Sir Trevor McDonald retires from ITN

Yeah, had a rant moment.

Frankly, we're all a little sad on this forum, so I make no apologies for my user name. And I'm not biased; I used to prefer ITV News (ITN, as it used to be) until it went downhill from 1999. The reason why my "rant" was relevant was that my nostalgia was triggered by hearing that music and realising it was an end of an era with Sir Trevor gone.

Pardon?

I think you're being slightly melodramatic there.

Sure, the bosses of ITV clearly have no interest in ITN or news - it doesn't bring in money, doesn't keep their shareholders happy, etc etc. Their handling is certainly under question.

But I think the product ITV News produces, considering its very limited budget in comparison, is very good. It is consistently more watchable, IMHO, than the BBC News at 10, it takes the trouble to explain to viewers exactly what is going on with complicated stories (the EU rebate being a good example), the reporters are always told to make the story relate to the viewer, and it's a more pleasing watch. Is making news relavant to the viewer dumbing down?

They have also produced a series of good stories, even some exclusives like the London bombing report. OK, I wish that, when they got them, they would stop crowing about it forever, but you can't deny they're doing a good job with what they've got. Even the head of Sky admits they're doing well.

Sure, there could be more international news, and the bulletin could be longer, but again, ITN are working within the framework set by ITV there.

I certainly don't think, at the moment, that it should be in any way abandon ship time. The staff at ITN are doing a very good job given the difficult circumstances they find themselves in.

Yes, it's certainly not ITN's fault that the news has been squeezed in such a way. What I most object to about ITV News generally is that it is so tabloidesque; there are so many celebrity-based stories, it's embarrassing to watch sometimes, although this is generally more the case with the Evening and Lunchtime News than the News at 10.30. And above all, the look and feel of the programme just doesn't have the dignity and gravitas it used to have. Bring back the proper shots of Big Ben (rather than the bizarre graphics trying to fit the clock face into its blue and yellow format) and the proper music, I say, and then it would be so much better.

You can find the News at Ten interview and the final sign-off on here on this page.

I capped both his BBC & ITN exits...but the files are too big too load on here (30Mb)

I am willing to send a DVD to anyone wants one though ( have to suss out DVD burning yet - )

It was a sad night to see him go......and he did it..."of course"...so profesionally.

EDIT: you know I was so busy tinkering to get the files as MPEGs I didn't notice that was the original NaT end music was it????? Was that was he was allowed as a goodbye, it's nice if it was

I didn't see it live but I've seen the video on here, a very fab ending, the music was a great idea and it was a great send-off. The music seemed to fit perfectly!

I agree Phil, I've watched it again and again...it actually brought a tear to my eye at his subtle and unfussed departure.

...and it was very nice for BBC News to send Hugh over to speak to him in the end of the BBC 10, as that shows a very high level of respect between journalists, and gives a great deal of confidence to us mere consumers that newsgathering will continue despite the duopoly of N24 and Sky that we now have (well will have by the end of next month ).

Bye Sir Trevor

I think someone needs to remove their nostalgic rose-tinted spectacles. Going back to old titles and old music won't mean anything unless the content changes.

I may be a sole voice, but my first thought after realising they were playing the old News at Ten music was that it's not as good as todays. And ITV News has been very good at maintaining it's theme and Big Ben logos but updating them each revamp.

As for celebrity based stories - well, for every story about popular culture on ITV News there is at least one about high-brow culture on BBC News. I know which ones interest me more!


Back on topic - and on to the future. I personally quite like Mark Austin - I think he really came of age with his reporting from Iraq a couple of years ago - but I wonder if having him hosting both the 6.30 and 10.30 will devalue both bulletins.

With twice the number of viewers the Evening News is the real flagship bulletin, though the 10.30 is probably deemed the top job. It would have been nice to see someone new bought in for the Evening News ( Steve Scott is the obvious candidate, though my choice would be Charlie Stayt from Five News).

As for ITN - I think from the ITV team Nicholas Owen is now the longest serving newscaster - probably followed by Katie Derham who was doing the Weekend News in the late 90's. I wonder if Mark Austin will still be with ITV News (if ITV News is still with us!) in 20 years time!

Don't forget Alastair - OK, he doesn't have continuous service with ITN (a decade + at LNN, before returning to the ITN fold) but he goes back a long way with News at Ten etc.

The ratings gap is sometimes a bit narrower than that now. During the week ending 27 November, the Evening News's worst day (Tue) was 4.60 million, and by comparison the 10.30 pulled in 4.49 million on Thursday.

Obviously the I'm a Celeb factor is important here, but the 10.30 even occasionally beats the BBC's 10 o'clock news.