Robert Morgan Greaves (28 November 193414 March 2011) was an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as a long-serving reporter, presenter and producer for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

for 35 years. Bob Greaves was born in Sale,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

and educated at the local Sale Boys' Grammar School, but did not attend university. He began his career working on the local newspaper, the ''Sale and Stretford Guardian'', and later on the '' Nottingham Evening News'', then at the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' at its

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

office. Greaves joined

Quay Street Quay Street is a street in Manchester city centre in Greater Manchester, England. The street, designated the A34, continues Peter Street westwards towards the River Irwell and Salford. It is the northern boundary of Spinningfields, the cit ...

, Manchester in 1964 as a reporter and editor for the regional news magazine ''Scene at 6:30'', working alongside the likes of

Bill Grundy William Grundy (18 May 1923 – 9 February 1993) was an English journalist and broadcaster. As the host of ''Today'', a regional magazine programme on Thames Television in London, he gained national attention for an interview with the Se ...

Brian Trueman Brian Richard Trueman (16 May 1932 – 1 September 2024) was an English broadcaster, writer and voice actor. He was known mainly for his work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall. He wrote and/or narrated children's cartoon series, mostly dur ...

Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...

and Mike Scott. Greaves became a mainstay chief presenter of the station's flagship regional news output, including ''Newscene'', ''

Granada Reports ''ITV News Granada Reports'' is a British television regional news service, produced by ITV Granada and serving the North West of England. Overview ''Granada Reports'' is produced and broadcast from studios in the Orange Tower at MediaCityUK i ...

'' & ''Granada Tonight'' for over 30 years and fronted a wide range of local current affairs and features programming, including ''Scramble'', ''Family Trees'', ''Bob's Century'', ''Time Off'' and ''Bob's Hotline''. One such regional programme hosted by Greaves, the social action series ''Reports Action'' (a ''Granada Reports'' spin-off) was transmitted across the ITV network during the early 1980s. He also presented and reported for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

series ''Union World''. Away from his work for Granada, he is also remembered for a clip on '' It'll Be Alright on the Night'' involving Greaves and an elephant called Judy while he was presenting a live programme from

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo in Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. The zoo is one of the UK's largest zoos at and the zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo ...

in 1981. He retired from Granada Television in 1999. On 17 January 2008, he appeared on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

daytime programme '' Wanted Down Under'', in which he visited the coastal city of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with his fifth wife, Sonia, a naturopathic counsellor, and contemplated a permanent move there. Greaves died at home after a long battle with cancer on 14 March 2011, aged 76. His funeral service took place at Timperley Methodist Church on Friday 1 April.

References

External links

*
Obituary in ''The Independent''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, Bob 1934 births 2011 deaths People from Sale, Greater Manchester English television journalists English television presenters ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Deaths from cancer in England People educated at Sale Grammar School