Granada Reports

I think this sentence may have escaped from the GMB thread...

I think they should do more with the studio rather than just the desk and the monitors. They should move around the studio a little and have large screen for the weather rather than the plasma screen at an angle.

Tweak the opening sequence and graphics slightly so it looks a little different. Maybe a sequence for spring and summer and one for autumn winter; something that shows something a little different.

I am not at all meaning a new look; just some refreshing tweaks.

I have to agree regarding the titles. The clouds at the beginning do look very cheap, and it would be nice if they did update them.

The sets do look much better however, and I am looking forward to seeing Tyne Tees/Border's set in HD finally!

The only thing they really need to change is the awkward angle for the weather on the screens - looks so much better just done CSO.

Astons have been tweaked in recent weeks since (still not sure if that's for the better) and whilst refreshing the images in the titles might freshen them up a bit ultimately would most viewers even notice?

The titles, IMO, need to be more 'north west'

I think we all seem to think similar. Just some little tweaks, use a larger screen for weather and more use of the studio and we are there.

I am not as I mentioned earlier suggesting a major new look just a refresh. I expect nothing on a major scale as all the other regions have only just in recent months adapted the generic studio look.

As I said earlier I was told the Granada studio has no windows anywhere. I was always under the impression it was a real window. Unless the newsroom look is in a different part after all. I was told there are no windows in sight for that studio.

Looking at the pictures here, there is no way in hell that those aren't real windows. The way the sunlight streams in on certain pics, for starters (look at the sun's rays hitting the floor!). Correct parallax/perspective etc of the view outside when different camera angles are used in the studio obviously doesn't happen in regions with fake backdrops. No such problems with the Salford Quays view, therefore it must be really there.

So, there must be some other explanation as to why someone has told you what they told you. Maybe there were some blackout blinds pulled down over the real exterior windows when they had their visit/tour? Maybe they were shown some secondary studio/set or DTL point (etc) that really doesn't have any real windows, rather than the main studio/set? Maybe they were incredibly unobservant on their visit? Maybe they're just lying to you, for some reason? Or maybe you're just lying to us, for some reason?

Thanks for this Austin. I have always believed it a real window. When my cousin visited he said the studio was no where near real Windows.

It must be like you said and where they were was nowhere near the main studio.

I work at MediaCity in the University, which is on the floors below the Granada studios with a glass ceiling looking in to them, and can confirm having seen it every day both inside and out it is definitely real windows, just as Austin pointed out.

Granada has a couple of studios next to each other, of which only one of them (the main one) has the glass windows. I've not been in them so I can't say what is in each of them, but it's possible one of them is a duplicate or semi-duplicate set for occasions where it would be required. One of them is definitely a green screen set, which is used for weather, which if it is big enough (based on my knowledge of its placement and the floor below I suspect it is) could also be used for a CSO set.

IIRC from the pics when they moved haven't they got a green curtain on a rail in the main studio which can be pulled across for CSO?

(see the timelapse vid here - about a minute in)

The lunchtime and late bulletins, which have this week been separated from the national news in the EPG, are currently listed as 'ITV News Granada' - still using Granada Reports branding (both in graphics and namechecked by Lucy) on air though, so presumably an error.

Isn't it possible that when they turn the set around in the winter, they use blinds or a cyc to cover the windows to prevent sunlight from interfering with light settings in the studio during the day?