Logo used since 2022
| |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | ITVBe +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ITV plc |
| Parent | ITV Digital Channels |
| Sister channels |
|
| History | |
| Launched | 8 October 2014; 9 years ago (2014-10-08) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 28 (SD) Channel 93 (+1) |
| Streaming media | |
| ITVX | Watch live (UK only) |
| TVPlayer | Watch live (UK only) |
| Sky Go | Watch live (UK only) |
| Virgin TV Go | Watch live (UK only) Watch live (+1) (UK only) |
ITVBe is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first announced on 12 February 2014 and launched on 8 October 2014.[1] ITVBe broadcasts reality and unscripted shows, including US acquisitions such as The Real Housewives franchise, Million Dollar Listing New York, and Botched; and original programming such as The Real Housewives of Cheshire, Dinner Date, and The Only Way Is Essex. The channel has also occasionally aired feature films, particularly from the romantic comedy genre, and from May to September 2023 also broadcast female-skewed comedy and drama such as Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.[2]
A high-definition simulcast, ITVBe HD, launched on Virgin Media on 19 November 2014, along with a one-hour timeshift feed, ITVBe +1. Both channels were exclusive to Virgin until the ITVBe +1 service was made available on Sky and Freesat on 15 December 2014, and the ITVBe HD service on 12 December 2023.[citation needed] As part of a number of changes to ITV's broadcasting, ITVBe +1 was removed from Sky and Freesat on 13 April 2021.[3] ITVBe +1 is also available on Freeview, broadcasting between 2am and 4am.
On 19 September 2022, ITVBe and other ITV digital channels simulcast ITV's coverage of the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIatWestminster Abbey.
On 7 October 2022, ITVBe’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts were removed in order to streamline the ITV channels for an upcoming rebrand that happened on 15 November. On the same day, the majority of videos uploaded on ITVBe’s YouTube account were moved to the ITVX YouTube account.
The following is a list of the ten most watched episodes of a series on ITVBe since the channel began broadcasting in October 2014. Figures are based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB.[4] The Only Way Is Essex is consistently the highest rated series on ITVBe.
| Rank | Show | Viewers (millions) |
Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Only Way Is Essex | 1.36 | 9 November 2014 |
| 2 | 1.23 | 17 April 2016 | |
| 3 | 1.22 | 14 October 2018 | |
| 4 | 1.21 | 23 September 2018 | |
| 5 | 1.19 | 10 April 2016 | |
| 6 | 1.18 | 10 October 2014 | |
| 7 | 1.18 | 30 October 2016 | |
| 8 | 1.16 | 11 November 2018 | |
| 9 | 1.16 | 2 November 2014 | |
| 10 | 1.16 | 12 March 2017 |
When ITVBe launched in October 2014, it originally utilised a fun, social-media-inspired aesthetic driven by its key talent and reality-TV stars. Boldness and everyday glitz were expressed across the 12-piece mix-n-match colour palette, playful stickers and icons, and entirely unique to ITVBe: user-generated idents named "Mydents". [5]
In line with the launch of the streaming service ITVX, ITVBe received a new look for the first time on 15 November 2022. The logo is now coloured peach and has the b in 'be' raised up higher than the rest of the letters, and uses idents that are cross-used across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, and ITV4 with different views which reflect the channel's image and programming output.[6]
On 20 August 2020, ITV announced that EarlyBe would be introduced on the ITV Hub as part of the autumn 2020 reboot. Shows which would broadcast on ITVBe on the same day would be available to watch on the ITV Hub from 7am onwards. The service started on 3 September 2020 and the first show to be hosted by the ITV Hub, before it aired on ITVBe, was Sam & Billie: The Mummy Diaries, which didn't air on ITVBe until 9pm on 3 September 2020. EarlyBe also hosts The Real Housewives of Cheshire, The Only Way Is Essex, Ferne McCann: First Time Mum, and Gemma Collins: Diva.[7]
On 3 September 2018, the channel introduced a new children's strand LittleBe, which is dedicated to preschool programming.[8] The strand airs every day from 9 am to 12 midday, three hours a day, and also airs archive children's programming such as Sooty and Postman Pat.[9][10]
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