ITV Granada (formerly Granada Television; informally Granada) is the Channel 3 regional service for North West England. The licence for the region has been held by ITV Broadcasting Limited since November 2008. It is the largest independent television-franchise producing company in the UK, accounting for 25% of the total broadcasting output of the ITV network. It had been held by Granada Television, which was founded by Sidney Bernstein and based at Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester since its inception. This was the only surviving company of the original four Independent Television Authority franchisees from 1954; Granada Media Group (parent company of Granada Television) merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004. It covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashir