ITV consists of eleven franchises in England and Wales which broadcast regional news and other local programming to its area. Many franchise areas in England previously had sub-regions providing separate regional news bulletins. For example, the Anglia reason was divided into West and East. This arrangement came to an end in February 2009 when ITV implemented plans to save the company £40m a year on the amount it spent making local news.
ITV offers a broad range of daytime programming including their flagship daytime show, This Morning, CITV and The Price Is Right. Early evening is dominated by soap operas, with the long running Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and police drama The Bill. Late evening is often used to broadcast original British drama, typically of the murder mystery or romance genre. ITV produces relatively little comedy when compared to its terrestrial rivals, however shows such as 2DTV, Harry Hill’s TV Burp and Monkey Trousers are recent exceptions.
ITV covers many popular sports. The channel emphasises coverage of football (it holds the UK terrestrial rights to the UEFA Champions League).
The channel shares coverage of international football events such as the World Cup with the BBC. It also covers Formula 1 racing and other motor sport, rugby, and other sports.
The channel emphasises coverage of football (it holds the UK terrestrial rights to the UEFA Champions League).
ITV HD
ITV HD is a free-to-air high-definition television channel operated by ITV plc., the company which is contracted to provide 11 ITV services across the UK. ITV HD is available to view in the United Kingdom on Freesat via channel 119 and Freeview channel 51. From 2 April 2010, ITV HD became a standard channel available on all digital platforms.
Much of the current programming is upscaled standard definition and not native HD, ITV has stated that HD content will increase in time.
ITV HD is a simulcast of the main ITV channel ITV, broadcasting 24 hours a day, the channel uses MPEG4/DVB-S, sharing a transponder with some of ITV’s regional variation, which use MPEG2.
Website: www.itv.com/hub/itv
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998 and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial (Freeview) platforms. The channel has the biggest audience of any UK multi-channel, thanks to its wide availability.
The channel is known for its American programmes such as Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and The Real Housewives, catch ups of ITV1 programming such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale, spin-off shows such as The Xtra Factor and Britain’s Got More Talent, and for original programming, with shows such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Celebrity Juice.
ITV2 has a time-shift channel ITV2+1.
ITV2 HD, a high-definition simulcast of ITV2, launched on 7 October 2010 on Sky channel 225. The channel is available through Sky’s pay subscription in a non-exclusive deal, ITV has held talks with other providers including Virgin Media. Original HD programming includes entertainment shows, Britain’s Got More Talent, The Xtra Factor and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! NOW!; original drama such as the third and fourth series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl; and acquired content including The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl and a range of movies.
Website: www.itv.com/itvplayer/itv2
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2. ITV3 has a time-shift channel ITV3+1. The channel is mainly aimed at the over-35 audience, and much of its output consists of reruns of older ITV drama series and sitcoms.
The company are hoping to use it, and extra investment into its ITV2 channel to triple non-terrestrial revenue within five years. ITV’s attempt to secure more ratings for the channel has led to the network purchasing the exclusive terrestrial television rights to a number of newer and in some cases popular US drama series, such as NUMB3RS and more recently Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
A high-definition simulcast of ITV3, ITV3 HD, was launched on 15 November 2010 on Sky. The channel is available through Sky’s pay subscription in a non-exclusive deal, ITV has held talks with other providers including Virgin Media. ITV3 HD offers most of the ITV3 catalogue of recent drama in high definition, including the likes of Lewis, Agatha Christie’s Marple, Above Suspicion and factual series such as Joanna Lumley’s Nile and Martin Clunes’ Islands of Britain. An increasing amount of ITV3’s classic drama will be broadcast in high definition as ITV re-masters its extensive back-catalogue.
Website: www.itv.com/hub/itv3
ITV4
ITV4 is a UK television station which launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action series of the 1960s and ’70s. ITV4 is broadcast on Freeview, digital cable, Sky and Freesat.
ITV4 +1 launched on Sky on 1 December 2008 and on Freesat on 9 December 2008. ITV4’s programming is quite mixed, the channels line-up includes Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Big Match Revisited, Dollhouse, The Force, Jericho, Homicide: Life on the Street, LAPD: Life On the Beat, Martial Law, Miami Vice, Millennium, Minder, Police Camera Action!, The Professionals, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Sanctuary, Space: 1999, The Sweeney, Real Prison Breaks, UFO and Used Car Roadshow. In addition to these shows, a number of hits from the ITC catalogue are shown, such as The Saint and The Persuaders!.
A high-definition simulcast of ITV4, ITV4 HD, was launched on 15 November 2010 on Sky. The channel is available through Sky’s pay subscription in a non-exclusive deal, ITV has held talks with other providers including Virgin Media. ITV4 HD’s high definition content includes premium sports events such as the British Touring Car Championship, 2010-11 Ashes Series, Tour de France, Grand Slam of Darts, UEFA Europa League, and Indian Premier League Cricket as well as films.
Website: www.itv.com/hub/itv4
ITV Be
ITVBe, is an entertainment, lifestyle and reality television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc.
The channel launched on 8 October 2014 and is wholly funded by advertising and sponsorship.
It is available free-to-air on all the major broadcasting platforms, including Freesat, Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.
The channel is dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment programming, featuring real people and real lives. It is the new and exclusive home of The Only Way is Essex as well as other brand new UK commissions and a range of American shows.
Website: www.itv.com/be
CITV
CITV (Children’s ITV) is a TV station from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel is aimed at children under 12 years old, broadcasting content from the current CITV library, as well as commissions and acquisitions. The CITV channel currently broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00, however, the channel broadcasts a Teleshopping strand weekday mornings between 06:00 and 06:30.
Programming between 06:00 and 09:25 is controlled by ITV Breakfast, who, having rebranded the vast majority of their GMTV1 and 2 children’s output as CITV, now use the space to simulcast their programming at weekends on the ITV Network and CITV Breakfast on weekdays. ITV takes over at 09:25, controlling the rest of the day’s programming.
When it first launched, GMTV used to sell all the airtime for the channel, making it the first ITV plc-owned channel not to be sold by the in-house sales team. Airtime sales have now been taken back in-house by ITV.
ITV’s output for the channel includes many well-established programming from the long-running afternoon slot on ITV, such as My Parents Are Aliens, Jungle Run, Art Attack, Pokemon, and others, as well as new programming for the channel, such as Horrid Henry, Bookaboo and The Cool Stuff Collective. On weekdays, the channel broadcasts mainly preschool programming in the day (except during the school holidays), and programmes for school children in the late afternoon and early evening to cater for the available audience.
The CITV channel aired the last three weeks of Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown exclusively on Saturday mornings before the show ended on Saturday 1 July 2006. The channel had previously simulcast the show with ITV before spin-off show Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown: Extra aired at 11:30 exclusive to the channel. Some of the programmes that air are sourced from different networks. ITV Breakfast’s morning output on the channel and the weekend block on ITV1 is largely produced by Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. On some occasions, the channel has repeated archive animated programming dating as far back as the early 1990s, including The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Rupert, The Wombles and Wolves, Witches and Giants.
Website: www.itv.com/hub/citv
