ITV Sport

ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc, covering all sporting programming produced by ITV.

History

ITV Sport was created as an umbrella brand for sports programmes on ITV Network, No programmes were actually produced by ITV Sport during this time, but rather the 15 ITV companies each produced sport show for the umbrella brand, such as World of Sport by LWT and Thames. Central also played a significant part in networked sports output under the leadership of Gary Newbon. The station produced nearly all of ITV's football coverage during the 1990s - including the FA Cup, UEFA Champions' League, the FIFA World Cup in 1994, 1998 & 2002, UEFA European Championship 1996, 2000 & 2004 and Premier League highlights.

2004

In 2004, Granada and Carlton merged, creating a single company for all ITV franchises in England and Wales. One of the consequences of the merger was (according to the company) an over-capacity of studio facilities and production units around the country, which had previously been rivals, but were now all part of the same group. In order to make cost savings, several large regional headquarters, studio sites and programme departments closed and merged. Thus current ITV sports department was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's (previously Central's) sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national team. ITV Sport also shows live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship and the Tour De France.

ITV

ITV or iTV may refer to:

ITV

Sport

Sport (UK) or sports (US) are all forms of usually competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game; others provide tie-breaking methods, to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of such two-sided contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, each against all with one winner.

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition, and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports, although limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports.