ITV channels
Encyclopedia
ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 (Independent Television)
is the original British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 advertising television network. Some of the franchise holders, most notably ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...

 and its predecessor companies Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 and Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

, set up other television channels, some with the ITV brand, some not.

ITV

The ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 Network was launched in 1955, a federal network of fifteen regional companies granted franchises either solely on a geographical basis or also on a weekday/weekend split basis. The franchises were reallocated several times and now, except for two in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

 and one in the Channel Islands
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...

, all the franchises are owned by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...

, and are branded as ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

. The network contains a variety of programming, such as entertaniment, dramas, documentaries, news, films and sport. The network is still running to this day, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in September 2005. The channel is available to everyone who has a working television in Britain and broadcasts 24 hours a day. A timeshift channel, ITV +1, is available on Freeview, Sky, Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

 and Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

.

ITV2

After 1964, the fourth push-button channel selector on British televisions was traditionally labelled "ITV2", in the expectation that the second commercial channel would be awarded to ITV in the near future. In the event, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 claimed the button when it launched in 1982. It was not until 1998 that ITV launched its first new digital channel, known as ITV2
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 platforms. The channel has the...

. This combines more repeated and new entertainment and films as well as behind the scenes and imported programmes for the modern world. It is available on all digital services and broadcasts 24 hours a day. A timeshift channel, ITV2 +1, is available on Freeview, Sky, Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

 and Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

. Before 2 August 2011, ITV2 +1 was only available on Freeview between 19:00 and 06:00, as it was forced to timeshare with CITV, and, in Scotland, TeleG (until it closed).

ITV2 HD is the simulcast high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 channel of ITV2. It is available exclusively on Sky as a pay-TV channel.

ITV3

ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...

's third channel was launched on 1 November 2004 as ITV3
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.-History:...

. It was initally thought that ITV3 would continue alongside Plus, broadcasting only on Freeview and cable, but at a last minute deal made it available on Sky, replacing Plus on all platforms (except Freeview). It usually shows murder mysteries, classic dramas and movies. ITV3
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.-History:...

 is also available on all digital services and is available between 06:00 and 03:00, with teleshopping taking up the early hours of the day. A timeshift channel, ITV3 +1, is available on Sky, Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

 and Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

, and is expected to launch on Freeview, although it would be unavailable in Wales and broadcast only from 18:00 until 04:00.

ITV3 HD is the simulcast high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 channel of ITV3. It is available exclusively on Sky as a pay-TV channel.

ITV4

ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...

 is a digital channel based targeted at men. It began broadcasting on 1 November 2005. It broadcasts for the same amount of time as ITV3. It usually shows sport events, archival programming, and, similarly to ITV3, movies. A timeshift channel, ITV4 +1, is available on Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 and can be manually tuned in on Sky and Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

.

ITV4 HD is the simulcast high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 channel of ITV4. It is available exclusively on Sky as a pay-TV channel.

ITV HD

ITV HD is the simulcast high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 channel created by ITV. It was first trialled primarily to show the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

 games to which ITV had the rights. It also showed looping previews, it began scheduled broadcasting on 9 June 2006 and ended on 30 November 2006. The full version was released as a simulcast on 17 July 2008 on all platforms.

STV launched their HD service in June 2010. STV HD broadcasts in Central and Northern Scotland on Virgin Media and Freeview.

UTV HD
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

 was launched in Northern Ireland in October 2010 exclusively to Virgin Media.

CITV

The CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...

 channel is aimed at children under 9 years old, and broadcasts daily between 06:00 and 18:00. The channel launched on 11 March 2006 at 09:25 with Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown
Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown
The Ministry of Mayhem was a CITV show which broadcast on the ITV Network from January 2004. As of January 2006, the onscreen name was Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown. It was the last regular studio-based Saturday morning show on ITV....

, on Freeview, Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 and TalkTalk TV. It then launched on Sky on 8 May 2006 at 06:00, with other platforms to follow. The channel replaced the ITV News Channel
ITV News Channel
The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and...

 on Freeview. However, in February 2008 it was moved to a space originally held by ABC1, allowing ITV4 to go 24/7 on Freeview, however this means that it can no longer be received in Wales via Freeview because the channel would interfere with S4C if available in Wales.

Defunct Channels

The ITV Network as a whole has owned other spinoff channels. Some were as joint ventures with other broadcasters, others were not.

ITV Play

ITV Play
ITV Play (channel)
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....

 was a 24/7 participation television channel
Quiz channel
A quiz channel is a television channel that focuses on phone-in quizzes. The quizzes usually focus on puzzles, such as filling in blanks, identifying subjects, or other forms of word puzzles....

 in the United Kingdom. It launched on 19 April 2006 on Freeview, and was also available on Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...

. The channel's closure was announced on 13 March 2007 and the channel closed on 15 March 2007. The channel was replaced by ITV2+1 on Freeview. The brand "ITV Play
ITV Play
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....

" continued during late night quiz show slots on the ITV Network until December 2007.

ITV News Channel

The ITV News Channel launched on August 1, 2000 under the name ITN News Channel. Carlton
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 and Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 bought equal shares from ITN in the network and rebranded it ITV News Channel in September 2002. Then in April 2004 ITV bought NTL's 35 per cent share and took full control over the channel. The channel was closed on 23 December 2005 due to poor ratings and the launch of ITV4. It was replaced by ITV4 and the CITV channel.

ITV Sport Channel

The ITV Sport Channel, originally broadcasting UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 football and ATP Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

 tennis under the brand ONsport, was ITV's sports channel. It closed with (and indeed was responsible for) the collapse of ITV Digital
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...

. Lasting for just one football season; the ITV Sport Channel launched on Saturday 11 August 2001 with Man City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 v Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

 in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

, and closed on Saturday 12 May 2002 with the Division 2
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 Play Off Final between Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

 and Stoke
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

. Matt Smith
Matt Smith (broadcaster)
Matt Smith is a British broadcaster, and currently one of ITV Sport's main presenters.-Early life:Matt is a Modern Languages and Political Studies graduate from Sheffield City Polytechnic, where he studied from 1985-89. During that time he spent a year in Italy as part of his studies...

, Tony Dorigo
Tony Dorigo
Anthony Robert Dorigo is a retired English football player who played for Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leeds United and the England national side as a left-back.-Career:...

, Russell Osman
Russell Osman
Russell Charles Osman is a retired England international footballer.-Playing career:Osman was born in Repton, Derbyshire, the son of Rex Osman who played a handful of games for Derby County in the early 1950s...

, John Hendrie
John Hendrie
John Grattan Hendrie is a Scottish former professional association footballer who played on the right wing or in attack....

, Garry Nelson
Garry Nelson
Garry Paul Nelson is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Southend United, Swindon Town, Plymouth Argyle, Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic and Torquay United between 1979 and 1997. He played as a striker or on the left wing...

, Guy Havord, Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray is a football commentator on British television, who supports York City FC, and is currently with the BBC. Whilst working for Eurosport at the 1998 World Cup, he became the youngest ever television commentator on a World Cup Final, aged 26...

, Peter Drury
Peter Drury
Peter Drury, born 1968, is ITV Sport's number two football commentator, a role he has held since joining the network in 1998.A politics graduate from Hull University, Peter began his career as a journalist with Hayters sports agency before joining BBC Radio Leeds in 1990 as a football and cricket...

, Jon Champion
Jon Champion
Jon Champion is ESPN UK's number one football commentator. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the past 20 years. His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school Bootham School, York...

, David Fairclough
David Fairclough
David Fairclough is a retired English footballer, most famous for playing for Liverpool as a striker during the 1970s and 80s.-Life and playing career:...

, Paul Walsh
Paul Walsh
Paul Anthony Walsh is a retired English footballer.Walsh was a diminutive and pacy centre forward who shot to fame in the 1980s during spells with Charlton, Luton, Liverpool and Tottenham.-Charlton Athletic:...

, Jim Beglin
Jim Beglin
James Martin "Jim" Beglin is a former Irish professional footballer.- Life and career :Beglin played schoolboy football in his native city with Bolton and Waterford Bohs before joining Shamrock Rovers in 1980...

, Simon Hill
Simon Hill
Simon Hill is an Australian-based association football commentator.-British-based work:After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 1990, Hill began his work in the field of journalism, initially writing for newspapers as a freelance author while studying for the NCTJ Pre-Entry Course in...

, Peter Stevenson
Peter Stevenson
Peter Stevenson is an All Star winning former Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Derry in the 1970s and 1980. Described as a "tower of strength", he won the Ulster Senior Football Championships on two/three? occasions. Stevenson played club football with a number of clubs throughout his career...

, Carrie Frais, Lisa Rogers
Lisa Rogers
Lisa Rogers is a Welsh television presenter and occasional actress. She has appeared in films, television programmes, theatre and radio.-Early life:...

 and Dave Beckett commentated for the channel. There were two spinoff channels, ITV Sport Plus and ITV Sport Select, the latter used to show the on-demand Premier League football matches from Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

. Whilst football was the mainstay of the channel, it showed the ATP Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

, British basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and European Cup rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

. Previously to the ITV Digital rebrand, the ITV Sport bouquet included ONsport 1 and ONsport 2, which were subject to rebrands themselves after ITV bought up the rights to the tennis Masters Series. Before then, the channel had been branded as Champions on 28, and Champions on 99.

ITV Select

A pay-per-view service on ITV Digital
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...

 formally called ONrequest, which launched with ONdigital. It gave access to film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s, sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 events and exclusive footage. It closed prior to the collapse of the platform due to ITV's financial difficulties and poor uptake.

Granada Breeze

Originally Granada Good Life, Granada Breeze was another GSB owned venture. The channel was aimed at women and was a lifestyle channel aimed at female viewers and showed programmes on lifestyle, cookery, health and US daytime television such as Judge Joe Brown. It closed in March 2002 due to poor viewing figures. Its sister channel Plus then followed Talk TV and Breeze in early November 2004 and was closed down by ITV plc as part of a deal to carry ITV3 on Sky Digital.

Plus

Owned by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a 50-50 joint venture between Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 and British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

, Granda Plus was a general entertainment channel aimed at older audiences and ran from archived material. The channel, initially launched as "Granada Plus", was later known as "G Plus" and finally simply "Plus". It continued to broadcast until 1 November 2004, when ITV sealed a deal to buy out Sky's stakes in GSB to close down the channel in order for ITV's new channel, ITV3
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.-History:...

, to take Plus' low EPG position on Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...

. The channel was replaced on digital satellite and cable platforms, but a closedown slide continued to be available as late as 2010 on analogue cable. The closedown slide has since became inaccessible to places where analogue cable is no longer supported.

Men & Motors

Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting after Plus became the third GSB channel to be closed down, being replaced by ITV3. A joint venture set up by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 (now part of ITV plc) and British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

 in 1996. Although ITV plc is now the sole owner of GSB, Sky will receive 49.5 per cent of any proceeds (net of liabilities) if Men & Motors is sold.

Formerly available on Freeview - the channel has recently been removed to make way for ITV Play
ITV Play (channel)
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....

 which was then removed to make way for ITV2 +1, but it is still available on Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...

 and Virgin Media Television. While it was still broadcasting, it was available from 11:00 to 04:00 every day with ITV Nightscreen
ITV Nightscreen
ITV Nightscreen is a scheduled programme on the United Kingdom's ITV television network, consisting of a sequence of animated pages of information about ITV's upcoming programmes, features and special events, with an easy listening music soundtrack. The programme is used to fill the station's...

 taking up the hours of 04:00 to 06:00 and a mixture of teleshopping and animated captions between 06:00 and 11:00.

Men & Motors was removed from Virgin Media on 25 March 2010, and closed on 1 April 2010 on Sky Digital and Freesat, making way for ITV1 HD.

Granada Talk TV

The last of the original GSB channels, Granada Talk TV focused primarily on chat shows. It closed after less than a year on air.

Carlton Cinema

A channel owned by Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 showing classic cinema. Closed in 2003 due to poor viewing figures.

Taste CFN

Originally Carlton Food Network, owned by Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

, showing cooking programmes. This was the first Carlton channel to be launched when it started on cable on 1 September 1996. Closed in late 2001 due to financial difficulties. Was never replaced on the ITV Digital platform.

Carlton Kids

Owned by Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 showing children's television. Closed in 2000 due to poor viewing figures. Channel replaced by a timeshare of the now-defunct Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...

 and Discovery Wings
Discovery Wings
Discovery Wings was an American and British TV channel devoted to documentaries regarding aircraft and as a brand extension of Wings, a staple documentary program of the Discovery Channel throughout the 1990s...

 on the ONdigital platform.

Carlton Select

A channel owned by Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 showing General entertainment programming. Closed in 2000 due to poor viewing figures and its slot was used to provide extra hours for Carlton Food Network
Carlton Food Network
Carlton Food Network was a British digital television channel, provided by Carlton Television, showing food and cookery programmes. It launched in September 1996, and closed in November 2001...

. The channel had originally been broadcast as SelecTV since June 1995 as a cable exclusive but changed to Carlton Select in early 1997 and started on OnDigital when that platform went on air in late 1998.

Carlton World

A channel owned by Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 showing factual programming. Closed in 2000 due to poor viewing figures. Channel replaced by a timeshare of Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...

 and Discovery Wings
Discovery Wings
Discovery Wings was an American and British TV channel devoted to documentaries regarding aircraft and as a brand extension of Wings, a staple documentary program of the Discovery Channel throughout the 1990s...

 on the ONdigital platform.

Shop!

Shop! was a home shopping channel which was a joint venture between Granada and Littlewoods
Littlewoods
Littlewoods is the name of a former retail and gambling company founded in Liverpool, Merseyside, England by John Moores in 1923.It started as a shopping catalogue company, processing orders by post in the early 1970s. In 1981, it expanded to a call centre, processing orders via telephone. At its...

. It ran from 1999–2002 and was replaced on Freeview by QVC
QVC
QVC is a multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in five countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan and – QVC Italy to 200 million households...

.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing was a health and beauty focused channel, a joint venture between Granada and Boots
Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots GmbH is a leading international, pharmacy-led health and beauty group. It has two core business activities - pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing, and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution - and has a presence in more than 25 countries...

 which lasted just nine months on air in 2001.

Super Channel

A pan-European cable and satellite channel launched in 1987 by all of the ITV companies except Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

 (who was a shareholder in the SES Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...

 satellite operator instead), with the assistance of BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...

 (then Enterprises) and of a few other third parties, such as the independent music television producer Music Box, this channel aimed to beam a selection of the best of British television from both past and present (from both the BBC and ITV) to those living in mainland Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

, aimed both at foreign viewers and British expatriates, along with the syndicated ITN World News
ITN World News
ITN World News was a newscast shown during the late-eighties and most of the nineties. It was either shown on cable or satellite television, or shown internationally. The newscast was broadcast from London, England, and was produced by Independent Television News...

 and a few other programmes coming from other European countries (such as Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

). However, the channel ran into severe financial difficulties almost from the start, with rights problems involving Equity demanding full payment of royalties for its archive programming, and poor viewing figures, advertising revenue and profits. The channel eventually had to scrap much of its BBC and ITV output, and after failing to achieve its expectations in 1988 the channel's British shareholders sold the entirety of its shares to the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 consortium Beta Television, who changed its programming output completely, although it continued carrying the ITN World News and being based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In 1993, it was bought by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 broadcaster NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, relaunching it as NBC Super Channel, later renaming it NBC Europe. It finally closed in 1998. (The BBC launched its own satellite service immediately after the failure of Super Channel, BBC TV Europe
BBC TV Europe
BBC TV Europe was a BBC subscription-funded television service founded in 1987 serving continental Europe. It was available on satellite and cable....

 (later BBC World Service Television and BBC World).)

The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

newspaper has speculated that the failure of Super Channel might have been a historical precedent to the bad luck that ITV has generally had with cable and satellite television.

Sky Scottish

A joint venture between Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

 and BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

, this was a general entertainment channel for the Scottish market. Closed after 18 months on air due to poor viewing figures.

S2

Owned by SMG plc (now known as STV Group plc), this was the Scottish equivalent to ITV2
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 platforms. The channel has the...

 and the channel simulcasted the vast majority of ITV2 programmes, albeit covering the ITV2 DOG
Digital on-screen graphic
A digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...

 with its own. It closed due to poor viewership.

UTV2

Formerly TV You, owned by UTV plc
UTV plc
UTV Media is a broadcasting and New Media company based in Belfast in Northern Ireland. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. UTV Media's main operation is the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland, and it is also the owner of UTV Radio, which operates the UK Independent National Radio...

, this was the Northern Irish equivalent to ITV2
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 platforms. The channel has the...

. Closed due to poor viewership, and the failure to attract any advertising during its existence.



Channel Comparison

This is a comparison of the channels made by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, STV, UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

 and Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...

. Note that this only includes channels that are still broadcasting.

Main Channels

Channel name Freeview Sky Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

Subscription Broadcast hours
ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

24 hours
STV 24 hours
UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

24 hours
ITV1 Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...

24 hours
ITV2
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 platforms. The channel has the...

24 hours
ITV3
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.-History:...

06:00 - 03:00
ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...

06:00 - 03:00
CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...

06:00 - 18:00

Timeshift Channels

Channel name Freeview Sky Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

Subscription Broadcast hours
ITV1 +1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

24 hours
STV +1 24 hours
UTV +1
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

24 hours
ITV2 +1
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 platforms. The channel has the...

24 hours
ITV3 +1
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.-History:...

07:00 - 04:00
ITV4 +1
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...

07:00 - 04:00

HD Channels

Channel name Freeview Sky Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...

Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

Subscription Broadcast hours
ITV1 HD 24 hours
STV HD 24 hours
UTV HD
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

24 hours
ITV2 HD
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 platforms. The channel has the...

24 hours
ITV3 HD
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.-History:...

06:00 - 03:00
ITV4 HD
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...

06:00 - 03:00
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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