Granada expands to cover Manx from July
ITV Granada has today confirmed that it will start transmitting its regional news service to the Isle of Man from July.
The Isle of Man will become part of the Granada region from July 16, following a consultation by the Communications Commission last year on whether it would prefer to remain part of the Border region, when parts of the service were merged with Tyne Tees, or become part of the Granada news region.
The Commission received 120 responses, of which 77% favoured the Granada option.
The switch had been planned for late in 2009 after Granada’s digital switchover process was completed, but this would have meant that digital terrestrial or Freeview viewers would have needing to rescan set-top boxes.
Instead, the change will be carried out at the same time the Island’s transmitters switch to digital, although ITV added that the change to Granada may take longer for digital satellite viewers as Sky would need to make changes to its subscriber databases.
Mike Blair, ITV regional director, said: “The Manx people have been well served by our colleagues in Border for many years and we aim to keep up that excellent tradition. We’ll be talking to the Commission and other potential partners to ensure that the news stories that matter on the Island continue to be covered.”
