ITV1
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:Infobox TV channel ITV1 is a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. The network is the oldest and most popular commercial television channel in the country. It is officially known as Channel 3.
This article deals with the channel as it is broadcast at present. For information on the long history of the channel, see the separate article, ITV.
Contents |
Programming
ITV1 offers a broad range of daytime programming including their flagship daytime show, This Morning and CITV.
Early evening is dominated by soap operas, with the long running Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and police drama The Bill.
ITV1 covers many popular sports. The channel emphasises coverage of football (it holds the UK terrestrial rights to the UEFA Champions League). It also covers Formula 1 racing, rugby, and other sports.
ITV1 has a full news service. The channel is required under the Broadcasting Act 1990 to put its news contract out to a nominated news provider. Since the channel's opening, Independent Television News Limited has held the contract. News bulletins are broadcast at 5:30am, 12:30pm, 6:30pm, and 10:30pm. For more details on ITV News, see the separate article on ITN.
The regional ITV companies provide local programmes tailored for the regional audiences. All the ITV companies provide a main local bulletin at 6pm (preceded in the UTV region by a more features-based programme at 5:30pm), as well as other local features and sport programming. These regional programmes have however been drastically reduced in recent years. See the separate articles on each ITV regional company for details of what programmes they provide.
Organisation
Unlike practically all other TV channels in the United Kingdom, ITV1 is not owned by one single company, although it has come close in recent years. The UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) licences fifteen companies to provide regional Channel 3 services in various areas of the country, with a separate franchise for the national breakfast service between 6:00am and 9:25am. The licences were last put out to full tender in 1991, since then they have been renewed on a rolling basis. All the companies are members of ITV Network Limited (formerly the Independent Television Companies' Association Limited), a not-for-profit body. It is this body that commissions programmes for the network, and schedules the network programming.
In practical terms, ITV plc, which owns eleven of the fifteen licences (all except Scottish TV, Grampian, UTV, Channel and GMTV (which it still partially owns)) dominates the system nowadays. ITV plc only operates the other "ITV" branded channels in the UK, not the ITV Network. See the separate article on ITV plc for details.
Current franchise holders
The following companies hold the licences that make up the ITV network:
| Area | Franchise holder | Ultimate owner | On-air name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Scotland | Scottish Television Ltd | SMG plc | Scottish TV3 |
| North Scotland | Grampian Television Ltd | SMG plc | Grampian TV3 |
| Northern Ireland | Ulster Television plc | Ulster Television plc | UTV1 |
| Scotland/England border and Isle of Man | Border Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Border2 |
| North East England | Tyne Tees Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Tyne Tees2 |
| Yorkshire and Lincolnshire | Yorkshire Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Yorkshire2 |
| North West England | Granada Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Granada2 |
| Wales and the West of England | HTV Group plc | ITV plc | ITV1 Wales1/ ITV1 West2 |
| The Midlands | Central Independent Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Central2 |
| East Anglia | Anglia Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 Anglia2 |
| London Weekday | Carlton Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 London2 |
| London Weekend | London Weekend Television Ltd | ITV plc | ITV1 London (Weekends)2 |
| South and South East England | Meridian Broadcasting | ITV plc | ITV1 Meridian2 |
| South West England | Westcountry Television | ITV plc | ITV1 Westcountry2 |
| The Channel Islands | Channel Television Ltd | Channel Television Limited | ITV1 Channel2 |
| National breakfast time | GMTV Ltd | ITV plc / The Walt Disney Company | GMTV |
1. ITV1 Branding is used overnight
2. Branding is usually just "ITV1"
3. Branding is usually "Nighttime TV" overnight
Name and Branding
From its founding in 1955 the channel was known nationally as Independent Television (later ITV) and locally by the regional branding of the local ITV franchise operator. (For the history of the channel, see the main ITV article). Up until 1989, only the local regional name would regularly be seen on-air however. In 1989, the network introduced dual branding on-air for the first time, with a common ident featuring the ITV logo designed for all the stations, although in the event less than half of them used it. Under dual-branding, the ITV name and logo was used alongside the existing regional name and logo. In 1998, a new ITV logo was launched and in 1999, a second common ident (once again using dual-branding) was launched, under the theme, "TV From The Heart". This was used by most stations in England and Wales, although the stations owned by Carlton used a different package with the same "heart" theme, but with the Carlton branding more prominent. The network was renamed ITV1 on 11 August 2001, with the increased uptake of digital TV and the existence of ITV2. Initially this entailed re-edits of the existing dual-branded idents.
However from 28 October 2002, in England and the Scottish Borders (where all the franchises are owned by ITV plc), the station dropped regional identification before most programming and adopted a unified branding of ITV1. In Wales, although the HTV name has been dropped, some "local" identification remains in the form of ITV1 Wales.
Local programmes are often preceded by ITV1 (Region Name) outside of London, e.g. ITV1 Central or ITV1 Tyne Tees. However, the process of consolidation within the ITV plc company means that these names are themselves being phased out, with, for example, Tyne Tees productions increasingly seen credited to ITV Yorkshire.
The UK nations of Wales, Scotland (with the exception of the Borders), and Northern Ireland have different branding on the channel, in view of the national audiences they serve. In Wales, the local licensee, HTV (also owned by ITV plc) broadcasts under the name "ITV1 Wales" before all programmes. In the Scottish Television (Central Scotland), Grampian Television (Northern Scotland) and UTV (Northern Ireland) regions (none of which are owned by ITV plc), the "Scottish TV", "Grampian TV", and "UTV" names continue to be used before all programmes.
On 1 November, 2004, the channel adopted a new on-air look to coincide with the launch of ITV3. The new look was designed mainly to improve cross-channel promotion across the ITV network. Another entirely new logo was introduced in early 2006, bringing ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3 in line with ITV4's. The new look had already been spotted on various billboard ads in the UK when the new identity was first used on-screen on 16 January 2006.
External links
| ITV British television | Channels |
|
Regions
North Scotland: Grampian TV |
Central Scotland: Scottish TV |
Scottish/English Border: Border |
|
Breakfast: TV-am, GMTV | Teletext: ORACLE, Teletext Ltd | News: ITN, ITV News |
|
ITA |
IBA |
ITC |
Ofcom |