By the way, I know as fact that the reason Carlton didn't rebrand HTV is because they were given a clear heads up by the Welsh Assembly that they would kick off very publicly about any loss of identity. It's also the reason that it became ITV1 Wales when the regional names went.
I'm not so sure this was the one and only factor. I do believe that the Welsh Government would have, no doubt, had something to say about it but broadcasting is ultimately a UK Government competence. I think if that was all that was stopping Carlton, they'd have not thought twice of rebranding HTV West whilst leaving HTV Wales alone. Like I said further up, regarding C3NE, ITV was changing so fast during this period. Even mid-2000 was very different to Autumn 1999. In the mid to late 90s, it was quite clear that Carlton wanted to make a name for itself, so it could be as famous and highly regarded as the likes of Granada, Thames and even, maybe, the BBC. Despite being established in London as a publisher-broadcaster, it soon used Central to try and make itself a name as a production company too. This was semi-successful as I vividly remember newspapers occassionally referring to Carlton as a Midlands-based company, especially once Lenton Lane became Carlton Studios.
It's just a theory on my part but what I think happened in 1999 was that the UNM merger was on the cards. If that went through, with Meridian included, then the 'cold war' for ITV dominance would've been essentially over, with the winner being this large London-based media agglomerate which owned newspapers as well as all the ITV network south of Crewe, bar, weirdly and somewhat ironically, London at the weekends. This would've, within a few short years at most, have either merged with GMG but being the senior partner as opposed to junior, or just took them over outright. I think the grand plan was that the TV side of this media empire would've been branded Carlton ,eventually replacing ITV as the network Channel 3 brand. The merger fell through and by July 2000, UMN had sold its ITV franchises to GMG. GMG having to surrender HTV to Carlton was small comfort for Carlton. GMG was now larger and had the trump card, the lucrative Meridian franchise. Carlton had lost and they knew it. At this point, it was only a matter of time before the two became one, be it by takeover or merger but the network was never going to be called Carlton now. The dream was over and the rebrand would've been a waste of time. Add to this that the rebranding of Central and Westcountry hardly endeared them to anyone in those areas who cared to take notice. This also meant a Carlton rebrand was anticipated in Wales and the West and so there was a small scale campaign from the beginning to resist any rebrand attempt. I believe a few MPs and AMs in the area became vocal about the prospect.
The ITV1 Wales branding is a case in point really. This was created because the continuity announcers were being retained and they didn't want to appear less Welsh than the BBC in that part of the world. The folks in HTV West were just like any other group of marauding English barstewards, so off to Old London Town they were sent. Carlton would've done the same thing, brand-wise, if it had made sense in 2000. Any special treatment required for the Welsh would probably not have saved HTV West from any planned rebrand.
