ITV2

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ITV2
Image:ITV2logo06.png
Launched	7 December 1998
Owned by	ITV plc
Audience share	2.0% (0.1% for ITV2+1) (February 2007, [1])
Timeshift service	ITV2+1
Website	www.itv.com/itv2
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview	Channel 6 Channel 31 (+1)
Satellite
Sky Digital	Channel 118 Channel 211 (+1)
SES Astra	10758V, 22.0, 5/6 (manual tuning)
Cable
Virgin Media (NTL)	Channel 114
Virgin Media (Telewest)	Channel 113

ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite (free-to-air on Sky Digital platform as of 1 November 2005), cable, or terrestrial (Freeview) media. It is also available through analogue cable television. It airs daily from 9.25am following the closedown of GMTV2 on the same frequency.

The term can also refer to the continuum of proposals to create a second commercial television network, from the 1950s until the idea was realised with the start of Channel 4 and S4C in 1982 (see Background).

The channel mainly shows episodes of ITV1 programming at a later time (such as the soap opera Coronation Street), imported American programming such as Judge Judy and extended coverage of Reality television programmes such as The X Factor. However, some original programming has been commissioned for the channel.

The channel has an on-screen logo at all times during its programming output, which is not removed during advertisement breaks. For images of ITV2 presentation see ITV Idents and Presentation

Contents 1 Background 2 History 3 Defunct local variants 3.1 S2 3.2 UTV2 4 Some programmes shown on ITV2 5 References 6 External links

Background

The concept of there being more than one independent television service dates back to the very origins of independent television itself, where ways of allowing the composite companies of ITV to compete directly with one another side-by-side were considered. When the first broadcasts went on air in 1955 there was not enough frequency space given for use by television to allow this to happen, so each competing company was allotted a part of the country, and in the large areas a period of the week (weekdays or weekend), in which to 'compete'. This arrangement was not seen as ideal however, and the ITA continually pushed the government for the extra capacity to license a second set of franchises.^[1]

When transmissions began on UHF in the early 1960s, the GPO were afforded the task of allocating each transmitter region with a set of frequencies that would provide maximum coverage, and minimal interference; this was done in such a way that each area had four channels available for four services, one each for the existing BBC and Independent Television services (as already carried on VHF), one for the new BBC2 service, launched in 1964, and a fourth for future allocation. The ITA and ITV companies pushed for this space to be given to them, and during the 1968 round of new ITV franchises being issued, each licence included a clause that would allow the licence to be revoked and reconsidered if 'ITV2' became a reality before its ten-year expiry period, so as to 're-draw' the network with this consideration in mind. The term 'ITV2' became popular during this time, as the term 'ITV' itself grew in popularity for the commercial network which hitherto had no formal or agreed overall name. So anticipated was the creation of such a network by some, that many television sets manufactured during the '60s and '70s had buttons labelled 'ITV1' and 'ITV2'.

The issue was a sensitive political point: The Labour Party of the 1950s and 1960s had been traditionally against commercial television, and many on the left of the party wanted to see ITV abolished altogether. Ideas to create a 'BBC3' using the spare capacity had been considered during the 1960s, but never acted upon - presumably due to the cost involved. The following Conservative government, despite traditionally favouring the concept of ITV and having founded it, were also slow to act in implementing the new network when they came to power in 1969. After many years of indecisiveness on the part of the various governments, moves began to be made towards the end of the 1970s on the form such a forth service would take. By then, both major political parties roughly agreed that this new service ought to have some public service element to it, and provide content to minority groups not necessarily catered for by the BBC or ITV proper. The resultant service, Channel 4, and a variant for Wales, S4C, began in 1982. It could be said that this service was the long-awaited 'ITV2' in all but name, as it was operated and regulated by the IBA, was (then) funded by the rest of ITV, and some of its content was produced from the ITV companies; only the name was distinct.

History

This name was not dead, however, and the concept of 'ITV2' resurfaced in the late 1990s for very different reasons. The launch of digital terrestrial television services in the UK saw each existing analogue terrestrial broadcaster given a slice of bandwidth with which to carry their existing service after analogue switch-off with space left over for new channels. Whilst strictly speaking this space belonged to each regional contractor for use within their own region, ITV had undergone a series of buy-outs earlier on in the decade, and the two players operating the majority of the network, Granada and Carlton, jointly launched ITV2 in 1998 to be broadcast to most of the country as a uniform service. Whilst free-to-air, it was marketed along-side their own subscription based ONdigital platform. Other ITV licensees, SMG, UTV and GMTV launched their own services in the space (see below).

It is important to consider the distinction between ITV2 as considered between 1955 and 1982 and the ITV2 that was launched in 1998. Like ITV itself, the former would have had a regional structure comprising of many companies competing head-to-head with their counterparts in each region, whilst the latter is operated by one organisation, as a supplement service to the main network.

In June 2004, ITV announced that they were going to double the channel's programme budget, and would add more US series and movies.

ITV launched a one hour timeshift channel of ITV2 on Monday, 30 October 2006. The company is looking to its digital channels to shore up revenues as its flagship channel ITV1 suffers a decline in viewers. ITV3+1 launched on the same day.

Defunct local variants

S2

S2 was a television station broadcast throughout the Scottish and Grampian ITV regions by SMG plc, the holder of the Scottish and Grampian region ITV franchises. S2, which aired on the Digital Terrestrial platform, was launched 30 April 1999 and closed just over two years later — as part of a deal with ITV Digital — on 27 July 2001

Towards the end of its life, it mainly simulcast ITV2, but covered the ITV2 graphic with an opaque S2 graphic. [2] This caused controversy and forced the broadcaster further into removing the channel. By 2001, it had lost nearly all of its Scottish programmes and found itself simulcast with ITV2 the vast majority of the time.

Although S2 initially had great ambitions for the station, it closed in 2001 as part of a deal with ITV Digital. [3] The channel capacity was replaced by ITV2 and the ITV Sports Channel. When the sports channel closed, it was replaced by the now also-defunct ITV News Channel.

The Grampian and Scottish franchises operate together as STV as of present (2006).

UTV2

UTV2 was a television station broadcast by UTV plc on Digital Terrestrial Television in Northern Ireland. It was launched in 1999 as TV You. The programming consisted primarily of simulcasts with the ITV2 station shown in England, Wales and the Scottish Borders, although they did also use archive broadcasts from UTV.

Unusually, for a commercial station, neither UTV2 nor its predecessor carried any advertising. This was presumably due to their failure to attract advertisers to a station which was only receivable by a few thousand viewers.

UTV2 closed on 22 January 2002 following a deal with ITV Digital similar to that which saw S2 replaced by ITV2 in most of Scotland

Some programmes shown on ITV2

• American Idol
• Comedy Cuts
• Entourage
• Judge Judy
• Nanny 911
• Smallville
• Supernatural
• The Oprah Winfrey Show
• Ricki Lake
• WAGs Boutique

References

1. ^ Electromusications article on history leading up to Channel4's launch.

Wikipedia information about ITV2 This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "ITV2". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.