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.

History

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. Among the candidates for the franchise are Associated-Rediffusion and Granada, as well as two consortia - one led by the Duke of Abercorn and the other led by the Earl of Antrim. The ITA eventually awarded the franchise to the Antrim consortium on 4 November by having the Whig and Telegraph among the franchise shareholders, while also having sufficient Roman Catholic representation.

With a reluctant MacQuitty as the franchise's founding managing director, the newly-formed group, Ulster Television Limited, set out to launch the new station on Halloween 1959, giving them less than a year to construct facilities and hire needed personnel within a tight budget. The group would purchase Havelock House, then an abandoned linen factory on the Ormeau Road, for £17,000 and convert it into a television studio complex. Instead of providing six hours a week of local programming (including a full news service) within year one (as stipulated in the franchise contract), UTV would do so in stages, with the twenty-minute weekday magazine programme Roundabout being the first local programme to be produced. Ulster Television would sign an affiliation agreement with another broadcaster, ABC Television, to supply the former with programmes and advertising.

On air Ulster Television went on air at 4:45pm on 31 October 1959, with Laurence Olivier (then of Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III fame) being the first person to appear. During its first minutes on air, it featured children engaging in Halloween festivities, an introduction to Northern Ireland "in words and music" by Richard Hayward, and pre-recorded messages from ITV talent. The first programmes to air on Ulster Television are (in order) an episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood, an ITN bulletin, an episode of African Patrol, an episode of Boy Meets Girls (a music programme now wiped), an episode of 77 Sunset Strip, an episode of The Jewel and Warriss Show, another ITN bulletin, a wrestling programme, the 1949 American war film Task Force, and an episode of The Florian Zabach Show. Olivier would then close Ulster Television's inaugural broadcast with an excerpt from Joseph Addison's "The Spacious Firmament". On that night, some residents from Dublin (which falls outside the station's intended broadcast area) called the station to report poor picture reception.

The following evening, UTV aired Rich and Rare, a film consisting of thirty images from across Northern Ireland produced by John Loder (then-Governor of Northern Ireland and Lord Wakehurst), followed by A Shilling for the Evil Day (a play by Irish writer Joseph Tomelty, as part of Armchair Theatre).

At launch, Ulster Television employed a staff of 100 people including six presenters: Ivor Mills and Anne Gregg were chosen as the presenters of local magazine programme Roundabout, Adrienne McGuill, James Greene and Brian Durkin were the first continuity announcers, and former rugby union international Ernest Strathdee was recruited as the station's sports presenter.Extract from Brum Henderson "Brum: A Life in Television", from ; dated 4 October 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2008.

Coverage of UTV spread to Western areas of Northern Ireland when the Strabane transmitter opened in February 1963.

1970s–2000s Ulster Television's UHF PAL colour service was launched with the opening of the UHF transmitter Divis in September 1970. This was followed by two additional transmitters at Limavady (opened in 1975) and Brougher Mountain (in 1978). In the early 1980s it broadcast reduced hours when no schools programmes were being broadcast coming on air at 12 noon during the week, and closing down every evening at 23:30 – this remained in place until 1982. In October 1988, the station began 24-hour broadcasting – the last station in the ITV network to do so.TV Live - ITV Night Time UTV was originally scheduled to take a service provided by Central in Birmingham, but a late minute decision to switch to Granada Television's sustaining feed, Night Time, led to a month-long delay. UTV retained its franchise at the 1991 ITV franchise auctions, despite having two opponents.

At the company's annual general meeting in Belfast on 26 May 2006, the registered company name was changed from 'Ulster Television plc' to 'UTV plc'. The company believed that the existing name no longer reflected the full scope of the company's business. In a further change in October 2007, UTV underwent a corporate reorganisation which saw UTV shareholders swap their shares for shares in a new holding company, UTV Media plc, which took over UTV plc's shareholdings in the new media and radio subsidiaries. UTV Ltd. – the original Ulster Television Limited, now a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media – returned to being solely the operating company for the ITV franchise.

Sale to ITV and end of local continuity On 19 October 2015, UTV Media announced that it would sell its ITV franchise and the UTV brand to ITV plc for £100 million, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition was finalised the following February. ITV stated that they intended to retain the UTV brand in Northern Ireland.

The former UTV Media group was restructured and rebranded as the Wireless Group, retaining its radio assets until June 2016, when the company was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. On 11 July 2016, ITV plc announced that was selling the UTV Ireland service to Virgin Media Ireland for €10 million. Virgin Media Ireland was a subsidiary of Liberty Media and had already bought Ireland's TV3 in 2015).

In October 2016, ITV announced plans to close UTV's Havelock House studios. UTV began broadcasting from a new broadcast centre at City Quays 2 in the Belfast Harbour Estate from 1 July 2018.

Local continuity announcements ended in April 2020, effectively rebranding the channel as ITV in line with all other ITV plc regions. This change was made permanent in November 2020. The ITV channel (including UTV) rebranded as ITV1 in November 2022. The UTV name continues to be used for local programming, notably the news service UTV Live, and in on-air promotions for local non-news programmes.

Programming UTV's focus has always been on programmes made explicitly for viewers in Northern Ireland, but until the 1990s it also made a number of contributions to the ITV network and Channel 4, many of which were in some way about the province.

Current/recent series

UTV Live UTV Life View from Stormont Up Close Hidden NI Lesser Spotted UlsterUTV Press Office: "UTV celebrates 50 years of broadcasting this autumn" UTV Press Office, 17 September 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 Lesser Spotted Culture Lough Foyle The Issue The Magazine Paul and Nick's Big Food Trip"'Paul and Nick's Big Food Trip' starts on UTV" ; UTV Press Office, 5 April 2012; accessed 9 May 2012 Rare Breed: A Farming Year"'Rare Breed: A Farming Year' starts on UTV" ; UTV Press Office, 10 January 2012; accessed 9 May 2012 RPM"New faces for 'RPM' on UTV this Spring" ; UTV Press Office, 27 March 2012; accessed 9 May 2012 Ulster Unearthed Ultimate Ulster"Ultimate Ulster returns with new series on Friday nights" UTV Press Office, 18 September 2009; accessed 20 September 2009"New series of 'Ultimate Ulster' starts this Easter" UTV Press Office, 19 April 2011; accessed 9 May 2012

Notable programmes shown on the ITV network Password (1987–1988)BFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008.

Contributions to series on the ITV network

About BritainBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Comedy Playhouse ("Sailortown"; co-production with Central Television and Carlton Television, 20 April 1993)Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008.BFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Dramarama ("Undertow of the Armada", 15 June 1987)Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008.BFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Get FreshBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Ghost TrainBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. HighwayBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. ITV Playhouse ("Boatman Do Not Tarry", 8 July 1968) Morning WorshipBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Sounds of BritainBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. The Time, The PlaceBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008. Treasures in StoreBFI Film and TV Database. Retrieved 15 June 2008.

Notable programmes shown on Channel 4

The Irish R.M. (co-production with RTÉ; 1983–1985, 3 series) Ulster Landscapes (1983) Trauma (1983) Make It Pay (1983–1985) A Seat Among the Stars: The Cinema in Ireland (1984) How Does Your Garden Grow? (1986–1992) The Last of a Dyin' Race (one-off drama; 1987) God's Frontiermen (4-part drama series; 1989)

Notable regional programmes

All Mixed Up Counterpoint Farming Ulster (UTV Live) Insight Jenny Bristow cookery series Kelly McGilloway's Way McKeever School Around the Corner – created by the show's original presenter Paddy Crosbie The Seven Thirty ShowUTV Press Office: "Timely launch for new UTV series" UTV Press Office, 27 May 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 UTV Live TonightUTV Press Office: "UTV launches new weeknights news and current affairs programming" ; dated 24 April 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009. UTV School Choir of the Year

Regional news programmes

Roundabout (1959–1964) Newsview (1964–1969) UTV Reports/Reports (1969–1978) Good Evening Ulster (1979–1987) Six Tonight/Ulster Newstime (1987–1992) UTV Live (1993 to date)

Visual identity and presentation

Before ITV branding was introduced in 2020, UTV/Ulster Television used a number of different logos, or idents on-screen over the years. 1959 – The station's first on-screen logo was an oscilloscope pattern made up of seven dots joined by six lines. The logo animated to a jingle based on the local folk tune The Mountains of Mourne. According to UTV's website, the original logo was designed as part of a competition, and the winner among over 450 entrants was Mr Roy Irwin of Ballycarry.