Northern Ireland Political Crisis

Cheers for the update, I think UTV will play it by ear to see if it needs a Saturday programme.

Many thanks too Gareth. Good to see UTV are doing a full afternoon of programming on the Friday. Sadly they have lost their supberb election theme.

Thanks Gareth-Also to note that The BBC News Channel will also be taking the BBCNI Debate instead of Outside Source next Tuesday.

Just to add to your post the hour long edition of the view tonight was an election debate featuring the 5 main parties but was from Ulster University new extended Belfast Campus therefore was young or first time voters.

I see nothing at present for UTV regarding the Election after Friday with no Saturday or Sunday coverage although the Voice and other repeats are on Saturday morning and could easily be replaced, View from Stormont is extended to an hour on Monday at 11.15pm. I also expect an extended Sunday Politics either from 11am-12.15pm or 11.30am-12.15pm on BBC One NI

The rest of the BBC One Friday night lineup has been moved to BBC Two NI after Newsnight with Graham Norton first at 11.05pm followed by Not Going Out etc

I have to say, The View has developed into a really great programme. I was sad when Noel Thompson's 'Hearts & Minds' was dropped, but Mark Carruthers has become an outstanding political interviewer. I'm a big Stephen Nolan fan, but Nolan is always looking for the headline. Carruthers has the knack of finding the headline without looking for it. Some of his interviews since the RHI scandal have been jaw-dropping. He reminds me of Andrew Neil. Doesn't come across as biased or unfair, but you can often tell of his inner disdain for politicians not answering the question or rhyming off the usual old speel.

Looking forward to catching up on last night's debate.

Nolan's election shows have been equally engaging - even if they're just a big red-topped insult-flinging mudfight. But great to watch. Bit of a comms problem towards the end though - Stephen seemed to lose feedback so had to ask the gallery (out loud) to count him out of the programme. Was a bit of a mess at the end but it added to the pantomime!

As for UTV, I'd be really surprised if they didn't do results coverage on the Saturday. Going on past Assembly elections, only about 60% of the seats are usually declared by the end of Friday. And it could be closer this time - with the reduction in seats, the allocation of the fifth and final seat in each constituency could be a very close run thing with recounts galore.

Gosh, I can hardly wait.

Well last year the count actually was pretty quick compared to usual with some constituencies even finishing by Friday rather than 2011 when UTV & BBC NI were sitting on air all afternoon with no results at all to talk about so with less seats it should in theory be quicker and finished by Saturday morning and like yourself I do see UTV having some sort of coverage on Saturday.

I agree on Mark Carruthers is also excellent now, was excellent back in the day on BBC Newsline so was surprised when he was moved to BBC Radio Ulster but glad they now have him on TV and I agree with your comparison with Andrew Neil. The only thing I wish they dropped from the view is commentators corner as I don't think it adds much to the show especially some of the people from our Universities.

As for Nolan sometimes I think he is excellent sometimes not, he was brilliant with the interviews with Jonathan Bell & Arlene Foster when the RHI debacle really hit the headlines however sometimes as you say he goes for the headline or sounds like he is exploiting people. As for the Nolan Show it actually is better with one/two big debates even if it is insults and mudslinging rather than his usual mix of a massive debate of sectarianism, then an interview with Eamonn Holmes and a country singer like Nathan Carter.

Just looking at EPG for next Saturday (4th March):

- BBC coverage is on BBC Two NI, 10am-1pm
- UTV on air 10.20am-1.30pm

When the dust settles next Sunday, BBC One NI takes the entire 11am-12.15pm Sunday Politics slot, while UTV have an analysis show from 1.35pm-2.50pm.

All in all then, the coverage mirrors the extent of last year's Assembly Elections, which is very positive particularly from a UTV perspective.

Last night's UTV debate with the Greens, PBP and TUV was based around the UTV Live desk rather than using the 'debate' set with the podiums, which isn't entirely surprising I suppose.

Last night's UTV Election Debate for the small parties didn't seem to be listed on the main EPGs yesterday. And even more bizarrely, the programme was introduced by an ITV-branded ident, with Julian Simmons voiceover.

Yeah the EPG's didn't seem to be updated with the short-notice change of slot for the debate from Thursday to Friday night.

The big extended desktop is back in the BBC studio for Sunday Politics today.

The programme change was publicised in a Belfast Telegraph news article on Monday. Friday's listings on Freeview/Sky hadn't been updated at all - and still showed the old schedule, even when the programme was on air. The BBC seems to be able to react to late programme changes within minutes - including regional listings. What kind of broadcaster wouldn't want to let viewers know about one of its programmes? Anyone would think ITV didn't care about its regional programming. But only a very cynical person would think that of course.

Good to see the EPG changed and UTV are now showing coverage next weekend as initially they had repeats of the Voice etc. and good to see no major cutdown of UTV coverage under ITV ownership.

BBC One NI now starting at 1.30pm on Friday, rather than 2.15pm. They were caught on the hop by early results last year. Obviously not taking any chances this time. Plus the Beeb is now on the air 25 minutes before UTV.