 | |
| Type | Breakfast television |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Breakfast Television Centre, London |
Launch date | 1 February 1983 |
| Dissolved | 31 December 1992 |
| Affiliation(s) | ITV |
Official website | Official website |
| Language | English |
| Replaced by | GMTV |
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise. Its daily broadcasts were between 6:00 am and 9:25 am.
Throughout its nine years and 10 months of broadcast, the station regularly had problems, resulting in numerous management changes, especially in its early years. It also suffered from major financial cutbacks hampering its operations. Though on a stable footing by 1986 and winning its ratings battle with the BBC's Breakfast Time, within a year turmoil had ensued when industrial action hit the company.
Despite these setbacks, by the 1990s, TV-am's flagship programme Good Morning Britain had become the most popular breakfast show on UK television.[citation needed] Following a change in the law regarding television franchising, the company lost its licence and was replaced by GMTV in 1993.