Meridian is the ITV station for the South and South East of England. It has been broadcasting since 1 January1993. The main headquarters were situated in Southampton, but have recently moved to Whiteley.
Meridian's original ident featured an exploding mix of orange, yellow and blue, which then came together to form the familiar sun/face logo.
Under several different formups and backgrounds, the logo carried on until 2002 when the station got re-branded as "ITV1 Meridian". The original logo was last seen at the start of the late-night weather forecast on 5 December2004, and on 1 February2005 it was replaced with a banner simply saying "ITV1 Meridian".
Ownership
Soon after gaining the ITV franchise, Meridian was bought by MAI, who were themselves later acquired by United News and Media, and then in 2000 by Granada. In 2004Granada merged with Carlton to form ITV plc, which ended Meridian's existence as a separate brand.
Productions
Some of Meridian's notable contributions to the national television network include:
Meridian Broadcasting (ITV Meridian) is the holder of the ITV franchise for South and South East England.
Some consider this controversial, particularly as the Meridian South East programme for Kent and East Sussex is presented by Hampshire-based anchors from a studio in Hampshire, 60 miles from the nearest part of the South East region (Brighton) and 160 miles from its furthest point (Broadstairs).
In 1994, MAI bought AngliaTelevision and in 1995 was a major shareholder in the consortium that won the franchise for Channel 5.
SouthernTelevision was one of the original ITV companies, serving the south-central and south-east of England from August 30, 1958 until 12:45 AM on January 1, 1982.
In 2005, the old Southern studios were closed and scheduled for demolition, after the relocation for their current owners MeridianTelevision to a facility at Whiteley.
This is Southern Independent Television, broadcasting from the Chillerton Down and Dover stations of the Independent Television Authority.
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