Weekday franchise

A weekday franchise is a regional franchise in a television network that provides regional and network programming over a weekday period.

In Network Six, weekday franchise holders broadcast from Monday 9.25am through to Friday 5.00pm. The only remaining weekday-only franchise holder is London Weekday, presently contracted to Rowby Television, alongside the only remaining weekend franchise, EWT. Weekend franchises on Network Six (besides London) were abolished in May 2006 in favour of 7-day broadcasting. Notable franchises that have existed as weekday franchises at a point in their history includes Spectrum Television in the Midlands, and TVB in the Borders.

ITV has also previously used a weekday/weekend format, however this was axed in 1968 (except London) in favour of 7-day broadcasting. The London weekday contractor, Carlton Television, continued until October 2002 when it was merged with the London weekend contractor, LWT, to become ITV London.