Granada Television (1776: The United Commonwealth of America)

Granada Television (also known as Granada TV) is the Channel 3 regional service for North West England. The licence for the region has been held by Granada Television Ltd since its beginnings in 1954. It is the largest independent television-franchise producing company in the UK, accounting for 25% of the total broadcasting output of the ITV network. It has been held by Granada Television, which was founded by Sidney Bernstein and based at Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester since its inception. This is the only surviving company of the original four Independent Television Authority franchisees from 1954; Granada Media Group (parent company of Granada Television) merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004. It covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, northwestern Derbyshire, part of Cumbria and North Yorkshire. On 15 July 2009, the Isle of Man was transferred to Granada Television from Border Television (even though the Isle of Man is a British Crown Dependency and is not part of the United Kingdom).

Broadcasting by Granada Television began on 3 May 1956 under the North of England weekday franchise. It is marked by a distinctive northern identity, and used stylised letter "G" logo forming an arrow pointing north, often with the tagline "Granada: from the north". Granada plc merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004 after a duopoly had developed over the previous decade. Granada Television Ltd operates the service and supplies the region with its regional news bulletins and weeknightly regional news magazine.

The North West region is regarded as ITV's most successful franchise. The Financial Times and The Independent describe Granada Television as 'the best commercial television company in the world'. Nine Granada programmes were listed in the BFI TV 100 in 2000. Some of its most notable programmes include Coronation Street, Seven Up!, The Royle Family, The Jewel in the Crown, Brideshead Revisited, World in Action, University Challenge and The Krypton Factor. Notable employees have included Paul Greengrass, Michael Apted, Mike Newell, Jeremy Isaacs, Andy Harries, Russell T Davies and Leslie Woodhead.