:-(
A former member
Apologies if this has already been posted but havent seen it anywhere else....from Media Guardian
Granada is renegotiating its pay-TV joint venture with BSkyB in order to regain rights to classic shows such as Cracker, Jeeves and Wooster and Cold Feet for the launch of its ITV Gold channel.
The ITV company is talking to BSkyB about restructuring its 50:50 Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, which operates the Granada Plus and Men and Motors pay-TV channels and has an output deal giving it access to the Granada programming library.
Launching ITV Gold, or a similarly branded ITV repeats channel, would be unthinkable without having access to Granada's extensive library, which includes classics such as Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown, as well as episodes of Coronation Street going back to the 60s.
Granada shows broadcast on Granada Plus include Emmerdale, Heartbeat, The Darling Buds of May, Sherlock Holmes, Touching Evil, Prime Suspect and The Grimleys.
ITV is understood to be planning to launch ITV Gold next year but no specific date has been set.
It is also believed no decision has been taken on whether it will be a pay-TV channel or free to air.
BSkyB could end up owning a stake in ITV Gold once the GSB talks with Granada are concluded, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
"One possible outcome of the talks is that Granada Plus could turn into ITV Gold at some stage," the insider said.
"It's not impossible [that BSkyB could have a stake in the channel], depending on the negotiations."
Another source familiar with the talks between Granada and BSkyB said it would "make a lot of sense" for ITV Gold to replace Granada Plus, which is distributed on Sky Digital and the cable TV services of NTL and Telewest.
"ITV now has a multichannel presence with ITV2 and it is absolutely starting to make it work.
"But it would be an anomaly to have an ITV Gold channel that doesn't have access to the Granada library and another [Granada Plus] that doesn't have the ITV brand," the insider added.
"There are lots of things you can do when you've got the ITV brand on a channel, including cross-promotion and exclusively licensing programming."
Granada Plus also has programming deals for a wide range of non-Granada shows and has broadcast programmes including Peak Practice, The Sweeney, The Professionals, The Persuaders, On the Buses, George and Mildred, The Rockford Files, Magnum PI and Hart to Hart.
ITV would hope to be able to inherit these output deals if it replaced Granada Plus with ITV Gold.
BSkyB is understood to be keen to restructure the GSB joint venture because, while its Sky Digital subsidiary still pays a fee to Granada Plus per subscriber, Granada takes money out of the joint venture through its library deal.
When the Granada and Carlton pay-TV service, ITV Digital, was still operating, Granada used to contribute money to GSB in Granada Plus subscriber fees.
When GSB launched in October 1996 the interests of the two shareholders were also more closely aligned because Granada was a BSkyB shareholder - an asset it has since disposed of.
GSB originally launched with four channels - Granada Plus, Granada Men and Motors, Granada Talk TV and Granada Good Life.
Talk TV, with its schedule of live chat and advice shows, closed after less than a year.
Lifestyle channel Good Life relaunched as Granada Breeze in May 1998 and closed four years later.
Granada and BSkyB were not available to comment when contacted by MediaGuardian.co.uk
Granada is renegotiating its pay-TV joint venture with BSkyB in order to regain rights to classic shows such as Cracker, Jeeves and Wooster and Cold Feet for the launch of its ITV Gold channel.
The ITV company is talking to BSkyB about restructuring its 50:50 Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, which operates the Granada Plus and Men and Motors pay-TV channels and has an output deal giving it access to the Granada programming library.
Launching ITV Gold, or a similarly branded ITV repeats channel, would be unthinkable without having access to Granada's extensive library, which includes classics such as Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown, as well as episodes of Coronation Street going back to the 60s.
Granada shows broadcast on Granada Plus include Emmerdale, Heartbeat, The Darling Buds of May, Sherlock Holmes, Touching Evil, Prime Suspect and The Grimleys.
ITV is understood to be planning to launch ITV Gold next year but no specific date has been set.
It is also believed no decision has been taken on whether it will be a pay-TV channel or free to air.
BSkyB could end up owning a stake in ITV Gold once the GSB talks with Granada are concluded, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
"One possible outcome of the talks is that Granada Plus could turn into ITV Gold at some stage," the insider said.
"It's not impossible [that BSkyB could have a stake in the channel], depending on the negotiations."
Another source familiar with the talks between Granada and BSkyB said it would "make a lot of sense" for ITV Gold to replace Granada Plus, which is distributed on Sky Digital and the cable TV services of NTL and Telewest.
"ITV now has a multichannel presence with ITV2 and it is absolutely starting to make it work.
"But it would be an anomaly to have an ITV Gold channel that doesn't have access to the Granada library and another [Granada Plus] that doesn't have the ITV brand," the insider added.
"There are lots of things you can do when you've got the ITV brand on a channel, including cross-promotion and exclusively licensing programming."
Granada Plus also has programming deals for a wide range of non-Granada shows and has broadcast programmes including Peak Practice, The Sweeney, The Professionals, The Persuaders, On the Buses, George and Mildred, The Rockford Files, Magnum PI and Hart to Hart.
ITV would hope to be able to inherit these output deals if it replaced Granada Plus with ITV Gold.
BSkyB is understood to be keen to restructure the GSB joint venture because, while its Sky Digital subsidiary still pays a fee to Granada Plus per subscriber, Granada takes money out of the joint venture through its library deal.
When the Granada and Carlton pay-TV service, ITV Digital, was still operating, Granada used to contribute money to GSB in Granada Plus subscriber fees.
When GSB launched in October 1996 the interests of the two shareholders were also more closely aligned because Granada was a BSkyB shareholder - an asset it has since disposed of.
GSB originally launched with four channels - Granada Plus, Granada Men and Motors, Granada Talk TV and Granada Good Life.
Talk TV, with its schedule of live chat and advice shows, closed after less than a year.
Lifestyle channel Good Life relaunched as Granada Breeze in May 1998 and closed four years later.
Granada and BSkyB were not available to comment when contacted by MediaGuardian.co.uk
Anyway I enjoy watching all the episodes on Granada Plus and I wouldnt like it to be axed, even though they are 11 years old it would leave storylines open.
