LL
I'm sure they did, didn't they? Isn't that why there was a plethora of free monkeys on eBay from when they were given free to new subscribers? I could swear I remember going to a friend's house when I was younger and I'm positive they had an ITV Digital box. I'm questioning myself because I can't find a single image of an ITV Digital-branded receiver.
Did ITV Digital release any new set top boxes when they launched? When they launched they sent us stickers to cover up the old OnDigital branding.
I'm sure they did, didn't they? Isn't that why there was a plethora of free monkeys on eBay from when they were given free to new subscribers? I could swear I remember going to a friend's house when I was younger and I'm positive they had an ITV Digital box. I'm questioning myself because I can't find a single image of an ITV Digital-branded receiver.
NW
I'm sure they did, didn't they? Isn't that why there was a plethora of free monkeys on eBay from when they were given free to new subscribers? I could swear I remember going to a friend's house when I was younger and I'm positive they had an ITV Digital box. I'm questioning myself because I can't find a single image of an ITV Digital-branded receiver.
There were at least one or two models of Set Top Box with the ITV Digital logo printed on them, I believe Pioneer made a box which had the right logo on it. I always thought the Philips boxes looked the nicest, but as far as I am aware they always had the On Digital branding.
Did ITV Digital release any new set top boxes when they launched? When they launched they sent us stickers to cover up the old OnDigital branding.
I'm sure they did, didn't they? Isn't that why there was a plethora of free monkeys on eBay from when they were given free to new subscribers? I could swear I remember going to a friend's house when I was younger and I'm positive they had an ITV Digital box. I'm questioning myself because I can't find a single image of an ITV Digital-branded receiver.
There were at least one or two models of Set Top Box with the ITV Digital logo printed on them, I believe Pioneer made a box which had the right logo on it. I always thought the Philips boxes looked the nicest, but as far as I am aware they always had the On Digital branding.
JA
Even if they updated the boxes, they never updated the menus. I had a "refurbished" Nokia Mediamaster I bought after ITV Digital went bust for years, they'd changed the cover on the box and gave us a remote with the Nokia logo, but the menus were still adorned with the On Digital logo.
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
I believe the software was ripe for rebranding, but the company disappearing down the tube put paid to that and so it never happened.
Believe it was powered by BT, so it may have been under a contract that didn't run out for a while.
Of course the longest lasting remnant of ITV Digital was (and still is) the monkey, who was apparently more in demand than anything else. "ITV Digital's administrators, Deloitte & Touche, say there [had] been more than 60 expressions of interest in the platform's assets. In what says little for the recently deceased's legacy, most of the interest [was] in the ITV Digital monkey" - Observer Business
Didn't some element of that service end up lasting years after ITV Digital closed and was still accessible on your TV through that box? It might have been email or something but I think it was supplied by a non ITV company, hence why it didn't immediately end.
Believe it was powered by BT, so it may have been under a contract that didn't run out for a while.
Of course the longest lasting remnant of ITV Digital was (and still is) the monkey, who was apparently more in demand than anything else. "ITV Digital's administrators, Deloitte & Touche, say there [had] been more than 60 expressions of interest in the platform's assets. In what says little for the recently deceased's legacy, most of the interest [was] in the ITV Digital monkey" - Observer Business
SP
1989 CITV, and the set has taken inspiration from CBBC and includes a preview monitor with the VT clock of the incoming programme.
Which begs a question: Why has Duck Tales got an ITN VT clock on the front of it? (Right at the end of the clip)
Which begs a question: Why has Duck Tales got an ITN VT clock on the front of it? (Right at the end of the clip)
JA
Did ITN do any sort of editing/compliance on acquired shows, maybe? Or there was a news report on Scrooge's fortune 
SP
I know ITN used to hire out its facilities/services but that had apparently stopped years before this clip (see http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/studio%20history.htm#wells%20st)
It's likely that imported shows would need some reversioning, if only to shift the ad breaks to bring them into line with what the IBA allowed.
It's likely that imported shows would need some reversioning, if only to shift the ad breaks to bring them into line with what the IBA allowed.
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
Children's ITV at this time wouldn't have had ad breaks in the programmes, they were only between the programmes. That only became a normal thing for children's programming once the likes of Nickelodeon came along, although TCC had been around for a while on cable but I don't know if they shoved adverts in during the programmes - would be surprising if they didn't.
but anyway Children's ITV didn't have adverts during programmes until many years later, probably when their digital channel launched in 2006.
but anyway Children's ITV didn't have adverts during programmes until many years later, probably when their digital channel launched in 2006.
SP
Exactly. So a programme delivered from the US with a centre break would need to have it removed.
JA
They definitely had centre breaks in the early 00s, several years before the CITV channel, not sure when it started though, may well even have been the late 90s.
Funnily enough I was watching the episode of DuckTales that VT clock is for on Disney+ only a couple of weeks back.
Funnily enough I was watching the episode of DuckTales that VT clock is for on Disney+ only a couple of weeks back.
NJ
Fade to black is not necessarily a break point. It may well have been on the home network but by the time it got to Children's ITV it would have been surplus to requirements.
I dunno, the late 1990s seems too early. If it did happen it's almost certainly going to be after the stripped schedule period, during which of course they lost a chunk of their budget so it would make sense if a centre break was shoehorned in from then on.
99% sure it didn't happen before the 1998 relaunch at least.
Neil Jones
Founding member
Exactly. So a programme delivered from the US with a centre break would need to have it removed.
Fade to black is not necessarily a break point. It may well have been on the home network but by the time it got to Children's ITV it would have been surplus to requirements.
They definitely had centre breaks in the early 00s, several years before the CITV channel, not sure when it started though, may well even have been the late 90s.
I dunno, the late 1990s seems too early. If it did happen it's almost certainly going to be after the stripped schedule period, during which of course they lost a chunk of their budget so it would make sense if a centre break was shoehorned in from then on.
99% sure it didn't happen before the 1998 relaunch at least.