LWT

ITV runs from 9.25 am to 6am everyday. There are about 15 ITV companies - covering different parts of the UK.

A breakfast broadcaster, GMTV, runs on the ITV airwaves from 6am-9.25am. This covers ALL Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

London is the only part of the UK to have 2 licencees - simply because of the size of the area. LWT have been transmitting for 33 years in the same spot and Carlton, which replaced Thames, ran from 1993.

So for London Weekdays it's:

6am GMTV
9.25 Carlton

On a Friday, LWT starts the weekend from 5.05pm. So effectively, Carlton is 9.25 am Monday - 5.05pm Friday!

London Weekends:

6am GMTV
9.25 LWT

A good place to head for information about the current set-up of commercial tv is the site of the regulator of commercial television in the UK - the Independent Television Commission at www.itc.org.uk -- and for Channel 3 (ie GMTV and ITV) specifically -- www.itc.org.uk/licensing/channel_3/index.asp

Don't forget, too, that it used to be Granada during the week and ABC at the weekends (ie Saturday and Sunday -- no Friday afternoon) in the north of England.

It's all very confuing isn't it?

I remember in the early 80's when ITV did the schools programme sin the mroning and BBC One didn't start until about 12pm. I'm talking pre-Channel 4 here![B]

All of ITV's regions used to have two franchises until 1968. But YTV's area didn't exist (we got Granada and ABC, I believe - I wasn't born yet!) After 1968, only London kept both franchises, although both went to new companies - LWT, and Thames (which is Rediffusion and ABC merged - both existed in their own right for a long time after, ABC in cinemas, Rediffusion launched Cablevision in the 1980s.)

Not all ITV regions had two franchises - only London, Midlands, and North (the present day Granada, Yorkshire, and some of Tyne Tees area).

It was AFAIK

London:
Weekdays: Associated Rediffusion / Rediffusion London
Weekends: ATV London

Midlands:
Weekdays: ATV Midlands (present day Carlton Central)
Weekends: ABC Midlands

North:
Weekdays: Granada Television
Weekends: ABC North

All others were ALWAYS single franchise from day one.

Though the first single franchise region (Scottish) didn't appear until around a year after London, Midlands and North.