Colin Weston

Colin Weston (b. 1948), is an English former television continuity announcer, best known for his work at Granada Television.

Originally from London, Weston began his career in the press and publicity department of ABC Television's studios in Teddington. After ABC lost its weekend franchise in 1968, he applied for various continuity announcing roles around the ITV network.

Weston was successful at Granada, which had won the 7-day franchise for North West England. He was trained by then-chief announcer Don Murray Henderson. However, on his first announcing shift, he earned the nickname Fluff after forgetting the name of the Winter Hill transmitter during the start-up authority announcement.

After 18 months, his contract with Granada was not renewed but he did move on to freelance for various stations including Anglia, London Weekend and most notably, Tyne Tees. He continued to freelance after returning to Granada a short time afterwards, where in-vision continuity had been introduced to the station.

Before long, Weston had become one of the best known television personalities in North West England, winning many fans for his unique style of announcing. His duties at Granada extended when he became Chief Announcer, leading a team of contemporaries including Andrew Brittain, John MacKenzie, Pam Dodd and Roger Tilling . Alongside all other Granada announcers, until 1992, he also read regional news bulletins throughout the day. He also voiced Granada-produced networked trails and promos for the ITV network and made a cameo appearance during the first series of the long-running Granada sitcom, Watching in 1987.

Weston was also the duty announcer on Friday, 12 February 1988, the evening of the last closedown from Granada before the start of 24-hour transmissions. Shortly afterwards, he became the chief announcer of the part-networked Night Time service, broadcast in the Border, Grampian, Granada, TSW, Tyne Tees and Ulster regions.

In 1998, continuity/transmission for Granada was moved to the studios of Yorkshire Television in Leeds. Not wanting to make a move and being made redundant, Weston left Granada after an announcing career spanning 30 years. He now works as a film extra & voiceover artist for videos and commercials and presents on community radio stations in Greater Manchester, previously at NMFM and now at Salford City Radio on Thursday mornings.

External links

• TV Ark Granada continuity page includes many examples of Colin Weston's work for Granada Television.