Fifty years ago people were calling BBC programmes too cosy, worried that commercial television would lower standards and feared imported American shows would corrupt the nation. And there was a financial crisis caused by disappointing advertising revenue.

Nothing much appears to have changed in the 50 years since ITV made its debut on September 22 in the London area. The number of channels may have increased and viewing habits changed, but the same old arguments about taste, decency, standards and budgets continue unabated.

In the year when the TV industry is undergoing even more major changes, ITV is finding time to celebrate its 50th anniversary - although the new commercial channel didn't reach the North-East until Tyne Tees was established in 1959.

Four years of argument preceded the setting up of ITV, partly a result of fears that commercial television would lead to a lowering of standards, showing that holding TV responsible for the country's ills began back then.

The good and the great got in on the act, with Winston Churchill calling it "a tin penny Punch and Judy show".

But Independent Television's set-up, establishing a series of regional companies such as Tyne Tees in Newcastle, gave a voice to those denied it by the London-based BBC. Ironically, that's gone the other way now with a single, united ITV taking power and screen time away from the regions in a bid to be more profitable.

Programmes back in the early days weren't what viewers of the BBC had come to expect. Quiz shows in which contestants won money, American series and commercials were all alien to viewers before ITV introduced them. Most of the output was devoted to mass entertainment, with only 19 per cent classed as "serious" by the Independent Television Authority.

These days satellite, cable and digital have increased the number of channels available, leaving ITV - and the BBC - battling to maintain a decent share of available viewers.

ITV2 and ITV3 are helping boost market share and this week's announcement of Freesat is part of ITV's anniversary riposte to the other non-terrestrial channels. ITV and the BBC are working together to develop a new free digital satellite service to complement the popular Freeview service.

Freesat will enable viewers to access subscription-free digital television via satellite. It's aimed primarily at people in the UK currently unable to access Freeview.

As part of this Freesat development, ITV plans to start broadcasting ITV channels unencrypted within the next few months on digital satellite television. Initially, this free satellite service will carry all ITV and BBC free-to-view digital services.

ITV Chief Executive Charles Allen says the move is to make its channels "available to as many people as possible, regardless of technological and geographical constraints".

ITV also hopes to boost revenue through ITV Mobile, which means you could soon be able to watch Coronation Street and other programmes on your WAP-enabled mobile phone.

Within the next few weeks, ITV will launch a trial broadband service offering local news and weather, community activities, travel and property advertising and ITV entertainment. The idea will be tested in Brighton and Hastings and, if successful, could spread across the country.

As well as new initiatives to maintain its place as "the largest commercial broadcaster in Europe", ITV is looking back to mark its anniversary with a series of special shows, ranging from Ant and Dec reviving old game shows to a Best Ever Ads countdown.

The celebrations kick off today with ITV's 50 Greatest Shows, as voted for by the public throughout the summer. Is it really possible to pick the best-ever TV programme of the past 50 years from a mix that includes such diverse contenders as The Avengers, Brideshead Revisited, Footballers' Wives, Coronation Street, Jimmy's, The Muppet Show, Pop Idol, Tiswas and The World At War? Of course not, but it'll be fun finding out.

British stars past and present are being honoured on the Avenue of the Stars, the British version of Hollywood's famous Walk of Fame. The stars will be set into paving stones at St Paul's The Actors' Church in London's Covent Garden.

One non-ITV sponsored celebration looks like being even more outrageous - Broadcast magazine's readers' poll to find the most popular ITV characters of all time. Voters can chose from an eclectic list that blurs the line between fact and fiction. Worzel Gummidge and Miss Piggy jostle for position on the list with Sid Snot and Margaret Thatcher (as played by Steve Nallon on Spitting Image). How about having to choose between Horace Rumpole and Alan B'Stard, Hercule Poirot and Hilda Ogden, Sooty and Inspector Morse?

The ITV regions, the increasingly isolated outposts of the empire, will be celebrating the 50th anniversary with special programmes too. ITV Tyne Tees plans an hour-long show, You Are Watching, detailing how regional ITV has changed and evolved over the last half century. Ant and Dec, Mike Neville, Tim Healy and agony aunt Denise Robertson will be the guides.

l ITV's 50 Greatest Shows: tonight, ITV1, 7pm.

* You Are Watching: September 18, ITV Tyne Tees, 5.30pm.