ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.
BBC Two is a British free-to-air television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.
BBC One is a British free-to-air television network owned and operated by the BBC, which operates a public television service. It is the corporation's flagship network, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, including BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and some sports events.
ITV is a British free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 service across the country except in the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated public television services in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.
This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
BBC Choice was a British television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terrestrial channel launch.
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 formally began broadcasting in the country during the 1950s. There were further expansions in the early 1960s with the arrival of Grampian, Borders and BBC2 television.
BBC Two Northern Ireland is the Northern Irish variation of BBC Two operated by BBC Northern Ireland. It is broadcast via digital terrestrial transmitters and from the SES Astra 2E satellite at the 28.2° East orbital position.
UK Today was a BBC television news programme shown on most digital satellite and digital terrestrial versions of BBC One and BBC Two. It consisted of a round up of stories from the BBC's various local news programmes where it had not initially been possible to show regional variations. The programme was eventually replaced by digital feeds of each regional news service, finishing in 2002.
A regional variation generally refers to times when a radio station or television station simultaneously broadcasts different programmes, continuity or advertisements to different parts of its coverage area. This may be so as to provide programming specific to a particular region, such as local news or may be so as to allow advertisements to be targeted to a particular area.
BBC One Northern Ireland is a television channel operated by BBC Northern Ireland. It is the Northern Irish variation of the UK-wide BBC One. The service is broadcast in Northern Ireland from Broadcasting House in Belfast. In the rest of the UK, BBC One Northern Ireland is available as a regional variant on most TV service providers. In Ireland, BBC One Northern Ireland is available as a standard channel.
The BBC broadcasts all of the BBC One and BBC Two regional variations on digital satellite television from the SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east; providing local news programmes and other regional programming with local continuity and presentation for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The BBC refers to the whole UK regional network as "BBC Nations and Regions".
STV is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned by STV Group and is a part of the ITV network.
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.
Freeview is the name for the collection of free-to-air services on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform in the United Kingdom. The service was launched at 5 am on 30 October 2002 and is jointly operated by its five equal shareholders – BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BSkyB and transmitter operator Arqiva. This article documents the history of the Freeview service, from its inception up to the present.
BBC Choice Northern Ireland was the national variation for BBC Northern Ireland of the BBC Choice service, that was broadcast by the BBC.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of television in Northern Ireland.
