ITV plc holds the Channel 3 broadcasting licences for every region except for central and northern Scotland, which are held by STV Group.

The network has been modified several times through franchise reviews that have taken place in 1963,[3] 1967,[4] 1974,[5] 1980[6][7] and 1991,[8] during which broadcast regions have changed and service operators have been replaced.

[8] This heavily criticised part of the review saw four operators replaced, and the operators facing different annual payments to the Treasury: Central Independent Television, for example, paid only £2,000—despite holding a lucrative and large region—because it was unopposed, while Yorkshire Television paid £37.7 million for a region of the same size and status, owing to heavy competition.

[16] Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, with STV and UTV paying a fee to broadcast it.

[16] All licensees have the right to opt out of network programming (except for the national news bulletins), but, unlike the previous system, will receive no fee refund for doing so.

[16] Prior to the affiliate system being introduced, STV would frequently (and sometimes controversially) opt out of several popular network programmes – such as the original run of the first series of Downton Abbey – citing the need to provide more Scottish content to its viewers.

The signing of the new affiliation deal has resulted in STV paying a flat fee for all networked programming, and so to drop any programmes is unlikely due to the large costs involved.

Licences in England and Wales were held by the individual regional ITV plc owned companies prior to November 2008.

Good Morning Britain keeps viewers up to date with all the latest news, sports, features and weather, whilst Lorraine predominantly focuses on celebrity interviews, recipes, fashion and showbiz.

[49][50][51][52] ITV continues with its regular scheduled programming after the shopping service finishes at around 3am with showbiz news bulletin FYI Extra[53] and repeats, many of which have on-screen BSL signing for the deaf community.

At around 4am each night this mindfulness programme shows calming shots of natural landscapes and relaxing animations for around an hour,[56][57] with versions of the footage also seen on ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4.

STV originally simulcast the Unwind slot, but this was eventually phased out and replaced with the aforementioned news and information service.

In addition to this, traditionally ITV companies would provide other regional programming based on current affairs, entertainment or drama.

Children's programming was originally provided during weekday afternoons and weekend mornings, however following the launch of the CITV channel in 2006, all children's programming, with the exception of the weekend ITV Breakfast slot, were relocated from the ITV line-up to the CITV channel in 2007, a move which was challenged by Ofcom in April 2007.

In 2023, ITV announced that CITV would cease broadcasting as a linear channel, and would be replaced by ITVX Kids, a streaming media service which launched in July 2023.

ITV was originally very reliant on broadcasting American series, with westerns such as Gunsmoke and Rawhide in particular being considerable successes for the network during its earlier years.

Action drama The Fugitive and sci-fi anthology The Twilight Zone were also broadcast by various regions in the early 1960s, with Batman and I Dream of Jeannie shown later on in the decade.

1972 also saw the beginning of ITV's daytime programmes at lunchtime, a slot that would become associated with the many Australian soap operas that were broadcast in the newly expanded schedule, including The Sullivans and The Young Doctors.

It was also early in the decade when Australian evening soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H was bought by ITV, and was broadcast after News at Ten.

By 1982, Channel 4 had launched, and despite originally being related to ITV, it competed against its parent network to screen popular American programmes such as St.

A heavy emphasis on action, fantasy and science fiction series was also placed by ITV during this 1980s, with The A-Team, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Airwolf being broadcast by the network, as well as the likes of Baywatch and SeaQuest DSV by the 1990s.

ITV also picked up a glut of older-skewing CBS dramas through that period, including Murder, She Wrote and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

ITV reshuffled its daytime schedules in the Autumn of 1993, and just a few months prior, Central began broadcasting the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street.

ITV also aired a considerable amount of syndicated unscripted US programmes in daytime during the 90s, such as Judge Judy and The Jerry Springer Show.

By 1996, ITV had been quiet with US series in primetime, particularly as Channel 4 and Sky One increased the competition for securing the most popular US dramas and sitcoms.

It debuted in 2008 in a Saturday evening slot and initially did well garnering 5.7 million viewers, although there were fan complaints when ITV chose to skip broadcasting the second episode, blaming football coverage, eventually releasing it on their website.

[79][80] The last attempt so far by ITV to broadcast acquired output in primetime was the TV adaption of Lethal Weapon in 2017, where it remained for all three seasons.

ITV programming is also available to Irish viewers on Virgin Media One (including soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street).

[citation needed] This became more profound in the early 21st century, following a relaxation in regulation and significantly more competition in the advertising market following the huge increase in commercial channels.

[citation needed] In the 2000s, programmes from the reality television genre including the celebrity and talent show subgenres became a dominant presence on the channel.