ITV is a commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority (ITA, then after the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972, Independent Broadcasting Authority, now Ofcom) to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, the number 3 having no real meaning other than to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned as televisions would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, the other stations being allocated to the number within their name.