ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands.
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18 Facts About ITV Central
2.
ITV Central initially ran a sole pan-regional service from Birmingham, as a result of an industrial dispute which prevented its East Midlands service from Nottingham commencing before September 1983.
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3.
The split allowed ITV Central to serve the West Midlands with its own service from Birmingham.
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4.
In January 1987, ITV Central acquired the European division of the American production company FilmFair for £1.
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5.
ITV Central was awarded the Queen's Award to Industry for Export twice, for selling its range of programming to over 80 countries around the world, in April 1987 and April 1989.
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6.
Under its growing business portfolio, ITV Central created CTE in December 1987 and opened international bureaux in Hamburg, New York City and Sydney for sales, sponsorship and newsgathering operations.
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7.
Also in 1989, ITV Central established Television Sales and Marketing Services Ltd, a joint venture with Anglia Television providing airtime sales and program sponsorships, in part to recover production costs.
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8.
In March 1990, ITV Central formed a partnership with The Observer newspaper to create ITV Central Observer, making environmental themed films for British Satellite Broadcasting and terrestrial channels, with funding from the charity Television Trust for the Environment.
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9.
On 5 April 2005, it was revealed ITV Central could be fined by regulator Ofcom for broadcasting a pre-recorded late Central News bulletin for the East Midlands.
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10.
Nottingham studio complex finally opened in January 1984, followed by an official opening by the Duke of Edinburgh on 2 March 1984 Five years later, ITV Central opened a computerized news centre in Abingdon for the launch of its third sub-region, serving the South Midlands.
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11.
In February 2004, ITV plc announced plans to close and sell the Lenton Lane production centre in Nottingham with over 350 jobs being axed in the process Following the closure of the studios, a new news-gathering centre was established in the city, but production and transmission of Central News East moved to the Birmingham studio in Spring 2005.
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12.
ITV Central have since sold the Gas Street office building to Cube Real Estate, a commercial property developer, which has refurbished the interior of the building.
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13.
In January 1989, ITV Central launched a third sub-region for the South Midlands, carrying its own news service and local advertisements.
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14.
ITV Central adopted the Carlton 'Star' branding on 6 September 1999, shortly before much of the network adopted the second generic look under the theme of 'Hearts'.
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15.
ITV Central produced the critically acclaimed film Walter – starring Ian McKellen – for Channel 4's first night of transmission.
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16.
ITV Central attracted ire with the 1987 sitcom Hardwicke House about an anarchic comprehensive school.
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17.
ITV Central formed numerous international partnerships to produce major drama and documentary series – including Legacy of Civilization with Maryland Public Television, Nuclear Age with WGBH-TV and NHK and Edens Lost with ABC.
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18.
ITV Central first reported on the Ethiopian famine in July 1984 with the documentary Seeds of Despair.
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