ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc.^[1] It was launched on 7 December 1998 and is available digitally via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial (Freeview) platforms. For a number of years it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a claim now held by its sister service ITV3^[2] both of which are freely available to a majority of households.

The channel is known for American programming such as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries; repeats of recently aired episodes of soap operas and other entertainment programming from ITV1 such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale; spin-off shows such as The Xtra Factor and Britain's Got More Talent, and original programming such as Celebrity Juice and The Only Way Is Essex.

Background[link]

In the period between the launch of Independent Television in the 1950's and the start of Channel 4 and S4C in 1982, the term 'ITV2' was popularly used to refer to an envisioned second UK commercial television network.

Plans for independent television to consist of two or more channels in a given area were first discussed during its inception, where ways of allowing the composite companies to compete directly with one another were considered. When the first broadcasts went on air in 1955 there was not enough frequency space allocated for television, leading to the approach whereby each competing company was allotted a part of the country (or in the larger areas a period of the week, weekdays or weekend). This arrangement was not seen as ideal and the Independent Television Authority (ITA) along with the franchisees continually pushed the government for capacity to license a second set of franchises.^[3]

When transmissions began on UHF in the early 1960s, the General Post Office (GPO) were afforded the task of allocating each transmitter region with a set of frequencies that would provide maximum coverage and minimal interference; this provided capacity for four services, allowing one each for the existing BBC and ITV services (already carried on VHF), one for the new BBC2 and a fourth for future allocation. By 1968 the ITA considered this sufficiently likely that when awarding franchises for the next ten year period they included a clause that allowed the licence to be revoked and reconsidered if 'ITV2' became a reality.

The issue was a sensitive political point: The Labour Party of the 1950s and 1960s had traditionally been against commercial television and many on the left of the party wanted to see all commercial television abolished, advocating instead for an expansion of BBC Television (which was not acted upon, most likely due to cost). The following Conservative government, and advocates of commercial broadcasting, were also slow to act in implementing a new network after coming to power in 1970, instead concentrating on Independent Local Radio. Moves began to be made towards the end of the 1970s on the form such a fourth 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 (then) had a substantial amount of content produced by the ITV companies.

The term 'ITV2' became popular as the term 'ITV' itself grew in popularity for the commercial network which had previously been referred to by generic titles 'Independent Television' or 'Commercial Television'. In anticipation of the second network, it was not uncommon for television sets manufactured during the '60s and '70s to have buttons labelled 'ITV1' and 'ITV2'.

History[link]

Both variations of the ITV2 logo was used on 19 November 2001 to 13 July 2003.

Third ITV2 logo, used from 14 July 2003 to 15 January 2006.

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, the three players operating the majority of the network, Granada, Carlton and United News & Media 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).

While ITV2 is now a popular entertainment channel, at its launch in 1998 it was a mixed genre channel. Much of the original content in its launch schedule was current affairs related programming fronted by ITV newscasters. Katie Derham presented a weekly media programme called Wide Angle, John Suchet fronted a weekly current affairs discussion programme called Who, What, Why, and Trevor MacDonald presented an interview series, Trevor MacDonald Meets....^[4] Other programmes included omnibus editions of ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street, and a Saturday football results service.^[5]

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 consisting 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 plc announced that they were going to double the channel's programme budget, and would add more US series and movies. On 1 November 2004, in an attempt to launch ITV3 on Sky, ITV2 moved from 175 to 118 on Sky after ITV plc bought GSkyB for £10millon. As a result, Granada Plus was permanently closed down, with its EPG slot taken by ITV3.

ITV plc 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 the ITV Network suffers a decline in viewers. ITV3 +1 was launched on the same day.

ITV2 and its one-hour timeshift channel began broadcasting 24 hours a day on 17 March 2008.^[6]

From 11 January 2011, ITV2 +1 on the Freeview platform has changed its broadcasting hours to 7:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. On 1 June 2011, an additional hour was added in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, allowing ITV2 +1 to start at 6:00 p.m. On 2 August 2011, ITV2 +1 began to broadcast 24 hours a day on Freeview across the UK, using an eleventh stream created on mux A.

As part of the changes, ITV2 +1 swapped slots on Sky's electronic programme guide with Men & Motors, resulting in the timeshift channel making a significant jump from channel 184 to 131. It is now Sky 179.

GMTV2 programming moved from ITV2 to ITV4. The strand continues to be simulcast on the CITV Channel.

On 20 August 2008, ITV2 unveiled a new look, the logo was given a 3D look, with three new idents.

ITV2 was launched on UPC Ireland in the Republic of Ireland on 4 January 2010, marking the first time the channel has been officially available in the country. The channel had already been (and remains) available to Irish viewers on free-to-air satellite for some time, however it is still not listed in the Sky electronic programme guide. On 1 April 2011, ITV2 was removed from UPC Ireland along with ITV3 and ITV4 due to the expiry of a carriage agreement between UPC and ITV.^[7] UPC Ireland claim that ITV is not in a position to renegotiate the deal because ITV had struck a deal with another channel provider to provide it with exclusive rights to air certain content from the channels. Conversely, UPC Ireland also claims to have been in discussions right up to the last moment in order to continue broadcasting the channels.^[8] ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 were restored to the UPC Ireland line-up on 20 December 2011. TV3 Ireland and its sister channel 3e already hold carriage agreement to air certain ITV content within the Republic of Ireland,^[9] alternatively UTV is available within the Republic. ITV2 is available along with ITV3 and ITV4 within Switzerland, all three channels are available on SwisscomTV and UPC Cablecom.On Wednesday the 29 February 2012 since itvplc brought Channel Television, ITV2 is now available on freeview. http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_jerseynews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=498412 ^[10]

Most watched programmes[link]

The following is a list of the five most watched shows on ITV2, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB up to 19 February 2012.^[11] The number of viewers does not include repeats or airings on ITV2 +1. Only the highest rated episode of a particular programme is listed.

Awards[link]

ITV2 won channel of the year at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards 2007 on 9 June 2007,^[12] and on 25 August of the same year, ITV2 was named non-terrestrial channel of the year at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.^[13]

ITV2 HD[link]

ITV2 HD, a high-definition simulcast of ITV2, launched on 7 October 2010 on Sky channel 225.^[14][15] The channel is available through Sky's pay subscription in a non-exclusive deal,^[16] ITV has held talks with other providers including Virgin Media.^[17] Original HD programming includes entertainment shows, Britain's Got More Talent, The Xtra Factor and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!; original drama such as the third and fourth series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl; and acquired content including The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl and a range of movies.

Other local variants[link]

S2[link]

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.

By the end of its life, it had lost nearly all of its Scottish programmes and mainly simulcast ITV2, but covered the ITV2 graphic with an opaque S2 graphic.^[18] This caused controversy and forced the broadcaster further into removing the channel.

UTV2[link]

UTV2 was a television station broadcast by UTV Media 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. UTV2 closed on 22 January 2002 following a deal with ITV Digital and was replaced by ITV2.

Branding[link]

When the channel launched, the logo was very similar in style to the ITV1 logo at the time and ITV were worried the channel looked just like an extension of ITV1 and didn't offer anything new. It was soon after this that the channel received a complete overhaul along with the other ITV channels in 2006. The channel received a new lime green logo which was generally well received by viewers. Six New idents and general presentation were introduced as well as new programming. The lime green colour was chosen as ITV thought it had a young fresh feel to it. The colour has been used now since 2006. The six new idents all had names beginning with 'Too' to relate to the 2 in the channels name. They were called; "Too Fast", "Too Hot", "Too Cold, "Too Expensive", "Too Glamorous" and "Too Loud". Each of the idents were made up of a mix of shades of green to match the channels logo.

In 2008, the channel received another new look. The green logo was kept but edited. The channel now had a new 3D logo to try and make the channel look more modern and appealing to a younger audience. The new look was praised by many viewers. Six new idents were launched. Each ident had a unique but fresh look and feel to them and were well received.

During Newcastle United's run in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, the channel was rebranded as ITV Toon on matchdays, referring to the club's nickname the Toon. The channel's yellow and blue idents changed to black and white, to match the club's colours. ^[19]

Idents - 2008 to present[link]

Programming[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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