ITV1 is the primary television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. From its founding in 1955 the channel was known nationally as Independent Television (later ITV) and locally by the regional branding of the local ITV franchise operator. The network was renamed ITV1 in August2001, with the increased uptake of digital TV and the existence of ITV2 (which had started the previous year). From October2002 the station began to drop regional identification for all but select local programmes and began to adopt a unified national branding of ITV1.
