I notice when trawling through these esteemed threads, that certain regional news shows get often get ridiculed.
I was wondering which one we think is the worst and
why
? Is it the
BBC Look North Hull
aka "The Peter Levy Show"? ITV West News-- which has a couple of duty figures? Or is it
Central News East
that only I and a couple of pensioners in Derby watch?
Border's Lookaround - the worst piece of parochialism I have ever seen; basically 20 minutes of news from Cumbria and the Isle of Man and 5 minutes devoted to the Borders.
At least the late Eric Wallace gave it gravitas; fortunately, viewers in Berwick-upon-Tweed won't have to put up with it for much longer!
Look East used to be dreadful in the 80s and early 90s - Stuart White has always been class but he was often paired with cold females where there was clearly no chemistry. Then along came Penny Bustin then Susie Fowler-Watt and things improved no end. Also from a technical point of view things have improved massively. Fewer mistakes and a generally more polished feel. Just a shame about the set - cluttered and dated. The irony is that when it gets re-set for Politics Show in a nice purple and city backdrop it looks bigger and warmer. They should keep this for Look East.
Finally - Anglia NEws East is a good watch now. Kevin Piper and CLare Weller have good chemistry - I always think a male female anchor pair work better if it looks like they could be married. So good things coming out of the East right now
Having reread the post about Border I suppose I must admit BBC and Anglia can still be Norwich or East Anglia centric. Anglia late edition recently did a bit on Regional Development Agencies - three DAs cover the region but from the report you would think the East Of England Dev Agency was the only one.
BBC London, on the whole is ok, it is certainly not the worst, but not the best on the same token.
ITV London Today/Tonight is an absolute joke, it is completely unwatchable even with Alastair Stewart presenting. There is no content, no appeal, Katie Derham nodding at everything and competitions every 5 mins eugh.
Granada Reports - I've really given up on this now, far too much pointless banter and silly stories crossed with consumer stories. The way they covered the Farepak collapse was a joke too, it was far too OTT for my liking. Caught the GMTV Granada News the other morning and most of it was dominated by the fact that Kirsty Howard raised over £5 Million, yes fair credit to the girl, it's an achievement and it shouldn't go unnoticed, but Granada had it as it's top story and gained 'exclusive access', not much News there to me.
I used to quite like BBC London (or “LDN”) with Emily Maitlis, but now the programme just seems a bit tired and I’d much rather watch London Tonight - for me the mix of "serious news” and upcoming events is a good one given that proximity to the national news.
My experience of other regions is limited to the occasional viewing of the Central and Anglia local news programmes, and though neither is woeful (and I’m sure not “the worst”) they are, IMO, not a patch on London Tonight and I don’t think I’d bother watching them regularly if I lived in those regions.
I always liked the banter between Richard Bath & Alexis Bowater (as dipsy as she always seemed) on "Westcountry Live", but she seems to have vanished of late.
"BBC Spotlight" is always very good, especially since Victoria Graham arrived as the main co-host with Justin Leigh last year. She was always very warm and genuine when she did the Breakfast bulletins. Alot better than Theresa Driscoll now she's on the main evening programme.
I always liked the banter between Richard Bath & Alexis Bowater (as dipsy as she always seemed) on "Westcountry Live", but she seems to have vanished of late.
