ITV

The commercial network ITV was established in September 1955 as a competitor to BBC Television. By September 1962, all regions in the UK had their own local ITV station. Unlike other countries, ITV was structured differently and consisted of fifteen regional franchises operated by the ITA/IBA. The network experienced internal political conflicts regarding schedules, programming, and national presentation for its first 40 years.

The 1991 Broadcasting Act facilitated mergers and takeovers, and by 2004, all English franchises were under the control of ITV plc, with Channel and UTV following suit. The two Scottish franchises continue to be controlled by STV. From 2002 to 2013, ITV was renamed ITV1 as part of a effort to establish a single national presentation and promote a newly-created spin-off channel. In January 2013, the ‘1’ was dropped, reverting the name back to ITV. In November 2022, the name was changed back to ITV1.