Unwind with ITV

Unwind with ITV is an ITV ambient television programme. It broadcasts footage of various peaceful environments and computer graphics, over ambient music. It is produced by Plymouth-based Rock Oyster Media in collaboration with mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably, with music coming from the libraries of the music conglomerate BMG.^[1][2] It started broadcasting on 2 October 2021.^[3]

Unwind with ITV
Title card on ITV1.
Also known as	Unwind with STV (on STV) Unwind with ITV1 Unwind with ITV2 Unwind with ITV3 Unwind with ITV4 Unwind with ITVBe (until 8 June 2025) Unwind with ITV Quiz (since 10 June 2025)
Genre	Ambient television Television filler
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	5–90 minutes
Production company	Rock Oyster Media
Original release
Network	ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, ITVBe (until 2025), ITV Quiz (since 2025)
Release	2 October 2021 (2021-10-02) – present
Related
ITV Nightscreen Night Vision (on STV)

The show is also available for late-night viewing on ITV channels 1–4 and ITV Quiz (formerly ITVBe). Select episodes previously broadcast on ITV1 are available on ITVX under the title Unwind with ITV1. Indeed, unlike ITV Nightscreen, which presented the TV listings for ITV1 alone across the ITV network, distinct editions of Unwind with ITV air on the same night from channel to channel and are labeled accordingly on ITVX's TV listings.

In November 2022, a round-the-clock feed of Unwind footage was made available as part of the line-up of FAST channels offered within the 'Live TV' section of ITVX,^[4] although this has since closed. Also in November 2022, Unwind was discontinued on STV, with it being replaced by Night Vision, which features news, sport and weather from across Scotland. However, in July 2023, Unwind returned to STV following the collapse of Ideal World and shown alongside Night Vision. Unwind with ITVBe was discontinued in light of ITVBe's closure and replacement by ITV Quiz on 9th June 2025, with Unwind with ITV now broadcasting on the new channel.

Origins

Unwind with ITV replaced an earlier programme called ITV Nightscreen, which was an overnight filler programme of promotional information about upcoming ITV shows that ran over the late hours of ITV's night-time service. The programme was used to fill the station's overnight downtime, where a closedown would have once been used at the end of programmes. However, under ITV's public service broadcasting requirements, the channel is required to operate a 24-hour-a-day service. ITV classified ITV Nightscreen as a regional programme. In 2017, the programme was said to account for more than a third of ITV's regional programming hours. Ofcom considered this an inappropriate means of fulfilling regional quotas and took action to remove the loophole.^[5]

Content

Each episode consists of either ambient aerial, landscape or natural scenery (done by either drone or static cameras) or geometric, morphing digital graphics. These visuals are accompanied by soft, ambient music.

Broadcasts

Though broadcasts of Unwind with ITV are subject to change to accommodate other programs, Unwind with ITV1 typically airs overnight between reruns of ITV programming. The remaining four channels air their editions of Unwind with ITV prior to their scheduled teleshopping hours in the early morning. Editions of Unwind with ITV on these channels range from a minimum of 5 minutes to in excess of 30 minutes.

As the death of Prince Philip affected ITV Nightscreen, so was Unwind with ITV affected by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In the days following her death, commemorative documentaries aired in place of Unwind with ITV.

See also

• The Landscape Channel – A British defunct television channel that showed landscapes over ambient music