ITV News

I was under the impression that there's always another presenter on standby, in case things like this happen.


There was an occasion on BBC News a number of years ago, when Anna Ford lost her voice, and Sophie Raworth had to take over.

It was quite near the end. By the time they'd drafted in someone else, all they would have said would have been 'good evening'

She wasn't there on standby, though - she'd just arrived in the building and went on air without any make-up as Ford couldn't continue. She certainly wasn't expecting to get on air.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2794683.stm

I would have said that had Mary's incident happened towards the start then whoever was on ITV London duty could have probably stepped in at the last minute.

Isn’t it usually whoever has presented London Tonight the back up when Mary is on an OB? If so it would make sense they’re there in the event Mary or whoever is scheduled for the Evening News can’t present at all or needs to come off mid bulletin

That Ford piece reads almost like an Obit! For heavens sake, the lady just had a sore throat.

The London presenter would’ve gone before EN even started. When there is an OB it’s often the London presenter on standby or someone like Geraint

Why would they already be gone?

The buffer, a debrief. They wouldn’t hang around until 7 just incase the EN presenter has a coughing fit

Alot of assumptions there. There will always be a contingency plan when it comes to live programming and a presenter becoming unavailable at late notice or during the bulletin. It's not so bad for the earlier bulletins as generally the later presenters are already around by the time the preceeding bulletin goes to air, and I guess in ITV's case they always have the London presenter around for News at Ten anyway.

It doesn't happen that often though - can't think of any examples other than the Ford/Raworth switch mentioned earlier, though it did happen on Breakfast earlier this year when one host fell sick, but not too much of a problem when you have a co-hosted format.

Here's a short clip showing some of what happened:

Indeed. They have to plan for all eventualities, including someone calling in sick, their car breaking down, getting stuck in traffic, their train being cancelled or delayed, adverse weather conditions, personal circumstances, etc.