Granada Talk (alternatively Granada Talk TV) was a short-lived TV channel owned and operated by

Granada Sky Broadcasting ITV Digital Channels Limited (formerly known as Granada Sky Broadcasting) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British broadcaster ITV plc. It manages all of the company's television channels with the exception of ITV, which is part of the entir ...

, a joint venture between

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

and

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

. It launched on 1 October 1996 with the other channels of the bouquet, but due to low viewership the channel ceased broadcasting on 31 August 1997. The channel is perhaps best known for helping launch the careers of

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

(presenter of anarchic children's show '' F2F''),

Natasha Kaplinsky Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky (born 9 September 1972)The Donor, News and information for blood donors, Winter 2009, National Blood Service, England, page 55 is an English newsreader, TV presenter and journalist, best known for her roles as a st ...

(co-presenter of the '' Paul Ross Show'') and

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comed ...

(regular guest presenter on ''F2F''). It also bred some of British television's most successful production talent, including Layla Sabih (later

commissioning editor In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior ma ...

at the ITV Network), Mark Cowley (the creative force behind the 'Bush Tucker Trials' on ITV's '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'') and Rob Burley (later editor of the ''

Jonathan Dimbleby Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby. ...

'' programme and the driving force behind ITV's Sunday political output). Channel controller Will Smith became head of Granada London's Factual department, best known for the hit series ''

Airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

''. It closed on 31 August 1997 and the final day's broadcasts were a simulcast of

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

so that it could provide coverage of the

death of Diana, Princess of Wales In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died from injuries sustained earlier that day in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed, Diana's partner, and Henri Paul, their chauffeur, were found d ...

External links

Granada Talk TV at TVARK
Defunct British television channels Television channels and stations established in 1996 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1997 Granada Talk TV {{UK-tv-channel-stub