89-449: TV Times is a British television listings magazine. From 1955 until 1991, it was the only source of seven-day listings for ITV and, from 1982, Channel 4 (as well as S4C in Wales in an enclosed local supplement titled Sbec ). The magazine did not circulate nationally until 1968 as some (usually smaller) regional stations opted to produce their own listings publications. Until the market
178-510: A 4-channel service received via satellite. The channels at launch were Sky Channel , Sky News , Sky Movies and Eurosport . They were initially free to receive, and Sky Movies was the first to move to a subscription early in 1990. Sky News was the UK's first dedicated news channel. The new service was the UK's first consumer satellite TV service, beating rival BSB , with which Sky would later merge to become BSkyB. Sky's satellite service grew to become
267-517: A few months. See List of British television series . 100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as
356-438: A greater number of phone-in votes. For this breach, Ofcom fined the broadcaster, which was worked out as a maximum of 5% of the offending broadcaster's advertising revenue. However, as the programme was independently produced Channel is seen as the offending broadcaster for not ensuring compliance, despite Channel having no role in commissioning the programme. Therefore, any fines received are minimal as Channel's advertising income
445-400: A greater share of programming between the two franchise holders. Channel finally converted to colour television on Monday 26 July 1976, the last region to do so (five years after the next to last contractor, Grampian Television , began colour transmissions) and seven years after the first. Delays were due to the cost of upgrading the studios and purchasing new equipment and the need to provide
534-607: A greater total number of regional news programmes. Ofcom sets a quota for the BBC and ITV on the amount of regional programming required. Advertising on ITV1/STV and Channel 4 is regional. Channel 4 is split into 6 advertising regions, but has no regional programming. BBC Scotland and the Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba target Scotland, and the Welsh-language channel S4C targets Wales. In Northern Ireland, channels originating in
623-442: A non-clean feed of networked programming from ITV Meridian . While the branding was very similar to regions owned by ITV plc Channel Television used an older ITV1 logo with white letters on its idents supplemented by the wording 'Channel Television' and pre-recorded local continuity announcements are used at key junctions - including prior to national and regional news and on the handover from ITV Breakfast at 9.25am. Typically this
712-502: A regular basis. The current Guernsey base in St. Sampson , including a small multi-camera studio, was opened in 1997. Channel also previously had a London office, latterly based near to The London Studios , from where it ran its third-party compliance business. Channel Television's first on screen logo featured six hexagons, laid out five below linked together with one on top with a stylised cat's head inside it. The five hexagons below represent
801-610: A result, if the ITA was to operate an ITV service there, it would have to be permitted by means of extending the act to the islands with an Order in Council , which was granted as the Television Act 1954 (Channel Islands) Order 1961 ( SI 1961 /2039). In addition, the new station faced difficulties connecting to the rest of the ITV network. The solution was the construction of a microwave relay station on
890-507: A second cover in the middle allowing for the magazine to be folded over to create both a weekend and a weekday section from one publication. TV Times went national (except for the Channel Islands) from 21 September 1968. Channel Television published its own listings magazine Channel Viewer on 1 September 1962, followed by a relaunch as Channel Television Times in 1971 and then later shortened to CTV Times until 25 October 1991 as it
979-527: A special ident to celebrate the channels 40th Anniversary was introduced featuring former station logos. In late 2004 Channel used idents of scenes from around the Channel Islands , with the logo in a stripe down the left side of the screen. Some elements of the network branding were also used. In 2006, Channel, whilst being fiercely independent and regional, adopted a variation of the national ITV1 network branding and shared continuity, due to it receiving
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#17328456920371068-543: A stronger network feed as the region's northernmost areas got better signals from Southern and Thames/London Weekend. All local programmes were being made in colour by the following year with Channel donating all of its old cameras to local museums. Just before the 1979 ITV strike began, Channel became only the second TV station in Europe to introduce electronic news-gathering (ENG) to its local news operation ( BBC1 had used ENG for London-originated news since at least 1978), ending
1157-427: A subscription platform through which Sky offer their own channels, pay-per-view services and channels from other broadcasters. Sky's digital platform launched in 1998, with the original analogue service closing in 2001. Sky was acquired by Comcast in 2018. Since 2012, Sky operate Now , an Internet TV streaming service offering subscriptions without a fixed-term contract. Sky's channel portfolio has grown greatly since
1246-417: A traditional cable TV connection. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board publish quarterly statistics of the number of UK households per broadcast TV platform. Aggregating the statistics for Q1 2020 show that 56% subscribe to one or more broadcast TV services, vs 44% who receive free TV. The primary digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview , launched in 2002 and is free-of-charge to view. It replaced
1335-558: A year, at a cost of £2.6 billion. Since 24 October 2012, all television broadcasts in the United Kingdom have been in a digital format, following the end of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP. As of 2003, 53.2% of households watch through terrestrial, 31.3% through satellite, and 15.6% through cable. The Royal Television Society (RTS)
1424-609: Is "This is Channel Television, ITV in the Channel Islands", or at the handover from ITV Breakfast, "It's 9.25 and you're watching Channel Television, your local ITV station". These idents also use music from the original emotion idents rather than the updated jingle and music. It was the only ITV company to take the network branding without being a part of ITV plc . Following the takeover in November 2011, Channel began using ITV1's 2010 logo and updated its idents. On 14 January 2013,
1513-422: Is a British-based educational charity for the discussion and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. Free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription providers operate, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via
1602-500: Is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA , especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4 , Film4 , More4 , 4Music , 4seven and various timeshift services . Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of
1691-406: Is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd , owned by Comcast , which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service which had launched in 1989, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder ,
1780-429: Is predominately operated by Arqiva . The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes , and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. The six national multiplexes are available to 90% of households from 92 transmitters; and three multiplexes are available to 9% of households from 1,067 transmitters. In Northern Ireland, a multiplex carrying channels from
1869-582: Is the BBC , which operates an opt-out of the South West England news programme Spotlight . Channel Television was awarded the licence for the islands in 1960 by the then regulator the Independent Television Authority (ITA). However, the ITA pointed out that the Television Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2 . c. 55) that established ITV did not include provision for the Channel Islands and as
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#17328456920371958-419: Is the name Ofcom uses. ITV plc or its predecessor companies created additional free or subscription channels, of which the oldest still running is ITV2 , having launched in 1998. Several older channels have since stopped broadcasting; the oldest of these is Super Channel which was launched by a consortium of ITV regional companies in 1987, was sold and eventually closed in 1998. Launched in 1982, Channel 4
2047-426: Is the world's oldest and largest broadcaster, and is the country's principal public service broadcaster of radio and television. BBC Television is funded primarily by a television licence and from sales of its programming to overseas markets. It does not carry advertising . The licence fee is levied on all households that watch or record TV as it is broadcast and the fee is determined by periodic negotiation between
2136-632: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . TV via the Internet can be streamed or downloaded, and consist of amateur or professionally produced content. In the UK, most broadcasters provide catch-up TV services which allow viewing of TV for a window after it was broadcast. Online video can be viewed via mobile devices, computers, TVs equipped with a built in Internet connection, or TVs connected to an external set-top-box, streaming stick or games console. Most of
2225-504: The Miss TV Times and The TV Times Awards during the 1970s and 1980s. Previously published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies, the magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which became Time Inc. UK in 2014. It was acquired by Future plc in 2020. TV Times was launched on 22 September 1955, with the start of transmissions of the first ITV station, Associated-Rediffusion . Initially,
2314-495: The Pluto TV and Paramount+ Internet streaming services. Since 2012, additional local TV channels are available via Freeview channel 7 or 8. The channels are licensed by Ofcom, with 34 local TV channels licensed as of 2 July 2020. Nineteen of the licenses are held by That's TV, and eight are held by Made Television. The remainder are held independently. Each license contains the amount of local TV programming required. As an example,
2403-601: The Republic of Ireland can reach 71% of Northern Irish households from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available to 54% of households from an additional multiplex via 44 transmitters, and an extra multiplex is available to 54% of households in Greater Manchester. Multiple vendors sell hybrid set-top-boxes or smart TVs which combine terrestrial channels with streamed (Internet TV) content. Internet-based TV apps such as BBC iPlayer , ITVX and Channel 4 are available via
2492-669: The United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed. There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced
2581-494: The red button , and coverage across the UK. All providers make available the UK's five most-watched channels: BBC One , BBC Two , ITV ( ITV1 / STV ), Channel 4 and Channel 5 . Broadcast television is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the UK, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in
2670-434: The 1970s up to the very early 1990s, commonly used a clock as well, but it had been gradually been dropped. Channel kept the clock up to 2002, using it to introduce news and, more unusually, announce the local temperature and tide times prior to the following programme (something not seen elsewhere in the ITV network). In 1998, Channel adopted a different style of presentation. The CTV logo remained, both on end captions and as
2759-505: The BBC's commercial units. Originating in 1992 with UK Gold , UKTV expanded its channels from 1997 onwards, with the BBC taking full ownership in June 2019. Unlike the BBC's public service channels, the UKTV channels contain advertising. ITV, branded as ITV1 or STV, is the network of fourteen regional and one national commercial television franchise, founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV
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2848-539: The Channel Islands on it being orbited by two comets whose trails make a heart shape. Channel used the generic look, albeit with its own soundtrack, until 2002. The generic look was used for network programmes with regional ones using a large Channel logo over the spinning hearts background. When the celebrity idents came Channel used a variation, where the left side of the screen was taken up by its logo. A number of idents were used featuring different celebrities and some local ones made by Channel themselves were used; in 2002
2937-533: The ITV company's name, rather than geographical area: The ten regional editions in England had ended by September 2005, and since then there have been only four editions: From 1956 to 1964, the Midlands originally had their own edition of TV Times listing ATV and ABC programmes. A separate listings magazine called TV World was published from 27 September 1964, with the innovative idea of splitting itself 50:50 with
3026-480: The Internet. In the article, Ofcom responded that the licensing scheme was inherited from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport . In April 2018, BBC News reported that "many of the stations have been ridiculed for the poor quality of their output or have been reported to Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules". The local TV companies receive a subsidy from the BBC of £147.50 per local news story, funded by
3115-558: The Jersey headquarters at Castle Quay on the St Helier waterfront and a Guernsey studio at Television House in Bulwer Avenue in St. Sampson , a building shared with BBC Radio Guernsey . In Jersey, Channel's first headquarters were a purpose-built centre at the corner of Rouge Bouillon and Val Plaisant, housing one main 1,000 sq.ft. studio for all local productions and a continuity suite. As
3204-569: The Republic of Ireland are available, including RTÉ One , RTÉ2 and the Irish-language TG4 . British television differs from other countries, such as the United States , in as much that programmes produced in the United Kingdom do not generally have a long season run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of
3293-583: The South and South East of England from Southampton and Maidstone . A side-effect of this change was a disruption to serials airing on the station in the afternoon due to the serial having begun on TVS at a different time to TSW so that they were at a different point through the serial's run. For instance, Channel had to miss over 100 episodes of The Young Doctors , the first nine episodes of Prisoner Cell Block H which had been screened on TVS in 1985, and it had to re-show 60 episodes of Sons and Daughters as TVS
3382-499: The UK (as well as much of the rest of Europe) come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. All of the traditional services have integrated their broadcast TV with streamed channels or on-demand programmes when connected to the Internet . Since 2022, broadcast-like TV services can be wholly-received via Internet-connected devices, which don't require an aerial, satellite or
3471-399: The UK's guidelines and laws. On 18 May 2008, The Sunday Times newspaper reported that ITV plc was using Channel's compliance role as a loophole, enabling it to lessen a possible fine for breaching Ofcom regulations during the 2005 British Comedy Awards . During the programme Robbie Williams presented an award to Ant and Dec which should have gone to Catherine Tate who had received
3560-775: The UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video. BARB tracks the number of households subscribing to Netflix, Prime Video and Now, referred to as SVOD households. Their statistics for Q1 2020 show that 53% of households subscribe to at least one of these, and 24% to at least two. Netflix has 13.01 million subscribers, Prime Video (Amazon) has 7.86 million, and Now has 1.62 million, according to BARB's figures for Q1 2020. BARB's equivalent figures for broadcast TV show that 56% of households subscribe. The table following summarises some of
3649-472: The UK. As of 2 January 2022, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 8 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 15 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%. As of 2 January 2022 , there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and Paramount individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to). The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC )
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3738-458: The United News and Media franchises) merged to form ITV plc in 2004, Channel remained separate from this new merger. Channel's independence from ITV plc also saw it retain its much loved regional non-news programmes when other regions saw this type of programming dropped. Despite being a small station, Channel took on a role in ensuring that ITV's independently produced programmes complied with
3827-639: The Yattendon Group by ITV plc. The deal was announced on 18 October, subject to approval from the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority , and was completed on 23 November. Although not announced, the deal was thought to have been worth at least £10 million. Following ITV's 2013 rebrand, Channel's presentation and the title of its news programme have been brought into line with the other ITV regions, although sporadic non-news programming remains. Channel Television operates two studios:
3916-534: The ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go , which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet. Freesat is a free satellite service operated by Everyone TV, who also operate Freeview. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via
4005-821: The available Internet TV services in the UK. For brevity, it does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, portals, or services which don't target the UK. 'Free' refers to free at the point of consumption, not including fees for Internet connectivity or a TV licence. Other international streaming services with pricing in GBP include: Acorn TV, Arrow, BKTV, Crunchyroll, Dekkoo, Demand Africa, Docsville, Funimation Now, GuideDoc, Hayu, Hoichoi, Hotstar, iQiyi, iWantTFC, Mubi, NewsPlayer+, Revry, Shudder, Starz, True Story, WOW Presents Plus and ZEE5. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in
4094-553: The average viewership achieved by each broadcast during its run-time and do not include peak viewership. Notes : Channel Television ITV Channel Television , previously Channel Television , is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programmes for insertion into the network ITV schedule. Until November 2011, Channel Television
4183-513: The broadband connection of Freeview Play and Netgem devices. These also support optional subscription services such as Netflix and Prime Video. EE TV and TalkTalk TV offer additional subscription services for their respective broadband customers using Netgem or YouView devices. Saorview , the terrestrial TV service in the Republic of Ireland which launched in 2011, can be received in parts of Northern Ireland via overspill transmissions. Many regional companies developed cable-television services in
4272-460: The broadband connection. Freesat and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east ( Astra 2E / 2F / 2G ). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit , they are positioned above the earth 's equator ( 0°00′N 28°12′E / 0°N 28.2°E / 0; 28.2 ( Satellites transmitting Sky TV and Freesat to the UK and Ireland ) ) approximately 35,786 km above sea level ; this places them above
4361-425: The broadcast TV providers have integrated their set-top-boxes with Internet video to provide a hybrid broadcast and online service. Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK. There are numerous online services targeting
4450-449: The buy-out did not lead to a noticeable change on screen. The buy-out occurred at the same time as the full scale amalgamation of ITV with many of the regional franchises becoming owned by one of four consortia: Carlton , Granada , United News and Media and Scottish Media Group . Channel subsequently remained one of two franchises to be not part of a consortium (the other being UTV ). When Carlton and Granada (which by then also included
4539-470: The channel name of STV for its two franchises in Scotland. ITV plc names the channel UTV in Northern Ireland, and ITV1 for the remaining regions, although UTV has used ITV or ITV1 branding since April 2020. The national breakfast-time franchise is held by ITV plc, which appears as an indistinguishable programming block across the network. Legally, the network has been known as Channel 3 since 1990, which
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#17328456920374628-522: The company expanded, Channel moved into larger facilities in 1988 at La Pouquelaye, converted from the former offices of Rediffusion 's Jersey operation. Initially, the La Pouquelaye centre housed two production studios (the smaller studio B was latterly converted into offices) and a continuity studio, later used exclusively for Puffin's Pla(i)ce . Channel moved to its current, smaller premises at Castle Quay in June 2015. Channel's Guernsey operation
4717-401: The company logo, while on screen Channel utilised the device of the word 'Channel' written in a variety of fonts arranged in circles and moving, spinning and pulsating to a tune of a simple jingle. This look was not to last as the second ITV generic look occurred in 1999, which Channel adopted. This look, based on the theme of hearts, also provided Channel with a new logo, featuring a globe with
4806-405: The double-page highlights of programmes on all channels as well as radio and kids' television listings were scrapped, increasing the publication's emphasis on big-star interviews and soaps. On 15 March 2022, the television listings were given a refreshed layout which is similar to Radio Times , TV & Satellite Week and What's on TV . The changes included a return of radio schedules to
4895-428: The five main channel islands: Jersey , Guernsey , Alderney , Sark and Herm . The ident was animated so that each hexagon appeared in turn accompanied by one note of the jingle along with the name. This ident lasted until colour came to the region in the mid-1970s with only one slight variation in the positioning of the channel name. The first colour ident used by Channel involved a striped CTV, which would serve as
4984-444: The franchise went to the highest bidder. This process was further complicated by a quality threshold, in which a higher bidder could be disqualified for having a poor business plan or if its high bid would result in a lack of funds for the programmes themselves. In the franchise round, Channel bid £1,000 (the lowest bid accepted) and was out-bid by challenge consortium CI3. CI3, formed in part of ex-Channel employees, bid £102,000, but
5073-448: The frequency used by Channel 5's new broadcasts. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial channel to also broadcast via satellite. From 2006 onwards, Channel 5 launched new digital channels and an Internet on-demand service. After changing ownership several times, in May 2014 Channel 5 and its sister channels were acquired by Viacom, an American media conglomerate , known as Paramount since 2022. By
5162-504: The government and the BBC. Its first analogue terrestrial channel was launched by the BBC Television Service in 1936. It rebranded to BBC1 in 1964 following the launch of BBC2 , the UK's third analogue terrestrial channel after ITV. BBC News 24 launched as an analogue cable channel in 1997, later rebranding to BBC News in 2008. BBC Parliament , which was originally an analogue cable channel known as The Parliamentary Channel,
5251-593: The large ITV strike that blacked out the rest of the network in August–October 1979 , on the same understanding as before. Channel managed to provide a service based mainly on films, imports, extended local news coverage and regional programming, with the biggest problem coming from difficulties in transporting film to the Jersey studios. Channel also made advances during this period to enhance its service. In 1970, Channel formalised its relationship with South West England ITV franchisee holder Westward Television allowing
5340-420: The late 1950s until the early 1980s, TV Times suffered frequent printing disputes that often meant emergency or special combined editions. The magazine was branded as TV Times Magazine from 3 October 1981 until 6 October 1984, the premise being it contained more than simply television listings. From November 1982 onwards, it carried listings for Channel 4 and its Welsh equivalent, S4C . On 7 October 1989,
5429-668: The late 1980s and 1990s as licences for cable television were awarded on a city-by-city basis. The mid-1990s saw the companies start to merge and the turn of the century only three big companies remained. In 2007 Telewest and NTL merged, resulting in the formation of Virgin Media , which is available to 55% of households. Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband. There are two distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception). Sky TV
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#17328456920375518-448: The launch of digital TV. Sky make their channels available via rival cable and Internet services as well as their own satellite service and Now. Channel 5 was the fifth analogue terrestrial channel to launch, in March 1997. Due to constraints with the available UHF frequencies at the time, many households had to retune their video recorders , which shared the frequency on their RF output with
5607-500: The license fee, paid whether the BBC uses the content or not. A June 2018 article on BuzzFeed claimed that That's TV was created "primarily to extract money from the BBC whilst delivering little content of useful value". BBC One, BBC Two and the ITV network (comprising ITV1 and STV) are split into regions in which regional news and other programming is broadcast. ITV1/STV is split into fourteen geographic licencees , with several of these split into two or three sub-regions, resulting in
5696-460: The license for Scarborough, which is held by That's TV, requires seven hours of local programming per week (one hour per day on average). Thirteen additional licenses were originally intended, but Ofcom decided not to advertise these in June 2018. The way Ofcom structured local television – being dependent on terrestrial transmission – was criticised in a Guardian article in 2015 for being "years behind in its thinking", as it does not account for
5785-494: The magazine after a 16-year absence. The awards are held annually to celebrate best in British television as nominations and winners are entirely chosen by its readers. Until 21 September 1968, several of the regional ITV companies produced their own listings magazines: On 1 March 1991, TV Times published BBC1 and BBC2 programme listings for the first time, which also mirrored the 11 regional editions generally referred to by
5874-456: The magazine was published only in the London area, carrying listings for Associated-Rediffusion (Rediffusion, London from 1964) on weekdays and ATV at weekends, but regional editions began to appear covering those ITV regional companies which did not opt to establish their own listings magazines. TV Times became a national magazine (except for the Channel Islands) from 21 September 1968. During
5963-458: The most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are: 100 Greatest TV Moments was a list compiled by Channel 4 in 1999. The top 10 entries are: The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most-watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne , shown only on BBC1. The figures in these tables represent
6052-536: The northern island of Alderney that would connect with another ITV station, initially Westward Television . At first, the station received difficulties in getting permission for the new mast, but these were overcome in September 1961. Channel Television finally went on the air on 1 September 1962, the 16th ITV station to launch. It served the smallest population of any ITV station with only around 150,000 people in 54,000 households. The size of Channel's audience made
6141-400: The programme schedule pages were printed in full colour for the first time. When the television listings were deregulated on 1 March 1991, TV Times began carrying listings for the BBC 's television channels which, up to that point, had only been printed in the BBC's official listings magazine, Radio Times . On 11 February 2006, the magazine was refreshed for a more modern look including
6230-481: The regulations changed, Ofcom could only impose a maximum fine of 5% of the revenue of the company responsible for compliance, and as Channel was by far the smallest ITV contractor, this minimised the potential fines to which ITV as a whole would be exposed. Channel handled compliance for programmes including The X Factor , Midsomer Murders and the British Comedy Awards . The station's main competitor
6319-500: The six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4 . Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have six set advertising regions. Sky is a European broadcaster owned by global American media conglomerate Comcast . Sky Television launched in 1989, with
6408-465: The station initially vulnerable to any disputes and disturbances to the ITV network as a whole. When technicians went on strike in the summer of 1968, Channel was the only station not to be affected. While Channel did survive the 1968 strike , it was badly affected by the Three-Day Week of 1973-4 which restricted the hours of television stations to save electricity. However, Channel managed to escape
6497-457: The station logo until 1999. The first ident featured this static logo made of orange stripes on a white outline against a blue background with a soundtrack of a brass fanfare titled "Superstar Fanfare", composed by Keith Mansfield . This same fanfare was later used when Channel launched its next ident, featuring the lines of the CTV logo spinning into place, coloured gold against a black background. This
6586-442: The station's on-air identity was changed to ITV , along with all other ITV plc-owned franchises. There are no specific idents stating Channel Television but the name is instead verbally referred to at the 6pm junctions before ITV News Channel TV and for a time it was used overnight. Although Channel made little for the ITV network it did contribute to a number of roadshow and anthology series which were collaboratively produced in
6675-459: The subscription service named ONdigital or ITV Digital, which ran from 1998 to 2002. Digital terrestrial television was itself the replacement for analogue terrestrial TV , which ran from 1936 to 2012. As of March 2021 , Freeview provides over seventy TV and radio channels, which are received via an aerial. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd., joint ventures between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The transmitter network
6764-485: The time it acquired Channel 5, Paramount already operated a large number of subscription channels in the UK, including the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, which are available via Sky TV, Virgin Media and Now. In terms of viewing share, the combined viewing across Paramount's channels make the group the UK's fifth largest broadcaster, according to BARB's viewing figures for 1 March 2020. Paramount additionally operates
6853-475: The use of film. The new decade began with a new franchise round for the islands in which Channel was unopposed. However, there was to be a change of franchise in the South West of England with Westward being replaced by Television South West (TSW), requiring a new agreement with TSW. However, in 1986 Channel changed from whom it sourced its network feed, instead changing to Television South (TVS) which served
6942-414: Was deregulated , its nearest rival was Radio Times – owned then by the BBC and at the time the only source of weekly BBC television and radio schedules. However the two magazines were very different in character, and viewers wanting the full listings for the coming week were required to purchase both publications. The TV Times branding was also used for several broadcast spin-offs on ITV, including
7031-426: Was accompanied by a dramatic score which was later improved, along with the ident, in 1993. The improvements kept the theme and repositioned the logo, changed the background to a navy blue, made the logo itself bigger and gold throughout and, most noticeably, improved the music making it less dramatic and giving it a softer feel. Both during this period and before, Channel used an on-air clock. The other ITV regions in
7120-447: Was acquired by the BBC in 1998. From 1998 onwards the BBC started digital TV transmissions, launching new channels and broadcasting via satellite in addition to terrestrial and cable. The BBC's Internet-based service iPlayer contains content from the BBC's TV channels, the Welsh-language public-service broadcaster S4C, as well as videos created from BBC radio programmes. UKTV is a commercial broadcaster owned by BBC Studios , one of
7209-480: Was also enhanced with the first underwater ENG camera, created for footage of a Roman shipwreck, and a year later with the introduction of a computerised newsroom, the first of the ITV regions to convert. In 1991, the station faced a new challenge: that of a new franchise round. Following the Broadcasting Act of the previous year, the allocation of regional franchises had changed to become a blind auction in which
7298-499: Was behind TSW. The new feed also meant that Channel simulcast TVS's night time schedule following the launch of this programming area in 1988. Channel's night time schedule from that point onwards always simulcast the service seen on TVS and its successor Meridian . During this period, the station began to invest in technology. A local service for the Oracle teletext service began in 1981, delivering local news and information. Local news
7387-413: Was by far the smallest of all the ITV companies. In early 2008, Channel began broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen, approximately a decade after the rest of the network became widescreen capable with the launch of digital terrestrial television . The Channel Islands also completed the switchover from analogue to digital television signals in November 2010. In 2011, Channel Television was bought from
7476-482: Was disqualified as it failed to pass the quality threshold. Channel had won the right to continue broadcasting beyond 1993. As another consequence of the franchise round, Channel began local news broadcasts during breakfast time as part of GMTV 's new service. In 1996, Channel began a subtitling service for its local programmes. In 2001, Channel was bought by the Yattendon Investment Trust , although
7565-500: Was feared that the company might cease trading without the revenue from its own magazine. S4C launched its own pull-out weekly listings supplement magazine Sbec on 1 November 1982, distributed free with the Wales edition of TV Times . It contained full details of schedules in both Welsh and English . Channel 4 's programmes were also included. Television in the United Kingdom Television broadcasts in
7654-515: Was founded upon the station's launch in a hotel in Saint Peter Port , moving to Market Square in 1967, from where a microwave link with the Jersey headquarters was established in 1971, allowing live studio contributions from the island to be broadcast for the first time. In 1983, Channel in Guernsey moved again to larger facilities at St George's Esplanade, from where Channel Report was presented on
7743-402: Was introduced around 1985 and was utilised for the station's 25th Anniversary in 1987, when each line of the CTV logo was drawn out before spinning back to be joined by a striped 25. In the early 1990s Channel aired its first computer generated ident, featuring the CTV logo, initially silver but turned gold by two sideways flashes, falling backwards onto the gradiented blue background. This logo
7832-554: Was one of four ITV companies independent from ITV plc alongside the two STV regions in Scotland and UTV in Northern Ireland . The station has been owned by ITV plc since 2012 and the licence was transferred to ITV Broadcasting Limited in March 2017. Until the takeover by ITV plc, Channel Television also had a responsibility to ensure independent productions for ITV complied with the regulator Ofcom 's broadcasting rules. Until
7921-437: Was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements . Each region was originally independent and used its own on-air identity . Through a series of mergers following relaxation of regulation in 1990, thirteen of the franchises are now held by ITV plc , and the remaining two by STV Group . Since 2012, ITV plc produces the network nationally, with STV Group acting as an affiliate . STV Group uses
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