Editing Granada plc (section)

=== Media business ===
<!-- What happened before the television business? -->
Granada has its origins in [[Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein|Sidney Bernstein]]'s '''Granada Theatres Ltd''', a [[movie theater|cinema]] company founded in [[Dover]] in 1930. The company was incorporated as '''Granada Ltd''' in 1934, with Granada Theatres Ltd turned into a subsidiary.<ref name=history>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itvplc.com/about/history/2017|title=2017|website=itvplc.com}}</ref> Granada has been listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]] in one form or another since 1935.<ref name=history/> It was awarded the North of England [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] franchise in 1954, broadcasting as [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]].<ref name=history/> The company also established a chain of television rental shops from 1959 onwards, expanding in 1968 by purchasing Robinson Rentals for £8 million from [[David Robinson (philanthropist)|David Robinson]].<ref>[https://www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/about-robinson/college-archive-and-history/sir-david-robinson "Sir David Robinson"], Robinson College</ref>

Granada entered the publishing business in the 1960s: it bought [[Mayflower Books]] from their founding U.S. publisher, Dell Publishing, and [[Panther Books]] (including [[Paladin Books]], founded 1966 by [[Sonny Mehta]]<ref>Cowdrey, Katherine (31 December 2019), [https://www.the bookseller.com/news/one-worlds-best-editors-sonny-mehta-dies-aged-77-1144086 ''Sonny Mehta dies aged 77], ''[[The Bookseller]]''.</ref>) by 1968, which imprints continued to be run separately editorially, and added [[Rupert Hart-Davis]] and [[MacGibbon and Kee]] which it combined to form [[Hart-Davis, MacGibbon]] in 1972. Eventually the various publishing companies were combined as '''Granada Publishing'''. [[William Collins, Sons]] acquired Granada Publishing in 1983,<ref>[https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/76cdfec7-3db2-38f8-a8de-29401f6269c4 Records of Granada Publishing Ltd, publishers, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England], archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2024.</ref> renaming it [[Grafton Books]] after the editorial offices' address.<ref>"British firms unite to launch mass PB venture". ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''. Volume 209, Part 2; p. 19.</ref>

During the 1980s, Granada became involved in the [[British Satellite Broadcasting]] [[satellite television]] company. This went on air in March 1990, but merged with [[Sky Television (1984–1990)|Sky Television]] in November 1990 to form [[Sky UK|British Sky Broadcasting]] (BSkyB), in which Granada had a minority shareholding for some time. In 1991, Granada Theatres Ltd was sold to [[Bass PLC|Bass]]. In 1994, Granada acquired [[London Weekend Television]].<ref name=history/> Two years later, Granada, LWT and a British consortium of cable channels formed '''Granada Media Group plc''',<ref>{{Cite news |date=1996-04-03 |title=INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS;Granada Group Forming Unit for Media Ventures |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/03/business/international-briefs-granada-group-forming-unit-for-media-ventures.html |access-date=2022-07-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-04-01 |title=A sombre suit and a galaxy of stars |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/a-sombre-suit-and-a-galaxy-of-stars-1302907.html |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> which a year later acquired [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television plc]].<ref name=history/> In 1997, Granada expanded onto the North American market by launching '''Granada Entertainment USA'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richmond |first=Ray |date=1997-05-13 |title=Granada expanding to U.S. |url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/granada-expanding-to-u-s-1116680668/ |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

In March 1998, Granada announced their plans to launch a home video unit,<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-w4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=Video+Collection+International+Channel+4&pg=PA59 | title=U.K.'s Granada Group Seeking Distributor For New Video Arm |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | date=7 March 1998 }}</ref> eventually signing a five-year deal with [[Video Collection International]] to launch Granada Video in September.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQ4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=Video+Collection+International&pg=PA6 | title=Granada Video Launched |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | date=28 March 1998 }}</ref>

Granada also bid together with [[Carlton Communications]] and BSkyB for one of the UK [[digital terrestrial television]] licences. They won the licence, though BSkyB was excluded from the company, [[ITV Digital|ONdigital]], on competition grounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tvcream.co.uk/ott/www.offthetelly.co.uk/index.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206101426/http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/features/itv/tendays.htm|url-status=dead|title=Off The Telly|archivedate=6 February 2008}}</ref> It went on air in 1998, was rebranded to ITV Digital in 2001, then entered voluntary liquidation before closing in 2002.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bskyb-facing-legal-threat-over-ondigital-100707.html|title=BSkyB facing legal threat over ONdigital|last=Tomlinson|first=Heather|date=17 August 2003|work=The Independent|access-date=26 May 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2000, Granada purchased [[UBM plc|United News & Media's]] television interests, namely [[ITV Meridian|Meridian Broadcasting]] and [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]];<ref name=history/> Granada was forced to sell the [[ITV Wales & West|HTV]] broadcasting business (to Carlton) for competition reasons, though it held onto HTV's network production business. It also acquired [[ITV Border|Border Television]] in 2001,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/granada-to-buy-border-tv-assets-for-pound50m-if-capital-wins-bid-battle-721610.html|title=Granada to buy Border TV assets for £50m if Capital wins bid battle|website=[[Independent.co.uk]] }}</ref> from [[GCap Media|Capital Radio plc]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/716361.stm|title=BBC News &#124; SCOTLAND &#124; Capital agrees Border carve-up|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>