Granada America Renamed ITV Studios

Granada America, the U.S. based production entity of ITV Studios, part of ITV plc in the U.K., has been re-named ITV Studios, Inc. The announcement was made by Lee Bartlett, Managing Director of ITV Global Content.
The re-branding is in line with Granada America's substantial production activities in the U.S., which have more than tripled during the 18 months since the arrival of Paul Buccieri as the CEO. Granada America represents an increasingly significant contribution to ITV's global programming outreach.
ITV Studios is one of Europe's leading commercial production companies producing more than 3,000 hours of original programming each year, encompassing a wide range of programme genres, including drama, soaps, entertainment, factual, daytime, arts, current affairs, quiz and game shows.
The first time the new name and logo will be seen by viewers in the US is when it will appear at the end of the first night's episode of the US version of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! which premieres on NBC on Monday, 1 June 2009.
Lee Bartlett said: "Changing our name in the US to ITV Studios is part of our branding strategy for ITV Global Content. The name better demonstrates the size, scale and ambition of ITV Studios and the success of the US operation is hugely important to us. "This year, Paul and his team have already produced many successful programmes across the Networks and they have some very exciting projects in the pipeline."
ITV also has production companies in Germany and Australia. ITV has had considerable success in producing local versions of ITV and other UK programmes, including Hell's Kitchen and the upcoming new version of I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in the US, Dancing On Ice in Australia, and local versions of I'm A Celebrity and Come Dine with Me in Germany.
Since being formally created in February 2004, Granada America's level of productivity has consistently exceeded its goals. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Granada America is one of the largest international producers for the US market and a major force in acquiring, developing and producing reality and scripted programming for US networks.
Granada America has become a leading producer of reality and scripted programming in the US with a slate of successful formats in production with major US networks, including Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares for Fox, I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! NBC, Nanny 911 for CMT, WCG Ultimate Gamer for Sci-Fi, Celebrity Fit Club for VH1, Room Raiders for MTV, First 48 and Steven Seagal – Lawman for A&E, First Love Second Chance for TV Land, Bought & Sold for HGTV and more.
(KMcA/JM)