GMTV won the licence for the breakfast Channel 3 franchise from 1993, outbidding the previous licence holder, TV-am, in the 1991 franchise round for £34 million.
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14 Facts About GMTV
2.
GMTV promised a 'cheerful morning and with more information' - termed the 'F-factor'.
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3.
GMTV was originally intended to be called 'Sunrise Television', but as Sky News' breakfast programming went by that name, Sky protested, resulting in the change of name.
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4.
In May 1992, GMTV was criticised after unveiling its plans for a more family orientated format with business and city news being dropped.
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5.
GMTV turned down an offer from David Frost to continue with his Sunday morning programme, instead choosing to introduce a new leisure programme about family matters, as it believed 'TV-am flung its audience away on Sundays'.
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6.
GMTV's role was primarily to bring new and imaginative ideas to the station without taking on full day-to-day running.
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7.
The ITC said: 'They [GMTV] will have to put forward a strong case for changing the licence based on the viewers' preferences.
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8.
In 1998, GMTV returned into the red, with losses of £12 million and a turnover of £80 million In November of that year, GMTV finally received a windfall: the ITC reduced the amount the station had to pay to the treasury from £50 million to £20 million - the most dramatic reduction of all the licenses.
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9.
GMTV continued to strengthen its output, receiving further praise from the ITC in its Annual Performance Review of 1999: 'The overall programme quality improved.
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10.
Paul Corley, managing director of GMTV, said: 'I'd just like to apologise for everything that's gone on.
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11.
GMTV had trusted Opera, but, the fact is it appears two or three people at this telecoms company were taking it upon themselves to do this even without the knowledge of the management.
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12.
Major overhaul of GMTV output took place during the summer of 2008 - resulting in part from the loss of viewers to new competition from other digital channels, and to counter criticism that its output had become too lightweight.
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13.
In July 2008, it was announced that McLean would quit working on GMTV to focus on her role on Loose Women, to share the permanent host job with Jackie Brambles.
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14.
GMTV's told viewers that leaving was 'one of the hardest decisions I've ever made'.
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