UTV (TV channel)
Television channel in Northern Ireland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc and is responsible for the regional news service and other programmes made principally for the area.
Country | United Kingdom |
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Broadcast area | Northern Ireland |
Network | ITV |
Headquarters | City Quays 2, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | |
Timeshift service |
|
Ownership | |
Owner | ITV plc |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched | 31 October 1959; 64 years ago (1959-10-31) (as Ulster Television) |
Former names |
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Links | |
Website | itv |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Freeview (Northern Ireland only) |
|
Streaming media | |
UTV Player until 2016 | u.tv |
ITV Hub (2016–2022) | www.itvhub.com |
ITVX (2022–present) | www.itv.com |
The modern TV channel, ITV1, is directly descended from the ITV network, which originally consisted of independent regional companies which were once the only commercial TV broadcasters in their area. UTV held the licence for Northern Ireland and first went on the air on 31 October 1959.[1]
The company itself was formed in November 1958 to apply for the licence – advertised by the Independent Television Authority – and became the first indigenous broadcaster in Northern Ireland.[1] The company later diversified and the UTV television operation was sold by parent UTV Media plc (now known as Wireless Group and part of News UK) to ITV plc in February 2016.