It's like moaning about how Breakfast using their weird terrace and view over Salford (I presume) backdrop is unfair on people who don't live in Salford.
You presume incorrectly, I'm afraid.
The fake CGI city in the BBC Breakfast backdrop is a completely generic fictional cityscape (hence why it's relegated to being in the distance beyond the "terrace" thingumy, and just looks like a meaningless collection of generic office skyscrapers, rather than containing anything recognisable such as the Imperial War Museum North). It's deliberately
not
location-specific. So, it's no more an image of Salford than it is an image of London, the Outer Hebrides or Timbuktu!
Incorrect, it was never an intentional decision to be Nottingham. It was just by chance Jim Mann the original designer for the TC7 versions was based there.
The Salford version is more a combination of CGI artwork to form a generic landscape as there's now distinctly less fake 'office space' compared with TC7.
Incorrect, it was never an intentional decision to be Nottingham. It was just by chance Jim Mann the original designer for the TC7 versions was based there.
The Salford version is more a combination of CGI artwork to form a generic landscape as there's now distinctly less fake 'office space' compared with TC7.
I'm from 'up north' and whilst I may moan about there sometimes being London bias on news programmes, (news specials when it snows down south even though its been snowing all week up North etc) I don't have any issue with a London backdrop on a programme or the fact that it is broadcast from London in the first place.
My suspicion, form the limited information and visuals available pre-launch, is that the programme is headed quite firmly in the right direction, but isn't anywhere near guaranteed to end up with the correct result.
The desk-area of the set, for example, is far better than anything GMTV, Daybreak or Breakfast have used in many years. Yet it's nowhere near warm enough - the London backdrop needs to be less drab (Breakfast's backdrops are ridiculously colourful and vibrant, but there's a reason why they went for cartoonish over reality), and the large amount of single-colour wood isn't enough to make up for the drabness of the other colours (the blueish floor platform and the overprocessed (in the trailer) white). The concept of the set is fine - near perfect - but I suspect the end result isn't quite there yet, and ITV aren't taking the time (additional weeks) to get the programme to a finished, well-oiled standard.
In that same light, I find the comments the presenters have made mildly alarming. For a supposedly news-driven programme, why are they leading all of their marketing and promotion with lines like "we'll have all the essentials... including news, sport, weather and travel"? I can get all of that from Breakfast, most of that from Sunrise and far more of that from the web. Preferably they need launch with big-item content prepared, like exclusive (and actually newsworthy) interviews, special reports and any musical acts or similar events - and ITV needs to go mad with advertising those stories/scoops across its platforms.
Instead, in the above trailer, the main selling point appeared to be that it has four presenters (two of whom you've probably never heard of unless you're a big fan of the news channels, at which point your needs will likely already be met by Sky) who are capable of saying their own names to camera. While Breakfast has shown individual presenters aren't the driving force behind its ratings, the programme only became truly successful once it had formed a clear 'family' that had strong chemistry together (unlike the Bowen-Raworth era, say).
Which leads me on to my big concern: if ITV are actually riding on the success of a 'team' competently delivering the 'essentials', how well-oiled will this team be come Monday? I think the launch (and large array of tweaks and reforms in the months and years after) of Daybreak showed it wasn't anywhere near ready for transmission - if you don't have the benefit of months or years of successful tweaks behind you to get the format and content to where it needs to be, you damn well need to execute your vision perfectly at launch. They're clearly taking after the US broadcasters, but potentially missing the huge amount of work that the Americans go to to get the programme right. Meredith Viera spent weeks in rehearsals with Matt and the entire team to try to lessen any first-day mistakes - and that was a new presenter coming into an unchanged format. I do hope the GMB team have had the set finished for long enough, and been given enough time and resources, to both test out their onscreen 'family' to the point that it clicks, figure out the boundaries of the format until it's ideal, and then replicate that enough times that come Monday it will feel like they've been doing this for years. I understand that every boss is different, but ITV's general trend has been to allow very little bedding in time in recent years.
Nevertheless, excited for Monday.
CF
CatsFast101
Very much looking forward to seeing Good Morning Britain on air. Ben shepherd aside, I think the presenting line up are a bit of a gamble. Sean/Charlotte aren't well known really and Susanna is most famous for been the oppositions main presenter! I'm interested to see how this four-person line up works in practise, I hope it doesn't get too much and in your face if all four sit around the desk for periods of time.
As for the studio, I like it so far. I think a desk, although not been successful in the UK, could be a nice idea. There appears to be a sofa aswell so maybe a shift between presentation areas will be a key idea moving forward. I can't wait to see the show on air on Monday.
Haven't been around on TVFORUM for a while, some may remember me as SierraOscar, and can't believe we're seeing another relaunch of itv mornings! I just hope this lasts this time, I really do. If ITV haven't got it by now, viewers don't like change! Change isn't something people can be bothered with! Since 2008, I believe this is the sixth change to presenters, set, name or all three! No wonder viewers can't get to grips!
GMTV was fairly new it's new look after it went under a major shake months in 2009 and 17 months later it was gone, replaced by something very different. Viewers were too shocked! GMTV was a family show, the presenters had a togetherness that felt real, most them had been working there a long time! Daybreak V1 didn't have the same feel and was too gimmicky I cringe at '5 a day', 'cool before kids go to school' etc! The fact as itv may never win back the viewers in once had, but one things for certain relaunch after relaunch won't help it either!
I mean I know you can't take social media comments as gospel, but people don't understand the need to change it?! In their eyes Daybreak was doing fine, it was more GMTV reminscent etc. A family feel was starting to come around- it takes time though.
Anyways we could talk about this all day and all night, I just hope GMB works for itv, I've got high hope (probably been optimistic) but I do! I hope this works for ITV and the presenters also! How many of ITV breakfasts former faces are just on a scrap heap?! Good luck to the team, producers, editors, presenting teams I hope it goes well for them!
I'm a little confused about Kate/John/Ranvir's roles on Good Morning Britain? Are they all just stand ins now?
I'm a little confused about Kate/John/Ranvir's roles on Good Morning Britain? Are they all just stand ins now?
Ranvir is confirmed as Susanna's Friday stand-in. I guess John will stand in for either Ben or Sean when needed and maybe Kate will do Friday's if both Susaana and Charlotte are off on the same day.
It's difficult to say at the moment as we've not had much information about how many days a week each presenter is working or what the structure of the presenters is.
In an interview Sean said he would love to interview the Prime Minister, then on Daybreak on Friday he said he'd make sport the running order of the show if it was up to him. So what is his role - purely sport or other presentation as well?!
Amazing how people can judge how successful the show will be on one 20-second trailer. We've only seen the set from one angle - at least reserve judgement till the first episode.
Kate, John and Ranvir have been added to the "Meet the team" section of the GMB website.
I wonder where Matt was made redundant or opted to move on himself as I'd have thought out of everyone at Daybreak he seems to be the one who would fit in best with what GMB is doing.
I would guess that when Susanna is off Charlotte will take her role with Ranvir taking on Charlotte's role. I'm making the assumption here that Charlotte's role will effectively be the shows news reader - but in a more expanded role than those on GMTV and Daybreak.
