Central Independent Television

Central Independent Television was established following the restructuring of ATV, commencing operations on January 1st, 1982. Initially, Central faced challenges as a result of a dispute with unions regarding the East Midlands news programme, which took over 18 months to resolve. To expand its coverage, Central established the Central South news division to serve Oxford and the Thames Valley. This division was eventually merged with Meridian North in 2006 to form ITV Thames Valley, before being disbanded three years later and becoming part of ITV Meridian. In 1994, Central was acquired by Carlton and was later renamed Carlton Central in 1999. Finally, in 2004, the company was rebranded as ITV Central.