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Channel 3 is the collective name given to the group of United Kingdom television broadcasters that are normally available on the third analogue terrestrial TV frequency, comprising fifteen regional Channel 3 broadcasters (known almost universally as ITV or the ITV Network), the national breakfast franchise (currently GMTV), and the national teletext provider (currently Teletext Ltd). The Channel 3 companies (normally only referred to as such by official bodies such as the regulator, Ofcom) are the oldest and most watched commercial broadcasters in the UK and are universally available; as such they are obliged by the terms of their licences to fulfil various public service commitments. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... Image File history File links Information_icon. ... Shortcut: WP:WIN Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and, as a means to that end, also an online community. ... Shortcut: WP:CU Marking articles for cleanup This page is undergoing a transition to an easier-to-maintain format. ... This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things easy to read by following a consistent format — it is a style guide. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... GMTV (Good Morning Television) is a national British breakfast television station owned by ITV plc (75%) and The Walt Disney Company (25%). It has held the license for the breakfast Channel 3 franchise since 1993, when it outbid the previous 6am-9. ... Teletext Ltd is the provider of Teletext services for ITV, Channel 4 and Five in the United Kingdom. ... // Ofcom was designed to be a super regulator, required in an age where many media platforms are converging. ...

The term Channel 3 was first introduced for the Channel 3 Licences granted under the Broadcasting Act 1990. Prior to this, the channel had no legal overall name, but was usually collectively referred to, both by the contractors themselves, as well as their regulator, the Independent Broadcasting Authority, as Independent Television (hence the name ITV). The licence was prior to this issued by the Government to the IBA and the various companies were issued programme contracts by the IBA.

For the majority of viewers, Channel 3 programming is collectively known either as simply ITV, by the name of their regional station (for example Yorkshire, Granada, stv etc.), or as ITV1, which is now the on-screen name of the eleven regional stations owned by ITV plc. (Breakfast station GMTV, while technically a separate entity, is for the casual viewer simply a programme on ITV1.) Nevertheless, the ITV Network as a whole should not be confused with ITV plc; the latter is one shareholder-owned company which decided to adopt the ITV name as they owned most of the franchises, whilst the former is the body set up to control network programming comprising not only ITV plc (England, Wales and Scottish Borders), but also the other regional companies SMG plc (Northern & Central Scotland), UTV plc (Northern Ireland) and Channel Television Ltd (Channel Islands). ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... ITV plc (LSE: ITV) is the British media company that operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ... GMTV (Good Morning Television) is a national British breakfast television station owned by ITV plc (75%) and The Walt Disney Company (25%). It has held the license for the breakfast Channel 3 franchise since 1993, when it outbid the previous 6am-9. ... Scottish Media Group plc is a Scottish media company. ... Ulster Television plc (also referred to as the UTV Group) is a Broadcasting and New Media company in Northern Ireland. ... The current Channel TV ident Channel Television (CTV) is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television (ITV), contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. ...

Regional providers: the ITV Network

The ITV Network broadcasts every day from 9.25am, until 6am the following morning. It is made up of fifteen television stations, each broadcasting to one region of the United Kingdom. Originally, all the stations were independently-owned; today, however, eleven of the fifteen franchises are owned by one company, ITV plc, which was formed over many years as a result of the gradual merging of the regional stations (the last being the Carlton-Granada merger, which finally formed a united ITV for England and Wales in 2004). In London, a special situation exists whereby there are two separate licensees: one for weekdays, and one for the weekend. Since the current licensees are both owned by ITV plc, however, there is no longer any on-screen distinction. Carlton Communications plc was a former British media company, which was founded by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it merged with Granada plc, to form ITV plc. ... Granada plc (previously called Granada Group plc and Granada Media plc) is a former British media and previously catering conglomarate, best known as the former parent of Granada Television Limited. ...

The regional licences, granted by the government regulator Ofcom, are currently distributed as follows:

• Carlton Television - London (Weekday); owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• London Weekend Television - London (Weekend); owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Meridian Broadcasting - South & South East England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Anglia Television - East of England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Central Independent Television - Midlands; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Westcountry Television - South West England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• HTV - Wales and West of England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1 Wales/ITV1
• Granada Television - North West England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Yorkshire Television - Yorkshire & Lincolnshire; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Tyne Tees Television - North East England; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Border Television - England/Scotland Border & Isle of Man; owned by ITV plc; screen name ITV1
• Scottish Television - Central Scotland; owned by SMG; screen name stv
• Grampian Television - Northern Scotland; owned by SMG; screen name stv
• UTV - Northern Ireland; owned by UTV plc; screen name UTV
• Channel Television - Channel Islands; independent; screen name ITV1

Each of the above stations is represented at ITV Network Centre, where national network programming is scheduled (though in practice this process is now dominated by ITV plc). Networked programmes are mostly contributed by the regional companies although some are commissioned by the Network from independents. In addition, the entire network is obliged to broadcast national news sourced by a common contractor (currently ITN). While minimal obligatory regional programming still exists (most notably the 6pm half-hour regional news slot), for the majority of the time all the above stations simulcast network programming. All stations have the right to opt out of national programming (except for the national news) but generally do not, since most are owned by the one company and the others have limited resources for non-networked independent programme-making.STV UTV and ITV1 Wales are more likely to opt out of network programming for nations-based output, including sporting events and special news items. Carlton Television was the United Kingdom Channel 3 (ITV) licensee for London and the surrounding areas from 9:25am every Monday to 5. ... London Weekend Television (LWT) was (and for legal formalities still is; see below) the ITV contractor for London and the South East, Friday 7:00pm (1968-1982)/5:15pm (1982-2002) to Monday, 5:59am. ... Meridian Broadcasting (ITV Meridian) is the holder of the ITV franchise for South and South East England. ... Current ITV Anglia logo Anglia Television is the ITV station for East Anglia. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... HTV Group plc is a television company, the ITV contractor of Wales and the West of England, owned by ITV plc. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Yorkshire Television is the ITV contractor for Yorkshire, England, and the surrounding areas. ... Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television contractor for North East England. ... Border Television is the ITV franchisee for the border region between England and Scotland (including the south of Scotland, much of Cumbria and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed), and also the Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man. ... Scottish Television (stv central), now known as stv on air, is Scotlands largest independent television franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. ... Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North of Scotland, based in Aberdeen. ... UTV (Ulster Television) is the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland. ... Ulster Television plc (also referred to as the UTV Group) is a Broadcasting and New Media company in Northern Ireland. ... The current Channel TV ident Channel Television (CTV) is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television (ITV), contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. ... ITN may refer to: Independent Television News In the news, a section on the Main Page of English Wikipedia This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

National breakfast provider

In 1983 it was decided that a commercial breakfast service should be provided to rival that of the BBC, and the IBA (the then regulator of Independent Television) created a new, national breakfast broadcasting contract that would be contested in the same way as the regional licences of the ITV Network. The breakfast station (originally TV-am) broadcasts between the hours of 6am and 9.25am every morning. The somewhat obscure 9.25 closetime came about in order to allow time to switch transmitters from the breakfast broadcaster over to the regional ITV stations; today this transition is seamless, though the anomaly remains for legal reasons. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... IBA or Iba may mean: Important Bird Area or IBA Independent Broadcasting Authority Indole-3-butyric acid - auxin, a plant Rooting hormone InfiniBand Architecture Institute of Business Administration Interceptor Body Armor International Bank of Asia International Bodyboarding Association International Boxing Association International Bryozoology Association International Business Alliance Ion beam analysis... TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992. ...

The current breakfast provider is GMTV, a company 75% owned by ITV plc, and 25% by The Walt Disney Company. Like its regional sister stations, GMTV is obliged to provide significant news, current affairs and children's output. Its presence on Channel 3 is thought to be somewhat of an obstacle for ITV plc, who would prefer to own the company outright and thus control Channel 3 round the clock in England, Wales and Scottish Borders. Disney, however, has declined to sell its shares so far. GMTV (Good Morning Television) is a national British breakfast television station owned by ITV plc (75%) and The Walt Disney Company (25%). It has held the license for the breakfast Channel 3 franchise since 1993, when it outbid the previous 6am-9. ... The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney; NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ...

National teletext provider

The Public Teletext Licence [1] allows the holder to broadcast a text-based information service around the clock on Channel 3 (as well as Channel 4 and S4C) frequencies. Originally held from 1974 by ORACLE, the service is now provided by Teletext Ltd., whose news, sport and TV listings pages rival that of the BBC's television offering, Ceefax. Teletext Ltd. also provides digital teletext for the Channel 3 services, as well as the text output for both Channel 4 and S4C (which is covered under the same licence) and Five (under a separate licence). Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales) is a Welsh-language television channel broadcasting in Wales, United Kingdom, which was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for the Welsh-speaking minority population in Wales. ... ORACLE (Optimal Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics) was a commercial teletext service first broadcast on ITV in 1974 and later on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom finally ending on both channels at the end of December 1992. ... Teletext Ltd is the provider of Teletext services for ITV, Channel 4 and Five in the United Kingdom. ... A BBC Ceefax page from 10 September 1999 Ceefax (phonetic for See Facts) is the BBCs teletext information service. ... Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales) is a Welsh-language television channel broadcasting in Wales, United Kingdom, which was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for the Welsh-speaking minority population in Wales. ... Five (often referred as five, as per the logo), formerly, and more commonly known as Channel 5, is the British fifth and final national analogue terrestrial TV channel. ...

Digital Channel 3

Partly as an incentive to continue with public service broadcasting once the switch-off of the UK analogue signal^{[citation needed]}, the regulator granted the various Channel 3 services free space on the digital terrestrial platform, Freeview. Channel 3 shares its space with Channel 4 on Multiplex 2, and the increase in space has allowed the launch of various new channels. Granada plc and Carlton Communications launched ITV2 in 1998, and the other regional companies had the right to launch their own second channels in its place - notably Scottish TV's S2 and UTV's TVYou (later called UTV2). The latter two ventures were unsuccessful, however, and closed down, replaced with ITV2 across the UK. Similarly, the rest of the Network allowed ITV plc to broadcast ITV3, ITV4 and the CITV Channel across the country rather than trying to introduce their own regional variants. Breakfast provider GMTV also makes use of its digital space, broadcasting in the usual 6am-9.25am slot alongside ITV2 with GMTV2, and as part of a joint venture with ITV plc in the same slot of the CITV Channel. This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television service. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the original British advertising television network. ... Granada plc (previously called Granada Group plc and Granada Media plc) is a former British media and previously catering conglomarate, best known as the former parent of Granada Television Limited. ... Carlton Communications plc was a former British media company, which was founded by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it merged with Granada plc, to form ITV plc. ... ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... The term S2 can refer to: TOP answer. ... UTV2 was a television stastion broadcast by UTV plc on Digital Terrestrial Television in Northern Ireland. ... ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... ITV4 is a UK television station which launched on November 1, 2005. ... The CITV Channel is a British childrens TV station from ITV plc and the Channel 3 breakfast licensee GMTV (6am-9:25am). ...

Public service broadcasting

The right granted by Ofcom of Channel 3's nationally-available status on both analogue and digital television comes with responsibility, in the form of public service broadcasting. Alongside the BBC, Channel 4 and Five, the members of the ITV Network and GMTV all have a responsibility to broadcast various programming of public importance on their analogue stations. This includes quotas for news, current affairs, independent and European programming, children's and religious programming, and output containing subtitles, signing and audio description. In addition, Channel 3 stations are legally obliged to screen party election broadcasts on behalf of all the major political parties, and also other political events such as the Budget. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... Five (often referred as five, as per the logo), formerly, and more commonly known as Channel 5, is the British fifth and final national analogue terrestrial TV channel. ...