ITV Digital Channels Limited (formerly known as Granada Sky Broadcasting) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British broadcaster ITV plc. It manages all of the company's television channels with the exception of ITV1, which is part of the entire network. It was set up in 1996 and operated until 2004 as a joint venture between Granada plc and British Sky Broadcasting to launch a range of television channels broadcasting the Granada and LWT archives on the Sky satellite platform, as well as other digital platforms such as ITV Digital (closed on 1 May 2002), NTL and Telewest (both later merged to form Virgin Media). On 2 February 2004, Granada plc merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc, which fully purchased ITV Digital Channels in November of that year. History 1996–2002: Launch, digital expansion and rebrands In 1996, Granada plc and BSkyB agreed to create a joint venture to operate four services using the Granada and LWT archives on Sky and other cable platforms. The services were: Granada Plus, an archive channel Granada Men & Motors, a channel aimed at men, focused on motoring and erotic content Granada Good Life, a women's lifestyle channel (renamed to Breeze 1 May 1998) Granada Talk TV, a talk shows channel (closed on 31 August 1997 due to low ratings) The GSkyB portfolio greatly increased its reach with the launch of Sky Digital and ONdigital, which Granada and Carlton, another dominant ITV rights holder, were funding, in October and November 1998. Granada Plus and Men & Motors performed well in ratings, but Breeze struggled to attract viewers, leading to budget cuts that resulted in original programming being cut and 60 jobs being lost. In December 2001, the decision was made to close the channel with a gradual closure across digital platforms. It was finally closed on 30 April 2002 to honour contracts with Telewest and NTL. Throughout 2001 and 2002, the channels began to disassociate from Granada branding. Men & Motors received a major rebrand in March 2001, and the Granada brand was dropped from Plus in September 2002. 2003–2004: Uncertain future In late November 2003, the future of GSkyB was thrown into uncertainty as Granada and Carlton – soon to merge as ITV plc – looked to increase their multichannel presence. ITV Gold was conceived as a new archive channel similar to Plus, but over time this evolved to ITV3, with Plus' first