Well, I dunno, I don't run a major news organisation. I mean I know you look at it and say two presenters is more expensive than one and you can do it with one, which is fair enough, but telly is a creative medium and decisions can also be made in that regard.
In journalism though surely better to spend money in the field than in the studio. Regardless I would like to think that Mary is receiving a not insignificant pay rise to become the sole face of the bulletin too, so there isn't necessarily a huge saving on the presenter front.
It's strange how Julie Etchingham has been kind of marginalised in all this. She was brought in to ITN with great fanfare when they brought back News at Ten - and now she just fills in for Tom Bradby (?). Maybe she's perfectly happy with this arrangement - but surely she's too good to just be a second stringer?
It's strange how Julie Etchingham has been kind of marginalised in all this. She was brought in to ITN with great fanfare when they brought back News at Ten - and now she just fills in for Tom Bradby (?). Maybe she's perfectly happy with this arrangement - but surely she's too good to just be a second stringer?
without speculating about contracts, she also presents Tonight, moderates the leaders' debates and provides analysis on election night, so still a lead anchor at ITV you could argue
Julie rarely does the full programme on Tonight, usually just introducing and closing each programme, with Jonathan Maitland etc doing the bulk of the investigation/ meeting those involved. (Trevor used to do this also in later years). Yes she may do more behind the scenes work on Tonight that we don't see but she is no longer as prominent a figure when not appearing as often on the news as she used to.
I will miss double headed ITV news bulletins. It was always something that made them a bit different from the BBC. This will also mean no more Mary and Alistair together which is a shame. Wonder if one of the other presenters I.e. Charlene or Ranvir etc will now be relegated to not appearing at all.
I think just having Mary on the Evening News is the right decision. They don't really need 2 presenters IMO.
As for who will cover, does there have to be a specific person who covers? On a Friday we have had Ranvir, Charlene and Natasha all covering the last few weeks. So I expect it will be a case of whoever is available so could be Ranvir, Charlene, Alistair, Nina or Natasha.
Well, I dunno, I don't run a major news organisation. I mean I know you look at it and say two presenters is more expensive than one and you can do it with one, which is fair enough, but telly is a creative medium and decisions can also be made in that regard.
An odd thing to say without coming up with an alternative. It's the easiest cost-saving decision without affecting newsgsthering. A no-brainer.
Having Mary solo means all BBC & ITV News network programmes (excluding Breakfast) are solo headed for the first time since possibly sometime in the 70's if I'm not mistaken?
With only one role to cover it does mean appearances by Charlene, Ranvir and even Alastair will become few and far between. They'll all be fighting over 1 day a week presumably.
Julie does seem to have been sidelined, but when you parachute in Tom Bradby, yet don't increase the roles elsewhere, that would bound to happen.
The current person in charge at ITV News must like single headed presentation. My fear would be its hard to get it back when its gone, as then you are asking for more money when a saving has already been declared.
With only one role to cover it does mean appearances by Charlene, Ranvir and even Alastair will become few and far between. They'll all be fighting over 1 day a week presumably.
Julie does seem to have been sidelined, but when you parachute in Tom Bradby, yet don't increase the roles elsewhere, that would bound to happen.
The current person in charge at ITV News must like single headed presentation. My fear would be its hard to get it back when its gone, as then you are asking for more money when a saving has already been declared.
Since the shake-up last year, when either Mark or Mary have presented on location, there's only been a newscaster in the studio if there's some big news, but on the night of trumps victory, the NAT before the special programme, was hosted by Tom from Washington & Rageh Omaar from the studio with the rest of the day's headlines the only time NAT has been hosted by two presenters AFAIK since Tom took over.
Having Mary solo means all BBC & ITV News network programmes (excluding Breakfast) are solo headed for the first time since possibly sometime in the 70's if I'm not mistaken?
ITN have had a double-headed news programme ever since the original News at Ten started in 1967 - with the lunchtime and evening news taking it on at various times during the periods News at Ten was single headed. Between September 1985 and October 1986, all three of the main BBC news bulletins were double headed, at the height of the fashion for double headers.