Granada plc another since 1935. It was awarded the North of England ITV franchise in 1954, broadcasting as Granada Television. The company also established a chain of television rental shops from 1959 onwards. Granada entered the publishing business in the 1960s: it combined its operations into the publisher Hart-Davis, MacGibbon in 1972. William Collins, Sons acquired Granada Publishing in 1983. During the 1980s, Granada became involved in the British Satellite Broadcasting satellite television company. This went on air in March 1990, but merged with Sky Television plc in November 1990, to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), in which Granada had a minority
The Movie Channel (UK) The Movie Channel (UK) The Movie Channel was a British television channel, which only aired movies. Launched on BSB in 1990, The Movie Channel was a predecessor of some of the Sky Movies channels, having survived the merger with Sky Television, another satellite service launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International later in 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting. After its merger on 31 March 1991, The Movie Channel continued to broadcast until 1997 when it was rebranded as Sky Movies Screen 2. The Movie Channel began in 1990 as one of the channels of British Satellite Broadcasting, a consortium formed