I like that. Its good to see Sian Lloyd doing it as well. For once actually doing something that's exclusively for the ITV News Channel.
The only reason they are covering seperate from the weather is probably only because they've got a sponsor for it. Just like the Pollen Count on ITV1 in the spring!
I wonder what else can be sponsored on the ITV NC. The Sport is currently sponsorless at the moment isn't it?
Starting in November, the Destination reports will reflect the seasons and will be headlined Ski reports, City Breaks and Summer Sun reports.
They will include an accurate 7-day weather forecast for the top 8 major non UK destinations for the genre. The best conditions for each genre for the up coming weekend will be highlighted and the previous weeks forecasts will be analysed.
Packages to include spot airtime and sponsorship with all forms of commercial production available.
Ski specialist Scott Dunn is to sponsor the new Snow Reports on the ITV News Channel from 1st December.
The Snow Reports will be broadcast every hour throughout the ski season on ITV News Channel. Snow Reports from all the major European resorts will be featured with daily updates of snow conditions, lifts working and weather.
The deal was negotiated by James Gibson at Granada Enterprises and Andrew Dunn at Scott Dunn.
Commenting on the deal James Gibson, Sales Controller at Granada Enterprises, said “ The ITV News Channel’s conversion to Scott Dunn’s audience is perfect. The package reinforces their position as the top ski holiday operator in the UK whilst the commercial illustrates the other types of holidays available with them.”
Andrew Dunn, Managing Director at Scott Dunn, said: “This package dovetails with our strategic direction as a company. People who already know us understand the exclusive nature of a Scott Dunn ski holiday and the sponsorship will allow us to bring the message to more of our potential guests. The commercial shows that we offer many other holiday destinations but with the same attention to detail. The package offered by the team at Granada Enterprises allows us to promote our new branding “Scott Dunn, holidays without compromise”.
The package will include production of a 30 second commercial and credits for the Snow reports created by Chas Lister at Commercial Breaks.
It all sounds a bit like what The Weather Channel used to do. They used to have a slot around :50 past with a seasonal Ski Report, Summer breaks forecast that changed depending on the time of year.
Its good to see that at least the advertisers are seeing the ITV News Channel as a worthy 3rd placed news channel that's worth spending money on
Future ITV News chief defends its regional strategy
By Julie Tomlin
A single, merged ITV will not lead to “Stalinistic control” of regional news from London, the company’s future head of news has claimed.
Clive Jones, currently ITV’s joint managing director, will take up his new role as chief executive of ITV’s News Division next February.
Speaking at the Television from the Nations and Regions conference in Salford on Wednesday, Jones said regional news would remain a licence commitment. He added that “savings” as a result of the merger “can be and will be ploughed back into the news operation”.
A priority would be “a more coherent and continuous look to national and regional news”, said Jones, adding that he wanted the programmes to be “relatives and not strangers”.
Closer ties between the national and regional news operations did not mean the agenda would be set by London, he claimed, saying it was “not about Stalinistic control from metropolitan England”.
But, he added, a single ITV would lead to changes and “some of the facilities would be closed down because we have too many of them”.
“We are running a commercial business; we are not a publicly funded organisation and we can’t employ people if there isn’t the money to do so.
“Regional television is not about bricks and mortar.We can’t remain in buildings dreamt up in the Seventies, built in the Eighties and redundant in the Nineties,” Jones added, defending the decision to close a number of regional studios.
Steve Hewlett, Carlton’s director of programmes, said: “The debate has got to break out of buildings and facilities.
ITV will succeed if it lights the touchpaper underneath its regional ambitions.”
Missed this in last week's Press Gazette - a week in the life of ITV NC's Catherine Jacob:
Quote:
Cathy Jacob
13.11.03
It is 5.45am on day nine of the trial of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr and the shrieking alarm is my cue to crawl out of bed. One hot shower later, I begin the bizarre dressing ritual required for a day at the Old Bailey — one of London’s most notorious wind tunnels.
With three thermal vests, two jumpers, a pair of thermal leggings and several other woolly layers as armour, I brave the elements.
For the next few months, I’m reporting on the Soham trial for ITV News.
This involves doing live reports every half an hour, from 8am until 5pm. In between times, I’m nipping in and out of court, liaising with my producer about my quote graphics and keeping my cameraman (and myself) well-supplied with coffee. We, like the BBC and Sky, have pretty much the same team every day, and as the faces become familiar, the sense of camaraderie between the broadcasting tribes grows.
Since the trial began, the Old Bailey has been littered with crews.
Reporters on the pavement writing, court artists sticking their drawings up to be filmed, cameramen with lenses poised. All journalistic life is here.
Until 10.30am, when court begins, my reports recap what happened the day before. This morning I talk about the written testimonies of Holly and Jessica’s parents, who described how an ordinary Sunday afternoon last summer went so tragically wrong.
Their evidence is moving. For all of us — particularly some of my colleagues who have reported the story since the day the girls disappeared — this is a difficult trial to cover.
As the judge said on day one, the death of anyone, particularly a child, gives rise to emotion but, he added, solemnly, the courtroom was not the place for emotion. And while the sight of the girls’ parents arriving, day in, day out, is heartbreaking, the judge’s words and the concept of a fair trial is at the forefront of all our minds.
Today the court hears from a variety of witnesses, among them Huntley’s former boss at Soham Village College.
At 4.30pm, court’s out and I prepare for my last live of the day. Our flagship hour is 5pm, so I do a hefty live report with the help of my trusty half-screen quote graphics. After this, I’m free.
I’m exhausted, but convince myself this is no excuse to cancel dinner with friends. Again, I roll into bed at midnight and sleep like a log.
14.11.03
Storms and gale force winds are forecast and as I walk towards the Bailey, I’m praying we might be spared. To no avail. At 8am the wind is strong — strong enough for one of our cameramen to have to hold down the microphone stand. And by the afternoon, we’re clinging on for dear life.
I stay in court until the last minute before each live. The trial is taking place in the historic Number One courtroom, but they’ve provided a court annex for the press.
Proceedings are relayed on four screens: one for the judge, another for the barristers, one focuses on the defendants and a fourth for the witness box. Once again, the behaviour and movements of Huntley are the focus. Among the witnesses a friend of Holly’s father, who recounts how, while out searching, he screamed his daughter’s name into the darkness and waited for a response that never came.
Adverse weather conditions mean that, behind the scenes anyway, today’s 5pm live is, well, eventful. As they’re going live to me, on cue, a huge gust of wind whistles down the street and takes my breath away. Literally.
After a few seconds I manage to start speaking, but my eyes are watering so much that I’m straining to see the quotes in my notebook. About a minute in, another gust blows the light stand over. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone trying to reerect it and amid all this, while struggling to stay on my feet, I try to stay coherent. Over the past few weeks, I reckon I’ve done more than a 100 fiveminute lives. This one is no longer, but it seems never-ending.
17.11.03
On the way to the Bailey today, I buy The Guardian. On the front page, is a report on the pros and cons of televised trials in the UK. The article mentions the Soham trial and ITV News’s 3D graphics are credited with having gone some way to revolutionise the way court stories are reported.
The weather is once again against us today. This time it’s day-long, torrential rain and as the water beats down on to my soggy notebook, making my carefully straightened hair curlier than ever, my spirits are failing fast. We battle on until five, then make our wet way home.
18.11.03
Today in court, as well as police officers and journalists, the jury hears from a man who claims he hitched a lift from Grimsby with Huntley and Carr, two days after the girls went missing. Court finishes early today, because the police are needed as extra security for Bush’s arrival later.
19.11.03
Every channel is going big on Bush — ITV News included — which means I’m down to about one live an hour and have the luxury of staying in court to follow proceedings pretty much in full. I watch with envy as the PA journalists in the row in front scribble shorthand at lightning speed and I wish for the 100th time since the trial began that I’d tried harder to learn.
Today’s evidence is particularly pertinent, as many of the witnesses are our colleagues: journalists and photographers who were in Soham during the search for Holly and Jessica. Their interviews with Huntley and Carr are played to the jurors on TV screens.
My cameraman, Dave Prime, wasn’t called as a witness, but he was in Soham covering the story alongside my colleague Colin Baker. Now, Prime is not one for public shows of emotion, but he tells me: “No story I’ve ever worked on has affected me as much as those 13 days in Soham.”
As we prepare for 5pm, the cars carrying Holly and Jessica’s parents depart back towards Soham. This trial could last for 12 weeks but they have vowed to try to be in court every day.
I'm not surprised to hear that 5pm is their flagship hour, or that the ITV News graphics have revolutionised court coverage - I'm just surprised to hear she's there from 8 to 5!
For those of you who don't have broadband and can't be bothered to download a 20Mb MPEG from the website, i've compressed it to play in Real Player for you to download.
