ITC ISSUE FORMAL WARNING TO GRANADA

THE ITC have issued a formal warning to Granada following a ruling that ‘Coronation Street’ had plugged the book ‘Weatherfield Yesterday’. During one of the soap's episodes the character Ken Barlow published a book about the history of Weatherfield, called ‘Weatherfield Yesterday’, but Granada Media Group also published a book called ‘Weatherfield Yesterday: The Cartwright Murders’.
Granada confirmed that they had published a book linked to ‘Coronation Street’, but it dealt with a storyline that had occurred a few months ago about the Cartwright murder.
Taking into account the perceived close connection between the two books, the ITC concluded that Granada were in breach of Section 10.3 of the Programme Code.
On the issue of merchandising, the ITC will require Granada to take into consideration this part of the Programme Code in any future programme developments.