[all new phil]

Funnily enough I recall a few years back there was a plan to come up with a collective name for the north west, to include Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and ‘Granadaland’ was one of the proposals. Nothing seemed to come of it though.

[Kunst]

They have only remained for the regional news programmes as the franchise names aren't really mentioned elsewhere. Calendar also doesn't say anything about 'Yorkshire', just as Central doesn't really scream 'Midlands' to anyone.

They're just legacy names which ITV don't feel the need to change.

Central is much more meaningful than "Granada" in any possible way.

Central means the central part (the Latin "centrum" means just that: midway, middle of something), there's nothing wrong about that

[KatsKaravan]

Central is much more meaningful than "Granada" in any possible way.

Central means the central part (the Latin "centrum" means just that: midway, middle of something), there's nothing wrong about that

Indeed when ITV1 first went generic the local idents for Central were branded 'ITV1 for Central England' (because Carlton were determined not to use the old regional brand names in any way).

[Humphrey Hacker]

Central is much more meaningful than "Granada" in any possible way.

Central means the central part (the Latin "centrum" means just that: midway, middle of something), there's nothing wrong about that

Yorkshire Television was always a misnomer. The area covered and still does cover Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, North West Norfolk and the 'north midlands'. A real mish mass of areas which in my opinion have very little in common with each other. This can be put down to the transmitters which showed no respect of regions.

[Kunst]

I guess it makes sense to use some "odder" and/or more exotic-sounding Latinate names for certain regions in order to bring different regions together, generic names wouldn't have worked, it's not the first time this happens in the world in general.
Better than these "strange" American soulless station names.
Central sounds particularly fine, Meridian slightly less (but really, not so much)

I mean, eventually had Granada not been found as a compromise, something à la Boreal/Septentrion (meaning northern) would have worked too

PERSONALLY, the only one I don't get a grip on, is the usage of Yorkshire on non-Yorkshire regions, which sounds a bit inconsistent.

I realize Yorkshire is a strong regional name, but using it for eastern Lincolnshire, hmm,...

EDIT: I take it back, "Meridian" also can mean "meridional" (southern), so it works fine

[Humphrey Hacker]

I guess it makes sense to use some "odder" and/or more exotic-sounding Latinate names for certain regions in order to bring different regions together, generic names wouldn't have worked, it's not the first time this happens in the world in general.
Better than these "strange" American soulless station names.
Central sounds particularly fine, Meridian slightly less (but really, not so much)

I mean, eventually had Granada not been found as a compromise, something à la Boreal/Septentrion (meaning northern) would have worked too

PERSONALLY, the only one I don't get a grip on, is the usage of Yorkshire on non-Yorkshire regions, which sounds a bit inconsistent.

I realize Yorkshire is a strong regional name, but using it for eastern Lincolnshire, hmm,...

EDIT: I take it back, "Meridian" also can mean "meridional" (southern), so it works fine

What's in a name? In relation to channel names a hell of a lot:

Yorkshire and STV reinforces the identities of those parts of the UK (or British Isles)
Thames because of the equating of London and the River Thames.

[Bluecortina]

I think 'Rutland Weekend Television' worked quite well.

[WillPS]

Central is much more meaningful than "Granada" in any possible way.

Central means the central part (the Latin "centrum" means just that: midway, middle of something), there's nothing wrong about that

Totally agree. Other than perhaps Channel and TSW, Central was probably the most aptly named station there was. Others described an area larger than their actual coverage area (Scottish) or only part of their region (Yorkshire, TVS and most extremely of all Harlech).

[Kunst]

What's in a name? In relation to channel names a hell of a lot:

Yorkshire and STV reinforces the identities of those parts of the UK (or British Isles)
Thames because of the equating of London and the River Thames.

Yes, again YTV is not a problem for me per se, it's just that due to transmitter issues, naming it Yorkshire is "strange", or it's be particularly strange for Lincolnshire and even North Norfolk!
Had it covered Yorkshire alone, I would have had no issue with it.

I realize, at the same time, Yorkshire is the biggest country in the UK (the English Texas, somehow) with a strong identity.

[Spencer]

Yes, again YTV is not a problem for me per se, it's just that due to transmitter issues, naming it Yorkshire is "strange", or it's be particularly strange for Lincolnshire and even North Norfolk!
Had it covered Yorkshire alone, I would have had no issue with it.

I realize, at the same time, Yorkshire is the biggest country in the UK (the English Texas, somehow) with a strong identity.

The name made more sense when YTV launched, as they broadcast from the Bilsdale transmitter, giving fuller coverage of North Yorkshire, and weren’t on Belmont, so didn’t cover Lincolnshire or North Norfolk. So back then the coverage area had fewer bits outside Yorkshire. There was a bit of County Durham in there, and they didn’t get into most of East Yorkshire, but the name would have been more logical when they chose it.

It wasn’t until 1974 when Bilsdale was reallocated to Tyne Tees, and Yorkshire took over Belmont from Anglia that we ended up with the current situation.

I do think a full rebrand to just ‘YTV’ would have been a good idea at the time, as it might have been less alienating for those well outside Yorkshire.