Southern Television was the first
ITV broadcasting licence holder for the
south and south-east of England and parts of the
south west of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as
Southern Television Limited and the title
Southern Television was consistently used
on-air throughout its life. However, in 1966 during the application process for contracts running from 1968 the company renamed itself
Southern Independent Television Limited, a title which was used until 1980, when the company reverted to its original corporate name. Southern Television ceased broadcasting on the morning of 1 January 1982 at 12.43am, after a review during the 1980 franchise round gave the contract to
Television South.