ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C. ITN produces the daily news programmes for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the UK, and in recent years has diversified to produce a wide range of content including documentaries, sports, advertising and digital material for a range of international clients.

ITN was founded in May 1955 by a consortium of the initial four Independent Television (later ITV) broadcasting companies, with former Labour MP Aidan Crawley as editor-in-chief.

From the start, ITN broke new ground by introducing in-vision and named 'newscasters' (rather than the BBC's nameless and sound-only 'newsreaders'), and reporter packages.

The unique, probing reporting style of Robin Day caused shock among politicians, finding themselves questioned continually for information – this had never been the case with the BBC.

While the ITA ruled on a minimum of a 20-minute bulletin, disagreements with the ITV companies over ITN's budget triggered the resignation of its news editor Aidan Crawley after just one year in 1956.

Under this method, ITN continued to differentiate itself from the BBC by conducting probing interviews, introducing more human interest stories and bringing ordinary people on to screen by using so-called 'vox pops' (interviews, usually held in the street, with members of the general public), all of which were seen as a radical departure at the time in British broadcasting.

There was further tension with the ITV executives as they were sceptical of the idea that viewers would want a full 30 minutes of news every Monday to Friday and they were also losing valuable peak time slots which could be used for the sale of commercial advertising.

News at Ten began broadcasting on 3 July 1967 with a newscaster team consisting of Alastair Burnet, Andrew Gardner, George Ffitch and Reginald Bosanquet.

Until the 1990s, the individual ITV companies had an obligation to provide a national news programme, which required them to take a share in the ITN operation.

The move saw 400 staff made redundant, and the closure of a number of international bureaux to claw back a £10 million deficit in order to provide a competitive product to obtain the ITV news contract.

ITN favoured keeping the bulletin; however, the ITV companies claimed audiences were lost at 10 pm as the news interrupted films and drama programming.

The biggest challenge came in 2001 when British Sky Broadcasting bid to supply network news to ITV as part of a consortium.

In August 2000, ITN launched its own 24-hour news channel in the UK, broadcast on satellite, cable and digital terrestrial.

Trademarks of ITV News include the use of the clock-face of the Elizabeth Tower of Westminster Palace, the chimes of Big Ben punctuating the day's headlines and the signature theme tune; The Awakening by Johnny Pearson.

ITN has at times interrupted the ITV schedule to provide updates on major breaking stories of national and international importance, including the September 11 attacks, London bombings, 2005 or events involving the British Royal Family.

The programme was longer than its predecessor and carried an integrated regional bulletin, as well as more business stories, a nightly sports update and a preview of the following day's newspapers.

The rebranded programme again saw new titles, this time featuring people walking over the face of Big Ben and has lately followed a more "sensationalist" approach to its main headlines.

[21] In addition to a number of short bulletins, ITN provided two main half-hour evening news programmes for Channel 5 until 2021.

The relaunched hour long 5 News at 5 was first broadcast by the channel on 8 November 2021, with the programme presented by Sian Williams and Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije.

[26][28][29][30][31][32] ITN's royal documentaries have been a ratings winner for Channel 5 on Saturday nights, with programmes released about the current monarchy under names such as Harry and Meghan: Two Troubled Years, Charles and Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting and Fergie & Andrew The Duke & Duchess of Disaster.

Documentaries about the past members of the British Royal Family are also getting good viewing figures, with a programme about King George V (whose reign was from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936) achieving a rating of 1.4 million viewers when it was first broadcast.

[35] As well as the British Royal Family, the slot had also been used to schedule an ITN documentary called The Grace of Monaco: Hollywood Princess about Grace Kelly, the American actor who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in April 1956, one of the few ITN royal titles featuring foreign-born royalty.

From August 2013, ITN Productions was awarded the contract to produce the Premier League online and mobile highlights service for News UK.

Espresso services feature an extensive library of broadband teaching resources and student activities to motivate pupils and support teachers, including content from ITN Source.

[45] The company packages footage from the ITN archive and syndicates it to a range of commercial partners including Myspace, YouTube and MSN.

It operated as a network with its consultants working on engagements globally and focused "on how strategy can be implemented to deliver to real change".

ITN Consulting stated that "an understanding of how global, regional and local media markets conflict and come together enables them to identify the opportunities this creates".

The purpose-built headquarters were designed by architect Sir Norman Foster, and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 8 May 1991.

[61] The Times reported in 2022, that one former ITN staff member signed a secrecy clause or NDA after accepting a financial settlement and agreeing to drop allegations of victimisation and sex discrimination inside the company.

The woman said she raised her grievance in 2020 after ITN’s then chief executive, Anna Mallett, told staff she wanted to create "a culture where people feel confident to speak up".