The Newsroom

Northern Ireland news thread

(July 2006)

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CO
Colm
Right, I'm gonna rescind my comment last week about Sarah Clarke improving her presenting style on UTV Live.

While I will concede her voiceover skills have got slightly better and she seems to have cut down on her smirking on camera, she still appears to stumble on the Autocue when presenting the news on a regular basis; her introduction of subjects and questioning in her interviews come across as too slow and too wooden, and there's something about the way she says "Good evening" at the end of Live at Six bulletins which just grates on me.

Also, well done to BBC Newsline and UTV for their coverage of the recent cold spell in the Province and its impact on the local community. Best of all for me is seeing another former college mate - Eunan McConville - now reporting for BBC NI.

12 days later

CO
Colm
The UTV Live titles have received a minor tweak - the animation looks smoother and the gradient on the UTV part of the logo has been updated to match the version on the new presentation package.

No change yet on the weather forecasts, perhaps they are waiting until the National Weather roll out their new graphics package before adding the new logo?

15 days later

CO
Colm
Rose Neill doing Live at Six again tonight at UTV - and clearly demonstrating she *can* still handle a live news programme environment. She simply wipes the floor with all the younger female UTV Live staff.

Has Rose been doing any shifts in continuity lately?

Also, are there any UTV Live staff who aren't on Twitter now? Wink To achieve balance, I understand many of BBC Newsline's reporters also have feeds on the site, but they don't see to be as active, or actively promoted, on the commercial side.
CO
Colm
I'm not just saying this because I talk to him on Twitter...

...but Marc Mallett's report on last night's UTV Live Tonight on the sad death of Carla McAdam was an improvement - and a relief - compared to reports of a similar ilk which have been covered on the same programme by other UTV reporting staff.

No incidental music, no fades to black, no hyperbolic narm... just telling the story for what it is, concentrating on fact, treating the subjects as human beings rather than emotional pawns. It shows with the right journalist and with the conviction of the producers, you *can* tell a sad story on UTV Live without it becoming hackneyed.
CO
Colm
After a few days of enjoying a resurgent Rose Neill, tonight's UTV Live at Six saw the first time Aideen Kennedy came to the desk - and watching it, I'm near deafened by her delivery.
CO
Colm
As seen via the UTV Player, from this afternoon's local bulletin, Niall Donnelly and a scintillating co-host:

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GE
Gareth E
Great to hear the voice of Lynda Bryans on BBC One Northern Ireland tonight, narrating a local documentary about sexual health. Hopefully we'll see much more of her doing freelance work in the future.

11 days later

CO
Colm
From Thursday night's UTV Live, and a report on the videos the station has produced for NI Direct's website. Jamie Delargy's report featured interviews with Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness in the Studio 1 production gallery:

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That URL slide looks familiar! Wink

This was followed by a studio interview with the First and Deputy First Ministers in the UTV Live studio; a reported first.
ST
steddenm
Col posted:
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I'm more worried what the autocue says...

UTV Live image posted:
"Good morning and welcome. Tina, would you ever go on a blind date?" "Now, Mal, you know I'm a happily..."
WH
whiteside2005
Col posted:
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I'm more worried what the autocue says...

UTV Live image posted:
"Good morning and welcome. Tina, would you ever go on a blind date?" "Now, Mal, you know I'm a happily..."


I think that would be the autocue for the Seven Thirty show later that night

45 days later

SC
SCBNI
Here's the logo that the UTV Election Twitter feed is using as its profile pic:

http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/1275870216/voteniRS6.jpg

According to Marc Mallett on Twitter, the finishing touches are being put to the election title sequence and work is beginning soon on the new election set. He said it will be in the same studio as the UTV Live set and will complement the existing set.

Also news related, I mentioned in the ITV News thread about some new promos that have started airing. They star Mark Austin and Paul Clark sitting at a table having a chat basically! Here they are:

Arrow http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/video/135491

10 days later

CO
Colm
And here's what UTV's Vote NI set looks like:

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg612/scaled.php?tn=0&server=612&filename=e9gij.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

Courtesy of Marc Mallett via his Twitter feed; he and UTV Live producer Julie O'Connor have shared more pictures of the set, in Studio 1 at Havelock House, on their respective feeds.

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