Are two presenters really better than one?

One thing that crops up here alot - especially regarding the ITV News Channel - is that two presenters are generally better than one.

The question I ask is why?

If the chemistry is right it works. The ITV Evening News went from strength to strength when it relaunched with two presenters - though IMO the Six o'clock News was better with just the one - I just can't take to George and Sophie as a partnership, and in fact they are rarely on screen together.


The worst example is Granada Reports - the banter is so forced. Unusually for a news programme in the past when one presenter is away, the programme has been hosted by just one person - and is generally alot better - especially with Lucy Meacock. I think here though it's bad chemistry rather than a bad format that really lets the show down.


As for the ITV News Channel, many members do directly connect the shift to double-headed bulletins to the improvements over the last year. I have no reason to disagree with this - but I don't think it's absolutely neccessary to have two main presenters.

In fact, I'd probably prefer a main news reader and a sports presenter rather than two newsreaders (if you get what I mean!).

That brings us on to another type of duel presentation - what I'd call the primary / secondary partnership. This is probably best illustrated by C4 News, where it works well.

Other examples are the ITV News Channels' Live with Alistair Stewart - which I also thinks work well having a "presenter" and a "news reader".

That's my waffle over - what do you think?

To add to it there is also the BBC Breakfast - style where you have 2 presenters and a newsreader. IMO doesn't work.

Some programmes suit double-headers, some don't. Swings and roundabouts - at the end of it you're getting the news, whether with one, two, or three presenters.

I think the more highbrow news programmes such as the Ten, Newsnight and Channel 4 News work well with single newsreaders.

The 6 and rolling news need two I think - and if money wasn't an issue, I'd have 2 presenters on N24 all the time. To me, it's even more important having two people during quiet news times as there's more opportunity for 'banter'. However, it's tricky to justify this economically!

You raised a good point about Granada Reports, the forced banter makes the whole show cringeworthy, it was good at first, but now they seem to do it between each story and they tend to add their view to it, even when it is a serious story. But as you say it is better when one presenter is away, well in the case of Tony Morris, don't get me wrong he is a good Newsreader when he's on his own. It was a breath of fresh air a few weeks ago where So Rahman was the main male presenter, there was banter, but it wasn't forced.

Again I agree with you regarding Alastair Stewart, the good thing about that is there is space between them, Alastair can be on his own when going in-depth with a main News story, but after a summary or something like that he gets on very well with the Newsreader on the wall, where there is a small amount of banter.

The banter between Alistair and Katie Derham on London Tonight is also very forced and contrived IMO.

I don't think it contrived, in as much as I don't believe the banter to be scripted, but I would imagine that shoe-horning informal chat into a relatively brief news program may be prone to a little forcing.

I would be interested to know how much "slack" there is in the schedule and whether it is necessary to rush through one part of the programme every time a quip is slipped into another, (though, frequently, London Tonight has the handy vehicle of a viewers' opinions section at the end to act as a crumple zone).

knowing ITV very soon, all news will be done by text on the screen

Channel 4 news, has the best format, followed by breakfast will Bill and Sian.

Im not sure on this one, but a one presenter format gives a programme a more professional look, I think. Such as when Central News went with one presenter in 2000, BBC LDN in 2001, and Newsroom South East. It gave the programme a more professional feel, and I liked that.

Granada reorts has a good team Lucy and Tony are good but i do agree they do talk too much between reports. i quite ike granada Reports though, its different to other regions dont knw how it just is

Absolutely. I think The World Today's presentation style (one newsreader for the international news, another for business) is great.

I think Jane Hill is especially good at this. She always seems to be able to 'chat' with her co-presenters/reporters and I get the impression that you could pair her with anyone and she would get on with them.

Yes, I agree. There is absolutely no chemistry between George and Sophie. Who on earth decided to lump those two together?