.svg){kind=logo} Logo used since 2022 | |
 Area covered since 2020 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Network | ITV |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i/1080pHDTV[a] (downscaled to576i for theSDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | ITV1 +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ITV plc |
| Parent | ITV Broadcasting Limited |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | 28 October 2002; 22 years ago (2002-10-28) (unified ITV1 branding) |
| Replaced | UTV (adopted ITV continuity April 2020) |
| Former names | ITV (2013–2022) |
| Links | |
| Website | itv |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview |
|
| Streaming media | |
| ITVX | Watch live (ITV London, UK only) |
| Sky Go | Watch live (UK only) |
| Virgin TV Go | Watch live (ITV London, ITV regions only) Watch live (+1) (UK only) |
ITV1 (formerly known asITV) is a British free-to-airpublic broadcasttelevision channel[b] owned and operated by the British media companyITV plc. It provides theChannel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland whereSTV provides the service.
ITV1 as a consistent national channel (with dedicated slots for regional news and other regional programmes) evolved out of the oldITV network – a federation of separately owned regional companies which had significantly different local schedules and branding. During the 1990s, the differences between the schedules in each region gradually reduced – partly through the consolidation of ownership and partly through the standardisation in the volume and scheduling of regional programmes.
In 2002, a major change of appearance occurred when all ITV regions in England and Wales adopted national continuity. Regional logos vanished and regional names were mentioned only before regional programmes. Effectively this left ITV1 in England and Wales looking like a national channel with slots for regional opt-outs – similar to channels likeBBC One andFrance'sFrance 3 – rather than a group of independent regional broadcasters sharing programmes.
The unification was consolidated in 2004 whenGranada plc acquiredCarlton Communications to formITV plc. By then, the two companies had acquired all the regional Channel 3 companies in England and Wales. ITV plc later acquiredChannel Television in the Channel Islands andUTV in Northern Ireland.
ITV1 is today the biggest and most popular commercial television channel in the United Kingdom. ITV1, and its predecessor regional channels, have contended withBBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However, in line with the other former analogue channels, ITV1's audience share has fallen as a result of availability of multi-channel television, and more recently streaming services, in the UK.
Following the creation of theTelevision Act 1954, the establishment of a commercial television service in the UK began.
TheIndependent Television service, later abbreviated to "ITV", was made up of distinct regions, with each region run by different franchisee companies. The three largest regions, London, the Midlands, and the North of England, were initially sub-divided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. The first use of the name "ITV1" for the network was as a tuning button label on some TV sets sold in the UK in the 1970s in contemplation of the eventual launch of afourth national channel to be named ITV2 - this service eventually materialised asChannel 4.
The service was very heavily regulated until the early 1990s. The regulator, the ITA (and later the IBA) operated the transmitters, awarded franchises and had a great influence over schedules, content and technical standards. Legally the regulator was the broadcaster – the companies were contracted to provide an "independent television service" to compete with the BBC.
The ITV network existed in a region-heavy form from its inception through to the 2000s, although the switch to a single unified service was gradual.
ITV1 became the generic on-screen brand name used by the twelve franchises of the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The ITV1 brand was introduced on 11 August 2001 by the franchisees owned by Carlton and Granada, initially used alongside the local regional name, such as "ITV1 Anglia" and "ITV1 Meridian". However, it became the sole on-air identity in October 2002 when the two companies decided to create a single unified playout of the channel, with regional references used only prior to regional programming, such as local news and weather. Carlton and Granada went on tomerge in 2004, creatingITV plc, which now owns thirteen of the fifteen regional ITV licences.
The ITV1 name was only used in England, Wales,Southern Scotland, andIsle of Man, untilChannel Television adopted the name in January 2006, bringing it to theChannel Islands. As national continuity is often used on Channel Television, ITV1 national branding had been seen on the station for several years previously.
The licensees that use the ITV1 brand are:ITV Anglia,ITV Border,ITV Central,ITV Channel Television,ITV Cymru Wales,ITV Granada,ITV London (weekday),ITV London (weekend),ITV Meridian,ITV Tyne Tees,ITV West Country,ITV Yorkshire, andUTV.
ITV Wales & West was the only exception, using the nameITV1 Wales at all times for the Welsh part of its broadcast area, as it has a higher regional commitment. Latterly, theITV1 Wales name was only used on break-bumpers and regionally advertised programmes until 2013. Non ITV plc-owned licensees on the ITV network, nowadays onlySTV Group, generally did not refer to the ITV name.
The network production arms of nowadays ITV plc-owned licensees have been gradually combined since 1993, to eventually formITV Studios.
| Year: | 92 | 93 | 94 | 96 | 97 | 2000 | 01 | 04 | 08 | 09 | 11 | 16 | |
| Central | Carlton Communications | ITV plc | |||||||||||
| (Thames) | Carlton | ||||||||||||
| (TSW) | Westcountry | ||||||||||||
| HTV | |||||||||||||
| (TVS) | Meridian | UNM | |||||||||||
| Anglia | |||||||||||||
| Granada | Granada plc | ||||||||||||
| LWT | |||||||||||||
| Yorkshire | YTTTV | ||||||||||||
| Tyne Tees | |||||||||||||
| Border | Capital | ||||||||||||
| (TV-am) | GMTV | ||||||||||||
| Channel | |||||||||||||
| UTV | |||||||||||||
| Year: | 92 | 93 | 94 | 96 | 97 | 2000 | 01 | 04 | 08 | 09 | 11 | 16 | |
| Diagram showing consolidation of ITV franchisees into ITV plc | |||||||||||||
The ITV1 channel was formed by the unification of eleven of the ITV licences. The United KingdomBroadcasting Act 1990 changed many of the rules regulating the ITV network, which most notably relaxed separate franchise ownership, and hours of production. However, as far back as 1974, Yorkshire Television and itsNorth East neighbour, Tyne Tees Television, formally createdTrident Television, a merged entity of the two companies. By 1981, due to regulation, the company was forced to de-merge; however, they resumed their alliance in 1993 asYorkshire-Tyne Tees Television, which therefore owned the two franchises, and integrated the two companies' assets more than its predecessor.
The intense race to own a larger share of the ITV network began in 1994, whenCarlton Communications, the owner of London weekday broadcaster Carlton Television, took control ofCentral Independent Television in theMidlands. Days afterwards,Granada plc, owner ofGranada Television of theNorth West, purchasedLondon Weekend Television (LWT).Meridian's owner, Mills and Allen International, then went on to purchaseAnglia Television in the same year, before merging to becomeUnited News and Media (UNM) in 1995. UNM then went on to purchase Wales andWest broadcaster,HTV in 1996, while Carlton purchased Westcountry Television later that year. Granada then agreed a deal to take overYorkshire-Tyne Tees Television in 1997, giving the broadcaster access to bothYorkshire andNorth East franchises.
There was no further movement in the take-over of franchises until 2000, whenBorder Television and all of itsradio assets were sold toCapital Radio Group, who consequently sold the television broadcasting arm to Granada Media Group. Granada then went on to purchase all of UNM's television interests (including its ITV franchises), which brought Meridian and Anglia into its power, but due to regulation, Granada was forced to sell HTV's franchise to Carlton while acquiring HTV's production facilities. By this time, all of the franchises in England and Wales were owned by either Carlton or Granada.
On 2 February 2004, Granada plc officially merged with Carlton Communications, creatingITV plc, although it was in effect, a takeover by Granada. In 2011, ITV plc acquiredChannel Television from its private ownersYattendon Group plc. On 19 October 2015, ITV announced they were to buy UTV for £100 million subject to regulatory approval. The deal also includedUTV Ireland, UTV's Irish channel. Initially, the UTV name was retained, but on 2 April 2020 the station began using ITV's national continuity-at first as an emergency measure due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, then announced as a permanent transition on 26 November 2020.[1][2]
The ITV1 channel consists of thirteen regional franchises in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which each broadcast regional news and other local programming to its area. Many franchise areas in England have sub-regions providing separate regional news bulletins. For example, the Anglia region is divided into West and East. This arrangement was suspended in February 2009, when ITV implemented plans to save the company £40m a year on the amount it spent making local news, but was reinstated (with slightly fewer sub-regions) on 16 September 2013.
Since 27 October 2002, on all ITV plc-owned franchises, regional programming has been preceded or plugged by an oral regional announcement, in the format ITV1regional brand; e.g. ITV1 Granada. In English regions, up until 13 November 2006, regional names were also superimposed (post-production) on these idents below the ITV1 logo, but this practice has since ceased. ITV Wales remains unaffected, and still continues to use dual-branding across all of its on-screen presentation. Despite the lack of regional names on screen, the regional name is usually spoken by thecontinuity announcer prior to local programmes. After ITV1's unification in 2002, the two London franchises,Carlton Television andLondon Weekend Television were merged into a single entity,ITV London, while the Wales and West franchise lost its official identity, and instead was substituted with ITV1 Wales and ITV1 West on-air, with no reference linking the two together (the licence was formally split in two byOfcom from 1 January 2014, when the West region merged with the Westcountry region to form the West Country franchise).
Channel Television adopted the ITV1 brand on-air prior to the 2011 ITV plc takeover of the channel. UTV was purchased by ITV plc in 2016, but did not adopt national continuity until April 2020 (see above).
Areas with full ITV1 channel branding and continuity:
| Broadcast area | Pre-ITV1 branding | Post-2014 franchise | Post-ITV1 branding | ITV-branded franchises map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English-Scottish border | Border Television | ITV Border | ITV |  |
| Isle of Man | ITV Granada | |||
| North West England | Granada Television | |||
| North East England | Tyne Tees Television | ITV Tyne Tees | ||
| Yorkshire and Lincolnshire | Yorkshire Television | ITV Yorkshire | ||
| The Midlands | Central Independent Television | ITV Central | ||
| East of England | Anglia Television | ITV Anglia | ||
| London (weekdays) | Carlton Television | ITV London (weekdays) | ||
| London (weekends) | LWT | ITV London (weekends) | ||
| South and South East England | Meridian Broadcasting | ITV Meridian | ||
| Channel Islands* | Channel Television | ITV Channel Television | ||
| South West England | Westcountry Television | ITV West Country | ||
| West of England | HTV West | |||
| Northern Ireland | UTV | UTV | ITV/UTV | |
| Wales | HTV Wales | ITV Cymru Wales | ITV Cymru Wales |
* ITV1 +1 is not available in the main channels (e.g. channel 203 on Sky, channel 34 on Freeview, channel 112 on Freesat), and may be in the regional variation channels instead (e.g. channel 973 on Sky).
In the English regions (plus Border Scotland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man), the channel was known from 2006 until 2013 as ITV1, from 2013 until 2022 as ITV, and from 15 November 2022, ITV1 at all times. Regional references no longer appear before any programming at all in these areas.
ITV network areas without full ITV1 channel branding and continuity:
| Broadcast area | Present branding | Former branding |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Scotland | STV | Grampian Television |
| Central Scotland | Scottish Television |
In June 2007, ITV plc executive chairmanMichael Grade hinted at a possible re-structure of the ITV regional layout, stating the existence of smaller regional services "no longer makes sense" relative to the regional audience they serve.[3] The plan was confirmed in September 2007, reducing the number of regional news programmes from 17 to just 9, saving around £35 to £40 million each year, and affecting every ITV plc regional company with the exception of ITV London, ITV Wales, and ITV Granada. These changes were implemented in early 2009. All sub-regional news programmes ceased;ITV Border'sLookaround programme was merged withITV Tyne Tees'North East Tonight programme, ITV Westcountry'sWestcountry Live merged withITV West'sThe West Tonight programme, andITV Meridian'sMeridian Tonight south and south east editions merged withITV Thames Valley'sThames Valley Tonight.
On 16 September 2013, ITV reverted to a more localised system, as was the case prior to a shake-up in 2009, with 14 news regions (rather than eight).[4] This meant people in the Borders, for example, saw a return to a Border-only news service, with all stories covered solely on Southern Scotland and Cumbria, similar to the pre-Tyne Tees merger in February 2009.[5] Meanwhile, in the Westcountry, viewers in Devon and Cornwall also saw a return to a more localised service.
Ahigh-definition simulcast of ITV1,ITV1 HD, debuted on 7 June 2008, with the technical launch of theFreeview HD service. The channel has its roots in ITV HD, which began as a trial service in 2006 on a low-power digital terrestrial (DVB-T) channel from London'sCrystal Palace transmitting station, and onTelewestTV Drive cable service. The channel was revived on 7 June 2008, in time for theUEFA Euro 2008 football tournament, this time exclusively available on theFreesatdigital satellite service.[6][7] With its debut on Freeview HD, the channel was re-branded as ITV1 HD in December 2009.[8]
The time-shift channel ITV1 +1 launched on all TV platforms, including Freeview in 2011.
ITV channels are available on cable andIPTV in Switzerland andLiechtenstein. In the Republic of Ireland, ITV (asUTV) was widely available; however,UTV Ireland was launched in 2015 and replaced UTV in the Republic of Ireland. UTV has since ceased broadcasting in Ireland. ITV is registered to broadcast within the European Union/EEA through ALIA in Luxembourg.[9][10]
Since 27 March 2013, ITV1 London has been offered byBritish Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to members of HM Forces and their families around the world, replacing theBFBS3 TV channel, which already carried a selection of ITV programmes.[11]
ITV was not consistently promoted as a brand name until 1989 although the name was in common public use. Independent Television, shortened toITV, was the collective and generic name for the companies which held commercial television franchises. The name referred to the initial regulator theIndependent Television Authority (ITA). It was keen to use this name for its franchisees to highlight the fact they were also public services and not simply commercial broadcasters. In the early years, the network was sometimes referred to as the "ITA network", and the companies as "ITA contractors" or "ITA stations". The companies were principally identified on air using by their own names though some did make reference to ITV too. There were also specific uses of the ITV name – for instance,ITV Schools,ITV Sport, andChildren's ITV were used for programming strands.
On 1 September 1989, the ITV Association set out a basic package with a new "ITV" logo, which included idents, promotions and general on and off air design, and an edit of this package was designed for each franchise holder within the ITV network. The dual branded idents included a large "ITV" logo, in which the "V" contained part of the franchise logo, and written below the logo in a grey capitalised font was the name of the regional broadcaster. However, only half of the regional broadcasters opted to use the package, which had completely failed by 1998.
On 5 October 1998, another second ITV common presentation (once again using dual-branding with the ITV name) was launched, under the theme, "TV from the Heart". Beginning on 8 March 1999, ITN News was rebranded asITV News.
By 2001, all eleven franchises of England and Wales were owned by either Granada plc or Carlton Communications, and a new common name, ITV1, was launched on 11 August 2001.
On 28 October 2002, regional continuity and idents were dropped in the English regions while the service in Wales was rebranded ITV1 Wales. At this time all English regional continuity announcers were replaced with a single team of national continuity announcers – initially, there were six but the number was later reduced to just four.
In 2005,ITV plc introduced a new channel branding calledITV Day, used to identify ITV1 between 9:25am and 6:00pm. ITV Day was treated as a separate entity to ITV1 and featured its own presentation set focusing using the colours of red, orange and yellow and featured scenes of typical "daytime" activities. Promotions were used in a similar format to ITV1, and all daytime programmes advertised within ITV1 hours branded with the ITV Day logo. A similar "UTV Day" branding was adopted in Northern Ireland.
In January 2006, the channel adopted a new on-air look, designed mainly to improve cross-channel promotion across ITV's multichannel presence. The new logo brought ITV1, ITV2, andITV3 in line with ITV4's and had been observed on various billboard ads in the UK when the new identity was first used on-screen on 16 January 2006. The overhaul also put an end to the formerITV Day brand, which was axed in favour of a full-time ITV1 identity.
On 14 January 2013, ITV unveiled a huge rebranding, including a new corporate logo inspired by handwriting, and the renaming of the flagship channel back from ITV1 to just ITV. Its colour schemes vary on-air to complement its surroundings; a practice referred to internally as "colour picking". Following the buyout in 2016, UTV also rebranded to these idents, using a tweaked version with the new UTV logo.[12][13]
On 1 January 2019, ITV refreshed its on-air presentation again. The logo and trailers were modified to use a different colour scheme, but the main change was to the idents. In a project known asITV Creates, a new set of idents were used weekly. They were built around interpretations of the ITV logo commissioned from British visual artists. The first artist featured wasRavi Deepres. UTV continued with its 2013-era idents until it adopted ITV continuity and trials in 2020. However, it used the new on-air presentation on trails with a tweaked version to accommodate the UTV logo.[14][15]
On 15 November 2022, ITV renamed the channel back from ITV to ITV1 which was used as the name on the channel between 2001 and 2013.[16] ITV1 also received another rebrand, as part of a redesign of all ITV's main channels, being carried out in tandem with the launch of the streaming service ITVX.[17] The logo is now coloured blue and uses idents that are cross-used across ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe with different views which reflect the channel's image and programming output.
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