Am I the only one who actually likes this programme? I agree the presenter is absolutely awful and needs to be replaced, but I think the content of the programme is actually very good. Some great stories and good interviews. It's the only non-terrestrial news bulletin I watch reguarly. Get rid of Rubin and I think it could develop even further.
It is good, perhaps not the right timeslot for it though. It's more of a 10 o'clock show I think. In terms of Rubin, give him time to settle in. If he doesn't improve behind the desk within the next month or so, he would work fantastically as America correspondent, yet whether he would be prepared to do that is another issue.
Well the edition I watched (and I only caught the first half hour) was the Blair interview.
He was a bit wooden at the top of the programme but the interview was excellent.
As people say, give him time, but if he doesn't get any better I think they need to recruit someone similar, but with presenting skills. The attraction to me of the programme is that it's presented by someone who's seen the world from the inside - the one who answered questions rather than the usual journalist who'd one asking them.
I watched it on 'active' last night. Excellent report from Keith Graves in Kosovo followed by a good interview between Rubin and an EC official. I've also noticed that a lot of the interviewees seem to have a lot of respect for Rubin.
I agree - the content of the programme is brilliant. Nice to see a real shift in the news agenda, rather than just the same old news presented in a slightly different way.
James Rubin may not be the most accomplished presenter right now, but he does bring some good insight to the programme, so I think he should be given a chance to settle down and improve.
You do get the impression that the likes of Javier Solana appear on the show because of Rubin.
I'd swap it with the 9pm Sky News Tonight so that there could be a programme with "normal" news values after the Sky Report, and then Sky News at Ten, something other than Sportsline at 10:30 (perhaps a more accessible business programme than WBR) and then develop the Press Preview into a new 11pm programme including a look back at how the day's stories were covered (all the big interviews etc.) as well as the excellent new paper review.