UTV (TV channel)

UTV

Logo used since 2016
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	Northern Ireland
Network	ITV
Headquarters	City Quays 2, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift service	UTV +1 (Freeview & Virgin Media) ITV1 +1 Granada (Freesat & Sky)
Ownership
Owner	ITV plc
Sister channels	ITV2 ITV3 ITV4 ITVBe UTV2 (until 2002) UTV Ireland (until 2017)
History
Launched	31 October 1959; 65 years ago (1959-10-31) (as Ulster Television)
Former names	Ulster Television (until 4 June 1993)
Links
Website	itv.com/utv
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (Northern Ireland only)	Channel 3 (SD) Channel 35 (+1) Channel 103 (HD)
Streaming media
UTV Player until 2016	u.tv
ITV Hub (2016–2022)	www.itv.com
ITVX (2022–present)	www.itv.com (Must be logged in to select correct region)

UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1 since 2020) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc and is responsible for the regional news service and programmes made principally for the area by the UTV production team. It currently uses the network ITV1 channel with an opt-out service for local advertising and on-air promos for local programming.

The present day TV service, ITV1, is directly descended from the ITV network, which originally consisted of independent regional companies which were once the only commercial TV broadcasters in their area. UTV held the licence for Northern Ireland and first went on the air on 31 October 1959.^[1]

The company itself was formed in November 1958 to apply for the licence – advertised by the Independent Television Authority – and became the first indigenous broadcaster in Northern Ireland.^[1] The company later diversified and the UTV television operation was sold by parent UTV Media plc (now known as Wireless Group and part of News UK) to ITV plc in February 2016.