Worth remembering that next time they're running a series of reports on "Booze Britain" or whatever.
Well I hope Trev and Alastair Stewart never try the green 'Car Sharing' option to get to work
The point, of course, is that is a non-story!
I wonder when Trev last had to drive to/from work. How much expensive red wine he sups in his comfy chair next to the TV at midnight after work is no one's business but his and Lady McD's!
Exactly - he reports the news, doesn't tell people what to do - he doesn't pass judgment on other people, so why should anyone judge him?
There was a trailer for
NaT
at around half past nine, but Meridian were very silly and cut away from it prematurely into an advert for Bupa, I think, before messily crossing back into the programme.
Well, it is exactly six months to the day that News at Ten returned. Just wondering; what do you think of this third incarnation? Do you think it's a wholesome bulletin which provides a fresh alternative to the BBC's offering, or are you put off by the formality of it all?
I have to say I'm impressed with NaT so far. It provides a nice roundup of the day's news and I like the (somewhat scarce of late) 'In depth' reports they do. The graphics and music are fantastic (not keen on the synthesised brass, but there you go!), as is the studio design. Julie Etchingham is a welcome addition to ITV, and her presenting style puts me in mind of the great Julia Somerville; Trevor seems akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights, but is doing a good job so far. Only thing that annoys me is the back-and-forth use of having a bog-standard head-and-shoulders shot of the presenter or plonking a little inset next to them (not the large inset used for "And Finally...")
Well, it is exactly six months to the day that News at Ten returned. Just wondering; what do you think of this third incarnation? Do you think it's a wholesome bulletin which provides a fresh alternative to the BBC's offering, or are you put off by the formality of it all?
I have to say I'm impressed with NaT so far. It provides a nice roundup of the day's news and I like the (somewhat scarce of late) 'In depth' reports they do. The graphics and music are fantastic (not keen on the synthesised brass, but there you go!), as is the studio design. Julie Etchingham is a welcome addition to ITV, and her presenting style puts me in mind of the great Julia Somerville; Trevor seems akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights, but is doing a good job so far. Only thing that annoys me is the back-and-forth use of having a bog-standard head-and-shoulders shot of the presenter or plonking a little inset next to them (not the large inset used for "And Finally...")
Anyone else...?
Agree with you there totally, I can't believe it's been back on 6 months. It feels more like News At Ten rather than ITV News, which it should be, it feels like a programme of it's own with it's own identity. IMO there are two faults
1) The weird touch screen thing that appears from time to time, just no need for it.
2) Why is not shown on Fridays? Fair enough if a strong programme used the 10pm slot, but its been churning out repeats and we have to brace the normal ITV News bulletin instead.
Still just waiting for Trevor to leave really, and I do think the bulletin could have made a bigger impact if Mark Austin had been at the helm and without dumbing down (too much), they had appealed to the more passing news watcher rather than the same audience as the BBC.
I do think though the overall look of ITV News lets it down - and that relaunching the rest of the output would help give News at Ten a bit of a boost too.
I do think though the overall look of ITV News lets it down - and that relaunching the rest of the output would help give News at Ten a bit of a boost too.
1) The weird touch screen thing that appears from time to time, just no need for it.
2) Why is not shown on Fridays? Fair enough if a strong programme used the 10pm slot, but its been churning out repeats and we have to brace the normal ITV News bulletin instead.
Agree; do feel its a bit stupid and slack that ITV cannot be arsed to run News at Ten on Fridays when what they're showing currently in the 9-11pm are repeats of A Touch of Frost. As for the touch screen.. why did they feel compelled to bring that feature in anyway??
I never agreed with the whole "News at Ten isn't wanted on Friday nights so we'll run an hour-long comedy show followed by a forty minute news bulletin" idea in the first place. It clearly backfired (Al Murray's Happy Hour didn't get the viewing figures they expected and the two-headed Late News with Mark and Julie that followed subsequently failed too). I see no reason why they can't have James Mates presenting NaT on Friday evenings. Perhaps then they'll see a little difference in ratings for the bulletin?
Only thing that annoys me is the back-and-forth use of having a bog-standard head-and-shoulders shot of the presenter or plonking a little inset next to them (not the large inset used for "And Finally...")
I think it's quite refreshing to see that more traditional style make a return.
Makes a change from the dreaded 'Elstree triangle', and highlights the difference in tone from the Lunchtime News. Alastair and Katie are great, but they each overdo the facial contortions whilst the other one is speaking.
Only thing that annoys me is the back-and-forth use of having a bog-standard head-and-shoulders shot of the presenter or plonking a little inset next to them (not the large inset used for "And Finally...")
I think it's quite refreshing to see that more traditional style make a return.
Makes a change from the dreaded 'Elstree triangle', and highlights the difference in tone from the Lunchtime News. Alastair and Katie are great, but they each overdo the facial contortions whilst the other one is speaking.
They also overdo the laughing when one of them makes a mistake or accidently interrupts the other. Its so obviously fake. But in fairness, you can tell they genuinely get on and enjoy presenting with eachother and that comes across well in the style of bulletin it is.
I think the addition of News at Ten is very good and it gives ITV News a natural progression of seriousness throughout the day. The Lunchtime News is very light and fluffy suited to a daytime audience, The Evening News is tabloid, sensationalist but gets to the point and has a certain amount of gravitas, and is suited to the audience of your average Joe. News at Ten is very old fashioned, authoritative and is something missing in todays news landscape, and is suited to a more upmarket audience who wouldn't usually watch ITV News, the sort of person who doesn't arrive home until late. Although it doesn't do too well ratings wise, its quite a respected bulletin with people recognising that it is a good bulletin whether they watch it or not, and the old approach to news is something much missed, and its good to see ITV filling that gap even if its getting similar ratings to the generic ITV News at 10.30.
Whilst, for my sins, I would fit firmly in the supposed News at Ten target demographic I much prefer the Lunchtime News, though largely that can be attributed to the presentation (and Katie in particular).
It's not that there's anything wrong with the News at Ten per se, other than the pointless pantomime of the "touch screen", but the formula already seems a bit dull and tired. I quite like the overall colour scheme and some of the graphics but I suspect that the ratings and audience would be the same if we'd had a more traditional ITV News bulletin.
IMO substance comes from the detail of the reports and the depth into which each subject is investigated, and not whether it is introduced with a 'head-and-shoulders' shot or from the music accompanying the headlines.
Others will probably disagree with me, but I think News at Ten has improved since it first came back onto our screens.
At first, I didn't like all of the lengthy, in-depth reports meaning that actual news coverage suffered and the amount of stories reported was minimal.
However now it appears that there is more news in the bulletin, and more reports overall.
how would that work?