The ITV television network of the United Kingdom is divided into a number of geographical regions.
Since 2002, all regions share the same programming except for regional news, weather, advertising and some local political content. Before then, the regions were independent stations, each with its own schedule and branding.
The table below lists the current 14 regions and 23 sub-regions for ITV and its two associated channels, the timeshifted ITV +1 and the high-definition ITV HD. [1] [2] [3]
While the main SD channels (ITV1, UTV, and STV) on the Freeview platform provide a service for all 23 sub-regions, some sub-regional services are not available on some of the other channels and platforms, and another service is substituted instead, as indicated in the table.
Most Freeview transmitter areas overlap to some extent, so ITV regional services can often be received beyond the service areas indicated. Regional and sub-regional news and weather coverage may extend to include overlap areas.
The other ITV channels such as ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4, are not divided into regions, and each broadcasts a single service across the country.
Map ref | Freeview | Satellite | Virgin Media | Service area | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SD | +1 | HD | HD | SD | +1 | HD/SD | +1 | ||
1e | ITV Anglia (East) [4] | Anglia (East) | Meridian (East) | Anglia (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Anglia (East) | Meridian (East) | Norfolk, Suffolk, eastern and northern Essex |
1w | ITV Anglia (West) [5] | Anglia (West) | Anglia (West) | Cambridgeshire, most of Northamptonshire, central and northern Bedfordshire, northeastern Hertfordshire, northeastern Buckinghamshire and southeastern fringes of Lincolnshire | |||||
2e | ITV Border (England) [6] | Granada | Granada | Border (England) | Border (Scotland) | Granada | Border (England) | Granada | Central and northern Cumbria |
2s | ITV Border (Scotland) [6] | Border (England) | Border (Scotland) | N/A [note 1] | N/A [note 1] | Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders | |||
3e | ITV Central (East Midlands) [7] [8] | Central (West Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | Central (East Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | Central (East Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | Leicestershire, central and southern Derbyshire, southern Nottinghamshire, Rutland and southwestern Lincolnshire |
3w | ITV Central (West Midlands) [9] [8] | Central (West Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands, Worcestershire and northern Gloucestershire | |||||
▼ 4 | ITV Channel [10] | — | — | — | Channel | — | N/A [note 1] | N/A [note 1] | Channel Islands |
5 | ITV Granada [11] | Granada | Granada | Granada | Granada | Granada | Granada | Granada | Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, northwestern Derbyshire, southern Cumbrian coast, western North Yorkshire and Isle of Man |
6 | ITV London [12] | London | London | London | London | London | London | London | Greater London, southern and western Essex, north western Kent, Surrey, eastern Berkshire, southern Bedfordshire, southern Buckinghamshire, and most of Hertfordshire |
7e | ITV Meridian (East) [13] [14] | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Meridian (East) | Most of Kent and most of East Sussex |
7s | ITV Meridian (West) [15] [14] | Meridian (West) | Meridian (West) | Central and southern Hampshire, West Sussex, Isle of Wight, central and eastern Dorset, southeastern Wiltshire and southwestern East Sussex | |||||
7t | ITV Meridian (Thames Valley) [16] [14] | Meridian (Thames Valley) | Meridian (Thames Valley) | Oxfordshire, central and northwestern Buckinghamshire, western Berkshire, northern Hampshire, eastern Gloucestershire and southwestern Northamptonshire | |||||
8e | STV (Edinburgh & the East) [17] [18] | STV (Glasgow & the West) (Edinburgh evening news opt-out) | STV (Glasgow & the West) | Sky:STV (Edinburgh & the East) | STV (Edinburgh & the East) | N/A [note 2] | STV (Edinburgh & the East) | STV (Glasgow & the West) (Edinburgh evening news opt-out) | Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife (except North East Fife ), Midlothian and West Lothian |
Freesat: STV (Glasgow & the West) | |||||||||
8w | STV (Glasgow & the West) [19] [18] | STV (Glasgow & the West) | STV (Glasgow & the West) | STV (Glasgow & the West) | Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Lochaber, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire. | ||||
9a | STV (Aberdeen & the North) [20] [18] | STV (Aberdeen & the North) | STV (Glasgow & the West) | Sky:STV (Aberdeen & the North) | STV (Aberdeen & the North) | N/A [note 2] | N/A [note 1] | N/A [note 1] | Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Highland (except Lochaber ), Moray, na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney and Shetland |
Freesat: STV (Glasgow & the West) | |||||||||
9d | STV (Dundee & Tayside) [21] [18] | Sky:STV (Dundee & Tayside) | STV (Dundee & Tayside) | STV (Dundee & Tayside) | STV (Aberdeen & the North) | Angus, Dundee, North East Fife, Perth and Kinross | |||
Freesat: STV (Glasgow & the West) | |||||||||
10 | ITV Tyne Tees [22] | Tyne Tees | Granada | Tyne Tees | Granada | Granada | Tyne Tees | Granada | County Durham, Northumberland, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and northern North Yorkshire |
11 | UTV [23] | UTV | UTV | UTV | UTV | ITV Granada | UTV | UTV | Northern Ireland |
12 | ITV Cymru Wales [24] | Wales | Wales | Wales | Wales | Central (West Midlands) | Wales | Central (West Midlands) | Wales |
13e | ITV West Country (West) [note 3] [25] [26] | West Country (West) | Central (West Midlands) | West Country (West) [note 3] | Central (West Midlands) | Central (West Midlands) | West Country (West) [note 3] | Central (West Midlands) | Bristol, Forest of Dean, southern Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire, northern fringes of Dorset and Somerset |
13w | ITV West Country (South West) [note 4] [27] [26] | West Country (South West) | West Country (South West) [note 4] | West Country (South West) [note 4] | Devon, Cornwall and western Dorset | ||||
14e | ITV Yorkshire (South) [28] [29] | Yorkshire (North) | Granada | Yorkshire (South) | Yorkshire (North) | Granada | Yorkshire (South) | Granada | East Riding of Yorkshire, most of Lincolnshire, central Nottinghamshire, northeastern Derbyshire and northwestern Norfolk |
14w | ITV Yorkshire (North) [30] [29] | Yorkshire (North) | Yorkshire (North) | South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, central and southern North Yorkshire and northern Nottinghamshire |
Independent Television began as a franchised network of independently owned regional companies that were both broadcasters and programme makers. Each regional station was responsible for its own branding, scheduling and advertising, with many peak-time programmes shared simultaneously across the whole network. The companies serving London, the Midlands, North West England and Yorkshire (which were the first to start broadcasting in 1955 and 1956) were responsible for making or commissioning the majority of nationally networked programmes; these companies were known as the "Big Four" before 1968 and the "Big Five" afterwards (reflecting the number of companies). Every company made its own regional programmes.
The network began with companies serving London in 1955, and gradually grew until all companies were on air by 1962, and continued to grow as more transmitters were provided for existing companies during the 1960s and 1970s. Over time, some companies lost their franchises and were replaced by others, and the regions covered by some franchises were changed. From 1993, mergers between ITV companies became possible; as a result, companies began to take each other over to increase efficiencies and to expand. By 2004, all of the ITV franchises in England and Wales were owned by the newly formed ITV plc, the four other franchises being Scottish TV, Grampian TV, UTV and Channel.
The list below indicates the on-air brand names predominantly used by each regional company, which may differ from the official company name or franchise name. Each company used its own branding:
Thus companies' brands were often seen by viewers outside their own areas, especially the Big Four/Five brands. From 1989, a national ITV corporate identity was established, which saw regional brands combined with the national ITV brand, although the balance between regional and national brands varied from company to company.
By 2002, all regional companies in England and Wales were owned by either Granada plc or Carlton Communications. These companies carried identical schedules, except for regional news and weather which continued to use joint regional and ITV1 branding. At all other times national ITV1 branding alone was used in England but not Wales. Two years later, Granada and Carlton merged to form ITV plc. Regional branding in England was completely abolished in 2006.
Some regions were divided into sub-regions for the purposes of regional news and advertising, but these sub-regions were not usually identified by on-air branding and consequently are not shown here (with the exception of Wales and the West of England which, after 1964, were managed under a single franchise but are shown as separate regions).
Area | First on air [31] | 1955– 1968 [32] | 1968– 1982 [32] | 1982– 1992 [32] | 1993– 2002 [32] | 2002– 2006 [note 2] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Scotland | 30 September 1961 | Grampian | Grampian Television | Grampian TV [note 3] | ||||
Central Scotland | 31 August 1957 | Scottish Television / STV | Scottish Television | Scottish TV [note 3] | ||||
Northern Ireland | 31 October 1959 | Ulster Television | UTV | |||||
Channel Islands | 1 September 1962 [33] | Channel Television | Channel Television / CTV | CTV | Channel | |||
North East England | 15 January 1959 [34] | Tyne Tees Television | TTTV / Tyne Tees | TTTV / Tyne Tees / North East 3 [note 4] [34] | ITV1 Tyne Tees | |||
Southern Scotland, Cumbria, Isle of Man | 1 September 1961 [35] | Border Television | Border | ITV1 Border | ||||
North West England [note 5] | 3 May 1956 | Granada | ITV1 Granada | |||||
Yorkshire [note 5] | 3 November 1956 | Yorkshire Television | Yorkshire Television | ITV1 Yorkshire | ||||
Lincolnshire, East Riding of Yorkshire | 20 December 1965 | Anglia | Anglia until 1974 | |||||
Yorkshire Television from 1974 [36] | ||||||||
East of England | 27 October 1959 | Anglia | ITV1 Anglia | |||||
Midlands [note 5] | 17 February 1956 | ATV | Central |
| ||||
South and South East England | 30 August 1958 | Southern | TVS | Meridian | ITV1 Meridian | |||
London area [note 5] | 22 September 1955 |
| ITV1 (London) | |||||
Wales | 14 September 1962 | Teledu Cymru from WWN until 1964 |
| HTV Wales | HTV (Cymru Wales) | ITV1 Wales | ||
Teledu Cymru from TWW after 1964 [note 15] | ||||||||
South Wales and West of England VHF 405-line only | 14 January 1958 | TWW (General) [note 16] |
| HTV (General) until 1985 | — | |||
West of England UHF and digital | 30 May 1970 | — | HTV West | HTV (West) |
| |||
South West England | 29 April 1961 | Westward | Westward TV | TSW |
| |||
Nationwide breakfast franchise | 1 February 1983 | — | TV-am [note 18] | GMTV [note 19] | ||||
Nationwide teletext franchise | 1978 | — | ORACLE | Teletext |
In the table above coloured highlights denote companies whose broadcasting times were limited:
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 | |||||||||||||
STV | SMG | STV Group plc | |||||||||||
Grampian | |||||||||||||
Year: | 92 | 93 | 94 | 96 | 97 | 2000 | 01 | 04 | 08 | 09 | 11 | 16 | |
Diagram showing the sale of franchisees from company to company to form ITV plc and SMG |
From 2002, all regional companies in England used national ITV1 branding alone for networked programmes. Similarly in Scotland, both the Scottish and Grampian regions were rebranded in 2006 as "STV" at all times.
Continuity branding used for networked programmes, that is, excluding regional programmes.
Area | 2002–2006 | 2006–2013 | 2013–2020 | 2020–2022 | from 2022 | 2013 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Scotland | Grampian TV | STV | |||||
Central Scotland | Scottish TV | ||||||
Northern Ireland | UTV |
| |||||
Channel Islands | Channel | ITV1 Channel Television | ITV | ITV1 | |||
England, Southern Scotland, Isle of Man | ITV1 [note 21] | ||||||
Wales | ITV1 Wales |
With all English franchises owned by ITV plc, there have been times when the news regions have not coincided with the official franchise regions. These exceptions are listed in the tables below. For the names of the regional news programmes, see ITV (TV network) § Regional programming.
ITV network regions and sub-regions continue to be used by ITV Media to sell different advertisements in each sub-region.
Each regional company was not just a broadcaster but also a television production company. After mergers, all the production arms of the companies acquired by ITV plc were taken over by Granada Productions, which became ITV Studios in 2009. The two STV regions formed SMG Productions, which became STV Productions and then STV Studios.
Former regional companies | 2002–2004 | 2004–2006 | 2006–2009 | 2009–2020 | From 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scottish and Grampian | SMG Productions | STV Productions [note 22] | STV Studios | ||
Ulster | UTV | ||||
Channel Television | Channel Television | ITV Studios | |||
Carlton, Central, Westcountry [note 23] | Carlton Productions |
|
| ||
All other companies | Granada combined with regional company name and logo | ||||
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 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.
Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
ITV1 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.
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Television as a single entity, but the two companies are still separately licensed. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of "ITV Broadcasting Limited". Carlton has been branded on air as "ITV1" since 28 October 2002. Carlton Television Ltd, the original holder of the licence, has since been dissolved. Carlton UK Television Limited however is now known as ITV Consumer Limited and legally operates ITV plc's websites. As Carlton's name has no relation to its region, its on-screen identity has been completely removed. Other regions have kept their original company name as a region name and in their local news name.
ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Borders and parts of Northumberland. The TV service previously covered the Isle of Man from 26 March 1965 until 15 July 2009.
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
Television in Scotland mostly consists of UK-wide broadcasts, with regional variations at different times which are specific to Scotland. The BBC and ITV networks both began broadcasting in the country during the 1950s. There were further expansions in the early 1960s with the arrival of Grampian, Border and BBC2 television.
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition. ITV1 HD is available to view in England, Wales, Scottish Borders and the Channel Islands on Freesat via channel 103, Freeview channel 103, Sky channel 103, Virgin Media channel 103 and in Switzerland on SwisscomTV.
ITV Thames Valley was a non-franchise ITV news region covering the Thames Valley area of the United Kingdom from 4 December 2006 until 8 February 2009. Owned and operated by ITV plc, it served the south/south-eastern area of the legal Central franchise and the north/north-western area of the legal Meridian franchise. In its first year, its flagship news programme Thames Valley Tonight won the Royal Television Society's Southern Centre Award for News Magazine Programme of the Year for its coverage of the 2007 summer floods.
The ITV television network in the United Kingdom began as a group of regional stations, each with their own identities. Each station used its own idents to create an individual identity.
STV is a free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the STV Group. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland ITV public broadcaster licences, formerly known as Scottish Television and Grampian Television respectively.
Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was originally the method by which the significant majority of viewers in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man received television. Analogue terrestrial television broadcasts have fully ceased in the UK with Northern Ireland being the last region to have ceased transmission analogue terrestrial television broadcasts. Northern Ireland switched off the last analogue television signals, making all of the United Kingdom only capable of receiving digital television, in the early hours of 24 October, 2012. It has been completely replaced by digital terrestrial television and other non-terrestrial means as of the end of 2012.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of the history of Anglia Television, the ITV franchise holder for the East of England.
This is a timeline of the history of Border Television. It provides the ITV service for most of Cumbria in England and the southern parts of Scotland.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Westcountry provided the ITV service for the South West of England from 1993 to 2009, after which the service name "ITV West Country" has been used across the West and South West of England.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television service HTV West. "HTV West" and "ITV West" were the service names for the ITV service in the West of England from 1970 until 2009, after which the service name "ITV West Country" has been used across the West and South West of England. The "West" service was a sub-region of the franchise for Wales and the West.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster London Weekend Television. It has provided the ITV weekend service for London since 1968.