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General Discussion (February 2006)

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AN
Ant
You've reached the exciting Scotland Today thread.

Shereen Nanjiani, Sarah Heaney and sports presenter Jane Lewis are quitting Scotland Today, according to the radio. It's thought to be connected to all the job losses at SMG.

Never expected Shereen to leave.

Ant
ST
STV Today
I am very sad at the news that Shereen is leaving! She is afterall 'Scotland Today'.

Is she quitting TV altogether, or will she be moving to another station - like BBC Scotland?
BO
Bob
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4229154.stm (Edit - Link no longer valid)

BBC are reporting it. Nothing on Scottish TV's own site and the SMG site is closed for maintenance.

I am sorry that Shereen is going as I rate her a lot higher than the Bird woman on Reporting Scotland. As for Sarah Heaney she was only there as a bit of totty anyway and I certainly won't miss her
AB
aberdeenboy
I can't believe that SMG have been foolish enough to let some of their top names quit for economic reasons - if anything's going to make the public realise what's going on there, this is it.

Presenting is not, and never has been, a safe job. Perfectly good people go by the wayside because their face no longer fits. I'm sure Shereen and Sarah were always well aware of that peril... think how Viv Lumsden and Angus Simpson left Scotland Today. But can anyone think of previous examples of high profile presenters being made redundant for purely economic reasons?

Of course, there are 55 jobs going at SMG in total including quite a number of others in the newsroom.

Serious questions need to be asked about SMG's ability to provide a regional service which does anything other than tick boxes. Take Sarah's travel programme on Tuesday nights. It consists mostly of library film and video news releases. Yet it still counts as a regional production. In fact, because of the way Getaway is administered, it counts towards Grampian's tiny quota of 30 minutes a week as well!

With the odd exception, nearly all STV's local output now looks like it's made as cheaply as possible to fulfil legal obligations. There are three options. Relieve ITV of its obligations to make regional programmes, provide some kind of subsidy to allow them to be made properly or, preferably, convince them that good regional programmes are actually good for business and worth investing in.
PC
p_c_u_k
Would the last person to leave Cowcaddens please turn off the lights.

It just opens up so many issues - for one, how many celebrity idents will SMG now be able to use. They seem to be almost exclusively using the locally-produced ones at the moment - but these three presenters all have their individual ones. They can't just leave them running when all three have left, surely?

More importantly, these are faces which regular viewers tune in to Scotland Today for. Imagine if ITV switched its entire presenting team.

It's frustrating for those of us who actually feel Scotland Today, against all the odds and with no resources, regularly produce a better news programme than Reporting Scotland. Because once again, they're being handed another disadvantage.

Incidentally, anyone hear Peter Kay on Radio 1 refer to Prince's old 'squiggle' as the Granada sign? Very funny. Laughing
JW
JamesWorldNews
Scotland Today will simply not be Scotland Today without Miss Shereen Nanjiani.

Watch out soon for all viewers switching over to BBC1 permanently.

SMG Management - you are all idiots.

(Views expressed above are mine, and NOT those of TV Forum).
PC
p_c_u_k
It'll take a lot more than Shereen leaving to make me switch over to a programme presented by two presenters with absolutely no chemistry which goes on about car parking charges in the Borders, Scottish Arts crap, beavers in the Highlands, anything from Aberdeen City Council because it ticks a box, and any press release the Executive send them. All the while giving massive crime stories approximately 30 seconds each.

I'm not going to be heading over to Reporting Shetland any time soon.
AN
Ant
p_c_u_k posted:
It just opens up so many issues - for one, how many celebrity idents will SMG now be able to use. They seem to be almost exclusively using the locally-produced ones at the moment - but these three presenters all have their individual ones. They can't just leave them running when all three have left, surely?

SMG still use idents with people who no longer work there so it wouldn't be a change.

Theres due to be a new look later this year.
GM
GMc
Quote:
SMG still use idents with people who no longer work there so it wouldn't be a change.

Scottish TV have been using the clouds ident alot more recently.
Anything's better than the stupid celeb idents. Twisted Evil
ST
STV Today
Shereen has told me that she is leaving because after 22 years , she wants to try something else. She would not be drawn on a move to BBC Scotland though. I must stress that I am NOT saying that means she will be switching channels!

I like John, but if Louise or Stephen become the second anchor - ratings are sure to drop. Shereen certainly made the decision to leave herself though. The cost cutting measures made her 'take stock'.
PE
Pete19
Shereen leaving is another sad day for Scotland Today, just like when Viv Lumsden left!

Louise White only works part-time so that means the likes of Heather Simpson and Becky Hunter will be on at 6 with John MacKay OR does this signal a single presenter?
GM
GMc
I think the shifts will be a bit like this if the news is true:

Lunch: Stephen Jardine
Evening: John MacKay and Louise White
Late: Heather Simpson
Sport: Raman Bhardwaj and Ewan Petrie.

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