The British Broadcasting Corporation brought radio to the United Kingdom. The BBC introduced television in 1936 and remained the only television broadcaster in the U.K. until the launch of ITV. Headquartered in London, the BBC reaches audiences worldwide. It is a public service, independent of the government, and established by a Royal Charter renewed every 10 years. The BBC is currently the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. Media services include radio, television and Internet, with eight national television channels, 10 national radio stations and 40 regional stations. Popular shows throughout the BBC's history are "Merlin," "Sherlock," "Dr. Who," "Top Gear" and "Spooks." BBC World Service is the largest news organization in the world, broadcasting news and sports on television, radio and the Internet in 32 languages.
ITV was created by the Television Act of 1954 and in 1955 became the first television competitor for the BBC. The ITV network is made up of 15 separate licenses dividing the countries into regions, controlled by the ITV Plc, Scottish Media Group, UTV (Northern Ireland) and Channel Television (Channel Islands). There are four major channels: ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. CITV caters to children under the age of 9. ITV1 and ITV2 are also available in high definition. Popular television shows in ITV history include "The Bill," "The X Factor," "Heartbeat," "Coronation Street" and "Downtown Abbey." ITV News broadcasts international, national and local news daily and on the Internet. It is the largest commercial television network in the United Kingdom.
British Sky Broadcasting, known more commonly as Sky, was launched in 1989 in Livingston, Scotland. It became a network powerhouse in 1992, following the debut of Sky Sports, when it outbid other broadcasting corporations for exclusive rights to the FA Premier League. Sky News became the world's first interactive television news service in 2000. Different Sky TV packages are available to give customers exactly the type of programming they want, granting access to over 500 television and radio stations. Popular shows in Sky history are "thorne," "An Idiot Abroad," "Porno Valley," "Chris Ryan's Strike Back" and "Hex." Sky also offers broadband Internet and phone services. In 2010, it had 10 million customers and employed nearly 17,000 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.