ITV Tyne Tees

ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.

Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converted warehouse in City Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, remaining in the city until July 2005 when Tyne Tees moved to smaller studios in Gateshead. Tyne Tees has contributed various programming to the ITV network and Channel 4, as well as its regional output. Some of Tyne Tees' best known programming includes the groundbreaking music show The Tube, critically acclaimed adaptations of Catherine Cookson novels, and children's programmes such as Super Gran.

The ownership and management structure of Tyne Tees has altered across its history, particularly in various mergers with Yorkshire Television. The two stations were managed by Trident Television during the 1970s, and the two stations merged again in 1992 to form Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television. A series of takeovers and mergers across the ITV network, instigated by the large franchisees Granada and Carlton, led to Tyne Tees becoming part of ITV plc in 2004. The licence is currently held by ITV Broadcasting Ltd and the original Tyne Tees Television Ltd was dissolved on 28 March 2017.

The analogue signals in the Tyne Tees region were switched off in 2012, making the station, along with ITV London and UTV, one of the last ITV regions to become digital-only.

Independent television was introduced to Britain in September 1955. Initially only available in the London region, commercial television steadily became available in other regions. After a financially difficult time for the first ITV companies, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) decided to offer independent television to the rest of the country and advertised for bids. Several offers were submitted, including from the existing four companies, to the ITA. North East England was the last of the English regions without a television transmitter. Sir Richard Pease headed a local consortium that included film producer Sydney Box and News Chronicle executives George and Alfred Black. This consortium, was chosen from among eleven applicants because of its strong local links, commitment to local programming, concentrating on regional topical matters, and educational and children's programmes. The contract was awarded on 12 December 1957. Experienced television executive Anthony Jelly was appointed as managing director, although historian Andrew Spicer credits the Black brothers as the driving force and public face of Tyne Tees; George was programme director, and both brothers were prominent board members. The company opened its first Newcastle office at Bradburn House on Northumberland Street, and it was from there, on 3 January 1958, the company directors issued 300,000 ordinary shares at fours shillings each.

Tyne Tees is named after two of the region's three primary rivers. ITA considered the original name, "North East England", was imprecise. Some of the consortium's suggestions were rejected: "Three Rivers Television" for being obscure, and "Tyne, Wear, and Tees" for being too long. Eventually, in October 1958, the name "Tyne Tees" was announced. The other major river, the Wear (which runs between the Tyne and the Tees), was represented within Tyne Tees' early signature tune "Three Rivers Fantasy".

The BBC transmitted their programmes from the Pontop Pike transmitting station in County Durham. The ITA built a new transmitter nearby at Burnhope, to cover an area from Alnwick to Northallerton, and west to Middleton-in-Teesdale. Television sets required a new aerial, the Yagi array, to receive the high frequency that the transmitter was using.

Tyne Tees went on air at 5 p.m. on 15 January 1959, three years after the first British independent television station, and the tenth such station to launch. The then-prime minister Harold Macmillan, who had been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the nearby Stockton-on-Tees for two decades, was interviewed live on the opening night. This was followed by a live variety show, named The Big Show, broadcast from a small studio. However, this local content was followed by an episode of the American police series Highway Patrol and an evening of entertainment programmes including I Love Lucy and Double Your Money. The full first night's programming was