ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners of multiple licences of the ITV network. Starting as ONdigital in 1998, the service was rebranded as ITV Digital in July 2001.
Logo used from 2001 to 2002 | |
| Formerly | ONdigital plc, British Digital Broadcasting plc |
|---|---|
| Company type | Joint venture |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 15 January 1997 as British Digital Broadcasting |
| Defunct | 18 October 2002 as ITV Digital |
| Fate | Bankruptcy, liquidation |
| Successor | Freeview (terrestrial broadcaster) Top Up TV (pay TV service) |
| Headquarters | Marco Polo House, , United Kingdom |
| Products | Pay TV services and programming |
| Owner | Carlton Communications Granada |
| Footnotes / references | |
Low audience figures, piracy issues and an ultimately unaffordable multi-million pound deal with the Football League led to the broadcaster suffering large losses, and it entered administration in March 2002. Pay television services ceased permanently on 1 May of that year, but carriage of the remaining free-to-air channels such as BBC One and Channel 4 continued. In October, ITV Digital’s former terrestrial multiplexes were taken over by Crown Castle and the BBC to create the Freeview free-to-air service.