Plus

Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on October 1, 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by its original name. On November 1, 2004, ITV plc bought out BSkyB's stake in Granada Sky Broadcasting to bring its replacement, ITV3, which was due to launch on the same day, onto Sky's digital satellite platform. Despite this closure, Plus would continue broadcasting a static slide on analogue cable which was still viewable in certain parts of the country until 2013, when analogue cable was completely shut off in the UK.

1st ID (October 1, 1996-February 1998)

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Visuals: Transitioning from the Granada Sky Broadcasting logo, there are three purple curtains with three actors and actresses from the channel's programmes stacked for each one zoom out as they pull out. They rotate, as the actors and actresses fade into the "G" from the Granada Sky Broadcasting logo, which consists of a white oval with a purple "G" in the left of it, and "GRANADA PLUS" in a purple Helvetica font flips in below, letter-by-letter.

Variant: Sometimes, three people walk at the left of the finished logo. The person at the front then points at the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A four-note piano tune followed by a drumbeat. A continuity announcer would sometimes talk over the logo after the theme.

2nd ID (February 1998-October 1999)

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Visuals: On a black background, smoke appears, revealing the sky and a magenta circle with a uppercase medium violet red "G" inside it. After the sky is fully revealed, "plus", in the same color as the "G", fades in below the circle.

Variants: There are several variants of the ident:

• A man with a remote controller appears on a black/yellow gradient background. The person aims at the camera with the remote controller and presses the power button, and then the screen blurs while the logo appears via "static" effect.
• A woman, who is carrying a flower banquet, walking towards to the screen. She then threw the banquet to the screen, causing the logo to appear and the background to blur. The woman then walks away while turning around in the process.
• Two women, with the first one wearing a white blouse and black dress, and the second one wears a black dress, are seen catching bubbles on a cyan-green background. The logo later appears, and the background blurs.
  • On some occasions, notably during the sign-off of Granada Men & Motors, the background doesn't blur when the logo is revealed.

Technique: Computer animation. The variants also involve live-action clips.

Audio: An electronic tune starting with descending notes. On the variants, a funky sting is used. The announcer follows in both versions.

3rd ID (October 1999-September 8, 2002)

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Visuals: On a background of colored lights, there is a spinning circle with a border and the plus symbol inside of it. Particles are seen flying and rotating behind it. The circle presses, which glows the entire button before rotates throughout the ident.

Variants:

• There are some variants where the color scheme is different, including:
  • A pink-red background with the play button colored in purple and orange.
  • A pink-red background with the play button colored in purple and yellow.
  • A dodger blue-green background with the play button colored in purple and orange.
  • A purple-blue background with the play button colored in orange and purple.
• There is also a Christmas variant, where the particles are replaced by snowflakes.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth rising tune before segueing into a synth-pop tune. A click is also heard when the button presses.

4th ID (September 9, 2002-November 1, 2004)

Main Idents3D Idents

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Visuals: The idents involve a cyan ball with a plus sign inside on an orange background. These idents include:

• The ball bounces and moves around.
• Four balls move in four directions with another ball zooming in the center of the screen, causing the balls to move away from it as it zooms close to the screen.
• The ball zooms out from the camera with another ball zooms into the camera, in which the sequence is looped.

3D Variants: Idents involving 3D characters also exist, including:

• A woman sees a remote with a purple button with a plus sign on it on a purple environment. She thinks for a while before proceeding to press it, causing the cyan plus sign as a hologram to appear from it as the woman looks at it, amused.
• The ident takes place on a house setting with a cyan wall with three pictures hanging on it (one of them shows the "following ball" ident), white ceiling and violet floor with two sofas, one of them colored violet, where a grandmother is sitting, while one of them colored cyan, where a couple is sitting and a cat lying on the left of it. They noticed their house is shaking as they looked around. Suddenly, the purple cyan ball with the cyan plus sign falls down to the floor, causing the cat to jump out of the sofa, and people start to look at it and look around.
• On a dark environment with a teal surface, a man is seen on the distance as the teal ball with the white plus sign slowly follows him. He notices, before walking away as the ball follows him again, before stopping to its position.
• An elderly woman and a woman is seen sitting on their respective purple armchairs inside a living room. A woman is grabbing the remote from the armchair and presses it, while an elderly woman is grabbing the cyan ball as a balloon. The balloon inflates, causing her to grab hold of it, as the woman was surprised when this happens, before she continued watching television. For the remaining ident, the elderly woman let go of the balloon, causing it to rise, before she grab hold of it again, and the sequence continues.

Other Variant: Sometimes, the color for the ball and the background were swapped, with the plus sign on the ball being colored cyan.

Technique: Computer animation. CGI for the 3D variants.

Audio: A whistling sound, then a long synth note. This is accompanied with corresponding sound effects for each ident, followed by the continuity announcer:

• A bouncing sound and a short whoosh is heard at the beginning for the first ident.
• For the second ident, only whooshes from the ball are heard.

Audio Variant: For the 3D variants, it depends on the ident:

• A long-held calm synth note is heard, with a whoosh when the hologram is shown.
• A long-held ominous synth note is first heard with rumbling sounds, which is followed by a thud, a cat shrieking, and the channel's 4-note theme.
• A three-note synth tune is heard with rumbling sounds from the ball.
• A calm synth note is heard with the sound of the balloon being grabbed from the armchair and a pop sound when the balloon is revealed, followed by the channel's 4-note theme.

External Links

• Plus on Wikipedia
• Plus on TVARK