I was thinking the other day.... what if ITV had still kept some regional identity other than just the names. (Kept old regional news themes etc.)
It got me thinking - how could the current system be changed to make the regional output more personal whilst still keeping all the companies under the ITV umbrella.
How would you do it?
Would its region have its own logo, title sequence etc. or would you keep it roughly the same?
One answer would be to have either drastically altered the 1990 Broadcasting Act or not have it all. It was the act which opened the way to allow mergers and takeovers
Another answer would be to have kept Michael Grade away from ITV as it was his decision to strip away the final regional flavours
I was thinking the other day.... what if ITV had still kept some regional identity other than just the names. (Kept old regional news themes etc.)
It got me thinking - how could the current system be changed to make the regional output more personal whilst still keeping all the companies under the ITV umbrella.
How would you do it?
Would its region have its own logo, title sequence etc. or would you keep it roughly the same?
Not making the 'look and feel' of the regional news programmes the same as the national ITN programmes might have helped.
Regional idents or visually unique regional news bulletins wouldn't make regional TV better at all - indeed I suspect it would make its quality even more variable across the country.
Content is what really improves things and I'd like to see more regional content outside news, and quality over quantity. As much as 30-60 minutes a week would be great I think realistically one or two six part series a year would be a start.
Any current affairs or features of local interest now have to be crammed into the regional news magazine. Programming like Central Weekend Live and Friday Live on TTT were very popular and successful. I would like to see more regional slots, such as after the News at Ten or Sunday afternoons. Even the local news itself could have a less generic look and feel.
The BBC regions have have more local content than ITV’s English regions.
The money spent (or debatably wasted) on local TV stations should have been put into the ITV regions. Playout and presentation could still be centralised but with regional variations.
Any current affairs or features of local interest now have to be crammed into the regional news magazine. Programming like Central Weekend Live and Friday Live on TTT were very popular and successful. I would like to see more regional slots, such as after the News at Ten or Sunday afternoons. Even the local news itself could have a less generic look and feel.
The BBC regions have have more local content than ITV’s English regions.
The money spent (or debatably wasted) on local TV stations should have been put into the ITV regions. Playout and presentation could still be centralised but with regional variations.
This highlights what i consider to be a broadcasting pet peeve. Calendar etc aren't news bulletins in the accepted sense of the term. They are "news magazines" which to my mind is contradictory at best and stupid at worst. In the mid 1990's YTV had Calendar followed by Tonight which was a far more suitable setup. You had between 6 and 6.30 news, sport, weather and then from 6.30 there was the "light and fluffy side"
Now I'm not knocking Calendar etc. They like the national bulletins have been fantastic at keeping us up to date with the current crisis (as have the BBC and Sky) but more often then not the news output of Calendar is between 8 and 13 minutes. Nowhere near suitable for such a large area of transmission. (Lord know how London copes)
There was a late night chat show for YTV called (I Believe) Calendar People which was on after News at 10.