ITV Meridian is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England.
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19 Facts About Meridian Television
2.
Meridian Television Broadcasting Ltd was one of several ITV plc-owned regional companies to have its legal name changed on 29 December 2006, when it became ITV Meridian Television Ltd.
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3.
Today, ITV Meridian Television operates from studios in Whiteley, Hampshire, producing regional news services for three sub-regions, covering the South Coast of England, the South East of England and the Thames Valley.
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4.
Meridian Television Broadcasting intended to operate as a publisher broadcaster, meaning that the majority of programmes would be commissioned from independent producers rather than produced in house.
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5.
Meridian Television advertised their presence as the new ITV contractor heavily; promotions began appearing on TVS several weeks before the launch and the new company's logo was incorporated into the product for the first advert shown on the station – the special edition Ford Fiesta Meridian Television, available through Southern Ford dealers.
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6.
Six months after the launch of Meridian Broadcasting, the new company joined up with HTV, Westcountry Television, Channel Television and S4C to form a joint advertising company operated by Meridian Broadcasting and HTV.
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7.
The resulting company owned the Daily Express newspaper, Meridian Broadcasting, Anglia Television, and a large shareholding in Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television, the owners of Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television.
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9.
In 1999, plans emerged of a merger between UNM and rival Carlton Television; however, these talks failed when it appeared that Meridian Broadcasting would have to be sold off as a condition of the deal.
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10.
The plans resulted in over half of Meridian Television's existing staff being made redundant; all employees wishing to remain with the company were obliged to re-apply for jobs.
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11.
At present the only local programming that ITV Meridian Television provides for the region is the regional news programme.
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12.
When Meridian Television originally won the franchise in 1991, its plans were to purchase buildings, not unlike its current arrangement today: with a small studio for continuity and local news.
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13.
Meridian Television took the opportunity to buy the Southampton studios from TVS.
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14.
In 2004, Meridian Television closed their Northam studios and moved to a unit in a business park in Whiteley.
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15.
Additionally, Meridian Television originally opened and operated a new studio complex at Newbury for its Meridian Television West operation.
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16.
When Meridian Television launched, it divided its news operations into three separate sub regions.
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17.
From September 2014 Meridian Television's identity was revived by an announcement immediately prior to the evening edition of ITV Meridian Television News.
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18.
Meridian Television Broadcasting was originally intended to function as a publisher-broadcaster, commissioning most programmes from independent producers and with in-house production largely restricted to regional news, sport and current affairs.
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19.
However, over time and as its ownership changed, Meridian Television began to make a number of regional and networked programmes itself.
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