UTV (TV channel)

UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1 / UTV since 2020) 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 programmes made principally for the area by the UTV production team. It currently uses the network ITV1 channel with an opt-out service for local advertising and on-air promos for local programming. The present day TV service, 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. The company itself was formed in November 1958 to apply for the licence – advertised by the Independent Television Authority – and became the first indigenous television broadcaster in Ireland. 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. In 1953, the BBC began its first television broadcasts in Northern Ireland, from a temporary relay transmitter in Glencairn that was hastily set up in time for the coronation of Elizabeth II. The following year, the UK Parliament passed the Television Act of 1954, which led to the launch of the country's first commercial television broadcaster, ITV (and subsequently, the beginning of commercial television broadcasts in the United Kingdom). On 2 September 1958, the ITA began searching for companies and entities interested in operating an ITV franchise for Northern Ireland.