tyne Tees Television]] and much disputed over, was assigned to Tyne Tees Television.<ref>{{cite book |title=ITV 1972 |date=January 1972 |publisher=Independent Television Authority |location=London |pages=198, 203 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-&-Radio-ITV/IBA-Yearbook-1972.pdf |access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref><ref name=pmc>{{cite web|title=UHF and colour|url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/pmc/yearbooks/ita1968/uhf.htm|publisher=Photomusicians – Transdiffusion Broadcasting System|access-date=11 December 2011|archive-date=18 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218231526/http://www.transdiffusion.org/pmc/yearbooks/ita1968/uhf.htm|url-status=dead}} Information gained from scanned image from the [[Independent Television Authority|ITA]] Yearbook 1968.</ref> To compensate for this, the IBA allowed Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television to consolidate slightly into a new venture: [[Trident Television]]. Trident originally managed advertising sales for Tyne Tees Television and Yorkshire Television but was allowed a [[reverse takeover]] of both companies; Tyne Tees Television and Yorkshire Television did however retain their own studio bases, management, boards and on-screen identity.<ref name="tttv">[http://www.tynetees.tv/about/about_history-2.htm Tyne Tees TV official website], accessed 12 June 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208115258/http://www.tynetees.tv/about/about_history-2.htm |date=8 February 2005 }}</ref>

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]] franchise area however, as the [[Belmont transmitting station|Belmont transmitter]] in [[Lincolnshire]] switched from [[Anglia Television]] to Yorkshire Television, boosting the broadcast area.

ILR franchises were awarded for three years, extendable for one year each year; they were thus indefinite if IBA approved of the franchisee's performance. {{asof|1976}} IBA favored using the same approach for television.<ref name="iba1976">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-&-Radio-ITV/IBA-Yearbook-1976.pdf |title=TV & Radio 1976: Guide to Independent Television & Independent Local Radio |date=January 1976 |publisher=Independent Broadcasting Authority |isbn=0900485213  |editor-last=Croston |editor-first=Eric |location=London |pages=8–10, 19 |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref>

====Launch of Oracle teletext====
This period also saw the launch of the [[ORACLE (teletext)|Oracle]] [[teletext]] service. It was officially launched in 1978, a few years after the launch of the BBC's [[Ceefax]] 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's [[Thames Television]] when electricians, who were [[Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union|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 [[Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians|ACTT]] members, refused to co-operate, pointing out that equipment and wiring turned on by non-EETPU members could be potentially dangerous.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} Thames management interpreted this as a walkout.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} 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.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} The only company unaffected was [[Channel Television]], 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our History|url=http://www.channelonline.tv/newfeatures/CustomHTML/50/history.html|work=Channel 50: 50 Years of Channel Television|publisher=ITV Channel Television|date=10 July 2013|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012081950/http://www.channelonline.tv/newfeatures/CustomHTML/50/history.html|archive-date=12 October 2013|url-status=unfit}}</ref>

ITV viewers encountered blank television screens on the morning of 10 August 1979, and were left without any programmes. Later on, this apology caption would broadcast in 14 of the 15 ITV regions:
{{blockquote|INDEPENDENT TELEVISION<br/><br/>We are sorry that programmes have been interrupted.  There is an industrial dispute.  Transmissions will start again as soon as possible.}}
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:
{{Div col}}
* 1.20pm – Channel News and Weather
* 1.30pm – Closedown
* 5.00pm – ''[[Oscar Puffin|Puffin]]''
* 5.05pm – ''Call It Marcaroni''
* 5.30pm – ''Lost Island''
* 6.00pm – [[ITV News Channel TV|Report Extra]]
* 7.00pm – ''[[Al Oeming]]''
* 7.30pm – ''[[The New Avengers (TV series)|The New Avengers]]''
* 8.30pm – Film: ''[[Slightly Scarlet (1956 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
{{Div col end}}

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]] in their hunt for the [[Peter Sutcliffe|Yorkshire Ripper]]. The only other content broadcast outside of the Channel Television region was the IBA's [[Engineering Announcements]].

====Post-1979 strike====
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
The strike ended with victory for the unions involved in the 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|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 (British TV series)|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 from [[Thames Television]] in London to all ITV regional companies across the United Kingdom as part of their national emergency schedule, and was as follows:
{{Div col}}
* 5.45pm – [[ITV Evening News|ITN News at 5.45]] with [[Leonard Parkin]] 
* 6.05pm – ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' (with special guest: [[Dudley Moore]]){{ref label|b|b}}
* 6.35pm – ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]''
* 7.00pm – ''[[George and Mildred]]''
* 7.30pm – ''[[Coronation Street]]''
* 8.00pm – ''[[3-2-1]]'' with [[Ted Rogers (comedian)|Ted Rogers]] (guest starring [[Norman Wisdom]] and [[Anna Dawson]])
* 9.00pm – ''[[Quatermass (TV serial)|Quatermass]]'' (Part 1)
* 10.00pm – [[ITV News at Ten|News at Ten]] with [[Alastair Burnet]] and [[Anna Ford]]
* 10.30pm – Film: ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'' (1974)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvcream.co.uk/tag/welcome-home-to-itv/|title=Welcome home to ITV! – TV Cream|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20240413213030/http://www.tvcream.co.uk/tag/welcome-home-to-itv/|archive-date = 13 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvcream.co.uk/telly/your-wednesday-night-in/your-wednesday-night-in-october-1979/|title=Your Wednesday Night In… October 1979 – TV Cream|first=T. V.|last=Cream|date=24 October 2018|url-status   = dead|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20240625190359/http://www.tvcream.co.uk/telly/your-wednesday-night-in/your-wednesday-night-in-october-1979/|archive-date = 25 June 2024}}</ref>
* 1.00am – Closedown
{{Div col end}}

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 ever 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==
[[File:ITV regional map 1982.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after the major change in contracts in 1982]]
On 28 December 1980, the IBA announced via [[Bridget Plowden, Lady Plowden|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 [[Southern England|South]] and [[South East England|South East]], and the [[East Midlands|East]] and [[West Midlands (region)|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:
*[[Associated Television|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]]; to emphasise these actions the company was told to rename itself. It settled on the name '''[[Central Independent Television]]'''.
*[[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]]''' (TVS).
*[[Westward Television]] lost its licence for [[South West England]], being replaced by '''[[Television South West]]''' (TSW), which 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]]'''.
*[[Trident Television]] was ordered to sell the majority of its holdings in [[Yorkshire Television]] and [[Tyne Tees Television]], and the two companies became independent of each other again.
*The [[Bluebell Hill transmitting station|Bluebell Hill transmitter]] in [[Kent]] was transferred from [[Thames Television]]/[[London Weekend Television|LWT]] 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 [[ITV News Calendar|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 (British TV programme)|Breakfast Time]]''.

[[Channel 4]] had launched on 2 November 1982. Originally it depended on the ITV network for its funding, with the regional companies selling advertising. 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]] 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]], [[London Weekend Television|LWT]], [[Central Independent Television]], [[Granada Television]] and [[Yorkshire Television]]), 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 Network#Night Time from Granada|Night Time]]'' (which also went out to [[Tyne Tees Television]], [[Television South West|TSW]], [[Border Television]], [[Grampian Television]] and [[Ulster Television]]), LWT's ''[[Night Network]]'' (which also went out to [[Anglia Television]]), [[Television South|TVS]]' ''Late Night Late'' (which also went out to [[Channel Television]]) and [[Harlech Television|HTV]]'s ''Night Club''; later efforts included ''[[Night Network#ITV Night Time from LNN|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 [[station identification|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 started broadcasting a [[ITV Weather|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 [[Logo|corporate logo]] and [[History of ITV television idents#1980s branding|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]], [[Television South|TVS]], [[Television South West|TSW]], [[Anglia Television]], [[Channel Television]] and [[Ulster Television]]), preferring to stick with their distinctive on-screen branding. The companies to use the generic ident for the longest time were [[Yorkshire Television]], who kept it on until 24 October 1994, and [[Grampian Television]], who continued to use it right up until ITV's second corporate logo was introduced on 5 October 1998.

===Broadcasting Act of 1990===
{{quote|When commercial television started in 1954, it was described as "a license to print money", a reputation which has dogged the industry ever since. Mrs Thatcher decided the restrictive working practices and overmanning, for which ITV became notorious, had to end, and she set about a shakeup which culminated in today's auction.|[[BBC News]], 16 October 1991<ref name="fryer19911016">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMY91o22pDo |title=1991 ITV franchise auction |date=1991-10-16 |last=Fryer |first=John |publisher=[VHS] Video Home System |time=24:30 |access-date=2025-02-19 |via=YouTube}}</ref>}}

[[Margaret Thatcher]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government spent much of the 1980s privatising and deregulating British industry, and commercial broadcasting was no exception. The [[Broadcasting Act 1990]] 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]] (ITC) and the [[Radio Authority]]. The small [[Cable Authority]] 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]], which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a [[government-owned corporation]], 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 [[production company|independent production companies]]. Following lobbying by independent producers and [[Television South|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 the [[Broadcasting Act 1990]], 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:<ref>ITC, quoted in ''Encouraging Bidding In The Single Licence National Lottery Framework'' report, [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|UK National Lottery]] Commission, 19 November 2004</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Franchise
!Incumbent and bid
!Competition and bid
!Results
!Winner
|-
|[[Anglo-Scottish border|Borders]] and [[Isle of Man]]
|[[Border Television|Border]] <small>(£52,000)</small>
|rowspan=2 |''unopposed''
|rowspan=2 |''unopposed''
|Border <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Central Belt|Central Scotland]]
|[[Scottish Television|Scottish]] <small>(£2,000)</small>
|Scottish <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Channel Islands]]
|[[Channel TV]] <small>(£1,000)</small>
|CI3 Group <small>(£102,000)</small>
|CI3 Group failed on quality grounds.{{ref label|c|c}}
|Channel TV <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[East of England]]
|[[Anglia Television|Anglia]] <small>(£17,800,000)</small>
|Three East <small>(£14,100,000)</small><br />[[CPV-TV]]{{ref label|d|d}} <small>(£10,100,000)</small>
|Incumbent highest bidder.<br />CPV-TV failed on quality grounds.<ref name="sites.google.com">{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/bromfieldnet/south-west-broadcasting/list-of-bids|title=List Of Bids - Bromfield.Net|website=sites.google.com|access-date=4 March 2019}}</ref>
|Anglia <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|-
|[[London]] (weekday)
|[[Thames Television|Thames]] <small>(£32,700,000)</small>
|[[CPV-TV]] <small>(£45,319,000)</small><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cpv_tv_bid_amount|title=CPV-TV Bid Amount – a Freedom of Information request to Office of Communications|date=1 June 2012|website=[[WhatDoTheyKnow]]|access-date=4 March 2019}}</ref><br />[[Carlton Television|Carlton]] <small>(£43,200,000)</small>
|CPV-TV failed on quality grounds.
|'''Carlton''' <small>(highest qualified bidder)</small>
|-
|London (weekend)
|[[London Weekend Television|LWT]] <small>(£7,590,000)</small>
|London Independent Broadcasting <small>(£35,400,000)</small>
|London Independent Broadcasting failed on quality grounds.
|LWT <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Midlands]]
|[[Central Independent Television|Central]] <small>(£2,000)</small>
|''unopposed''
|''unopposed''
|Central <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Northern Scotland|North of Scotland]]
|[[Grampian Television|Grampian]] <small>(£720,000)</small>
|North of Scotland TV <small>(£2,710,000)</small><br />C3 Caledonia <small>(£1,130,000)</small>
|North of Scotland TV and C3 Caledonia both failed on quality grounds.
|Grampian <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[North East England]]
|[[Tyne Tees Television|Tyne Tees]] <small>(£15,100,000)</small>{{ref label|e|e}}
|North East TV{{ref label|f|f}} <small>(£5,010,000)</small>
|Incumbent highest bidder.
|Tyne Tees <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|-
|[[North West England]]
|[[Granada Television|Granada]] <small>(£9,000,000)</small>
|[[Lime Pictures|North West TV]]{{ref label|g|g}} <small>(£35,000,000)</small>
|North West TV failed on quality grounds.
|Granada <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Northern Ireland]]
|[[Ulster Television|Ulster]] <small>(£1,010,000)</small>
|TVNI <small>(£3,100,000)</small><br />Lagan <small>(£2,710,000)</small>
|TVNI failed for business plan.{{ref label|h|h}}<br />Lagan failed on quality grounds.
|Ulster <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Southern England|South]] and [[South East England]]
|[[Television South|TVS]] <small>(£59,800,000)</small>
|[[Meridian Broadcasting|Meridian]] <small>(£36,500,000)</small><br />[[CPV-TV]] <small>(£22,100,000)</small><br />[[Carlton Television|Carlton]] <small>(£18,100,100)</small>
|TVS failed for business plan.{{ref label|i|i}}<br />CPV-TV failed on quality grounds.<ref name="sites.google.com"/>
|'''Meridian''' <small>(highest qualified bidder)</small>
|-
|[[South West England]]
|[[Television South West|TSW]] <small>(£16,100,000)</small>
|{{nowrap|[[Westcountry Television|Westcountry]] <small>(£7,820,000)</small>}}<br />TeleWest <small>(£7,270,000)</small>
|TSW failed for business plan.{{ref label|j|j}}<br />TeleWest failed on quality grounds.<ref name="sites.google.com"/>
|'''Westcountry''' <small>(by default)</small>
|-
|[[Wales]] and [[West of England]]
|[[Harlech Television|HTV]] <small>(£20,500,000)</small>{{ref label|k|k}}
|Merlin <small>(£19,400,000)</small><br />C3 Wales & West <small>(£18,300,000)</small><br />C3W <small>(£17,800,000)</small>
|Incumbent highest bidder.<br />C3 Wales & West failed on quality grounds.<ref name="sites.google.com"/>
|HTV <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|-
|[[Yorkshire]] and [[Lincolnshire]]
|[[Yorkshire Television|Yorkshire]] <small>(£37,700,000)</small>{{ref label|l|l}} <ref name="auto">Cherry, Simon ''ITV: The People's Channel'' Richmond, UK: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd 2005, pp204–207</ref>
|Viking <small>(£30,100,000)</small><br />White Rose <small>(£17,400,000)</small>
|Incumbent highest bidder.<br />Viking failed on quality grounds.<ref name="sites.google.com"/>
|Yorkshire <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|-
|National breakfast service
|[[TV-am]] <small>(£14,100,000)</small>
|Sunrise <small>(£34,600,000)</small><br />Daybreak <small>(£33,200,000)</small>
|Sunrise highest bidder.
|'''Sunrise''', later '''[[GMTV]]''' <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|-
|National [[teletext]] service for ITV and [[Channel 4]]<br /><small>(awarded 30 April 1992)</small>
|[[ORACLE (teletext)|ORACLE]] <small>(£6,700,000)</small>
|[[Teletext Ltd]] <small>(£8,200,000)</small><br />[[TV-am]] Cable TV <small>(£6,400,000)</small><br />[[Carlton Television|Carlton]]/Intelfax <small>(£3,600,000)</small><br />Update <small>(£3,600,000)</small>
|Teletext Ltd highest bidder.<ref>{{cite news |author1=ITN |author1-link=ITN |title=Associated Wins Teletext Franchise |access-date=21 February 2025 |work=[[ORACLE (teletext)|ORACLE]] |date=30 April 1992 |url=https://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/oracle/end.shtml |page=111}}</ref>
|'''Teletext Ltd''' <small>(highest bidder)</small>
|}

[[File:ITV regional map 1993.svg|right|thumb|250px|The ITV regions after the major change of contracts in 1993]]
As a direct result of the franchise bid:
*[[Thames Television]] controversially lost the [[London]] weekday franchise to '''[[Carlton Television]]'''. However, Thames continued to produce programmes for ITV and other channels, such as ''[[The Bill]]'', ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'', ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' and ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]''.
*[[TV-am]] lost the national breakfast television franchise to Sunrise Television, which changed its name to '''[[GMTV|Good Morning Television]]''' (GMTV) before launch because of a dispute with [[Sky UK|British Sky Broadcasting]] over the name 'Sunrise'.
*[[Television South|TVS]] lost the [[Southern England|South]] and [[South East England]] franchise to '''[[Meridian Broadcasting]]'''.
*[[Television South West|TSW]] lost the [[South West England]] 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===
{{ITV franchisee mergers|smg=yes|float=right|caption=Diagram showing the sale of franchisees from company to company<br />to form ITV plc and SMG}}
In 1992, [[Yorkshire Television]] and [[Tyne Tees Television]] merged again, creating [[Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television]] plc. The two companies were permitted to merge before their existing arrangements expired in June 1992,<ref>{{cite web|last=Clwyd|first=Ann|title=On regional television|url=http://web.mac.com/spunter1/Steve_Punter_Web_2/The_Bumblebee_Blog/Entries/2006/9/15_On_regional_television.html|work=Bumblebee Blogs|publisher=Steve Punter|access-date=11 December 2011}} {{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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]] took over [[Central Independent Television]] having held a stake in the company since 1987, [[Granada plc]] bought [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] in a hostile bid and MAI, owners of [[Meridian Broadcasting]], took over [[Anglia Television]]. 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]], acquired [[Grampian Television]] 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 [[Harlech Television|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]] and [[Border Television]] 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 6 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|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]] and BSkyB was launched, entitled [[Sky Scottish]], and aimed mainly at Scots who lived outside [[Scotland]]. 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.

[[File:ITV logo 1998 - 2006.svg|thumb|left|ITV logo, 1998–2006]]
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]], 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===
[[File:ITV branding map 2002.svg|right|thumb|250px|The on-air branding of the ITV regions in 2002]]
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]], with the exception of [[Wales]].

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]], 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=London Stock Exchange listing |publisher=London Stock Exchange |date=27 December 2007 |url=http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/prices/system/detailedprices.htm?sym=GB0033986497GBGBXSET13398649ITV |access-date=28 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128013410/http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/prices/system/detailedprices.htm?sym=GB0033986497GBGBXSET13398649ITV |archive-date=28 November 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The new company owned all the ITV regions in [[England]], [[Wales]] 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]]. 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a22550/male-skewed-itv4-to-launch-on-november-1.html|title=Male-skewed ITV4 to launch on November 1|last=Wilkes|first=Neil|date=13 July 2005|work=[[Digital Spy]]|access-date=30 November 2012}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=ITV unveils new channel identities across its portfolio of channels|url=http://www.itvplc.com/media/newsrelease/?page=15&id=1347|publisher=ITV plc|access-date=11 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121034146/http://itvplc.com/media/newsrelease/?page=15|archive-date=21 November 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 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]] 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''====
[[File:Itv-50.png|thumb|right|200px|''ITV 50''{{'}}s logo, used between 10 September and 3 October 2005]]
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 (British TV programme)|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 stamp]]s, and the regional companies owned by [[ITV plc]] 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 (TV channel)|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.
[[File:ITV logo.svg|thumb|200px|right|ITV logo, 2006–2013]]

===2006–2011===
In March 2006, [[STV Group|SMG plc]] announced that [[Scottish Television]] and [[Grampian Television]] 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]], 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=ITV 'can cut' regional programming|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7635011.stm|access-date=7 September 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Anger over news merger acceptance|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7635191.stm|access-date=7 September 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Meridian faces axe|url=http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/1703437.meridian_faces_axe/|access-date=7 September 2011|newspaper=Salisbury Journal|date=21 September 2007}}</ref> 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]].

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]].

===2013 rebranding===
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | total_width = 360

 | image1 = ITV branding map 2013.svg
 | caption1 = On-air branding of the ITV regions in 2013.
 | footer = (UTV adopted ITV continuity in 2020 but continues to use the UTV brand on local programming. The ITV brand was replaced by ITV1 in 2022.)

 | image2 = ITV-branded franchises map 2015.svg
 | caption2 = The fully ITV-branded franchises since 2014
}}
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.<ref>{{cite news|title=ITV1 to become ITV in channel rebrand|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9682449/ITV1-to-become-ITV-in-channel-rebrand.html|access-date=16 November 2012|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=16 November 2012}}</ref> 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 in [[England and Wales]] 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]]. A possible new ITV franchise for [[Wales]] could be introduced, which would replace the Wales and [[West of England]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=ITV and Channel 5 'may have to increase programming commitments' services|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/nov/21/itv-channel-5-programming-licence-renewal?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487|access-date=23 November 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=21 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title =ITV to get licence renewal| work =  [[The Guardian]]| date =18 September 2012| url =https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/18/itv-to-get-licence-renewal| access-date =23 November 2012}}</ref>

===The takeover of UTV===
On 19 October 2015, it was announced that [[ITV plc]] 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.<ref name=bbc-utvsale>{{cite news|title=UTV Media agrees sale of TV stations to ITV for £100m|work=BBC News |date=19 October 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-34508529|access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref> 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 in all ITV plc-owned regions, then known as ITV, rebranded back to [[ITV1]], the former name for the channel between 2001 and 2013,<ref name="RXTV ITV2">{{Cite web |last=D |date=11 November 2022 |title=ITV becomes ITV1 on 15th November |url=https://rxtvinfo.com/2022/itv-becomes-itv1-on-15th-november |access-date=11 November 2022 |website=RXTV info}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cremona |first=Patrick |date=5 October 2022 |title=ITV will rebrand main channel as ITV1 alongside launch of ITVX |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/itv-rebrand-channel-itv1-newsupdate/ |access-date=5 October 2022 |website=[[Radio Times]]}}</ref>

===Closure of CITV channel===
On 10 March 2023, ITV plc announced that it would close the CITV channel in the autumn, with a phased migration of ITV's children's programming moving to ITVX Kids set to launch on 22 July, on its streaming service [[ITVX]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ITV to shutter its linear kidsnet and move content to ITVX |url=https://kidscreen.com/2023/03/10/itv-to-shutter-its-linear-kidsnet-and-move-content-to-itvx/ |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Kidscreen}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=10 March 2023 |title=ITV announces closure of CITV in favour of streaming-only children's content |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-03-10/itv-announces-closure-of-citv-in-favour-of-streaming-only-childrens-content |access-date=30 April 2023 |work=ITV}}</ref>

ITVX launched the ITVX Kids [[Free ad-supported streaming television|FAST]] channel on 12 July 2023.<ref name="ITVX Kids2">{{cite web |date=12 July 2023 |title=ITVX Kids |url=https://www.itv.com/watch?channel=fast6 |access-date=12 July 2023 |website=ITVX}}</ref>

All of CITV's promos were replaced by ITVX promos on 1 September 2023. It then ceased broadcasting at 9:00pm. The last programme to air on the channel was an episode of ''[[The Rubbish World of Dave Spud]]'' titled ‘Moonbreaker’. The channel then closed shortly afterwards with a loop informing its viewers that its content could now be seen on ITVX.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thornham |first=Marc |date=24 August 2023 |title=Changes to ITV1 and ITV2 after CITV closure |url=https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/changes-to-itv1-and-itv2-after-citv-closure/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=RXTV info}}</ref>

On 2 September 2023, the morning after the closure of the CITV channel, ITV2 launched a new breakfast time block from 5am to 9am everyday with shows featured on ITVX Kids on [[ITVX]]. Currently, this block retains the CITV branding.<ref name="auto32">{{Cite web |title=CITV on ITV2 Children's Block Launch 02/09/23 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xwhSQq4eoU |access-date=3 September 2023 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=THE FIRST CITV ON ITV2 (HD) – 2nd September 2023 (5.00am – 9.00am) – Adverts and Continuity | date=2 September 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK2ntyc8oeQ |access-date=3 September 2023 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> {{citation needed span |text=The new children's strand replaces teleshopping and re-runs of shows including ''World's Funniest Videos'' and ''Love Bites''. Children's shows featured on the new breakfast time block include ''[[Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous]]'' and ''[[Scooby-Doo]]''. |date=February 2024}}

==List of former ITV franchise holders==
* [[ABC Weekend TV]] (Associated British Cinemas (Television)): [[Northern England|North]] and [[Midlands]] weekend franchise (1956–1968)
* [[Associated-Rediffusion]]: [[London]] weekday franchise (22 September 1955 – 29 July 1968)
* [[Associated Television|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]]: London weekday franchise (30 July 1968 – 31 December 1992)
* [[Television South West|TSW]] (Television South West): [[South West England]] franchise (1 January 1982 – 31 December 1992)
* [[Television South|TVS]] (Television South): South and South East England franchise (1 January 1982 – 31 December 1992)
* [[Television Wales and the West|TWW]] (Television Wales and the West): [[Wales]] and [[West of England]] franchise (1958–1968). See also [[Independent Television Service for Wales and the West|ITSWW]] (March–May 1968)
* [[Westward Television]]: South West England franchise (1961–1981)
* [[Wales West and North Television|WWN]] (Wales West and North Television): [[West Wales|West]] and [[North Wales]] franchise (1962–1964)
* [[TV-am]]: National breakfast television franchise (1983–1992)
* [[ORACLE (teletext)|ORACLE]]: National teletext franchise (1977–1992)

==Timeline== 
{{transcluded section|source=Template:ITV regional history}}
{{ITV regional history}}

===The Big Four/Five<span class="anchor" id="The Big Four and Big Five"></span>===
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).{{r|iba1976}} The "Big Five" system effectively came to an end in 1992 with the introduction of the ITV Network Centre (as a result of the [[Broadcasting Act 1990]]), 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:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dawtrey |first1=Adam |title=ITV's big 5 face prod'n paradox |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/itv-s-big-5-face-prod-n-paradox-108238/ |website=Variety |access-date=3 June 2022 |date=28 Jun 1993}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! "Big Four"  
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid white;" | 
! colspan="2" | "Big Five"
|-
! 1955–1968 
! 1968–1981 
! 1982–1992
|-
| [[Granada Television|Granada]] <!-- intentionally [[ redirect via historical name | on-screen name ]] applies to all links in this table per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
! style="text-align: left;"  | ◀ North {{nobold|(weekdays)}} 
! style="text-align: right;" | North West ▶
| colspan="3" | [[Granada Television|Granada]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC]] 
! style="text-align: left;"  | ◀ North {{nobold|(weekends)}}
! style="text-align: right;" | Yorkshire ▶
| colspan="2" | [[Yorkshire Television]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN -->
|-
! style="text-align: left;" | ◀ Midlands {{nobold|(weekends)}} 
! style="text-align: right;" rowspan="2" | Midlands ▶
| rowspan="2" | [[Associated Television|ATV]]
| rowspan="2" | [[Central Independent Television|Central]]  <!-- intentional link to a redirect per WP:NOTBROKEN --> 
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Associated Television|ATV]]
! style="text-align: left;"  | ◀ Midlands {{nobold|(weekdays)}} 
|-
! colspan="2" | ◀ London {{nobold|(weekends)}} ▶
| colspan="2" | [[London Weekend Television]] (LWT)
|-
| [[Associated-Rediffusion]] 
! colspan="2" | ◀ London {{nobold|(weekdays)}} ▶
| colspan="2" | [[Thames Television|Thames]] 
|}

==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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/09/nitv09.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229040529/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/09/nitv09.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 December 2007|title= The decline and fall of ITV's chief – News – Telegraph |access-date=29 April 2007 | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first1=Richard | last1=Alleyne | first2=Hugh | last2=Davies | date=9 August 2006}}</ref> (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: {{hlist|class=inline
| [[Timeline of ABC Weekend TV|ABC]]
| [[Timeline of Anglia Television|Anglia]]
| [[Timeline of ATV|ATV]]
| [[Timeline of Border Television|Border]]
| [[Timeline of Carlton Television|Carlton]]
| [[Timeline of Central Independent Television|Central]]
| [[Timeline of Channel Television|Channel]]
| [[Timeline of Grampian Television|Grampian]]
| [[Timeline of Granada Television|Granada]]
| [[Timeline of HTV West|HTV West]]
| [[Timeline of ITV in Wales|ITV in Wales]]
| [[Timeline of London Weekend Television|LWT]]
| [[Timeline of Meridian Broadcasting|Meridian]]
| [[Timeline of Scottish Television|STV]]
| [[Timeline of Southern Television|Southern]]
| [[Timeline of Thames Television|Thames & Associated-Rediffusion]]
| [[Timeline of TSW|TSW & Westward]]
| [[Timeline of TV-am|TV-am]]
| [[Timeline of TVS|TVS]]
| [[Timeline of Tyne Tees Television|Tyne Tees]]
| [[Timeline of Ulster Television|UTV]]
| [[Timeline of Westcountry Television|Westcountry]]
| [[Timeline of Yorkshire Television|Yorkshire]]}}
* {{section link|List of ITV regions#History}}

==Sources==
===Notes===
{{Refbegin}}
# {{note|a|a}} [[Color television|Colour television]] in the [[Channel Islands]] 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]]) 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]].
# {{note|b|b}} ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' was not broadcast on [[Westward Television|Westward]] or [[Channel Television]], both instead opting to show their local news.
# {{note|c|c}} 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.
# {{note|d|d}} [[CPV-TV]] was a consortium led by [[David Frost]]<!-- Not a Knight Bachelor until 1993. --> and [[Richard Branson]]. It bid for the [[East of England|East]], [[London]] weekday and [[Southern England|South]] franchises, aiming to offer a centralized single service.
# {{note|e|e}} The ITC at first considered failing the [[Tyne Tees Television]] bid, on [[business plan]] grounds.
# {{note|f|f}} [[North East England|North East]] was backed financially by [[Granada Television]].
# {{note|g|g}} [[Lime Pictures|North West Television]] was a consortium led by [[Phil Redmond]] of the independent producer [[Mersey Television]], and backed financially by [[Yorkshire Television]] and Tyne Tees Television.
# {{note|h|h}} 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.
# {{note|i|i}} [[Television South|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]].
# {{note|j|j}} [[Television South West|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.
# {{note|k|k}} The ITC at first considered failing the [[Harlech Television|HTV]] bid on business plan grounds.
# {{note|l|l}} The ITC at first considered failing the [[Yorkshire Television]] bid on business plan grounds.
{{Refend}}

===References===
<references />

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060214050339/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/itv50/ ITV at Fifty] (Transdiffusion)
* [http://www.itw.org.uk/ Independent TeleWeb]
* [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/uk_television_sector/overview/key_dates.asp.html Key dates in the history of commercial TV] ([[Independent Television Commission|ITC]], 2002)
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Television|Media|History}}

{{ITV}}

[[Category:History of ITV| ]]
[[Category:History of companies of the United Kingdom|ITV]]
[[Category:History of television channels|ITV]]
[[Category:Cultural history of the United Kingdom|ITV]]
[[Category:1950s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:1960s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:1970s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:1980s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:1990s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:2000s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:2010s in British television|ITV]]
[[Category:2020s in British television|ITV]]