United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting

United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting
Formation 1981
Type Affiliation of broadcasters
Membership ITV, Channel 4, S4C
Official languages English, Welsh

The United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting (or UKIB) is an affiliation of three British independent television production companies and broadcasters. Its predecessor's (Independent Television Companies' Association - ITCA) primary function was to represent independent British television interests as a member of the European Broadcasting Union. The members of UKIB are The ITV Network Centre, the 17 ITV Companies, Channel 4 and S4C.

Contents

History

UKIB was formed in 1981 when the Association of Independent Radio Contractors (AIRC) was admitted as an active member of the EBU. Then it replaced IBA/ITCA as the second British EBU member. ITCA had been admitted as a full active EBU member, together with the Independent Television Authority (ITA) in 1959. AIRC became Commercial Radio Companies' Association (CRCA) in 1996. CRCA cancelled its EBU membership by the end of 2002.

Members

Company Area Broadcast Broadcast Since[1] Parent Company Service Name EBU Abbreviation
ITV Network
ITV Network United Kingdom 1955 ITV plc, STV Group Plc, UTV UTV Media Plc ITV1, ITV Digital Channels Ltd, STV, UTV and Channel Television UKIB/ITV
ITV (Channel 3) Companies
ITV Anglia Television East Anglia 1959 ITV plc ITV Anglia UKIB/ITV/ANG
ITV Border Television England-Scotland border 1961 ITV plc ITV Border UKIB/ITV/BTV
ITV Central Television The Midlands 1956 ITV plc ITV Central UKIB/ITV/CEN
Channel Television Channel Islands 1962 Yattendon Group plc ITV Channel Television UKIB/ITV/CHA
Grampian TV Northern Scotland 1961 STV plc STV North UKIB/ITV/GPN
ITV Granada Television North West England and Isle of Man 1956 ITV plc ITV Granada UKIB/ITV/GRA
ITV London Television London 1955 ITV plc ITV London UKIB/ITV/LDN
ITV Meridian Television South and South East England 1958 ITV plc ITV Meridian UKIB/ITV/MER
Scottish TV Central Scotland 1957 STV plc STV Central UKIB/ITV/STV
ITV Tyne Tees Television North East England 1959 ITV plc ITV Tyne Tees UKIB/ITV/TTT
Ulster Television Northern Ireland 1959 UTV Media UTV UKIB/ITV/UTV
ITV Wales Television Wales 1958 ITV plc ITV Wales UKIB/ITV/Wales
ITV Westcountry Television South West England 1961 ITV plc ITV Westcountry UKIB/ITV/WES
ITV West Television West of England 1958 ITV plc ITV West UKIB/ITV/WEST
ITV Yorkshire Television Yorkshire and Humber 1956 ITV plc ITV Yorkshire UKIB/ITV/YTV
Channel 4
Channel 4 England, Scotland and Northern Ireland[2] 1982 Channel 4 Television Corporation (Publicly Owned) Channel 4 UKIB/C4
S4C
Sianel 4 Cymru (English: Channel 4 Wales) Wales 1982 Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (Publicly Owned) S4C UKIB/S4C

Digital channels

Besides the main ITV, Channel 4 and S4C channels there are several digital only channels which are ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV owned by ITV Plc and E4, More4 and Film4 operated by Channel 4. These channels are also members of UKIB and as such are also part of the European Broadcasting Union.

Status of other broadcasters

Despite some reports that it is the United Kingdom's fifth terrestrial channel Channel 5 is a member, Channel 5 is not currently a member of UKIB and hence not a member of the European Broadcasting Union, the satellite broadcaster BSkyB is also not a member. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union but not UKIB.

Eurovision Song Contest

The United Kingdom's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest have been entered by the BBC each time, However the United Kingdom's, Junior Eurovision Song Contest entries were broadcast and entered by ITV in 2003, 2004 and 2005 but did not enter the 2006 contest because of low ratings. S4C were speculating in entering the 2008 contest with a Welsh language entry.[3] But in the end S4C chose not enter.

References

  1. ^ First Broadcast in that region and not since the first franchises were held
  2. ^ Now Available in Wales but is designated for the rest of the United Kingdom
  3. ^ Kuipers, Michael (2008-04-20). "Junior Eurovision 2008: United Kingdom to return to JESC?". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/11163. Retrieved 2009-06-09. 

External links