ITV CHRONOLOGY

A CHRONOLOGY OF ITV – 101 EVENTS THAT HAS SHAPED ITV’S HISTORY

Commercial television, ITV, Carlton, Anglia, whatever you call it, ITV has been around since the mid 1950’s and has experienced lots of changes and events in British broadcasting over the years. From 1954 to the present day ITV has seen a lot of changes and a lot of achievements in its history. Here is a list of them in chronological order:

1) The Independent Television Authority (ITA) is introduced - 1954
2) Independent Television (ITV) begins broadcasting for the very first time in London with company Associated Rediffusion beginning weekday transmissions – 1955
3) ITN starts its national news service – 1955
4) Associated Television (ATV) begins broadcasting as weekend service - 1955
5) The first commercial ever to be seen on ITV is transmitted advertising Gibbs’ SR Toothpaste – 1955
6) Double Your Money is first transmitted on ITV with Hughie Green – 1955
7) Take Your Pick is first transmitted on ITV with Michael Miles – 1955
8) Robin Hood, starring Richard Greene is first seen on ITV – 1956
9) Associated Television (ATV) begins weekday transmissions in the midlands – 1956
10) Associated British Corporation (ABC) begins weekend transmissions in the Midlands – 1956
11) Granada Television begins weekday transmissions in the north – 1956
12) Associated British Corporation (ABC) begins weekend transmissions in the north – 1956
13) Scottish Television (STV) began broadcasting; the first ITV company to broadcast seven days a week in its region – 1957
14) Schools programmes begin broadcasting on ITV – 1957
15) Queen Elizabeth II’s first television broadcast and Christmas message on ITV – 1957
16) Television Wales and West (TWW) begins broadcasting in Wales and the west of England – 1958
17) Southern Television begins broadcasting in the south – 1958
18) Tyne Tees Television begins broadcasting in the North East – 1959
19) Anglia Television begins broadcasting in the East of England – 1959
20) Ulster Television begins broadcasting in Northern Ireland – 1959
21) Coronation Street is first transmitted on television – 1960
22) Westward Television begins broadcasting in the southwest – 1961
23) Border Television begins broadcasting in the Cumbria, Southern Scotland and Isle of Man areas of the UK – 1961
24) Grampian Television begins broadcasting in the north of Scotland – 1961
25) Channel Television begins broadcasting in the Channel Islands – 1962
26) Wales West and North Television (WWN) begins broadcasting in north Wales, completing the network – 1962
27) University Challenge is first transmitted – 1962
28) World in Action is first transmitted, including the first Seven Up documentary – 1963
29) Wales West and North television (WWN) merges with Television Wales and West (TWW) – 1964
30) Associated Rediffusion is renamed Rediffusion – 1964
31) Mary Whitehouse starts her “Clean Up TV” campaign – 1964
32) The first incarnation of Crossroads is first transmitted – 1964
33) Winston Churchill’s funeral is televised by ITN – 1965
34) Tobacco advertising is banned from television – 1965
35) England winning the World Cup is televised on World of Sport – 1966
36) News at Ten is first transmitted – 1967
37) ABC transmissions cease in the north and the midlands at the weekends giving ATV and Granada to broadcast seven days a week in their regions, although ATV loses its London weekend franchise - 1968
38) Harlech Television (HTV) takes over from TWW in the west and Wales – 1968
39) Thames Television takes over from Rediffusion in London – 1968
40) London Weekend Television (LWT) takes over London at weekends – 1968
41) Yorkshire Television (YTV) begins in the north of England – 1968
42) TV Times magazine is published nationally for the first time, although it did publish in London since 1955 - 1968
43) Magpie is first transmitted – 1968
44) Please Sir! Is first transmitted on ITV – 1968
45) On the Buses is first transmitted on ITV – 1969
46) Neil Armstrong making history by becoming the first man on the moon is televised by ITN – 1969
47) ITV officially broadcasts in colour – 1969
48) The first colour television commercial was seen in the midlands. The commercial was advertising Bird’s Eye Garden Peas – 1969
49) Look-In is published for the first time as a junior equivalent of TV Times - 1971
50) Rainbow is first transmitted – 1972
51) Emmerdale Farm is first transmitted as part of its new weekday afternoon schedule – 1972
52) Pipkins and Indigo Pipkin is first transmitted – 1973
53) With the advent of commercial radio, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) is replaced by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) - 1973
54) Rising Damp is first transmitted – 1974
55) Tiswas was first transmitted in the midlands only, but soon nationally – 1974
56) The Sex Pistols swears on Bill Grundy’s Today programme - 1976
57) Yorkshire Television does a six week experiment of breakfast television programmes in Good Morning Calendar – 1977
58) It’ll be Alright on the Night is first transmitted, making it the first outtakes programme to be transmitted in the world - 1977
59) Oracle becomes ITV’s first Teletext service – 1978
60) 3-2-1 is first transmitted with Ted Rogers – 1978
61) ITV’s programmes are blacked out for over a month over technician strikes and pay. Only Channel Television were left unscathed – 1979
62) The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer is televised by ITN – 1981
63) Central Television takes over from ATV in the Midlands – 1982
64) Television South (TVS) takes over from Southern in the south – 1982
65) Television southwest (TSW) takes over from Westward in the southwest – 1982
66) ITV gets commercial television rivalry for the first time when Channel 4 begins its service – 1982
67) TV-am begins broadcasting as the national breakfast television station – 1983
68) The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is televised by ITN – 1986
69) ITV Schools moves to Channel 4 – 1987
70) The legendary TV-am strike takes place - 1987
71) Crossroads ends its first 24 year run – 1988
72) The first networked 27 hour Telethon is transmitted – 1988
73) This Morning is first transmitted with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan – 1988
74) ITV receive more competition when Sky and BSB launch a group of satellite and cable television channels - 1989
75) The 1990 Broadcasting Act comes into existence – 1990
76) The Independent Television Commission (ITC) is formed, replacing the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) – 1991
77) Look-In magazine ceases publication – 1991
78) Heartbeat is first transmitted – 1992
79) Yorkshire takes over Tyne Tees in Ł30.4m bid - 1992
80) Carlton takes over from Thames in London Monday to Friday – 1993
81) Meridian takes over from TVS in the south – 1993
82) Westcountry takes over from TSW in the southwest – 1993
83) GMTV takes over from TV-am as the national breakfast television company – 1993
84) London News Network is created as a regional news service for London - 1993
85) Teletext replaces Oracle as ITV’s Teletext service – 1993
86) Carlton takes over Central in Ł758m bid – 1994
87) Granada takes over LWT in Ł765m hostile bid - 1994
88) Carlton takes over Westcountry in Ł85m bid - 1996
89) ITV gets more commercial television rivalry when Channel 5 begins broadcasting – 1997
90) Granada takes over Yorkshire-Tyne Tees in Ł711m bid – 1997
91) HTV taken over by United News & Media in Ł372m bid - 1997
92) The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales is televised by ITN – 1997
93) Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is first transmitted – 1998
94) News at Ten ends its first 32 year run – 1999
95) ITV launches its digital channel ITV 2 - 1999
96) ITV goes into the new millennium with ITN transmitting Countdown 2000 – 1999-2000
97) ITV transmits its Year of Promise - 2000
98) The Queen Mother’s 100th birthday and her pageant are televised by ITN – 2000
99) Judith Keppel becomes the first person to win Ł1 million on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? - 2000
100) Two ITV Sports channels are launched – 2001
101) ITV is renamed ITV 1 – 2001

WHY NOT TRY THESE LINKS?