ITV1

For the UK-wide programming carried by both ITV1 and STV, see ITV (TV network).

ITV1

Logo used since 2022
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	England Wales Southern Scotland Northern Ireland Isle of Man Channel Islands
Network	ITV
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i/1080p HDTV (downscaled to 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift service	ITV1 +1
Ownership
Owner	ITV plc
Parent	ITV Broadcasting Limited
Sister channels	ITV2 ITV3 ITV4 ITVBe CITV
History
Launched	28 October 2002 (2002-10-28) (unified ITV1 branding)
Replaced	Anglia Border Carlton Central Channel Granada HTV LWT Meridian Tyne Tees Westcountry Yorkshire (all on 28 October 2002) UTV (adopted ITV continuity April 2020)
Former names	ITV (2013–2022)
Links
Website	itv.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview	Channel 3 (SD) Channel 35 (+1) Channel 103 (HD)
Streaming media
ITVX	Watch live (ITV London, UK only)
TVPlayer	Watch live (UK only)
Sky Go	Watch live (UK only)
Virgin TV Go	Watch live (ITV London, ITV regions only)

ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.

ITV1 as a consistent national channel (with dedicated slots for regional news and other regional programmes) evolved out of the old ITV 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 – like BBC One or France 3 – rather than a group of independent regional broadcasters sharing programmes.

The unification was consolidated in 2004 when Granada plc acquired Carlton Communications to form ITV plc. By then, the two companies had acquired all the regional Channel 3 companies in England and Wales. ITV plc later acquired Channel Television in the Channel Islands and UTV 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 with BBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However, in line with other terrestrial channels, ITV1's audience share has fallen as a result of availability of multi-channel television in the UK.

Branding

Main article: History of ITV television idents

ITV was not consistently promoted as a brand name until 1989 although the name was in common public use. Independent Television, shortened to ITV, was the collective and generic name for the companies which held commercial television franchises. The name referred to the initial regulator the Independent 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, and Children's ITV were used for programming strands.

1 September 1989 to 4 October 1998

5 October 1998 to 10 August 2001

In 1989, the first real efforts were made to turn ITV into a brand. The ITV Association commissioned a generic presentation package for each of the individual companies. It included both a national logo and regional versions which included an element based on each company's own symbol. The second attempt at consistent network branding came in 1999, using the new national logo introduced a year earlier. A series of idents were created under the theme, "TV from the Heart". Like the 1989 attempt, a version was created for every franchise holder and it effectively led to dual branding. This look was only taken by nine of the fifteen ITV broadcasters, two of which later resorted to other designs which still kept the dual branding. The Carlton-owned regions had their own dual branded idents while the two Scottish regions and UTV made no use of ITV branding.

File:ITV1 logo 1999-2002.svg

11 August 2001 to 27 October 2002

File:ITV1 logo 2004.png

1 November 2004 to 15 January 2006

File:ITV1 2006.png

13 November 2006 to 8 April 2010

File:ITV1.png

9 April 2010 to 13 January 2013

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. 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 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, and ITV3 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 former ITV Day brand, which was axed in favour of a full-time ITV1 identity.

14 January 2013 to 31 December 2018

1 January 2019 to 14 November 2022

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. 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 as ITV 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 was Ravi 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.

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. 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. 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.

External links

• ITV1 at itv.com

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