New look Lookaround

It will conform EXACTLY to the corporate look....they are nearly all identical now (I suspect they were purchased as a "job-lot" at a discount price thanks to bulk buying by ITV plc ).

I have flicked through the ITV1 regions at 6pm and you can only tell which one you are watching by the DOG in the bottom left of the screen and the looped "local" video on the projection screen behind the presenters.

It's not a clever move........BBC regional news has a "corporate" look, but they retain a certain amount of individuality in the set design due to the limitations of some of their studios (eg Mailbox in Birmingham is different to Spotlight in Plymouth)

I don't see anything wrong with it, personally, seeing as the ITV regional sets are pretty smart looking. The only thing that lets the look down is the *one size fits all* style of titles, hopefully we'll see something a bit smarter for the new look in January. Something a bit faster and more modern would be fantastic, especially with the music (although I reckon this will stay the same).

It will be interesting to see what Border will display behind the presenters. I really hope they don't do what Meridian have done and just stick up a frame and blue and yellow backdrop, because I can just see them doing that.

If they do go for a looped backdrop of Carlisle I would imagine they would use a view from the top of the Civic Centre in the city centre, or from the castle. Or even just displaying images from the news stories, like Calendar, would be better than Meridians attempt at a backdrop. These would look quite good.

From the castle -

http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/images/keepview1.jpg

Or from the top of the Civic Centre would look good (Cant find a photo from the top though) -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/images/2005/01/27/carlislec_0219_470x353.jpg


I actually like the set which they have just lost. I always thought these shots looked quite good.

http://localnews.thetvroom.com/images-itv-border/images-2004/sport-1.jpg
http://localnews.thetvroom.com/images-itv-border/images-2004/main-end.jpg
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/itvborder/itvbordertelevision/news/border_feb_studio6s.jpg

Wow! I never realised Lookaround was presented by midgets!

I e-mailed Border to ask about the new set, and this is the reply I got from Lookaround director Karina Reed.

"Thank you for your enquiry. We are due to launch the new set, Monday 5th December. The set is the generic which is been rolled out throughout the group. As for the image to be in the rear projector, we will have shots of Carlisle, but as Border Television covers a huge area, we will be showing various shots of Scotland, England and not forgetting the Isle of Man. Hope this answers your questions."

So could this be a montage of different views around the region, or just having a different view on different nights? Sounds good though. I'm pleased they're not just going to stick up a blue and yellow background.

A good, full answer which covers everything you'd want to know. Perhaps the ITV duty office could learn from that...

Good to hear they're not just going to have Carlisle in the background - that would have wound up quite a few forumers in the south of Scotland who already don't have much time for the station...

I bet they'll just have Carlisle, Dumfries, and Douglas views. So, not that much of a selection.

Not sure if they are planning on a different looped backdrop each night, or if it will just be a few still pictures put up behind the presenters.

It will be interesting to see what they do. I live in Dumfries, so it would be nice to see the Whitesands or something in the background, but I think I'd just prefer a looped backdrop of Carlisle, at least it would look decent.

Hmmph..... Not even a glimpse of the new studio set.

Poor old Border - they went from dodgy leather chairs to the world's most absurd desk... (And you'd think with a desk that size they would be able to hide the trailing cables... but no...

That desk was absurd! Where they got it in exchange of their old set I wish I knew! Still I can't wait to see how Lookaround looks. Not just that but I wonder if they'll get the new flashing astons a la Granada, YTV, Meridian, London, Central, Tyne Tees and (from today) Anglia?

Found this -

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=306759