New look Granada Reports

OK, so I know it isn't a new look because it has been around a few weeks now, but since Granada ditched the purple newsroom, the new Granada Reports looks rubbish. There isn't realy a studio for most of the show, Granada have gone back to the Broomcloset news, and the colours are awful. The studio is white with a blue bar down the side and the opening credits are yellow. The whole thing looks like a snapshot from the sixties because it is so plain, colourless and boring. What do you reckon? They also have a stupid DOG in the corner: as if we don't realise we are watching the news anyway...

I was a big fan of Granada Tonight - anyone have any clips of the opening credits / long end credits... I tried TV Box but none of them work!

I have to question whether you ever saw Granada Tonight, Chris. It was widely accepted to be the worst regional news programme in existance. The studio is not white with a blue bar down the side... it's got a large metal and wood desk, yellow and blue backdrop and uses plasma screens as a sidebar. The new bulletins studio looks massively better than the old one, which did have a white bar down the side!

Granada Tonight had a 'stupid DOG in the corner', the only difference being that the Tonight DOG was bright pink and not transparent - and the Tonight DOG reminded you that you weren't watching news, because Tonight's agenda consisted of a 10 minute news programme at 5.30 and then lots of things about clowns and gardens for the rest of the programme.

Reports is a vast improvement, it actually has some news on it; Tonight never did.

I have to say, the new Granada Reports is dire. Previously Granada Tonight could appear lightweight, squeezing too presenters dressed quite formally onto a tiny sofa while holding scripts seemed a bit strange. I always felt it needed a newsdesk so that the main presenters could open the programme, hand to the news desk and then deal with the more indepth stuff - including the light hearted bits. I think when GR was ditched in favour of GT, it was because they wanted to include lighter items and make the programme more 'accessable'. Now it appears they want to be more newsy and that's fine but the titles and set are a disaster. Not worthy of Lucy Meacock in my opinion.

Now there's an idea,lets swap Lucy Meacock and Pam Royle.

I always found Granada Tonight to be fine editorially, but DIRE in terms of Graphics and Set. I moved to Granadaland in 1988 and moved away in 1994. In 1988, Granada Reports was nicely designed (it had just switched from its grey border/red line computer screen titles to chic purple ones with relief-drawings of people and places).

Then, a few months later Granada Reports was replaced with Granada Tonight - and the 'graphics' (i.e. airbrushed stripey lettering CSOd onto a basic Betacam edit of clips of presenters and places) looked amateurish to say the least, and the colour co-ordination of those and the set (bright cyan and red?! Yuuchh) was horrendous.

The only time I remember them having decent graphics and set was in the April 1992-August 1993 era with the metallic CGI titles using the old-fashioned /G/R/A/N/A/D/A/ style blocks (but straightened) and the old 'no-G' arrow. They were nice and the set looked like a posh office.

The re-designs after that were pretty foul though, from what I've seen. The new Granada Reports however is the first professionally-designed looking version I've seen since 1992.

I think the new set is excellent compared with the old one, the programme has vastly improved from 'have a cup of tea and a chat' to a regional news one.  The re-introduction of the desk is much better and the new sofa area is vastly improved.  The Granada News set is much better than a purple background with lots of Granada 'G's across it, it now looks more than a CSO screen and has more features!!
A 'soft' news programme is not suitable for the North west as there is too much news!  if you go looking for 'soft' news it starts getting stupid!  North West Tonight has won the best regional news programme of the year for many years and uses it's soft set about twice a week!

Chris I think you have seen the Granada News studio not the Granada Reports one!

(Edited by Gareth at 5:39 pm on Feb. 2, 2002)