Plus
Launched	1 October 1996
Closed	1 November 2004
Owned By	Granada Sky Broadcasting
Formerly Called	Granada Plus G Plus
Website	www.plustv.co.uk (no longer active)
Availability At time of closure
Terrestrial
OnDigital/ITV Digital	Channel 30 (until May 1 2002)
Satellite
Sky Digital	Channel 118 (number later reassigned to ITV2)
Cable
Telewest	Channel 128
NTL	Channel 101

Granada Plus was a satellite channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 and was later rebranded as G Plus or G+ and then simply Plus. However it was generally still referred to by the public at large by its former name. It showed classic Granada Television & ITV programmes as well as some programmes originally shown on BBC but made by independent production companies. Almost every programme on the channel was cut by up to 5 minutes for commercial timing purposes, leading some viewers to comment that the channel should have been called "Granada Minus". Image File history File links Gplustv. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Granada Sky Broadcasting is a wholly-owned subsidary of ITV plc. ... ITV Digital logo Initial ONdigital logo ITV Digital used to be the sole British terrestrial digital television broadcaster. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ... ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... Telewest (formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) is a trading name of NTL Incorporated, the dominant cable operator in the United Kingdom with more than 90% of the market. ... NTL Incorporated is a US listed British company providing cable services (internet, telephone and television) prodominantly in the United Kingdom. ... Granada Sky Broadcasting is a wholly-owned subsidary of ITV plc. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Current ITV Granada logo A Granada TV logo from the black and white era. ... ITVs Logo 2006—present Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the broadcasting licences for... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ...

Closure

The story of Granada Plus's closure is of interest. Come November 1, 2004 - ITV3's launch date - it was looking increasingly likely that ITV3 would not be launched on Sky Digital. However, frantic discussions were going on beind the scenes: ITV wanted the 7 million or so Sky viewers available; Sky didn't want to give Freeview any advantage; and to further complicate matters, ITV wanted the new channel to be as high up on the EPG as possible. November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ... Freeview logo Freeview is a form of digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard. ... The Sky Digital EPG in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. ...

At 3pm, just 6 hours before launch, ITV and Sky finally reached a deal: ITV would buy out Sky's 49.5% stake in GSkyB for £10 million. British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB — formerly two companies, Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broadcasting) is a company that operates Sky Digital, the most popular subscription television service in the UK and Ireland. ... For details of notes and coins, see British coinage and British banknotes. ...

ITV stopped broadcasting Granada Plus at 4:30 pm. Thus, ITV2 was to broadcast at channel number 118 in the EPG and ITV3 at 119.

Granada Plus were caught unaware; they had sent out their regular highlights email at 3:50 pm. Viewers would have seen Granada Sky Broadcasting disappear at 4:30 pm, and ITV2 & ITV3 slides appearing at 5:15 pm.

The countdown to launch appeared at 8pm, with the launch taking place 1 hour later.

The channel's closure annoyed many viewers, as many programmes were not moved over to the new channel, most notably the popular re-runs of Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Coronation Street (smells) is Britains longest-running television soap opera, and the UKs consistently highest-rated show. ... For Emmerdale, the 1994 debut album by The Cardigans, see Emmerdale (album). ...

Past logos

Image File history File links Gplus. ... Image File history File links Gplus. ...

External link

• More on ITV3's launch