ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition, eliminating what had hitherto been the monopoly of BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was consistently used on-air throughout its life. However, in 1966, during the application process for contracts running from 1968, the company renamed itself 'Southern Independent Television Limited', a title which was used until 1980 when the company reverted to its original corporate name. Southern Television ceased broadcasting on the morning of 1 January 1982 at 12:43am, after a review during the 1980 franchise round gave the contract to Television South.
Scottish Television is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the second-oldest franchise holder in the UK that is still active.
ITV Meridian is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited. Meridian Broadcasting Ltd was one of several ITV plc-owned regional companies to have its legal name changed on 29 December 2006, when it became ITV Meridian Ltd. This company is, along with most other regional companies owned by ITV plc, listed with Companies House as a "Dormant company".
Frederick Edgar Dinenage is a British author, broadcaster and television presenter. His television career has spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and ITV's regional programming in the south of England. Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.
Art Attack is a British children's television programme revolving around art, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan on CITV from 1990 to 2007, and subsequently hosted by Lloyd Warbey on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2015.
Dramarama is a British children's anthology series broadcast on ITV between 1983 and 1989. The series tended to feature single dramas with a science fiction, supernatural and occasionally satirical theme. It was created by Anna Home, then head of children's and youth programming at TVS; however, the dramas themselves were produced by a total of twelve ITV regional companies. Thus, each episode was in practice a one-off production with its own cast and crew, up to and including the executive producer. Some episodes were originally produced for the 1981 ITV children's anthology series Theatre Box and then were re-screened as Dramarama episodes.
Gareth Jones, also known as Gaz Top, is a Welsh television presenter.
ITV News Meridian is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Meridian.
The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre, is the largest independent television studio complex in the United Kingdom, and is based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent, England. It has been home to a varied selection of independent British television programming including Later... with Jools Holland, Jools' Annual Hootenanny, Take Me Out, Catchphrase, as well as popular children's shows such as Mister Maker and Let's Play for CBeebies, or Art Attack for TVS and later for ITV and Disney Channel.
Violet Berlin is a British television presenter, producer and script writer for films, games and immersive experiences, best known for her pioneering coverage of innovative technology and video games.
Prove It! was a British educational children's TV series presented by Joe Challands and Jamie Rickers. It was an entertainment programme focusing on the illustration of scientific facts, while raising the question of whether a certain claim can be empirically verified. The programme was usually on the CITV Channel until August 2012. Regular segments include the 60 Second Prove It!, where a presenter attempts to perform a task in 60 seconds to prove it is possible, Fred's Shed where Fred Talbot shows how to use simple home items to perform various fun and interesting experiments and U Prove It, where viewers demonstrate their unusual skills.
Motormouth was a Saturday morning children's entertainment series that was produced by TVS and broadcast across the ITV network for four series, running between 3 September 1988 and 4 April 1992. Each series generally ran from the autumn of one year to the spring of the next, as was common among many 'main' Saturday morning series.
Get Fresh is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom.
The Big Bang is a CITV science show broadcast from 15 April 1996 – 8 September 2004 and produced by Yorkshire Television. It is notable for being one of CITV's longest-running science programmes. The aim of the programme was to make science fun and interesting for children.
Gail McKenna is an English former glamour model, former theatre and television actress, and former television presenter. She worked as a Page 3 girl and glamour model from 1986 until 1990, before becoming a sports presenter for L!VE TV and Five and a presenter of children's programmes for CITV.
Coast to Coast was the flagship regional news programme produced by TVS, covering the south and southeast of England with separate news services for both parts of the dual-region between January 1982 and December 1992.
How is a British educational television programme created by Jack Hargreaves. It was produced from 1966 by Southern Television, for which Hargreaves was a presenter and deputy programme controller. It lasted until 1981, when the company lost its franchise to TVS.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of children's programming on the British ITV network and ITV Digital Channels. The timeline starts in 1980 when ITV launched its first branding for children's programming, although programmes for children had been broadcast on ITV from the earliest years of the network.
