| Summary: | UTV, formerly known as Ulster Television, opened on Halloween night 1959 and has been the franchised commercial broadcaster in Northern Ireland for the last fifty-three years. Compared to the BBC, Independent Television network in Britain has received only limited critical academic analysis and as a consequence, there is a particular dearth of research into regional broadcasting in general and into broadcasting in Northern Ireland in particular. Nonetheless, Jeremy Potter's volume Independent Television Companies and Programmes 1968-1990, includes a valuable chapter on UTV, investigating its history and the initial difficulties it encountered with the outbreak of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland in 1968. Building on this, this thesis aims to address the dearth of research carried out on UTV and its position as a regional broadcaster in Northern Ireland subjecting UTV's news and current output during the period of the 'Troubles' to an academic analysis for the first time. It attempts this by looking at the extensive collection of archive material on the 'Troubles' which is held in UTV's library. Archival material covering the following events has been considered in detail: • Civil Rights Marches 1968 • Riots in August 1969 • Internment 1971 • Bloody Sunday and Bloody Friday 1972 • UWC Strike 1974 • IRA Hunger Strikes 1980 and 1981 • The Anglo-Irish Agreement • The Enniskillen Bombing 1987 • The Good Friday Agreement April 1998 • The Omagh Bombing August 1998 This analysis is further contextualised by written Regional Officer's reports and Independent Television Authority papers detailing how various policies were implemented and adapted throughout the period of the 'Troubles'. These papers have also allowed me to situate this information within the larger context of the Independent Television Network.
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