Granada Sky Broadcasting
Encyclopedia
ITV Digital Channels Limited (ITVDCL) (formerly known as Granada Sky Broadcasting or GSB) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British television broadcaster ITV plc
. Granada Sky Broadcasting was set up in 1996 and operated until 2004 as joint venture between Granada Television
and British Sky Broadcasting
to launch a range of television channels broadcasting the Granada archive on the Sky satellite television
platform as well as other digital platforms such as ITV Digital
(closed in 2002 due to administration), NTL and Telewest
(both merged to form Virgin Media
). ITV digital channels Ltd now solely under control of ITV plc is today a profitable business which runs ITV plc's digital channels.
On 2 February 2004, Granada merged with Carlton Communications
to form ITV plc. On 1 November 2004, ITV plc agreed to purchase BSkyB's stake in GSB for £10 million. The deal included the slot that Plus was broadcast on, which ITV used on the Sky platform to broadcast its new ITV3
channel, which replaced Plus on the same day. The negotiations that led to ITV plc taking sole control of GSB, closing Granada Plus and launching ITV3 on digital satellite were apparently completed just hours before the new channel started broadcasting. A week later, on the 8 November 2004, Granada Sky Broadcasting was renamed "ITV Digital Channels Limited". The closure of Granada Plus left Men & Motors the sole survivor of the original four channels. As part of ITV's buy-out of Sky's shareholding Sky will receive 49.5% of any proceeds (net of liabilities) from any future sale of Men & Motors.
On 2 May 2005, Men & Motors launched as free-to-air
channel on the Freeview digital terrestrial television
service. It was rumoured than ITV plc would replace Men & Motors with ITV4
, another men's channel, when it launched on 1 November 2005. However, after a better than expected performance from Men & Motors as a free-to-air channel, both channels continued and ITV plc cut the hours of the ITV News Channel
to make way for ITV4 and CITV instead.
Although ITV4 started broadcasting from the Astra
satellite on 1 November, it was not placed on the Sky EPG
until 7 November. Because of this, some ITV4 sporting programming was simulcast
on Men & Motors
in a ITV4 on m&m strand.
Despite the previous U-turn not to close Men & Motors, fresh rumours over the channel's future began to circulate in early 2006 due to a poorer than expected performance from the fledgling ITV4 service. In April 2006 Men & Motors left Freeview to make way for the launch of ITV Play
. It closed on Virgin Media
on 25 March 2010, and finally closed on Sky and Freesat
on 1 April, to make way for a permanent EPG position for ITV1 HD.
Currently ITV2
and ITV3
are the highest rating digital TV channels in the UK. ITV4 is benefiting from extra investment which saw it obtain the rights to the Indian Premier League Cricket is also improving its share of the viewing. The CITV
channel is the number one commercial kids TV channel having a higher share of viewers compared to Cartoon Network UK and Nickelodeon UK
.
It launched four later nine channels on 1 October 1996:
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
. Granada Sky Broadcasting was set up in 1996 and operated until 2004 as joint venture between Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
and British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
to launch a range of television channels broadcasting the Granada archive on the Sky satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
platform as well as other digital platforms such as ITV Digital
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...
(closed in 2002 due to administration), NTL and Telewest
Telewest
Telewest, formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications was a cable Internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom...
(both merged to form Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
). ITV digital channels Ltd now solely under control of ITV plc is today a profitable business which runs ITV plc's digital channels.
Current Channels
ITV Digital Channels Ltd operates ITV plc's digital channels:- ITV2ITV2ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
(and ITV2 +1) — a general entertainment channel - ITV3ITV3ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
(and ITV3 +1) — a drama and movie channel - ITV4ITV4ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
(and ITV4 +1) — a channel aimed at men - CITVCITVCITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
— a channel aimed at children under 9 - ITV1 HD — a high definition simulcast of ITV plc's ITV1 channel
- ITV2 HD — a high definition simulcast of ITV2
- ITV3 HD — a high definition simulcast of ITV3
- ITV4 HD — a high definition simulcast of ITV4
On 2 February 2004, Granada merged with Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
to form ITV plc. On 1 November 2004, ITV plc agreed to purchase BSkyB's stake in GSB for £10 million. The deal included the slot that Plus was broadcast on, which ITV used on the Sky platform to broadcast its new ITV3
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
channel, which replaced Plus on the same day. The negotiations that led to ITV plc taking sole control of GSB, closing Granada Plus and launching ITV3 on digital satellite were apparently completed just hours before the new channel started broadcasting. A week later, on the 8 November 2004, Granada Sky Broadcasting was renamed "ITV Digital Channels Limited". The closure of Granada Plus left Men & Motors the sole survivor of the original four channels. As part of ITV's buy-out of Sky's shareholding Sky will receive 49.5% of any proceeds (net of liabilities) from any future sale of Men & Motors.
On 2 May 2005, Men & Motors launched as free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
channel on the Freeview digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the UK's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television aerial...
service. It was rumoured than ITV plc would replace Men & Motors with ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
, another men's channel, when it launched on 1 November 2005. However, after a better than expected performance from Men & Motors as a free-to-air channel, both channels continued and ITV plc cut the hours of the ITV News Channel
ITV News Channel
The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and...
to make way for ITV4 and CITV instead.
Although ITV4 started broadcasting from the Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
satellite on 1 November, it was not placed on the Sky EPG
Electronic program guide
Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming...
until 7 November. Because of this, some ITV4 sporting programming was simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
on Men & Motors
Men & Motors
Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting in 1996...
in a ITV4 on m&m strand.
Despite the previous U-turn not to close Men & Motors, fresh rumours over the channel's future began to circulate in early 2006 due to a poorer than expected performance from the fledgling ITV4 service. In April 2006 Men & Motors left Freeview to make way for the launch of ITV Play
ITV Play
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....
. It closed on Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
on 25 March 2010, and finally closed on Sky and Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
on 1 April, to make way for a permanent EPG position for ITV1 HD.
Currently ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
and ITV3
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
are the highest rating digital TV channels in the UK. ITV4 is benefiting from extra investment which saw it obtain the rights to the Indian Premier League Cricket is also improving its share of the viewing. The CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
channel is the number one commercial kids TV channel having a higher share of viewers compared to Cartoon Network UK and Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...
.
Former Channels
- Granada Plus — entertainment programmes from the archives of Granada and its subsidiaries. Replaced by ITV3ITV3ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
in 2004 - Granada Good LifeGranada BreezeGranada Breeze was a lifestyle channel operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched as Granada Good Life on 1 October 1996....
— a lifestyle channel split into four segments: Granada Food & Wine, Granada Health & Beauty, Granada TV High Street and Granada Home & Garden. Relaunched as Granada BreezeGranada BreezeGranada Breeze was a lifestyle channel operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched as Granada Good Life on 1 October 1996....
in May 1998 in an attempt to improve ratings but it too was closed in May 2002. - Granada Men & MotorsMen & MotorsMen & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting in 1996...
— a channel aimed at men. Closed on 1 April 2010. Last original channel to close. Replaced by ITV1 HD. - Granada Talk TVGranada Talk TVGranada Talk TV was a channel owned and operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting and Granada Television. It launched on 1 October 1996 with the other channels of the bouquet...
— a debate channel. Closed on 31 August 1997
External links
- ITV plc
- MenandMotors.co.uk
- EMC Bitstream: ITV3: reaching for the Sky — discusses the negotiations that led to the sale of Sky's stake and closure of Granada Plus
- Guide to channels on Astra satellites