ITV News

I think the contract with ITV probably has the largest impact in what ITN decides to do... The editorial and production structure of ITV and ITN will - I'm sure - be inextricably bound-up in that - as ITV is ITN's largest customer.



That is predicated on the belief that the public know what they want. One of the key things to success in TV (as well as other areas in the media) is predicting what the public will like BEFORE they know themselves.

If you only give the public what they ask for - you will end up with more of the same - not new stuff. (Unless you are sophisticated with your questioning...)

If you aren't careful - that route leads to lowest common denominator programming - whereas the audience are actually often more sophisticated in their tastes than producers (and even the audience themselves) realise. The BBC appear to recognise this more than ITV at times - though they are partially forced to by their remit.

(I am amazed that the BBC continues to succeed with popular drama like Spooks - which should be an ITV cornerstone. 20 years ago ITV would have commissioned something like Wallander - which did pretty well both critically and in audience terms - now you can only see the BBC or Channel Four doing something like that.)

A name change back to ITN would be silly IMO. ITN News is now available in different formats, e.g. youtube. But now its more than just a provider of ITV News- it does its own online news, Setanta Sports News and Channel 4 News. Should they all go under the ITN brand just to "raise ITN's profile"?

You have no proof to suggest a large chunk of the UK prefer the ITN name, and would be more likely to watch ITV News just because one letter is different in the title. However, away from forums like this, noone cares about whether its called ITV News or ITN News. People who suggest the ITN name should return are living in the past and are looking for nostalgia.

No, they only use them at Christmas itself

Well, there is no proof not to suggest a large chunk of the UK does or does not prefer the ITN name. I said they probably would like a name change. For you to suggest that whoever wants ITN back on-screen are "living in the past" - there is an ITV TO REDUCE REGIONAL COMMITMENTS [or something similar], I suppose they are living in the past because ITV Regions are part of all our past?
All I was initially trying to put across is that the ITN name on ITV should be more prominent - that was my view - and for it to restore its former glory days.

I like the 'ITV News' brand. It keeps the news bulletins closely tied to the rest of ITV's output and makes everything appear more coherent. ITN are a company in their own right who provide the news for ITV. They have many other outlets of their own and branding the ITV bulletins as ITN would now cause too much confusion for viewers.

I would like the voiceovers to make a return and they could reference ITN in that: "From the studios of ITN, the ITV Evening News...". That's wishful thinking, though, as I can't see them going back to that in reality.

I should have written..."an ITV TO REDUCE REGIONAL COMMITMENTS" thread on this forum.

What worked in the 1980s and 1990s would definitely not work now. There has been an explosion of television channels and as a result, branding has become all-important. If you haven't noticed, practically every broadcaster is trying to create a strong, coherent brand. For ITV to revert to 'ITN' would be commercial suicide.

Exactly. The name change suited both parties really, allowing ITV to put it's corporate identity on it's news output (as every other channel does), while allows ITN to diversify and prove itself to be much more than news on ITV.

I suspect the same... still seems strange if so, as that would make it the only bulletin to stray from the 'corporate' teal (later blue) look ITN introduced at the time.



I see where you're coming from, McMahon, but like everyone else has said, it just wouldn't be to ITV's (and perhaps ITN's) advantage. It's good having a clear, cohesive branding for both the international and national news. However, I do know some people who dismiss ITV News simply because the name is more associated with 'lighter' news coverage, and hold the ITN in higher authority - "that's when it was news", etc. So yes, it would be great to see the ITN name on-screen again (excluding the endcap of course), but it'll never happen - I don't see why they can't reintroduce the voiceover again though (as mentioned a few posts above) with a simple "From ITN, the ITV Evening News..." etc.

The voice over could only work on News at Ten unless they reformat the start of the show because now they have the main headline, opening titles, the camera swoop whilst they're doing an overview of the opening story, then more headlines and straight into the main story. When they used the voice over, it was when the programme started straight away, ie headlines, titles, straight into the bulletin, which is what they kind of do on News at Ten. I just don't see where the voice over could fit in on the main style bulletin.

Well it's probably about time the opening sequences were tweaked anyway, but it could be slotted in, probably after the main part of the titles before the remaining headlines.

I actually disagree it's easier to slot into News at Ten - that sequence has been designed to flow pretty much uninterrupted (though they've ruined it by having a headline before the titles).

For the News at Ten thing, it could be slotted in over the final bit of music before the first 'Good Evening'.