UTV (TV channel; fictionalized)

UTV (formerly Ulster Television) is a Northern Irish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by UTV Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American media company Whitebird Broadcasting Group. The channel controls the Northern Irish public broadcaster licence.

Along with, UTV is one of the two remaining parts of the Channel 3 network which are not owned by. The station does not carry ITV1 branding or show ITV1's network presentation except between 6am and 9.25am, when it is replaced by the ITV-owned-and-branded national franchise.

The company itself was formed in November 1958 to apply for the licence – advertised by the – and became the first indigenous broadcaster in Northern Ireland when it first went on the air on 31 October 1959. The company later diversified and the UTV television operation was sold by parent UTV Media plc (now known as and part of ) to Whitebird Broadcasting Group in February 2016, who formed UTV Group as the network's holding company.

Sale to Whitebird Broadcasting Group and recent history
On 19 October 2015, UTV Media announced that it would sell its ITV franchise and the UTV brand to Whitebird Broadcasting Group, an American media company based in, that owns television, radio and digital media properties, for £100 million, subject to regulatory approval. Whitebird's CEO Benjamin C. Stepney announced the acquisition by saying:


 * UTV Television's strategic objectives are closely aligned with our own, and we hope to make UTV a new heavy hitter in the UK television industry.

The acquisition was finalised the following February. Whitebird formed UTV Group as the holding company for UTV and its sister properties, assigning Paul Thomas Beaussant, previously Whitebird's Director of Original and Franchised Content, as president.

The former UTV Media group was restructured and rebranded as the Wireless Group, retaining its radio assets until June 2016, when the company was brought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. On 11 July 2016, Whitebird Broadcasting Group announced that was selling the service to Virgin Media Ireland for €10 million. Virgin Media Ireland was a subsidiary of Liberty Media and had already bought Ireland's TV3 in 2015. Whitebird subsequently launched UTV Choice as the replacement for UTV Ireland, broadcasting primarily UTV original productions along with some ITV and STV programmes that the Virgin Media Ireland channels did not have the rights to.

In October 2016, Whitebird announced plans to close UTV's Havelock House studios. UTV began broadcasting from a new broadcast centre at City Quays 2 in the Belfast Harbour Estate from 1 July 2018.

British and American media analysts have described UTV as Benjamin C. Stepney's "passion project", citing the creation of UTV Studios as UTV Group's global production and distribution arm and the large expansion of local programmes for Northern Ireland, all of which were under his guidance, as well as UTV Group's rapid expansion into the business of thematic television channels, including the 2020 acquisition of the Disney TV channel portfolio for the UK and Ireland (with Playtime, Playtime Jr. and Playtime Spark launching in their places).