The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 until 1972. It was responsible for determining the location, constructing, building, and operating the transmission stations used by the ITV network, as well as determining the franchise areas and awarding the franchises for each regional commercial broadcaster. The Authority began its operations on 4 August 1954, a mere four days after the Television Act received Royal Assent, under the Chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Clark. The Authority's first Director General, Sir Robert Fraser was appointed by Clark a month later on 14 September.
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
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.
Blockbusters is a British television quiz show based upon an American quiz show of the same name. A solo player and a team of two answer trivia questions, clued up with an initial letter of the answer, to complete a path across or down a game board of hexagons.
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.
Derek Batey was a British television presenter and television executive.
Crosswits is a British game show produced by Tyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time, and filmed from Tyne Tees' City Road studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. First shown on 3 September 1985, it was originally hosted by Barry Cryer for the first two series; comedian Tom O'Connor then took over from series 3 until the show ended on 23 December 1998. The show consisted of two members of the public competing against each other to solve simple crossword puzzles. A "celebrity" partner helped each member of the public. The announcers for the show were generally Tyne Tees continuity announcers such as Judi Lines, Jonathan Morrell and Bill Steel.
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
Connections is a British game show, devised and produced by John Huntley, that aired on ITV from 26 April 1985 to 6 July 1990. The daytime version is hosted by Sue Robbie from 1985 to 1988 and Simon Potter from 1989 to 1990, while the primetime version is hosted by Richard Madeley.
Night Network, Night Time and Night Shift were names given to the overnight schedule of the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The first ITV company began 24-hour broadcasting in 1986, with all of the companies broadcasting through the night by the end of 1988. At first, individual companies created their own services; however, before too long, many of the smaller ITV stations began simulcasting or networking services from others.
Sale of the Century was a British game show based on a US game show of the same name. It was first shown on ITV from 9 October 1971 to 6 November 1983, hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Special Celebrity Sale of the Century editions aired occasionally, starting on 2 January 1981 with Steve Jones as host.
Ask No Questions is a British game show that originally aired as a regional programme for Yorkshire Television in 1986 on Saturdays, then it became networked for most ITV regions in 1987.
Get Fresh is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom.
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.
ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom.
The ITV network of the United Kingdom began in 1955 as a network of independent broadcasters, each responsible for its own advertising. In 1982, when the Channel 4/S4C network launched, the regional ITV companes also began providing the advertising content for the new network, with each company covering the same transmitter area for Channel 4 as they did for ITV. Each station had a monopoly over TV advertising within its own broadcast area, thus enabling many stations to charge high prices for slots. Over the course of the 1980s an increase in competition from cable and satellite systems and from Channel 4, caused a decrease in advertising revenue for many ITV stations.
This is a timeline of the history of regional news on the British television network ITV.
3.: Independent Broadcasting Authority Annual Report and Accounts, 1976-1977, page 22 and 93.
