“A rose by any other name…” 

28 May 2009 tbs.pm/1060

Granada name to disappear from ITV businesses

When Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs first introduced the Apple TV set top box (which displays media content downloaded from the iTunes Store) during one of his famous presentations, Jobs referred to the product as ‘iTV’, helpfully adding that this wouldn’t be the final name used for the product since that name had been taken already.

This incident is worthy of note because it illustrates that ‘ITV’ as a brand is still relatively unknown in the US, whereas Granada still has the benefit of some recognition (along with Thames) courtesy of its export production history.

Therefore dropping the use of Granada for the US market is most likely to be a retrograde step (even if ultimately not that critical), especially as major US media brands such as NBC, Universal and Warner Bros. have remained the same for many years and show no signs of being abandoned in the 21st century.

Of course the reason why Granada has been unsurprisingly dropped as a brand is to standardise on ITV as a single, worldwide brand both in the UK and abroad for both broadcasting and production, therefore Granada became second best in the “ITV versus Granada” tussle courtesy of ITV being the preferred name for the UK market.

However there may still be one place where you can see the Granada name being used on-screen at least for the time being if you live in the North West of England, namely the regional news bulletin Granada Reports, although given the current disdain given to English regional news programming it may or may not stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Plus that Granada TV sign may hopefully remain on the side of ITV’s Quay Street building (especially as ITV seems to be staying there), as a perpetual reminder of what ITV used to be and a nagging reminder of its true heritage.

And I also suspect that the Granada name will be reintroduced at some point in the not too distant future, especially if someone else takes over ITV and decides to embark on a makeover in order to distinguish itself further from its competitors, such is the fickle nature of media branding.

RIP Granada TV, 1956-2009.