ITV News

At the risk of sounding like I am stuck in the past and being thought of being conceited, I can't see why there is an almost 30 minute news bulletin at 6:30, followed by another 30 minute news bulletin at 10:00. It is fairly obvious ITV introduced a 30 minute Evening News in 1999, to accomodate a 20 minute late bulletin. if that, at 11:00.
But seeing News At Ten has being reinstated, maybe there would be more of an "appetite" as such if the Evening News went back to 5:40 and last for 20 minutes. So the only 30 minute news bulletin is News At Ten. It worked well for 20 plus years beforehand.
That would enable ITV to start their evening schedule before BBC1, and by any chance, give ITV the upper hand in the ratings [if they came up with something worthwile].
Oh, and make News At Ten the only dual-presented bulletin.

Of course putting the national news before the regional news at that time would probably boost viewing figures for regional programmes... and ITV wouldn't want that now, would they?

The Evening News only lasts for around 20minutes as it is, 22 on a good day.

That's still longer than the Early Evening News in the 1990s. The programme used to start at 5.40pm and was finished by 5.55pm. It lasted a maximum of 15 minutes.

Is it just me or did the desk on the Evening News look like it had a massive dent on it due to the lighting?

Saw yesterday's Lunchtime News with Geraint and Mary, and I have to say that I agree with whoever made the comment that it has improved somewhat (think Tom0 made that comment?). It still remains very daytime-ish, very aimed at the specific audience, but for some reason seems less tabloid and less sensationalist than when I last watched it properly - which was probably early September or something.

On the subject of Geraint - I notice he presented yesterday's EN as well; has anyone else noticed he seems more out of his depth, etc etc, than he is on the LN? On the lunchtime bulletin he seemed more relaxed - not totally, but he was definitely better than he was on the evening programme later on. Was also nice to see Mary presenting the LN as its not often she does so.

^ It probably was me

I do think it has improved a lot especially in the last year or so, I mean if I looked at older clips I'd expect to find a lot more sensationalism and tabloid stories. It will never be high brow and manage to sustain its audience. The BBC serve one particular audience, ITV serve another. The two shouldn't really be compared and ITV shouldn't be slated for that being part of its news output. Yes its a bit lightweight and its a bit daytime but its being aimed at a particular audience. It doesn't win awards for nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't saying that it should become a News at Ten-style bulletin.. it does cater for its audience very well. IMHO it is the Evening News which gets the mixture between fluff and formality spot-on - now that doesn't win awards for nothing.

The Evening News is probably the most competitive of the three bulletins, and the one closest in audience levels to its BBC counterpart.

The lunchtime bulletin on ITV gets a miniscule audience (the BBC News at One O'Clock usually gets a ridiculously high share of between 40 and 50% of the available audience) and the News at Ten is hammered by the BBC News at Ten O'Clock (often getting half the audience)

The Evening News also happens to be the one bulletin that is on at a 'better' time in relation to its BBC equivalent; as by 6:30 more people have arrived home and switched on the television, boosting the ITV national news' ratings and the BBC's local news ratings. 6pm is just a bit too early for many, which is why I think talk of returning to an even earlier slot a little odd.

The News at Ten goes head-to-head with the BBC, so is probably the best comparator of viewing figures, and the Lunchtime News is on a little later than would be ideal (though ironically the Lunchtime News is the one bulletin where I much prefer ITV's offering to that of the BBC).

There are minor details with the virtual set, music, etc. that could be tweaked but, other than the obvious allowances for demographics that have already been discussed (and overstated, in my opinion), I don't think there's a significant difference in the editorial quality of the three main weekday bulletins.

The Lunchtime News's advantage was that it got in before the BBC, so moving it an hour later never made sense. I certainly don't believe Loose Women would lose any viewers by having to wait an extra half-hour, especially as if their viewers hate the news so much, surely they'll tune back to ITV when the One o'clock News begins.

The programme is now called "Election Night Live: America Decides", and will run from 11.45 until 6am.