Central West and BBC Midlands Thread

Sorry TV Mercia, but much of what you have written is tosh.

Central News is now beating Midlands Today on a regular basis. Two or three share points ahead some nights, neck and neck other nights, despite being on air at the disadvantageous time of 1800 in Britain's biggest geographical TV region, and one of its busiest and most congested. The figures are rattling BBC Birmingham. They are clinging on well to hold their lead some nights, but it is very far from the chasm you're hoping for. Remember who led handsomely when the programmes went head-to-head?

You are entirely wrong in your example of 'School Reports' and 'Just the Job for Jo'. 'School Reports' were one of the first things Dan B introduced - shrewdly, given that they guarantee the viewing of thousands of friends and family from the school or community involved. The former predates the latter, wholly undermining your argument about declining quality or a softening of editorial standards. In recent months Central News have soundly beaten the BBC on the biggest breaking, hardest stories - the acquittal of Michael Shirley, the National Motorcycle Museum Fire (embarrassingly, the BBC's Lindsay Doyle sat on a settee talking about a story that had been aired live on ITV1 thirty minutes earlier) and the list, seriously, goes on.

In Eric Macinnes, Jonathan Ray, Mark Gough, Keith Wilkinson, Sandy Barton, Steve Keeling, Robin Powell and many more, Central have a senior, experienced and proud line up of news reporters, who just don't buy the assessment you advance of Central News. They are in TV News for the big stories, and this appetite is met, regularly. Luckily, they are also all expected to be good with people, and have a deft touch for softer stories, when required. I am confident that they simply do not accept your parody of the Central News agenda.


Your do rather cling to the notion that the globe is in some way hugely important. It isn't. Anoraks care. Viewers don't. Its significance, overall, is marginal. Live with it. Why do people watch Central News? Not for the globe, or font style, or anything like that. They watch for people, stories, personalities and issues important to them.

I'm not sure what you were on when you posted a bizarre soliloquy about Dan Barton's 'moral compass', but keep taking it, and keep posting. You make us smile like frisky nuns on creme de menthe.

Fear not. They are back!

Are they? They were gone again at 6:30. A bit off topic, did anyone see the wonderful disaster just before the weather tonight? They had the new weather man sitting on the sofa (I can't remember his name) at the start, and then he got up and went over to the CSO, and we could hear him talking, only they forgot to cut to the weather camera, and we were just left with Shefali and Nick with a 'What they hell is going on look'. Then we cut to a strange shot of the CSO with the weather graphics floating around. It was the funniest thing that they've done for ages.

What was that bang just after the start of the show tonight ?

Dunno, sounded like someone walking into a broomstick

To be intrested in the style or presentation of regional news dosn't make a viewer an "Anorak" .

So if viewers "don't care about the look of Central News " why did Dan waist Carlton money by updating quite a few times both Central East & West????

but in broad terms bbc mids are still beating central, am i right or am i right. central *did* have a far superior show back in the 6.25 days - but i think both shows have moved on in the years since central moved to 6.00, meaning past performance is sort of irrelevant in predicting how the shows would fair if they went head to head again.


i don't think i pinned my entire "editorial lines shifted" accusation upon the strands.


cannot argue with you on that one - you'd think bbc mids would be in a stronger position when it comes to breaking news with local radio bureaus in most majors towns in the midlands.


all the names mentioned are very good at what they do - but so are their counterparts on bbc mids. peter plisner, mike collie, colin pemberton, mike kilbane, lindsay, bob hockinhull ...

perhaps it's not entirely the editorial line responsible for the change i, personally, have noticed on central. i think perhaps the angle from which the stories are now more people-focused, thus giving the show a more magazine-y gmtv-feel, as the saying goes "if it bleeds, it leads".


i never suggested the "globe" caused dan barton's moral compass problems, i think it looks awful, yes, but as i pointed out in my previous post, it simply symbolises the shift in actual content on the show.

and as another member has pointed out - how can dan justify spending money on such trivialities, if they only benefit the good people at tvforum? i seem to remember bob w (quite rightly, in my opinion) exclaiming the oct 2001 look reflected the energy in birmingham and the wm - surely bob's not a liar. following bob's logic, i presume the current, cheap and tacky 1970s caravan look reflects the energy running through that travellers site near oldbury.


well, too many wine gums do make me go a little weepy - i felt i had to either post such a heart-felt plea, or personally chase dan down gas street hitting him with the bottom of my dirty flip flop like they do in iraq.

luv n starts xx

well central west have a dodgy new virtual set, one of the worst ever!!

that little ticker thing under the "screen" has the newsline number, postal address and email address scrolling across.
http://www.tvmercia.co.uk/upload/centralnews-cso01.jpg

http://www.tvmercia.co.uk/upload/centralnews-cso02.jpg

haha -- looks like a tacky local US news station, how poor, how very very poor

That looks like a bad TV Forumer studio mock.

Oh dear - that is dreadful. You'd never see Kay in a studio like that.

Would Kay ever do CSO?

Kay (and indeed Mike Kilbane) did CSO for many years...aahhhh the days of the earthquake opts during Breakfast News when Midlands Today were still in the patchwork look. Was very fab!!

Also, at the beginning of the corporate look, the Breakfast News and 9.27 updates came from CSO. Midlands Today have since abandoned this practice and use the main studio for all updates.