This is a list of events that took place in 2023 relating to television in the United Kingdom.
Events January Date Event1 BBC One's New Year schedule includes Sam Ryder Rocks New Year's Eve from 11.30pm on 31 December 2022, with a break at midnight for London's annual New Year fireworks display. Het Grote Songfestivalfeest (renamed The Big Eurovision Party for UK viewers) follows Sam Ryder at 12.45am and is presented by Rylan Clark.BBC Four begins showing old editions of Come Dancing, beginning with an edition from 1979 presented by Terry Wogan. Seven editions of the show are planned for repeat on a weekly basis.ITV airs No Time to Die as part of its New Year's Day schedule.2The BBC News channel airs the final edition of The Papers, its nightly review of the following morning's newspaper headlines. From the following day, discussion of newspaper headlines will form part of its news content.3School drama Waterloo Road returns to BBC One following an eight-year hiatus.4Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has written to the Prime Minister recommending the government reverse its plans to privatise Channel 4. The recommendation is criticised by her predecessor, Nadine Dorries, who describes it as one of a number of "progressive" policies that are being "washed down the drain".5The UK government confirms it will not go ahead with a plan to privatise Channel 4.BBC World News broadcasts coverage of the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI.The Apprentice returns for Series 17, with a new receptionist, Khadeejah Khan, who is the first to wear a hijab.7The ITC Entertainment series The Four Just Men makes its Talking Pictures TV debut.Ahead of the merger in April, the BBC News Channel stops producing its weekend opt-out from BBC World News between 13:00–19:00. All network bulletins expect Breakfast and Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg stop being simulcast on the channel.8ITV and ITVX air Harry: The Interview, a 95-minute programme in which Prince Harry talks to Tom Bradby ahead of the release of his autobiography, Spare, on 10 January. According to Deadline, the programme is watched by an average audience of 4.1 million, peaking at 4.5 million, but is beaten in the ratings by Episode 2 of the third series of Happy Valley on BBC One, which draws an audience of 5.2 million.9Talking Pictures TV begins re-running the 1970s ITV drama Crown Court on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at 2.30pm. Unusually for a series from the era, all of its 879 episodes still exist.GB News have hired comedian Daniel O'Reilly as a commentator on their late night newspaper review show, Headliners.Amanda Lovett, a contestant on BBC One's The Traitors apologises on social media after drawing criticism for making an appearance on GB News the previous week, and posing for photographs with fellow contestant Kieran Thompsett alongside presenters Tatiana Sanchez and Calvin Robinson (who has faced criticism for his views on LGBTQ issues). Lovett blames her agent for arranging her appearance on the channel, saying that she "had no idea what the news channel was about".12The nominees are announced for the 2023 Brit Awards. There are no female nominations in the British Artist of the Year category for the first time, and British singer Sam Ryder, is the first Eurovision artist to be nominated for Best New Artist and K-pop girl group Blackpink is the first Kpop girl group to be nominated for International Group. The ceremony was hosted by Mo Gilligan for the second year running, and aired on ITV on 11 February.13The US version of The Traitors is made available as a box set on BBC iPlayer.Former GB News presenter Mercy Muroki has been hired by the UK government to advise Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Women and Equalities, on gender policy. The BBC's F1 correspondent and co-commentator for the English language world feed of Extreme E Jennie Gow, announces on social media that she had suffered a stroke, affecting her speech and ability to write.15Ski Sunday celebrates its 45th anniversary.16The critically acclaimed TV adaptation of the video game, The Last of Us, makes its UK television debut on Sky Atlantic, airing at 2.00am.The BBC have partnered with the European Broadcasting Union and Warner Bros. Discovery to provide coverage of the Olympic Games, with every Games up to and including 2032 free-to-air across the BBC.Love Island returns to ITV2 for a ninth series with a change of rules regarding contestants' social media accounts, which ITV now requests remain dormant during the series. Contestants' friends and relatives had previously managed their social media accounts while they participated in the series.Birmingham City Council have approved BBC plans to use the old Banana Warehouse in Digbeth as the new MasterChef studios.17BBC Breakfast celebrates its 40th anniversary of Breakfast Time with guest appearances from some former presenters, including Francis Wilson, Russell Grant and Debbie Rix.The BBC apologises to viewers after sexual noises were heard during coverage of an FA Cup third-round replay.Amazon Prime Video has reportedly cut ties with Jeremy Clarkson following his controversial remarks about Meghan Markle.GB News Head of Television, Helen Warner, leaves her post after four months with the channel.18Piers Morgan attracts criticism on social media after comments made on his show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, about Madonna ahead of the Celebration Tour, her 40th anniversary world tour. Morgan criticised the singer for "the whole trying to be a sex kitten thing when you're in your sixties" and suggested she should be "put out to pasture".19BBC One airs an edition of Question Time focused entirely on the health service.23William Shawcross, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, is to hold a review into the process of hiring Chairman of the BBC Richard Sharp following claims he helped then Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure a loan guarantee shortly before his appointment.Ofcom says it will not investigate comments about Qatar made by Gary Neville on ITV before the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. Neville had called working conditions in the country "abhorrent", attracting 705 complaints from viewers, but Ofcom have concluded the remarks were part of "a wider discussion about policies and actions of the Qatari Government, which gave due weight to a range of views".Ant & Dec have signed a three-year contract extension with ITV.24Bruno Tonioli replaces David Walliams as a judge on Britain's Got Talent.25Made in Manchester announces a partnership with Workerbee to generate new content ideas for radio and television.26BBC newsreader Joanna Gosling makes her final appearance on the BBC News channel, having decided to leave the broadcaster after 23 years, and ahead of the planned merger of BBC News and BBC World News.GB News have hired Conservative MP and former Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg to present a chat show that will travel round the country.28Eric Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, says that Nadine Dorries, the former Secretary of State for Culture, has breached the ministerial code by not consulting the watchdog about her appointment as a presenter on TalkTV, where she is to present a weekly show from 3 February.30William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, steps back from the planned investigation into how Richard Sharp got the job as BBC chairman because of previous contact between them. Another investigator will be appointed to take on the inquiry.Analysis carried out by market researchers Kantar Group shows the number of paid-for video streaming subscriptions in the UK fell by two million during 2022 as people made cutbacks because of the cost of living crisis, with the number falling from 30.5m to 28.5m.31BBC Two broadcasts the ceremony at which the "official keys of Eurovision" are handed from the previous year's host city to the present year's host city (in this case from Turin to Liverpool). The event is presented by Rylan Clark and AJ Odudu.
February