This is a list of events that took place in 2013 related to British television.
Events
January Date Event2ITV signs a twelve-month product placement deal with DFS that will see the furniture retailer's sofas used as part of the set for This Morning.4The CBeebies and CBBC blocks on BBC Two air for the last time. The children's programming would in the future air exclusively on their dedicated channels.The Dumping Ground makes its debut on CBBC for the first time. 5–6CITV celebrates its 30th anniversary with an "Old Skool" marathon of archive programming on the weekend.5In a poll conducted for the film channel Sky Movies 007 HD, a scene from Goldfinger in which James Bond is strapped to a table while a laser beam begins to cut it in half is voted as the best Bond movie moment.Launch of ITV's celebrity diving contest, Splash!, in which Olympic bronze medalist Tom Daley teaches contestants to dive. The first episode is seen by 5.6 million viewers, but receives a mixed reception from critics.6BBC One airs the last programme in its astronomy series The Sky at Night to be presented by Sir Patrick Moore, recorded shortly before his death on 9 December 2012. He launched the series in 1957.ITV period drama Mr Selfridge, set in a department store which covers the historical events of the 20th century from 1908 to 1929 featuring the retail magnate Harry Gordon Selfridge portrayed by Jeremy Piven, makes its debut.7BBC sports presenter Gabby Logan is appointed Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University.Anne Wood, creator of Teletubbies and Brum, criticises the BBC's decision to remove children's programming from its mainstream channels, accusing them of "ghettoising" children's television.9BBC Four confirms that its reruns of Top of the Pops will continue with episodes from 1978, but that editions featuring Jimmy Savile will not be aired.13Ahead of the rebranding, ITV News aired its final news bulletin using the black and yellow set which was broadcast at 10pm.14ITV1 rebrands back to its original name, ITV, after 12 years, along with the introduction of a new logo on ITV plc-owned channels and online services. Also on the same day, ITV News revealed its new-look newsroom studio featuring the blue and teal green set replacing the black and yellow version. 18After nearly four years, Countdown is filmed at the Granada Studios in Manchester for the last time. Subsequent series are now filmed at dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford thus marking the second time that the show has relocated in its 30-year history.20The BBC issues an immediate apology after its digital channel CBeebies airs an episode of Tweenies from 2001 in which one of the main characters named Max dresses as Jimmy Savile to present a chart show.22Broadcaster Stuart Hall is charged with one count of rape and 14 of indecent assault following a police investigation into historic allegations.23Coronation Street, Downton Abbey, This Morning, Strictly Come Dancing and Miranda Hart are among the big winners at the 18th National Television Awards. Joanna Lumley takes home a lifetime achievement accolade.25Singer Rylan Clark wins the eleventh series of Celebrity Big Brother.30Former Channel 5 Director of Programmes Jeff Ford has been hired by Irish commercial broadcaster TV3 to become their new Director of Content, a position he will take up in February.
February Date Event2Former Olympic Skier Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards wins the first series of Splash!.4More4 launches in high-definition for the first time.5Cable television provider Virgin Media announced it is to be acquired by Liberty Global for US$23.3 billion (£15 billion).8The BBC Trust approves a twelve-month trial to make some BBC TV content available online through BBC iPlayer ahead of its scheduled television debut.9BBC Three celebrates its 10th anniversary.13ITV's This Morning apologises after "accidentally" showing a photograph of Catherine Middleton in a bikini. The image was used while discussing a recent controversy involving pictures of the Duchess, but should have been blurred out.14Former head of BBC News Helen Boaden is appointed Director of BBC Radio by incoming BBC Director-General Tony Hall. She will take up the position from April.15ITV drops the actor Michael Le Vell from Coronation Street pending the outcome of legal proceedings after police charge him with 19 child sex offences allegedly committed between 2001 and 2010.16Sir Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice-president of Industrial Design for Apple Inc., is presented with Blue Peters highest accolade, a gold Blue Peter badge in a special edition of the show about gadgets.18BBC journalists stage a one-day strike over compulsory redundancies.23Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway returns to ITV after a four-year hiatus.25Telecommunications giant BT, which bought the rights to some Premier League matches in 2012, expands its investment in sports broadcasting with the purchase of ESPN's channels in Britain and Ireland.
March Date Event4BBC One airs the 1000th edition of A Question of Sport.10Prince Charles guest edits an edition of Countryfile to celebrate the programme's 25th anniversary.Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle and dance partner Daniel Whiston win the eighth series of Dancing on Ice.14A full-size replica of the House of Commons, used in place of the real chamber in several films and television series, is among film sets for sale on the internet auction site eBay. It is sold for £123,000, but auctioned again at an auction house in June after the buyer failed to complete the purchase.16The 2013 Comic Relief telethon raises a record £75 million for charity.17The final BBC News bulletins are aired from BBC Television Centre before news operations switch to the Broadcasting House in Central London, effective from 18 March.19Coronation Street actor William Roache apologises after appearing to suggest victims of paedophiles were being punished for past sins in an interview for New Zealand's One News.It is reported that Channel 4 will screen a documentary The Murder Trial showing footage of the trial of Nat Fraser, who in 2012 was convicted of the murder of his estranged wife, Arlene.23Granada Reports is broadcast from the Granada Studios at Quay Street for the last time.24ITV Granada broadcasts from the dock10 studios for the first time.26BBC Two launches in high definition for the first time, two and a half years after BBC One did.Research published by the Archives of Disease in Childhood suggests that five-year-olds who watch more than three hours of television a day are more likely to develop antisocial behaviour than those who do not.29BBC journalists stage a twelve-hour strike, disrupting television and radio news programmes.30The BBC confirms that David Tennant and Billie Piper will appear in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special.Sir Tony Robinson's new Channel 4 history series Walking Through History started.31The BBC Television Centre is closed and all BBC services move to the Broadcasting House.
April Date Event1Responsibility for the funding of S4C begins to transfer to the BBC.The cox of the University of Oxford rowing team apologises for repeated use of the F-word during the previous day's University Boat Race which aired live on television.4Countdown co-presenter Rachel Riley will join the presenting team of Channel 5's The Gadget Show when the series returns in the summer, it is announced.7Catchphrase returns to ITV after an 11-year hiatus. Stephen Mulhern is chosen as the new host which follows the footsteps of previous hosts ranging from Roy Walker, Nick Weir and Mark Curry since its debut in 1986.9The US TV miniseries The Bible, a ten-part dramatisation of some of the Bible's most famous stories, will be aired by Channel 5 later in the year, it is announced.14Endeavour becomes a full series after a successful pilot run last year.15The BBC says that an edition of Panorama filmed secretly on a university study trip to North Korea will be broadcast, despite claims by the London School of Economics that students may have been put in danger.16James Harding, former editor of The Times, is named as the new BBC Director of News. He replaces Helen Boaden, who was moved from the job to become Director of Radio.17BBC One airs the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on 8 April. The three-hour special is watched by an average 3.2 million viewers, peaking at 4.4 million.A planned showing of the film Four Lions is cancelled by Film4 in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in which three people died.19Channel 5 pulls two programmes narrated by Rolf Harris from its schedule after reports the presenter was interviewed by police over allegations of sexual offences.23Current Director of BBC One, Danny Cohen is appointed Director of BBC Television, taking up the position from 7 May.25The BBC is to limit the redundancy packages for its managers to £150,000 following criticism about the amount of severance paid to its executives.26Ray Winstone guest hosts Have I Got News for You, the edition prompting over 100 complaints to the BBC and Ofcom in the following days because of the programme's perceived anti-Scottish stance during a section discussing Scottish independence. 29The University of Manchester wins the 2012–13 series of University Challenge, beating University College London 190–140.
May