History
ITV was launched in 1955 following The Television Act of 1954 which for the first time made the launch of a commercial television channel possible. ITV was made up of 15 broadcasting regions with each region run by a separate company.
The Broadcasting Act of 1990 allowed regional companies, under specific conditions, to merge for the first time. It paved the way for the consolidation of ITV – the first merger took place in 1994 with Granada buying LWT. By the new millennium Granada owned 6 regional licences, Carlton owned 5, SMG owned 2 and Ulster and Channel remained independent.
The merger of the two main ITV companies therefore became an obvious next step – the necessary changes in legislation were introduced by The Communications Act, and the Competition Commission approved plans of the merger. In February 2004 ITV plc, owner of 11 of the 15 regional licences, was born.
In the meantime, ITV also expanded its family of channels with the launch of ITV2 in 1998; ITV3 in 2004 and ITV4 in 2005. ITV Play and CITV were launched in 2006 and ITV2 + 1 is to launch by the end of the year.
Key Dates
| 2007 | |
| September 12 | Strategy update |
| August 2 | ITV sells shares in ITFC |
| July 19 | ITV plc acquires holding in independent producer Mammoth |
| May 9 | ITV plc acquires controlling stake in Jaffe/Braunstein entertainment LLC |
| April 5 | Disposes of Interest in Arsenal FC |
| February 6 | ITV announces the disposal of its shareholding in Liverpool FC |
| 2006 | |
| November 28 | Board announces appointment of Michael Grade as Executive Chairman and John Cresswell becomes Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director |
| August 23 | ITV disposed of its stake in TV3 for £70 million |
| May 23 | ITV disposed of its stake in Seven Network for £87 million |
| April 19 | ITV launches ITV Play – the UK's first interactive participation format |
| March 11 | ITV launches CITV the first dedicated commercial children's channel on Freeview |
| January 16 | ITV Channels are rebranded |
| 2005 | |
| December 6 | ITV plc acquires Friends Reunited |
| September 22 | ITV Celebrates 50 years of broadcasting |
| September 7 | ITV plc enters into an alliance with the BBC on a free satellite service. |
| April 27 | ITV plc acquires SDN, a UK digital terrestrial television (DTT) multiplex operator. |
| November 1 | ITV4 launched |
| 2004 | |
| October 12 | ITV plc acquired SMG's 25% stake in GMTV. |
| February 2 | Granada and Carlton plc merged to form ITV plc The combined company will own 90% of ITV and 11 of the fifteen licences. The new company will be one of the leading commercial broadcasters in Europe. |
| November 1 | ITV3 launched |
| 2003 | |
| October 7 | It was announced that the merger had been given approval to proceed, subject to appropriate undertakings. |
| 2002 | |
| October 16 | The boards of Granada and Carlton Communications announced that they had agreed the terms of a proposed merger. |
| Granada History | |
| 2001 | Granada plc acquired the Border ITV licence |
| The demerger of Granada Compass became effective which completed the separation of Granada Compass's hospitality and media businesses to create Granada plc and Compass Group plc. | |
| 2000 | Granada Media acquired the television interests of United News and Media - Meridian Broadcasting and Anglia TV. |
| 1998 | December 7, ITV2 launched |
| 1997 | Acquisition of Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television forming Granada Media Group. |
| 1994 | Acquisition of LWT. |
| 1954 | Granada was awarded one of the UK's first commercial television broadcasting licenses, for the North of England weekday franchise. |
| 1935 | The company entered the London Stock Exchange. |
| 1934 | Granada created. Its initial aim was to acquire the theatre and cinema operations owned by Bernstein Theatres. |
| Carlton's History | |
| 2001 | HTV was acquired in 1991 in a swap transaction from Granada in return for a 20% stake in Meridian TV. In the same year, Carlton sold Technicolor, its feature film processing. |
| 1996 | Carlton had acquired an 81% stake in Central and Westcountry TV. |
| 1993 | Carlton acquired a 20% stake in GMTV (increased to 25% in December 1999) and an 18% stake in ITN. |
| 1991 | Carlton was granted the London weekday ITV licence. |
| 1987 | Carlton moved into mainstream British television broadcasting by acquiring a 19% stake in Central Independent Television. |
| During the 1980s and 1990s, Carlton expanded into various media activities from television broadcasting to programme production, and distribution to cinema screen advertising. | |
| 1983 | Carlton became a listed company. |
| 1939 | Carlton was incorporated. |