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: 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. a week later.
 * 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.

(October 1, 1996-August 31, 1998)
Logo: 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: Unknown.

Music/Sounds: 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.

Availability: Extinct. Check your old tapes.

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