Reduction in news minutage for ITV News regions

I believe this is good news for the London and North West Regions. Regarding the other Regions, Regional News programmes have shared Resources and some Reports for decades (when the Regions are neighbours). However this new arrangement means ITV can just grab a story from anywhere in the Country and place it within their 30 minute Regional News programmes. Surely that's what the National News for?

I believe this was a wasted opportunity for ITV/Ofcom to agree to merge their unloved monthly Pan-Regional Political Programmes into 2 x 10 minute Pan-Regional weekly segments within the 30 minute Regional News. This would then attract the maximum audience possible and be more up to date than a monthly programme. This would leave ITV with just the three 10 minute segments to fill too...

So it could be a bit like how the BBC have done Inside Out - there's usually one generic film each week that's shown in all regions, but at a different point in the running order.

I really don't see the point in a shorter late bulletin - it's not going to really save any money and the extra few minutes can easily be filled by rerunning a report or two from the 6pm show.

I agree. I think it will damage ITV regional news, the late news for me often is a place to catch up with what's been happening if I've missed the 6pm. With a shorter late bulletin it will mean less news - I reiterate what you say about the content just being recycled. So I can't see why they are shortening the late.

Lunchtime news is reduced again? what going to fill the slot from to take it up to next junction? I wonder how STV will take this. Could there just stick to the current 6min format and just run the programmes as there do now?

the shorter late bulletins is going to cause problems for ITVplc especially if Wales are going to have longer late bulletins!!!

No, it's the split. In the release from Ofcom they state they've agreed to the reduction as a compromise for split region services. As this was not an option for London & Granada they stay as 30 minutes.

Ofcom considers that, in most regions, the benefits to viewers of a more localised news service will more than offset the reduction in the amount of regional news that ITV is required to provide under its licences.
However, Ofcom has rejected ITV’s proposal to apply this reduction to the two largest regions – London and North West England. ITV’s proposals for these areas would have reduced the volume of regional news without providing more localised coverage to benefit viewers.

Most of the Week ITV1 goes to 'The Store' at 12-1am. Therefore I think Border (if they took Scotland Tonight) would just be like STV and be the same schedule as the rest of the network, but with a 30 min delay. Simples. Same for Wales if it has an extended 15 min bulletin.

That would have made sense. However local politicians think they're at the centre of the universe and would have kicked up a huge stink about losing the half hour given to them every week to talk to each other on ITV (because God knows no-one else is watching...)

On the Border Scotland proposal - in theory the region should really have been given over to STV. However, it seems a good compromise position, as I'm sure ITV would have fought the loss of any part of its licence. The area is also so out of proportion in terms of the sizes of the other Scottish regions that people in the borders have more chance of seeing their areas on telly under the current set-up as well, and I accept they have a lot in common with the border region in England.

A lot less than you think.....considering Scotland has its own education, health and legal systems....no one could be charged, for instance, with hamesucken in England.

London and Granada remain unchanged? Both regions' programmes are significantly filled with fluff to fill gaps - Granada at least produces some quality journalism!

What's going to happen with the lunch time news?