"Why ITV still uses old names for Regional News"

Anyone ever asked why ITV, who is so content about reducing regional programming, why they are still holding on to the regional names? Average person might say, because they are worried about upsetting the viewer too much.

ITV "plc" Regional News is not a patch on what it once was, and regions are twice the size (even bigger in some cases) than before this February. Now ITV says this is down to costs. But surely they can't be proud of the new services covering such vast areas and even these super region programmes look like they run on a shoe string.

Exclude Granada and London in this, because these regions are the same as before, and Granada is the most established name.

They don't want these programmes to be associated with the ITV brand, because they are ashamed of them? That's why they still use the old names.

Ok, you see ITV in the titles, but that's about it. On the plasmas and dog its just "Granada News" or "Merdian News"

So they fool the viewer into thinking its Granada/Merdian etc still making these programmes.

Also, since 2006, has anyone noticed the endcap to the regional news? I have always asked myself why they did/do this. The programmes are made by ITV, but it states on them "A Production FOR ITV". Surely it should be "An ITV Production"? They are trying to divert the average viewer's attention that its made ITV. A viewer sees this, and they think "Central News made this for ITV" when its "ITV made this for ITV"

So basically, they are dragging the regional names through the dirt by still using them on these new appalling excuse for regional news, but trying to keep them away from the fact its actually ITV who makes them now.

Do you really think they would carry on using these names, when they only want "ITV" everywhere? Thats the reason why. Think about it.

I think you're thinking too much into it - they most likely just kept the names purely because they're well known, established programme names. It's the same as how the BBC has stuck with names like Look East and Spotlight for decades even when they were integrated into other programmes (Nationwide, Sixty Minutes etc).

There aren't that many anomolies - Calendar or Lookaround aren't the name of TV companies, HTV did lose it's name and the rest, apart from Granada are geographic titles anyway.

It's like the old saying if ain't broke, don't fix it. Remember BBC did bring back Points West, as I presume viewers still called it that when it was News West. Here in the North West when Granada had Granada Tonight people were still calling it Granada Reports, and that was one of the decisions why they brought it back.

I always wonder what foreign people think who haven't lived in the UK very long, why is the regional news called Granada Reports or Calendar News. For the rest of us they're just using the established strong brand.

The "A Production for ITV" is because news programming is produced by the ITV News Group and shown on ITV.

The only ITV company that has got rid and change a name is of its news service is STV with North tonight and scotland today to Crap name STV news!

Don't forget the Anglia Knight found its way back into the titles of Anglia Tonight (the artist formerly known as About Anglia). Apparently no one noticed it had been away...despite a decade of the badly animated flag.

Granada doesn't get that on it's News programmes, which has surprised me as I've seen on other regions the 'A Production for ITV1', obviously London gets An ITN Production.

Yes, I didn't realise other regions got and endcap (apart from London, of course). Here in Granada, we just end with a short sting (lunchtime/late/weekend bulletins) or a wide studio shot (Granada Reports).

What about HTV?

And in some regions the names of the ITV local news programme has changed on many occasions if the franchise has changed hands :

Southern TV : Day by Day (Scene South East on Fridays in the Dover patch?)
TVS : Coast to Coast
Meridan : Meridian Tonight

Similarly in London we had Thames News / LWT News (and The Six O'Clock Show) and then London Tonight.

The BBC, not having franchises, have had a bit more consistency however a number of regions have changed their regional news names :

South East at Six morphed into London Plus, then Newsroom South East, and then became BBC LDN and then BBC London News (though the LDN thing may not have been strictly a name)

Look North West was also the previous name for North West Tonight I believe? The News West vs Points West

Before Thames news there was 'Today', which everyone only remembers for one episode! After 'The 6 o'Clock Show' it got very confusing, it was replaced by Friday Live and then 6 O Clock Live - and there was also a strand called 'Weekend Live' for a while.

Some of the old school names were very quaint weren't they - Calendar, Diary, Day by Day, Lookaround, Northern Life.

Still think Coast to Coast was a great name for the TVS news, and it was a good service as well.

And "About Anglia" has a quaint ring to it as well!