I've just watched some CNsouth online, from earlier this week.
I notice that they're sticking with the "Central News at Six" title at 18:00, rather than having changed to "Central Tonight" like West and East have.
As they've only got merely months left to go, I suppose they didn't see the point in changing. Either that or, they wanted to maintain a more authorative sounding identity (i.e. with the word "News" in it) that the magaziney-sounding "...Tonight" right up to the bitter end - which will definately make for a more apt curtain call IMHO.
Caught the end of Meridian Tonight west and it appears Andy Craig has left the programme, they were showing his best bits at the end. A further internet search reveals Wesley Smith and Mary Green will present Thames Valley Tonight, with Hannah Shellswell co-presenting the Friday show. Link here.
That is sad about Andy leaving, because (correct me if I'm wrong) Andy's been at Meridian since they took over from TVS (in 1993). It's definately an end of an era as far as the Meridian West team go.
I thought pretty much all of the Ridge Hill area was going to join forces with ITV Bristol, with only northern parts of Herefordshire (rather than the entire county) joining ITV Birmingham?
I also wouldn't credit the notion that an area consisting of solely some/all of Herefordshire warrants having its own news sub-region (not even a part-time one, a la Calendar South etc).
I bet it'll be just an ADVERTISING sub-region, but one single version of CNwest will continue to serve the whole area (i.e. current CNwest area + Herefordshire).
Although, even as an advertising-only sub-region, "just Herefordshire" is still too small to justify, surely? Presumably there'll be some reassigning of "relays", so that the "Central South West" area will include, say, much of Worcestershire too, to make it worthwhile.
Even though the Thames Valley programme will be produced at Southampton (Whitley), I'm not so sure that it will necessarily use the "Meridian" title.
Clearly, it would be daft to use the midlands-implying "Central" as far south as Berks and north Hants, but I think it makes sense to avoid both of its predecessors's titles, and make a clean break. (Like BBC Tunbridge Wells avoided inheriting the BBC Elstree "Newsroom South East" title).
I would imagine that, in order to get the general public more used to the idea that it's "ITV1" and a "single company" now, ITV plc would love to ultimately drop the old regional company names from the news titles (which is virtually the only on-screen place where they still survive).
I can imagine the Abingdon/Whitley programme being called something purely geographic like "Thames Valley News/Tonight"
, despite the other two newses produced at Whitley remaining as "Meridian News/Tonight" (for the time being, at least).
teleonline posted:
A further internet search reveals Wesley Smith and Mary Green will present
Thames Valley Tonight
, with Hannah Shellswell co-presenting the Friday show.
[
My informant tells me that the Sunday teatime bulletin on November 5th 2006 is currently scheduled to be the last ever CNSouth broadcast.
Krl_B
I hope Wesley can do a bit of overtime on that Sunday as to me, he is Central South. Well he started on day one, it would be nice to see if he there on the final Central South News.
Caught the end of Meridian Tonight west and it appears Andy Craig has left the programme, they were showing his best bits at the end. A further internet search reveals Wesley Smith and Mary Green will present Thames Valley Tonight, with Hannah Shellswell co-presenting the Friday show. Link here.
Well from that link:-
Quote
"Meridian spokeswoman Alison Pope said: "At the moment Reading is split, because some people receive Central South while others receive Meridian West."
End Quote
Ms Pope (and for that matter the journo that wrote the article) are totally clueless.
Reading is split between Meridian and London, only a tiny number of viewers in the Tilehurst area use Oxford. So it will remain a 'split' town for ITV.
