ITV Tyne Tees

ITV Tyne Tees
TypeRegion of television network
BrandingITV1
Country
First air date
15 January 1959; 65 years ago (1959-01-15)
TV transmittersPontop Pike, Bilsdale, Chatton
(formerly Burnhope)
HeadquartersGateshead
(previously Newcastle upon Tyne)
Broadcast area
County Durham
Cumbria (Alston area)
Northumberland (majority)
North Yorkshire (part)
Teesside
Tyne and Wear
OwnerITV plc
Dissolvedlost on-air identity on 27 October 2002 (2002-10-27) (now known as ITV at all times)
Former names
Tyne Tees Television (1959–1969)
Tyne Tees (1969–1996, 1998–2002)
Channel 3 North East (1996–1998), ITV1 Tyne Tees (2002–2004)
Picture format
1080i HDTV, downscaled to 16:9 576i for SDTV
Affiliation(s)ITV
Official website
itv.com/tynetees
LanguageEnglish

ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.[1]

Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converted warehouse in City Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, remaining in the city until July 2005 when Tyne Tees moved to smaller studios in Gateshead. Tyne Tees has contributed various programming to the ITV network and Channel 4, as well as its regional output. Some of Tyne Tees' best known programming includes the groundbreaking music show The Tube, critically acclaimed adaptations of Catherine Cookson novels, and children's programmes such as Supergran.

The ownership and management structure of Tyne Tees has altered across its history, particularly in various mergers with Yorkshire Television. The two stations were managed by Trident Television during the 1970s, and the two stations merged again in 1992 to form Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television. A series of takeovers and mergers across the ITV network, instigated by the large groups Granada and Carlton, led to Tyne Tees becoming part of ITV plc in 2004. The licence is currently held by ITV Broadcasting Ltd and the original Tyne Tees Television Ltd was dissolved on 28 March 2017.[2]

The analogue signals in the Tyne Tees region were switched off in 2012, making the station, along with ITV London and UTV, one of the last ITV regions to become digital-only.[3]

  1. ^ "Television Broadcast Licensing Update November 2008". OFCOM. Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  2. ^ House, Companies. "Tyne Tees Television Limited". Gov.UK. Companies House. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  3. ^ Story, Chris (7 February 2009). "Revamped Lookaround set for broadcast on February 25". News & Star. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2009.