Goodbye Grampian

Say what you want about the use of a predominantly single ITV brand in England, but with the sole exception of LWT (which technically speaking is now an irrelevance) ITV plc still hasn't gone as far as the complete removal of a regional brand as SMG is now going to do in Scotland.

This move may not immediately affect what's left of the other ITV regional identities, but could eventually persuade ITV to eliminate the West brand (for example) and replace it with Westcountry, or at least make further cost savings by the downgrading of existing facilities (which would probably have happened anyway).

The advent of Ofcom has paradoxically brought stronger regulation to the commercial television sector compared to its ITC predecessor, but only in the respect of what the current government wishes to impose on the industry, which in the case of Channel 3 seems to be a licence to do very little except broadcast what they want as long as they don't upset too many people.

Will Ofcom step in at the last moment and stop any of this from happening? The answer is a firm "No" based on its previous track record, but there is still just enough time to create a major upset and prove us all wrong.