London Tonight know how to get it wrong, don't they? I'm just watching this 10.50pm on the NC Tonight, top story, for once being an important story, though I see no reason for a live OB outside a Building Society at night, when there are loads of p*ssed people are going passed. Second story being, 9 out of 10 cops would carry a gun.
And another Keir Simmons classic, Road Humps! And the problems with them! With a clip which should have been on Poilce, Camera, Action!
What has gone wrong with this programme? I bet some people on here think that ITV West News is better than London Tonight.
I can't quite see the problem with those particular stories. The speed humps issue is actually of interest to a lot of people down here in London (myself included)
And bear in mind that Keir Simmonds is doing what he is being instructed to by his bosses.
What's wrong with an OB anyway? Are you saying that there should be a time limit on them?
What's wrong with an OB anyway? Are you saying that there should be a time limit on them?
Nothing to be honest, but it was because, it was outside the building society that was in the News, that happened this afternoon, there were no interviews. Plus I am not blind or anything, but I couldn't see the building society, all I could see behind the reporter was the people who were walking past! A bit pointless if you can see my view.
tsk @ the announcer who just called Anna Maria Ashe "Anne Marie Ashe"
Wouldn't have happened in the good old days ...
Oh my oh my oh my oh my!!!
What have they done to London Tonight? It really HAS been dumbed down hasn't it! No more hard news stories, only light & fluffy stuff for the idiots who don't understand the world in which they live! Bring back ANNA Maria Ashe.
Granada/ITV really HAS wrecked regional news. I've heard it from a very reliable source that Charles Allen would love to axe regional news and plough more money into producing another episode of Coronation Street & Emmerdale. We here at the tower give it another six months and predict that all regional news WILL become an opt within the ITV Evening News (15 mins maximum) Another thing to bear in mind, is that plans are forging ahead to see whether ALL regional programmes can be presented from Grays Inn Road (ITV News HQ) They have the room and lets face it, you only need to be in a broom cupboard these days to do it.
I know what your all thinking.......How the hell does he know.....lets just say, watch this space and remember you read about it here first.
We here at the tower give it another six months and predict that all regional news WILL become an opt within the ITV Evening News (15 mins maximum) Another thing to bear in mind, is that plans are forging ahead to see whether ALL regional programmes can be presented from Grays Inn Road (ITV News HQ) They have the room and lets face it, you only need to be in a broom cupboard these days to do it.
Not wishing to downgrade your post for a minute, Luvvy, but I think I was the first to mention this particular bit of news some months back!
Well I think that the London Today ''bulletins'' during the day (GMTV, 10:55, 12:50, 15:00 and 22:50) are good, and generally rather newsy, as good as they used to be. The only problem is the presenters, Joyce Ohajah is hardly ever around and there is no regular daytime presenter. Basically they need to get rid of Rachel Millichip and the wierdo reporters you find doing the news during the day, and then use the reporters that are busy during the day working on crappy, pointless stories for London Tonight at 6. Katie Derham and Alastair Stewart are good but they are the only good points about the London Tonight at 6, bring back the sport with Gauldie, the news stories with Chris Peacock, Keir Simmons, Marcus Powell and Phil Bayles, and bring back Paul Greene for the daytime bulletins.
Well I think that the London Today ''bulletins'' during the day (GMTV, 10:55, 12:50, 15:00 and 22:50) are good, and generally rather newsy, as good as they used to be. The only problem is the presenters, Joyce Ohajah is hardly ever around and there is no regular daytime presenter. Basically they need to get rid of Rachel Millichip and the wierdo reporters you find doing the news during the day, and then use the reporters that are busy during the day working on crappy, pointless stories for London Tonight at 6. Katie Derham and Alastair Stewart are good but they are the only good points about the London Tonight at 6, bring back the sport with Gauldie, the news stories with Chris Peacock, Keir Simmons, Marcus Powell and Phil Bayles, and bring back Paul Greene for the daytime bulletins.
Hear hear!!!! London Tonight and Today has become a load of old rubbish!!! I remember when LNN began tranmission back in 93, it was an incredible programme, and the team who worked on it were totally and utterly dedicated to it 100%. The then editor and co-creator of LT, Mark Sharman had created a genius programme (1 hour in length) that was a pleasure to watch, in fact it was at times a not to miss programme. As the years rolled by and the length of the show was cut, the quality began to fall. We are 11 years on and what we have is just dire!!!! It is hardly suprising that viewers are switching to the BBC for their regional news.
TVF
TV Forum Team
I agree, I'm afraid. What you're looking at is the template for all other ITV Regional News programmes.As well as the cost-cutting result of the ITV Digital disaster organised by ...let me think now ...surely not someone still in his job.
London Tonight used to be a cracking show with news,sport and entertainment stories that were admired by many and rewarded by the RTS.
Absolutely. Since its move to ITN, London Tonight has just become sensationalist, tabloid rubbish. Personally, I think the move was a collosal mistake. But, if it was inevitable, it should have been executed very differently.
I feel the dumping of talented reporters and newscasters such as Anna Marie-Ashe and Christopher Peacock was ridiculous, and problems caused by their departure have also been worsened by a new wave of inexperienced ITV News Channel reporters.
Finally, more important than this is the editorial content of the programe which is noticeably far lower-brow than ever before.
Unfortunately, the programme no longer reflects the aims of its great and enterprising predecessors. Instead, it is the child of a new, less challenging and profit-driven ITV, whose main architect is Charles Allen.
The ITV News team and ITV London News team could learn a lot from the Channel 4 News team. Channel 4 News is excellent and I hope it remains that way. They know how to do serious stuff, and also how to counterbalance that with the right amount of 'less' serious news.
The BBC's Ten O'clock News is also excellent. The Six focuses more on the British stories, and how they affect us, whereas the Ten focuses on how a story can affect everyone in the world. ITV News really need to get back to this calabre.
Many times before on this forum I have criticised ITV News for the quality of their late night bulletin and I get the response - 'If you want your news at Ten O'Clock and it to be quality watch BBC1'. I understand that, but I also believe I should not have to do that because ITV News late night should NEVER have got the way it is, and that is how I see it. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't ITV (ITN !) News used to be ten times better than the BBC's, but ironically that position has changed and I see why many at the BBC like to take the p**s out of ITV.
At the merger didn't Charles Allen say ITV spent lots more on ITV News than Sky did on their news? I would like to see where that money goes!
I do think that it is odd that London Tonight has gone down the consumer/lifestyle/celebrity route, when in the last 18 months the national ITV News has to some extent moved away from the fluffier stories, taken its agenda slightly upmarket and made an effort to re-establish its reputation for serious political and international coverage.
I think that the ITV Evening News is now an excellent programme with just the right mix of stories - sufficiently distinct from BBC News, but remaining a credible player in terms of 'hard news'.
Whilst all the talk is of convergence and integration of the national and regional news, it seems to me that editorially and stylistically London Tonight has moved further away from the national news, not closer.
But I do think some people who have recently posted on this thread are clouded by sentimentality in regards to LNN and it's demise - not to mention the loss of some respected and experienced broadcasters.
But the fact remains that the previous incarnation of London Tonight had - in my view - run it's course. Of course, being up against the 6 'O Clock News on ONE can't have helped, but the viewing figures showed that it's rigid format of crime and sport had gone stale. The programme was -in a word- boring.
Yes this ITN version seems fluffy and ultimately pointless, and Keir Simmonds becomes even more annoying everytime he gets another Armageddon-lite report to do. but I'm certainly not losing sight of the fact that the old version wasn't lighting any fires either.
