ITV Digital Channels
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| Subsidiary of ITV plc | |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | London |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
| Parent |
Granada plc/BSkyB (1996–2004) ITV plc (2004–) |
ITV Digital Channels Limited (ITVDCL) (formerly known as Granada Sky Broadcasting or GSkyB) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British television broadcaster ITV plc. ITV Digital Channels Ltd now solely under control of ITV plc is today a profitable business which runs all ITV plc's television channels with the exception of ITV, which is part of the ITV Network.
Granada Sky Broadcasting was set up in 1996 and operated until 2004 as a joint venture between Granada plc and BSkyB to launch a range of television channels broadcasting the Granada and London Weekend Television archive on the Sky satellite television platform as well as other digital platforms such as ITV Digital (closed in 2002 due to administration), NTL and Telewest (both merged to form Virgin Media).
On 2 February 2004, Granada merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc. On 1 November 2004, ITV plc agreed to purchase BSkyB's stake in GSB for £10 million. The deal included the slot that Plus was broadcast on, which ITV used on the Sky platform to broadcast its new ITV3 channel, which replaced Plus on the same day. The negotiations that led to ITV plc taking sole control of GSB, closing Granada Plus and launching ITV3 on digital satellite were apparently completed just hours before the new channel started broadcasting. A week later, on the 8 November 2004, Granada Sky Broadcasting was renamed "ITV Digital Channels Limited". The closure of Granada Plus left Men & Motors the sole survivor of the original four channels. As part of ITV's buy-out of Sky's shareholding Sky will receive 49.5% of any proceeds (net of liabilities) from any future sale of Men & Motors.
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