Granada Sky Broadcasting

Background

Granada Sky Broadcasting was a satellite television company formed in 1996 as a joint venture between Granada plc and British Sky Broadcasting. The company operated four channels, all of which launched on October 1 of that year:

Granada Breeze (formerly Granada Good Life from October 1, 1996 to May 1, 1998), a lifestyle network aimed at female viewers. It was originally split into four segments throughout the day: Granada Food & Wine, Granada Health & Beauty, Granada TV High Street, and Granada Home & Garden. This unique format was dropped when it relaunched as Breeze. Closed down on April 30, 2002.
Granada Talk TV, a channel that broadcast talk shows and debates. Closed down on August 31, 1997 due to low viewership, making it the shortest-lived GSkyB channel. The channel was then replaced with a simulcast of Sky News’ coverage of Princess Diana’s death for the next few days, before closing for good.
Plus (formerly Granada Plus, G Plus, and G+), a channel which broadcasted programs from the ITV library as well as certain BBC shows and American imports. Closed down on November 1, 2004 to make room for ITV3, making it the second longest-lasting GSkyB channel. Despite this, the closedown slide remained on analog cable for over 5 years before it was finally removed in spring 2011.
Men & Motors (formerly Granada Men & Motors), a channel that focused on men's lifestyle programs as well as automobile shows. Closed on April 1, 2010, making it the longest-lasting GSkyB channel.

1st Ident (October 1, 1996-August 31, 1998)

Visuals: On a swirling purple background, a white crescent appears, shining as it does so. A "G" illuminates itself next to it, and the crescent grows into a white oval that looks like a stylized shadow of the "G", which glows white and then turns purple. A thin white line draws itself underneath the "G" as it eases itself into a purple box. The background turns to white, and a rectangle split between a purple section and a white section is seen below, and the text "GRANADA SKY BROADCASTING" stretches into it, with "BROADCASTING" inside the white space and "GRANADA SKY" in white in the purple space. This logo was used as a lead-in to the four channels' idents of the time.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A mellow electronic tune with a female or male voiceover saying the name of a GSkyB network near the end. There is an exceptionally rare variant that has a female voiceover saying "Granada Sky Broadcasting" instead.

2nd Ident (October 1, 1996-1998)

Visuals: On a white background, there is the logo of whichever channel is closing down at the moment (either Talk TV, Men & Motors, or Good Life); the logo usually consists of the Granada Sky logo, but with a different color (depending on the network), and the network name in the bottom rectangle, with the width of the colored sections varying depending on the length of the channel name. After a few seconds, a finger appears and presses on the logo as if it were a button, changing it into the Granada Plus logo, which is purple. The bumper then cuts to Granada Plus's schedule.

Technique: Live-action and computer animation.

Audio: A clicking sound, accompanied by a female voiceover saying:

Talk TV: "That's the end of our programs today, more Talk tomorrow...(click) but don't forget you can switch over to Granada Plus."
Good Life: "That's the end of our programs on Good Life today...(click) but don't forget you can switch over to Granada Plus."
Men & Motors: Unknown.

Availability: Used as a sign-off ID, although the Men & Motors variant is currently missing.

3rd Ident (1998-1999)

Visuals: On a white background, there is the then-current logo of either Granada Breeze or Grenada Men & Motors. Either way, it consists of a stylized "G" inside a circle (which is colored yellow for Breeze, or blue for Men & Motors), with the channel name written below it. After a few seconds, a finger appears and, like the last bumper, presses the "G" like a button, turning it into the then-current Granada Plus logo (which has the "G" and the text "plus" underneath it in purple).

Technique: Same as the last bumper.

Audio: Either a beep or a click sound as the finger presses the "G". A female announcer (which is different on either variant) says the following:

Breeze: "That's all from Breeze today, we'll be back tomorrow from six. (beep) But don't forget that Granada Plus continues until 11 tonight."
Men & Motors: "That's all for Men & Motors, we'll be back tomorrow night...(click) but don't forget that Granada Plus is here from 6:00 this morning."

Availability: Like the last bumper, this was also used as a Sign-Off bumper, however the Men & Motors variant isn't lost.

Final Note

On February 2, 2004, Granada plc merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc. In the process, they purchased BSkyB's stake in Granada Sky Broadcasting, renaming it to ITV Digital Channels, Ltd. on November 8, 2004.