The Newsroom

West Television Thread

BBC West and ITV West (Formally known as HTV) (January 2007)

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NW
nwtv2003
Jez posted:
rmc posted:
Having watched some of the ITV West/Westcountry joint regional programming there can be little doubt of ITV's intentions.



A lot of regions are doing joint regional programming now though. ITV seems to be cutting down on regional output.


I think it's a shame when it's getting down to this, as Granada is showing a Tyne Tees programme on a Tuesday night now, and to be honest without being funny I couldn't give a stuff about the North East, and the same view is probably when Tyne Tees is showing a Regional programme made in Manchester.

Although I can understand with the West situation, I thought ITV were more keen now to have West and Westcountry together? What changes has this had on screen down in the West and South West?
JE
Jez Founding member
nwtv2003 posted:
Jez posted:
rmc posted:
Having watched some of the ITV West/Westcountry joint regional programming there can be little doubt of ITV's intentions.



A lot of regions are doing joint regional programming now though. ITV seems to be cutting down on regional output.


I think it's a shame when it's getting down to this, as Granada is showing a Tyne Tees programme on a Tuesday night now, and to be honest without being funny I couldn't give a stuff about the North East, and the same view is probably when Tyne Tees is showing a Regional programme made in Manchester.

Although I can understand with the West situation, I thought ITV were more keen now to have West and Westcountry together? What changes has this had on screen down in the West and South West?


Its silly putting Tyne Tees and Granada shows together. Granada and Yorkshire together I could understand.

There has always been joint productions between the different regional companies (HTV West and Meridian used to make some) but not to the extent we see it now.
RM
Roger Mellie
Jez posted:
nwtv2003 posted:
Jez posted:
rmc posted:
Having watched some of the ITV West/Westcountry joint regional programming there can be little doubt of ITV's intentions.



A lot of regions are doing joint regional programming now though. ITV seems to be cutting down on regional output.


I think it's a shame when it's getting down to this, as Granada is showing a Tyne Tees programme on a Tuesday night now, and to be honest without being funny I couldn't give a stuff about the North East, and the same view is probably when Tyne Tees is showing a Regional programme made in Manchester.

Although I can understand with the West situation, I thought ITV were more keen now to have West and Westcountry together? What changes has this had on screen down in the West and South West?


Its silly putting Tyne Tees and Granada shows together. Granada and Yorkshire together I could understand.

There has always been joint productions between the different regional companies (HTV West and Meridian used to make some) but not to the extent we see it now.


For instance: Why does the ITV London area get Central's Hancock's Half Hour , which gives no mention to London football teams?! Laughing It's just obviously ITV trying to scrape back a penny or two Laughing
RS
Reg Shaw
Nick Harvey posted:
Errrrrrrrrr?

Have you ever put a tape measure over the old region that we used to be stuck with?

From Sherborne and Yeovil in the south of the HTV West region to the northern most point of Anglesey in HTV Wales?



But the point is, the region now would be unmanagable if it were a south west 'super region'.

It may well have been large before it was split into Wales/West/South West, but what would be the point in going backwards to a region that is 50% bigger than it is now. How would that benifit viewers?
BS
brotherton sands
Clearly, BBC regional news trends post-2000 have been towards getting more regional. (Dispanding Newsroom South East ; creating Spotlight Channel Islands and Look North (Hull); South Today Oxford becoming more and more independant; rumours of an increased/full east-west split for Look East ... etc) So, it seems highly unlikely that the BBC would makes W & SW less regional.

ITV, on the other hand, are clearly becoming less regional wherever they possibly can (pan-regional GMTV and weekend bulletins; various "shared" non-news regional programming... etc). So, I can well see ITV trying to put West and Westcountry together somehow.
BS
brotherton sands
The Bristol-based ITV regional news has already gone through 2 or 3 stages of gradual name-change, to get us from the traditional " HTV News " to the utterly dissimilar " The West Today/Tonight " now.

It could easily go through one more, final, name change to bring it into line with ITV Plymouth. After all, the phrase "Westcountry" / "West Country" is/was traditionally used for the whole of the "W telly" + "SW telly" areas combined, right?

In fact, if anything, the "W telly" area probably has the slightly stronger claim to the phrase than the "SW telly" area does! (I even thought this, way back in the era of the run-up to 1st Jan 1993, and therefore was a little curious about the then-new ITV Plymouth broadcaster's choice of company name).

The two news services could even "meet each other half-way", regarding name (e.g. " Westcountry Today/Tonight " or " Westcountry News/Tonight "... etc).

Imagine...

Coinciding with such a name-change, weekend and GMTV bulletins would become pan-regional (dunno whether pan-regionals would be from Plymouth or Bristol). Then, gradually, so would all other short bulletins, until eventually only the main 6pm weekday programme would be "sub-regional" (i.e. one for W, one for SW). Clearly, the existing Westcountry micro sub-regions (N/S/E/W) would have been axed by this point.

ITV's Bristol and Plymouth facilities would become strictly newgathering centres and/or small offices (possibly relocating to new buildings), and the new hub of the operation (housing both studios/sets side-by-side, for the two sub-regional 6pm programmes) would be somewhere central within the enlarged region, e.g. Yeovil (but probably some obscure outreach thereof, not in actual "Yeovil proper" as such).
ST
Steery
[
Quote:
Nick Harvey wrote: And for the gentleman who likes the Points West, second-hand from BBC Three, studio, all I can say is that a nicely painted living room doesn't necessarily mean that the people who sit in it are nice.

The "nice" studio doesn't mean that Points West ever indulge in any hard-hitting journalism and suddenly become capable of doing more than just blindly reading out press releases without any question, I'm afraid.


Whilst I agree with the sentiments re: the journalism, I was just making the point that I liked the studio layout (I did not say "nice").

I just happen to be interested in the presentation/design side of things (although not in the industry - wouldn't mind though) and am interested in studio layouts. I felt, IMO, that the Points West studio has a fresh clean look (interested in the second-hand BBC Three comment - where was that design used before?).

I was comparing it with Look North Leeds, which, when it moved to its new premises, had a more modern set, which then changed to (again IMO) to a more dated looking one.

I do agree, however, that it's no good having a pristine shop front if you're going to sell shoddy goods.
DE
deejay
Steery posted:
[
Quote:
Nick Harvey wrote: And for the gentleman who likes the Points West, second-hand from BBC Three, studio, all I can say is that a nicely painted living room doesn't necessarily mean that the people who sit in it are nice.

The "nice" studio doesn't mean that Points West ever indulge in any hard-hitting journalism and suddenly become capable of doing more than just blindly reading out press releases without any question, I'm afraid.


Whilst I agree with the sentiments re: the journalism, I was just making the point that I liked the studio layout (I did not say "nice").

I just happen to be interested in the presentation/design side of things (although not in the industry - wouldn't mind though) and am interested in studio layouts. I felt, IMO, that the Points West studio has a fresh clean look (interested in the second-hand BBC Three comment - where was that design used before?).

I was comparing it with Look North Leeds, which, when it moved to its new premises, had a more modern set, which then changed to (again IMO) to a more dated looking one.

I do agree, however, that it's no good having a pristine shop front if you're going to sell shoddy goods.


The current Points West set is the former set for BBC Three News (not Liquid News as it's occasionally attributed to). It has been modified slightly and some panels repainted but it's essentially still the same kit of parts.
BB
bbc140
deejay posted:
Steery posted:
[
Quote:
Nick Harvey wrote: And for the gentleman who likes the Points West, second-hand from BBC Three, studio, all I can say is that a nicely painted living room doesn't necessarily mean that the people who sit in it are nice.

The "nice" studio doesn't mean that Points West ever indulge in any hard-hitting journalism and suddenly become capable of doing more than just blindly reading out press releases without any question, I'm afraid.


Whilst I agree with the sentiments re: the journalism, I was just making the point that I liked the studio layout (I did not say "nice").

I just happen to be interested in the presentation/design side of things (although not in the industry - wouldn't mind though) and am interested in studio layouts. I felt, IMO, that the Points West studio has a fresh clean look (interested in the second-hand BBC Three comment - where was that design used before?).

I was comparing it with Look North Leeds, which, when it moved to its new premises, had a more modern set, which then changed to (again IMO) to a more dated looking one.

I do agree, however, that it's no good having a pristine shop front if you're going to sell shoddy goods.


The current Points West set is the former set for BBC Three News (not Liquid News as it's occasionally attributed to). It has been modified slightly and some panels repainted but it's essentially still the same kit of parts.


What news was that (what era?) Are there cany captures anywhere?

bbc140
JE
Jez Founding member
Roger Mellie posted:
Jez posted:
nwtv2003 posted:
Jez posted:
rmc posted:
Having watched some of the ITV West/Westcountry joint regional programming there can be little doubt of ITV's intentions.



A lot of regions are doing joint regional programming now though. ITV seems to be cutting down on regional output.


I think it's a shame when it's getting down to this, as Granada is showing a Tyne Tees programme on a Tuesday night now, and to be honest without being funny I couldn't give a stuff about the North East, and the same view is probably when Tyne Tees is showing a Regional programme made in Manchester.

Although I can understand with the West situation, I thought ITV were more keen now to have West and Westcountry together? What changes has this had on screen down in the West and South West?


Its silly putting Tyne Tees and Granada shows together. Granada and Yorkshire together I could understand.

There has always been joint productions between the different regional companies (HTV West and Meridian used to make some) but not to the extent we see it now.


For instance: Why does the ITV London area get Central's Hancock's Half Hour , which gives no mention to London football teams?! Laughing It's just obviously ITV trying to scrape back a penny or two Laughing


I thought London got a different version of the programme or have I missed something? Smile
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
bbc140 posted:
Are there cany captures anywhere?

No, sorry, they were all destroyed during the war.
MD
Mr D'Arcy
http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tvgn_pointswest0501.jpg

Points West, with Chris Flasher and Alex Shovel

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