By using webarchive.org, I've been able to find this on TV-ark, in the LWT news section.
Because LWT's minimal approach to regional news was lambasted by the IBA, the company made plans in 1987 to set up a full weekend service - at least eight bulletins of news, sport and weather. The production was outsourced to news agency Screen News and the first bulletin was shown on Friday 8th January 1988.
During 1987, LWT finally responded to the IBA's concerns by announcing plans to launch a full-strength weekend news service for the first time. The company decided to outsource production of LWT News (on a two-year contract worth around £3.5 million) to the news agency Screen News, after beating around twenty applications from other groups.[3] The service launched on Friday 8 January 1988, providing at least eight bulletins of local news, sport and weather each weekend. Production switched to Chrysalis Television in January 1990.
The bulletins were later supplemented by a weekly in-depth review programme entitled LWT News Weekend.[4] At the time, LWT's head of news was Mark Sharman, who would later become ITV's controller of news and sport.
Presenters included Lynda Dryburgh, Pam Royle, Anna Maria Ashe, Ed Boyle and Linsday Charlton.
LWT News ceased operation on Sunday 3 January 1993 to make way for the launch of a new seven days a week news service jointly run by LWT and Carlton Television, in a joint venture known as London News Network.
Yes I remember that. This was when Home and Away was swapped with LWT News to begin at 600 on a Friday to match the Monday to Thursday schedule. As LWT didn't start until 515, Thames added a filler cartoon and an ad break until 515, when LWT News began.
That was for the last few months of Thames. LWTs 6pm magazine programme didn't come back after the summer break. Dunno why they moved the news there when the following January they were due to move it back to 6 when London Tonight started
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 24 March 2019 8:24pm
By using webarchive.org, I've been able to find this on TV-ark, in the LWT news section.
Because LWT's minimal approach to regional news was lambasted by the IBA, the company made plans in 1987 to set up a full weekend service - at least eight bulletins of news, sport and weather. The production was outsourced to news agency Screen News and the first bulletin was shown on Friday 8th January 1988.
No, but having already seen it on wiki, I wanted to find a second source, as expected, to confirm.
When LWTs start time changed to 17:15 in 1982, the first bulletin was done by Thames for them, Thames weekend news. Was there anything to stop LWT asking Thames to provide the news for them across the whole weekend?
No, but having already seen it on wiki, I wanted to find a second source, as expected, to confirm.
When LWTs start time changed to 17:15 in 1982, the first bulletin was done by Thames for them, Thames weekend news. Was there anything to stop LWT asking Thames to provide the news for them across the whole weekend?
No nothing at all. But do remember LWT were programme contractors not broadcasters, the transmission schedule and the programmes within it were always signed off by the IBA. LWT operated within its franchise commitments and that included its news provision. The ITA and IBA always accepted that news provision for Londoners was different from the rest of the country - particularly over the weekend, that is why the somewhat ‘thin’ provision was acceptable to the IBA. The fact that the IBA may have changed its mind over the length of LWT’s initial franchise does not mean that LWT had to comply. But only an idiotic management would not do so. LWT could see the way the wind was blowing and offered increased news provision. The most pressure the IBA could apply was heavy hints, it couldn’t criticise what it had itself originally condoned.
It was always strange to me why LWT never tried to bother producing a local news programme by themselves from the late 1970s.
Yes, I understand their reasoning that investing money into a news service for weekends was a bit of a waste, but when they were forced by the authority to do it in 1988, they all of a sudden found the money to contract LWT News out.
Surely it would not have cost much to produce even a 10 minute news round up on a Saturday and Sunday, along with a decent Friday night bulletin themselves from 1982?
Instead from 1982 to 1988 LWT were content with having their continuity team just read the London news headlines ripped from the printer from LBC News. Literally a radio news bulletin read on air.
:-(
A former member
I still think the reason LWT moved news back to 17.15 for the last four months is because there would be no handover come 1993.
Was there anything to stop LWT asking Thames to provide the news for them across the whole weekend?
I suppose not, except for the cost.
All that happened in 1982 was that their normal Friday night bulletin moved onto LWT and got a bit shorter. Adding another 2 days to the operation would have incurred substantial costs - extra shifts for journalists, newsroom and technical crew. There will have been some skeleton staffing at Euston over the weekend and of course maybe a crew shooting stories for the week, but nothing like what they'd need to do programmes
LWT News ceased operation on Sunday 3 January 1993 to make way for the launch of a new seven days a week news service jointly run by LWT and Carlton Television, in a joint venture known as London News Network.
London Today actually started on New Year's Day (Friday) with Paul Green as part of the Carlton franchise. LWT carried on their own service over the weekend with a full launch on Monday 4th Jan.