CraigWills' posts, page 7

Tyne Tees & Border/Look North (NE & Cumbria)

Yes I’m somewhat surprised, although pleased to see them continue. I do think double headed suits the regions well but as London/Wales show (and the BBC local news here in the NE & Cumbria*) it’s certainly not a necessity.

*BBC Look North pre-pandemic would sort of use the sports presenter as a secondary presenter who does a chunk of the last part of the programme with the main host.

Tyne Tees & Border/Look North (NE & Cumbria)

Well I was surprised that Pam said that, because as viewer in Tyne Tees it seems like the two main presenters, Pam and Ian are both absent fairly frequently - never seems like we’re too far from the next appearance from one of the reporters.

I would like to have hoped had Pam asked to do just a few days week then it would have allowed, as pointed out Central have done that. Perhaps she doesn’t want to just ‘fade out’ and would rather properly leave, and just saying she would have in theory liked doing just a couple of days.

Good Morning Britain

One thing I will credit GMB for today, and I’m not sure what post 6:30 was like, but the 6am half hour did a good job of covering the floods/snow first. They led with Nick Dixon live in Greater Manchester on the flooding situation, then second live hit was Juliet Dunlop covering snow disruption expected in Scotland then thirdly was inauguration with a live link and report from Richard Gaisford and also report from Richard Arnold on the celebration/concert.
Sky and the BBC led at 6am with the US and while the inauguration is big news, it was nice that itv offered an alternative lead and I think that was a good call considering homes have been evacuated etc.
They also squeezed two live guests into the second 15 minute block, with Nick doing an interview on the floods from his OB and Kate doing one down the line on the inauguration.

Joe Biden's Inauguaration

Sky have lacked a second Washington DC anchor today actually. Adam has been on since 1pm and disappeared between 8pm-10pm to allow him to come back for News at Ten, with Dermot doing the 8pm hour and Anna Botting hosting a special inauguration programme at 9pm from the Glass Box. Adam remains on air now for the midnight hour, with the press briefing being shown live now. Having someone else who could have took over for the evening shift UK time would have benefited them, but I suppose Sky are a little short on presenters right now.
I do think Sky have stronger presenters, although Adam is most comfortable with being on location whereas others may be in uncharted territory. Adam also swore at one point I understand during the live inauguration itself (didn’t hear myself but I was flicking between coverage)

The Sky News Thread

The breakfast show quite often has ‘off beat’ guests, Catherine Jenkins was singing with Stephen Dixon just before Christmas!

Good Morning Britain

Maybe the media is too London-centric pic.twitter.com/vZiCP144uy

— Luke Bailey (@imbadatlife) January 11, 2021

Came across this on Twitter and ignoring the content to a certain extent, the location straps has angered the TV presentation geek inside me. Two guests just in general ‘London’, but the other two are specifically in ‘North London’ and ‘South London’. Think it was brought up on here before that Dr. Hilary was at ‘Television Centre’ the other day, while Piers and Susanna were at ‘itvStudios London’. You’d think they would standardised this to keep some consistency.

The Sky News Thread

All Out Politics back on air today but with Colin Brazier from the Glass Box, not Westminster. Jonathan Samuels took over in the Glass Box at 12 noon for Sky News Today. Dermot did Sky News Tonight from the Glass Box last week too, interestingly Weekday Breakfast is still coming from Westminster for now.
It’s almost like they can’t decide if All Out Politics should be on air or just Sky News Today from 11am. And seemingly also reducing the amount of crew by doing more shows from the Glass Box.

The Sky News Thread

Interesting that they’re presumably giving it to Niall for 3 months but then changing to Stephen for the next three months. Maybe there is a little bit of forward planning, seeing what works, and then see what happens after the six months.
EPG has been updated to reference no presenter for Early Rundown or Sky News Breakfast on weekdays. Sky News Breakfast on weekends now just says Gillian Joseph.



I’ve said it before but this is an area Sky lacks at the minute. As it stands, the EPG calls it Sky News Breakfast despite that not been referenced on screen by the graphics or presenter during the slot, however other anchors say “xxx is joining Niall on Sky News Breakfast”. There’s also the issue that the “Sky News Breakfast” name is used for the weekend show which has a different format.

Calling it @Breakfast was always a bit of backwards move, when the BBC show at the same time it’s just known as “Breakfast” to most. Get rid of Sky News Breakfast branding, reintroduce Sunrise on weekends (is the current weekend slot any different to what it was under ‘sunrise’?). And give the weekday slot a new name; The Morning Agenda/The Morning Briefing - giving it something which reflects the Westminster location they like to push and the whole ‘agenda setting’ interviews that the promotional material mentioned.

The Sky News Thread

I’m not a huge Adam Boulton fan but he did well there. She was somewhat infamously on previously and I’ll not get political but I think the Dalia Lama would struggle to keep calm.

Coronavirus | Television News Coverage

I must admit though these are billed as ‘Coronavirus briefings’ and I know at least a few of my friends and family have raised issue with non-covid matters being discussed. I’ve had friends who think the journalists, ‘step over the mark’ doing that, others who think it almost implies there’s something bigger to discuss other than covid.
A couple of the Brexit related matters have had rough links (impact on vaccines, being of particular importance) but asking about Priti Patel’s bullying investigation, other wider twists and turns of Brexit or about Trump instigating disorder isn’t what this set up is about as it stands. I understand why they do this, and Vicky Young got a good answer from it. If or when these regular government briefings start and Covid is ‘one of the focuses today’ then asking questions on other matters is to be expected.

The Sky News Thread

No All Out Politics today on Sky News, Sky News Today with Jayne Secker from 11am. Wonder if Adam is heading to the US for the inauguration? Surprised on one hand that Sophy etc. wasn’t brought in to do All Out Politics, there’s certainly some politics stateside to talk about!
On the other hand, I must admit though, I think combining All Out Politics into Sky News Today permanently wouldn’t be a bad idea - allows flexibility to cover other news and not force the hour to be total politics. Plus Colin & Jayne (solo but especially together) are good anchors.

Strictly Come Dancing 2021

I can see why you think this and while these stories are bit sensationalist and I’m not sure who exactly is the ‘source’ on this Bruno story (haven’t read the article and don’t really wish too) but the UK’s Chief Medical Officer said in the presser yesterday that restrictions may be needed next winter. So it’s not beyond the realms of possibilities that travel restrictions may be in place in still by autumn.
I understand the mental health concerns here but unfortunately however much we don’t enjoy it, it’s the reality we are living now. What’s the alternative? We live in a society where we’re only told things that won’t upset us? Speculating and looking ahead is human nature, the biggest question my family and friends talk about is when certain restrictions will be lifted etc. Yes we don’t know all the answers but we can give informed projections.
And I actually take more issue with the ‘jab and go’ advert I’m seeing right now from a certain budget airline, over any news coverage. Trivialising or down playing a pandemic isn’t what I want.

Just a small edit: I think avoiding or reducing your own news consumption is entirely your own decision and I support people doing what is right for them. I just don’t think we need to demonise the wider media coverage, Daily Mail staff have mental health impacts too.