SW England news thread

Perhaps a problem feeding the correct sub-region to the transmitter.

ISTR something similar happening a few months ago or so... IIRC one of the sub-regions (might've been South - ie the main sub-region) was having some problems so had to hand back to the studio, but this meant that the other sub-regions had to hand back early as well.

did you watch the report yesterday on the couple who returned to the rock slide site. The reporter said at the end 'there's one day that this couple wont forget. and that's valentines day 2006' or something to that effect.

In light of general ITVplc trends, I'm surprised that the ultra-local Westcountry sub-regions are still going! I bet there's a fair chance they'll be for-the-chop in the forseeable future...

I doubt it - they can't cost that much anyway, and Westcountry got their licence mainly on the provision of this micro-region service.

I know Ofcom is like a dog with no teeth, but I can't see them allowing a franchise-holder to ignore the main item on their original bid.

The interesting point about the Westcountry sub-opts is that they're still not available on satellite and there are no plans to make them so, definitely before analogue switch-off date.

I understand that the powers-that-be decided that the backhaul costs were too great for just five, two-minute sub-opts a week to be taken back to London for uplinking to the bird.

Hence, wherever you are in the Westcountry region, if you watch on satellite you get the south sub-opt.

It also puts the Westcountry region in a strange position in this new world of ITV, in that their terrestrial transmitters have to be fed via the Plympton studios, so the sub-opts can be inserted in the old fashioned way; rather than fed direct from the South Bank or Leeds, as with all the other regions now.

I'll take a pound to a pinch of doggy-doo, however, that they'd change their minds in an instant, if splitting the commercials between the sub-areas ever looked the slightest bit viable.

Funny how they always find it easier to give people the correct commercials, but couldn't care less which news you get, isn't it?

With ITV planning to make the itv Local broadband channel cover more regions couldn't the sub-opts be put on there, and maybe go around the regions quickly on Westcountry Live and say what you can watch on itv Local...?

I don't think that covers the Ofcom remit somehow. After all, not everyone has internet access!

I can't stand Aysha Iqbal on the morning news for Spotlight.

i agree entirley! i just think she is just not suited infront of the camera and always looks very timid and scared. her reports however when she is not infront of the camera are perfect!

Nice to see jemma woodman recieve a media innovation award on thursday night. Shame they only played about three seconds of in on last nights westcountry live though

Did any one see the Spotlight 06:30 news this morning? It was shockingly bad! Victoria Graham was presentingh and constantly had too look at her script and was tripping over words every sentance! I know the autocue is usally done by a pedal so why couldn't she have used it? Autocue fault maybe?

It was not Victoria Graham presenting, she does not do the morning shifts anymore since she became the main presenter of Spotlight. It was Rebecca Wills. Sometimes the foot pedal and the autocue don't work properly, which is probably what happened today. Then the presenter has to read "off script"