ITV Central

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ITV Central

Logo used since 2013
Type	Region of television network
Branding	ITV1
Country	United Kingdom
First air date	1 January 1982; 42 years ago (1982-01-01)
Founded	14 April 1980; 44 years ago (1980-04-14) by Lew Grade (founder of ATV)
Motto	"The One to Watch" "Even More" "The Shape of Television" "Central is ITV" "Central Just the ticket"
TV transmitters	Sutton Coldfield, Waltham, Ridge Hill, The Wrekin (formerly Oxford, Lichfield, Membury)
Headquarters	Birmingham, West Midlands
Broadcast area	The Midlands and parts of the South West
Nation	England
Owner	ITV plc
Dissolved	lost on-air identity on 27 October 2002 (2002-10-27) (now known as ITV1 at all times)
Former names	Central Independent Television Carlton Central ITV1 Carlton for Central England ITV1 for Central England
Picture format	1080i HDTV, downscaled to 16:9 576i for SDTV
Affiliation(s)	ITV
Official website	itv.com/central
Replaced	ATV

ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands.^[1] It was created following the restructuring of ATV and began broadcasting on 1 January 1982. The service is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited. Historically Central made a major contribution to the ITV network schedule – especially in entertainment and drama – but today its main responsibility is the regional news service.