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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business

ITV: from World in Action to The X Factor

ITV decline: World In Action: Logo 1980
1980: World In Action logo Photograph: ITV/Rex Features
ITV decline: Jewel in the Crown
1984: Charles Dance as Guy Perron in Jewel in the Crown Photograph: ITV/Rex Features
ITV decline: Rupert Murdoch at Sky TV launch
1988: Rupert Murdoch at the launch of Sky TV. ITV's inability to establish a viable pay-TV competitor to BSkyB is one of the root causes of its decline Photograph: Frank Martin/Guardian
ITV decline: David Plowright
1989: David Plowright, one of the old school ITV moguls who ran the federal netword of regional companies. He was ousted from Granada in 1992 Photograph: ITV/Rex Features
ITV decline: Greg Dyke and Christopher Bland
1995: Greg Dyke and Christopher Bland as Granada buys LWT in a bitterly fought takeover battle. The Granada/LWT merger was part of the first round of consolidation that eventually led to the formation of ITV plc in 2003, bringing together all the ITV franchises in England and Wales Photograph: ITV/ Rex Features
ITV decline: Granada/Forte
1995: the Granada chief executive, Gerry Robinson, left, and chief operating officer, Charles Allen. Robinson and Allen were among a new generation of ITV executives in the 1990s who came from a commercial rather than a programme-making background. Allen was ITV plc's first chief executive, stepping down in 2006 Photograph: Neil Munns/PA Archive
ITV decline: ONDigital television Coronation Street launch
1998: From left, Emmerdale's Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley), Coronation Street's Lorraine (Holly Newman) and Ashley Peake (Steve Arnold), EastEnders' Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) and Emmerdale's Kelly Windsor (Adele Silva) get together for the launch of ONdigital television, ITV's attempt to break into pay-TV Photograph: Paul Barker/PA Photos
ITV decline: ITV Digital launch
2001: TV stars, from left, Gabby Yorath, Mary Nightingale, Tracy Shaw and Ant and Dec celebrate the relaunch of ONdigital as ITV Digital Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PA Photos
ITV decline: New Set Of Itv News At Ten
2001: Sir Trevor McDonald on the new set of ITV News At Ten Photograph: Ken Mckay/Rex Features
Cold Feet
2003: Adam (James Nesbit), Jenny (Faye Ripley), Pete (John Thomson), Jo (Kimberley Joseph), Karen (Hermione Norris) and David (Robert Bathurst) at Rachel's funeral Photograph: ITV
ITV decline: Itv Digital Headquarters
2002: the collapse of ITV Digital, whose Battersea HQ is shown here Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Rex Features
ITV decline: Michael Grade Confirms His Move To ITV
2006: Michael Grade, left, meets acting chief executive John Cresswell as he arrives at ITV to start his new job as executive chairman on 28 November Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
ITV decline: Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2008: ITV was rocked by phone-in scandals - and was fined £5.765m after misleading viewers on shows such as Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway Photograph: Ken McKay/Rex Features
ITV decline: X factor
2008: X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and other contestants. The reality show has been a huge ratings success for ITV Photograph: Ken McKay/Rex Features
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