The ITV1 name came into effect on August 11, 2001 replacing the ITV Brand. On October 28, 2002 the network dropped all of it's regional branding.

In recent years the network has had big hits with Heartbeat, Pop Idol, The X Factor, Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and Bad Girls.

As of September, 2006 the channel was attracting an average 20% audience share.

As part of a company rebrand January 14, 2013 saw the ITV1 brand dropped in favour of returning back to the ITV brand.