ITV News

I watched a movie on a plane last night that featured mocked up ITV News graphics. Just seemed so weird to see this (it was a Liam Neeson sci fi thing - it might have been mentioned). I wonder how that came about.

Can I also just say that, although I stand by my view that its probably better to just graciously welcome any input from broadcast professionals, I think the tone of what I said was too harsh, and I'm sorry if I upset the members I directed my words at - as they're nice chaps. In the light of day my rant was disproportionate, so please accept my apologies, and lets move forward a happy bunch.

The last morning news will be on the 21st December according to a tweet from Charlene White
https://twitter.com/CharleneWhite/status/274952504284942336

Broadcast had that date in their article. Now we have confirmation, I suppose. It would have been silly to have staff in over the holidays to do 5 minute bulletins, to then axe the programme afterwards.

No 9.25am summary this morning or next, although it is scheduled for Sat, is it possible that viewing figures are why one remains and the other does not?

Seems to be more a case of scheduling (it returns the following week). The Saturday lunchtime editions seem to be 10-15 minutes to over the next few weeks, but just 5-10 minutes on Sundays.

We talked about this a short while ago but I can't help but think we are truly back into the News at When era. In fact, I wouldn't put it past ITV to go in the wrong direction and kill the 10pm bulletin off for good come the rebrand next January.

I could understand News at Ten being pushed back to accommodate programmes like I'm A Celebrity or Britain's Got Talent - it's acceptable. But what was the excuse tonight? It was a normal evening schedule, with a 9pm drama that ended at 22:02. They even found time to fit in a documentary trailer so NAT did not even begin till 22:03.

I know, it might seem overly picky - but remember that it was this kind of thing that killed off News at Ten for a second time in 2004. It was fine to have a somewhat loose start time for thirty years when there was no other rival - but the BBC's fixed time slot of 22:00 took huge chunks out of ITV News ratings during that 2001-2004 era.

Slowly falling back into the News at When trap will do absolutely no good for the reputation of ITV News, and it's a shame that ITV do not realise this. A huge shame really when you consider how good the news coverage from ITV News can actually be.

Yes, it's slightly annoying that it doesn't begin at 22:00:00, but it's not really comparable with the 'News at When?' era when the scheduling was random and only at 10pm a few times a week

I agree with this, Turned over at 10pm and then went back to Sky News, Turned over again at 2 minutes past still not on so stuck with Sky News until 10:20 when they went to a break

Endshot from tonight's ITV News at Ten for those interested

NAT was scheduled in the listings for this week only three times. Seems pretty damn reminiscent of the News at When era to me.

Hardly - it was the fact it only aired at "10pm" 2-3 times a week during the News at When era, bumped to 10.30pm and 11pm regularly, that killed the 2004 incarnation. It survived many many years not beginning at 10pm exactly before 1999 and I really don't think the average viewers is going to be watching ITV ready to turn over if the news doesn't begin exactly at 10pm - and as for channel hoppers it'll pull in a few stragglers who might not make it in time for the first story on the BBC (C4 9pm shows for example almost always run slightly past 10pm, and they won't be the only ones).

Isn't that what I said the post you quoted? ITV dominated that slot for years - there were no other news bulletins at 10pm so the slightly-off time starts were acceptable. It's less justifiable in a multi-channel environment when you're competing with other broadcasters that have 10pm bulletins, most of whom start bang on 22:00. Commercial channel or not, you can't claim to have a "News at Ten" when it rarely does start "at Ten" - especially when there's another two or so "News at Ten"s that begin exactly at 22:00. It just seems sloppy. ITV managed to start NAT within the first minute or so of 22:00 during most of 2008 and 2009, so it's not impossible or unheard of. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I'm pretty damn sure ITV's audience figures were somewhat higher then than they are now.

As for NAT being bumped to later slots during 2001-04 - the rot has to start somewhere. NAT hasn't been fixed on Fridays for some months now... they started dropping the odd edition here and there last year, but the Friday edition is now more or less irregular (I don't think it's even present for the rest of this year). As I mentioned above, it is only on "at 10pm" three times this week - bumped to 22:15 by the recorded Royal Variety Performance on Monday and to 22:30 for a 100-year anniversary celebration of the performance on Friday. Perhaps you'd consider it acceptable given that historic anniversary, but the news moves have been happening far too often lately, especially in the week after I'm A Celebrity finishes. Some continuity is needed but the constant delays to the news just make it seem like poor timekeeping.

My original issue was that the news was delayed by recorded programming tonight - which is what happened during 2001-04. Viewers are more forgiving of the news starting slightly off-time if it's preceding by a live programme.

Sorry if you think it's not worth talking about or it's not really much of an issue, but I'm just stating my thoughts...