[Milkshake]

Granada had the belief the programmes were its presentation. To be fair to the company Granada tried to give a better presentation from around 85 and even had seasonal promo packages from 89- 95? Granada in-vison went In Autumn 96 when the weird idents come in:

- Art - Different pieces of art in a gallery when lined up at an angle make a diagonal G Arrow. Central had a similar ident, if I recall correctly, which I assume Granada copied. Was used before art/cultural programmes and was quite rare.
- Action or Squad : 3 "G" break into a Building from a Glass Roof
- Eye - Woman holding a remote control, as the camera zooms into one of her eyes which contains a G Arrow. Quite creepy. Used in the daytime. Don't much remember it being used in the latter years. Probably gave children nightmares.
- Fish - A goldfish spits a bubble with a G Arrow in it which rises to the surface, where the G Arrow floats on the waves. General use but most commonly seen in the daytime, particularly afternoons.
- Fingerprint: Hand is dusting for prints and finds Fingerprint of the G logo.
- Football - A G Arrow playing keep ups with a ball in front of a goal. Usually used for sport programmes, most commonly Granada Soccer Night.
- Formula 1 - A Formula 1 car speeds away leaving lots of tiny gold G Arrows as exhaust on the tarmac. Used before Forumula 1 coverage.
- Frost/Ice - A person, always looked like he was wearing ski wear, rips something off the camera which makes a G Arrow mark in the frost/condensation. Often used in the daytime. Seemed to be used all year round despite the cold theme.
- Glass - Orange glass G Arrows on sticks. Seemed to be used before cultural/high brow programmes. Not very common.
- Soap - A G Arrow appears as some sort of soap block on the wall. Generally used in the mornings, often the first junction after handover from GMTV.
- Rocket - A rocket with a G Arrow-shaped airlock which closes shut. The rocket takes off and leaves scorch marks in the shape of a G Arrow. Was general use.
- Train - A model train track shaped like a G Arrow with a toy train on it pulling into a station. Was general use.
- Sketch - A canvass with a G Arrow drawn with crayons.
- Space - A space ship in the shape of the G Arrow goes through space.

[Brekkie]

There are examples of numerous "Setting the Standard" Flags idents from 1994 on TV Ark which look great and arguably ahead of their time but I've no memory of them at all.

tvark.org 

Granada 1994 – 1995 Branding | TVARK
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  Source: tvark.org

[nwtv2003]

There are examples of numerous "Setting the Standard" Flags idents from 1994 on TV Ark which look great and arguably ahead of their time but I've no memory of them at all. 

tvark.org 

From memory I recall the Setting the Standard idents were used more as stings in between promos and trailers. If you look closely on some clips, when this was brought in they slightly altered the existing ident to make the white background move and make it look windy.

Speaking as someone who has uploaded a lot of Granada pres to YouTube (youtube.com ) I can’t really add much more regarding the 1996 refresh than what has already been said. All of the idents weren’t released at once. Certainly Train, Goldfish, Rocket, Football and Ice/Peel were introduced first, with the other set being added gradually throughout 1997 and 1998.

By the end of 1998 the presentation department had transferred to Leeds, I believe at this time some idents were taken out of use. The main ident was used more in the last year before the generic look.

[lookoutwales]

That's certainly how I remember the Setting the Standard package.

In terms of the 1996 idents, I remember most of the ones listed - there was one with a traditionally animated flickering candle that used to appear at the tail end of the night (usually the last local junction before handing over to LNN)

'Soap' appeared a bit during daytime (and I think was used for Corrie etc.) while Rocket generally appeared around CITV - and 'Frost' / 'Glass' were in general use a fair bit, especially the former. But the main ident generally remained front and centre.

The trouble with the package was there was such a variety in production techniques, themes and even lengths that the result was quite an inconsistent on-air brand - built around the classic G logo, but other channels were leaning towards a more corporate approach, something that the Setting the Standard campaign had achieved rather well, IMO.

And when playout moved to YTV, such variety of idents posed a problem because there was often a pregnant pause while the duty announcer (provided they were live across the regions) was awaiting their cue from YTV's Ilkley Moor Bar t'At sting.

It does always seem that Granada is massively under represented in Internet clippage. For some reason there seems to be a lot fewer recordings of its continuity etc.

I don't think it's too underrepresented - bar maybe Channel, we've seen most regions become better represented in terms of footage over time (even Border) especially in recent years.

Granada never relied too heavily on in-vision as the likes of TSW did - even before in-vision junctions were reduced - though it didn't stop making stars out of CW, Jim Pope etc (if not quite to the same degree as Ian Stirling)

And of course, they had the wonderful Keith Mansfield station theme at closedown.

[Stooky Bill]

I wonder if that’s because for so long its presentation was so drab that it didn’t inspire as many pres enthusiasts as in other regions. Border was similarly as uninspiring and also doesn’t seem to have much available online.

I can’t imagine, had I grown up in either of these regions, I’d have a VHS tape full of regional presentation as I did growing up in the Central region.

You could be onto something. In all the years I've moved in TV Presentation communities there's a high proportion of pres geeks from Devon and Cornwall. Maybe the more interesting style and the cosy local TV stations down there inspired more people

Either that or the North West just didn't have as many video recorders.....

[Blackers]

And when playout moved to YTV, such variety of idents posed a problem because there was often a pregnant pause while the duty announcer (provided they were live across the regions) was awaiting their cue from YTV's Ilkley Moor Bar t'At sting.

Yes I remember the little 'bip' noise you used to hear after the Granada ident had finished and the Duty Announcer was doing the generic voiceover to all the GMG Regions back in the day!

One summer I think it was around 1998 - when Quay Street had a huge power failure - the presentation after a clunk/picture roll during the morning movie was transferred to YTV before the ITN Lunchtime News at 12.30...

We had a silent Calendar Lunchtime bulletin but then after a short break - YTV's ident, clock and promos were playing out in Granadaland! The announcer on YTV then welcomed 'viewers from Granada who are having some technical problems at the moment, but now at 12.30 here's the news from ITN'

Wish I had a spare VHS at the time!

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youtube.com 

One classic example of the 'bip' you heard after the Goldfish ident finished!

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youtube.com 

Another introducing Home and Away - I wonder if Tyne Tees or Border got this 'bip' or was it just Granada?

[nwtv2003]

I recorded and uploaded the Goldfish ident above and if you listen carefully the little blip is in fact about half a second of the YTV ident/ ilkley moor bar t’at.

[lookoutwales]

Tried looking for some of the lesser spotted idents without success, but did come across this junction, which is probably from the final weekend before the 1995 Pres package launched.

One thing you can't accuse modern-day ITV is depending on overwrought Danielle Steel TV films - or 'five hankey' movies, as Jim Pope once called them.

www.youtube.com 

Meanwhile, some early-era Elsmore on Thames from this day in 1973 (note too that Rod Serling's Night Gallery was also being shown over fifteen years later as part of their overnight fare)

I hazard a guess this is another find from the Monkhouse collection.

www.youtube.com