ITV Merger October 2003 - ITV News

A Report from the ITV Evening News from October 2003 when Granada and Carlton merged. ITV plc was formed on 2nd February 2004.

[@cjmillsnun]

This was, of course, the ultimate conclusion of the Broadcasting Act 1990, which allowed the whole regional structure of ITV to be ruined. Who remembers when there was quality programming on ITV? I do. I grew up in the London (Thames/LWT), Anglia, and Midlands (Central) regions of ITV. The whole point of ITV was it was your local station. That's now gone.

[@SuperTed19021]

The day ITV died. Not here, but in 1990/91 (12/13 years prior).

[@anthonyperkins7556]

@@SuperTed19021 The 1990 Broadcasting Act was the start of the downfall of ITV

[@SuperTed19021]

@@anthonyperkins7556 *YES!* But it really did kick in about 1992-94.

[@peterwilliamskelhorn6675]

​@@SuperTed19021most people still call their itv regions the old names. I still call ours Granada. I'd be the same if i lived anywhere else

[@Mr2011DomDom]

congrats to STV PLC for keeping scotland away from ITV

[@julianhanc8272]

And UTV

[@StringedGuitar17]

@@julianhanc8272 Not anymore, dude.

[@memediatek]

@@julianhanc8272 nope itv have owned it since 2016

[@SuperTed19021]

Devolution to Scotland *also* helped them!

[@whatamalike]

Not going downmarket? SOMEBODYS GOT THE X FACTOR!!!

[@Rexowogamer]

madcapoperator Idiots, the both of them.

[@omegaman6494]

Since then ITV has gobbled up Channel and UTV.

[@jonguiry5999]

Not going down market?! I think I'm a Celebrity had already started, but X Factor etc. was only a year away. Apart from ITV3 / 4 re-showing classic 1970s and 1980s programmes I now think of ITV as the unwatchable network.

[@scsutton1]

Sports on occasion.

[@343Floridamain]

TSW should come back like there's Gus in a museum people want to see gus and television south west back now more than ever!

[@MondySpartan]

The downfall of ITV, actually. Had Carlton-Granada never merged and the Broadcasting Act 1990 never happened, we would still have regional identity today

[@moramento22]

I think collapse of ITV Digital really pushed Carlton and Granada into merging, but of course the Broadcasting Act of 1990 enabled it to happen

[@johnking5174]

I think it was inevitable that ITV would for a single corporate look. A national station with 15 separate identities could not be maintained in the 21st century. It had to happen. If you look at NBC, CBS, ABC in the US, there are affiliates, but each have a similar look in identity, e.g. NBC peacock, CBS eye.

[@mistie710]

@@johnking5174 Yes, but before the 1990 Act, it wasn't a national station. It wasn't meant to be a totally national setup; it was supposed to be a group of regional companies with their own identities that would, at certain times of the day, join together in one form or another (they didn't always network into a single broadcast). That was totally different to the American systems. Certainly once the IBA were kicked out and money became the biggest single deciding aspect of programme making courtesy of Thatcher and her cronies, all of the individual companies were doomed. Actually, if you really want a good American comparison of what happened here, I could probably point to EA; a corporation that gradually bought up company after company then asset-stripped them, worked them into the ground then closed them as soon as the time was right and the money was wrong.

[@DJPaoloDelaCruz]

@@johnking5174 And if ITV plc buys the rest of Scotland, ITV's acronym would lose its meaning. A rebrand might be an option if it did, IMO.

[@johnking5174]

@@DJPaoloDelaCruz ITV have envied the BBC for decades for having a codified, national network, with a national look. Whether you live in Aberdeen, Belfast, Carlisle, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Birmingham, London, Plymouth or Dover you know BBC One will look the same. ITV was never ever provided with that until the first hint in 1989 which was a shambles of a national logo, don't get me started. Really it took until 2002 before the majority of ITV regions were minced and we got a similar look to a national BBC One style for ITV.

[@SuperTed19021]

The end of ITV. *End of!* Why keep calling it ITV? It *is in* no way independent anymore. Has *not* being since the 1990 BA which allowed other regional companies to take over other ones (e.g. Carlton taking over Central, Granada taking over Yorkshire etc.). If it is not Independent Television, *just finally rename it!!!!*

[@ridbensdale]

A dark day indeed.

[@Classictv90s]

God! I hate that Charles Allen looking all smug at 0:49 don't you just want to punch his lights out.

[@mistie710]

I could happily punch the pair of them out. It was obvious from day one what Carlton were up to and Granada weren't much better for all their time in the business. Allen and Green were tossers.

[@chrisrowe7503]

Michael Green was the one who walked away the richest as he actually had huge shares in Carlton as he set it up. It made him millions if not billions in the end when he walked away. Charles Allen was only the Chief executive of Granada although he walked away with a few million himself when he eventually left.

[@darkhall8227]

should never have been allowed to happen.

[@Mr2011DomDom]

I don't see how they swallowed Grampian, It is still know as STV North and deals with it's own advertising and marketing, also putting out regional news just like they used to, the only difference now is that they moved to smaller headquarters with only one studio which is tiny for the STV News... I do know alot about STV PLC you know

[@TimothyMischka]

Snoddy? That sounds like "shoddy" or "snotty"! I'm laughing right now!

[@robertcomer2767]

Right from the day those awful franchise changes were announced in October 1991, all the media have gone on about is ITV being taken over and fallen into foreign hands. More than 30 years on and still no one is interested in taking them over.

[@stewartkee6115]

The end of itv. Of course it went downmarket AND lost money.

[@Mr2011DomDom]

yes but i don't see how they swallowed Grampian, STV North is still a very independent tv network that just so happens to be a division of STV. All in all it is fair to say that they have made a few changes but they are still going strong after 51 years in the business..

[@343Floridamain]

hello from florida united states bring back itv regional and for a few regions change back to old names from 60s or 80s.

[@fusionsuper34]

Like Scotland wanted to be independent break away from England. ITV should be holding their heads in shame. I live in London, I enjoyed watching Carlton and LWT, they both produced programs in London such as Dont Try This At Home, Blind Date and Tarrant on TV etc. This stupid merger by Carlton and Granada has not only choked LWT and all the other regions to fall under this stupid network unity rebranding but this has completely ruined regional television and the history that all the regional names across the UK which were under the ITV name stand for. The reason that ITV wanted to do this stupid merger was all because of money, they don't care about the viewers in this country, the viewers in the 15 regions who each had their regional TV identity. OFCOM needs to be disbanded, The IBA needs to be reinstated or re-formed again and ITV needs to be broken up back to how it originally was. As 15 regions. How long are we going to have to live with this shitty corporate brand for?

[@AlexPerrine]

At least all of ITVs Stations still have Anglia,Border etc.

[@sillygoose635]

Grow up.

[@tornadomimicyclone6707]

What we need to do is to have an anti-trust lawsuit, where ITV can get accused of buying STV. Then, if the courts rule in favor of STV, regional ITV returns. There may be a few new franchises created, but it'll still be regional again. It's the best we've got at this point.

[@sillygoose635]

@@tornadomimicyclone6707 Defamation will not bring back regional ITV.

[@visigothanova8900]

@Stevie Seriously, just accept that there's a chance (however small) that ITV might go regional again (Even if the only chance of that happening is Linear Television going bust). If you can't accept it, you really need to move to North Korea. I bet that Kim Jong Un will be happy to accept you there!

[@markgenner5743]

Granada Television 📺 😊

[@scsutton1]

This was all preceded by the spectacular collapse of ITV Digital, which led to the merger and honestly, it's got no better.

[@tornadomimicyclone6707]

If you've seen a comment from Stevie, he's almost certainly incorrect. ITV reigonal will return (even if it's in 2050)

[@ThisIsChilled]

well... if you think it would come back in 2050. you would most certainly be wrong as local tv would've been gone by then.

[@rajnirvan3336]

Was far better when regional

[@SuperTed19021]

1:18 *Early years!!!???* Just about 10/11 years then more like! 🙄

[@johnking5174]

ITV in 2018 need to take the millions they waste on X Factor, which is dying each year, 2017 season was the worst ever in ratings terms, being thrashed by Strictly on the BBC by 3-4 million viewers each week. Take a large chunk of that cash, invest it into a decent local news service, instead of the shoe string budget one we have now, where during GMB it is a blink and you miss it local news opt outs.

[@sillygoose635]

Do us a favor and STOP WHINING.

[@johnking5174]

Favour is spelled FAVOUR and not FAVOR

[@johnking5174]

I can say what I want, my opinion.

[@sillygoose635]

@@johnking5174 Not if your american.

[@johnking5174]

Listen, I don't want to argue - time out.

[@rtc9063]

Does anyone know what is the point of ITV4?

[@rajnirvan3336]

And ITV Be

[@darkhall8227]

ITV4 used to be Granada plus

[@Cyclownus]

​​@@darkhall8227 ITV3 used to be Plus. ITV4 came out 1 year later after Plus closed

[@darkhall8227]

ok thank you

[@glassowlie]

​@@darkhall8227ITV4 replaced the ITV News Channel

[@chrisrowe7503]

Michael Green was the one who came up with the idea and left ITV not long afterwards. I wonder why..... £££££££

[@TheLightingPerson]

£? Not enough. I saw the actual reason is because of ITV 1979 Strike.

[@officialkrislive]

They should have lost their franchises due to the failure of itv digital

[@biggerz74]

Ruined itv