ITV News
Encyclopedia
ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV
. Since 1955, ITV's news bulletins have been produced by Independent Television News (ITN). The channel's news coverage has won awards from the Royal Television Society
, Emmy Award
s and BAFTAs
. Between 2004 and 2008, the ITV Evening News held the title of "RTS News Programme of the Year". The flagship ITV News at Ten has won numerous BAFTA awards, the most recent in June 2010.
ITV News has the second-largest television news audience in the United Kingdom
, second only to BBC News
(other broadcasters such as Sky News
, Channel 4 News
and 5 News count their audiences in hundreds of thousands). However, its £43 million annual news budget is dwarfed by that of the publicly-funded BBC, which spends £89.5 million annually on news-gathering, plus a further £23.1 million on its rolling news channel.
to provide a new type of news service for the upcoming commercial television service Independent Television (ITV). Both ITN and ITV were launched on 22 September 1955, and the news service immediately broke new ground by introducing in-vision newscasters and reporter packages (incidentally, the first roster of regular ITN newscasters and reporters included marathon runner Christopher Chataway
, Robin Day
, and Reginald Bosanquet
). The unique, probing reporting style of Robin Day caused shock among politicians, finding themselves questioned continually for information - this had never been the case with the BBC. ITN also boasted the first British female newsreader, Barbara Mandell, in 1956. Into the 1960s, reporters such as George Ffitch, Alastair Burnet
, Gordon Honeycombe
, Huw Thomas
and Sandy Gall
emerged as aspiring newscasters, under the leadership of editor Geoffrey Cox
.
The original ITN logo, featuring the letters "I" and "N" with an oversized "T" (all in the centre of a circle), was used from 1955 up to 1969 and the advent of colour television. The original ITN theme tune was an excerpt of Non-Stop, a piece of light music
composed by John Malcolm, used from 1955 up to 1982. By its end it was only used on generic bulletins, with each of the other regular ITN bulletins - First Report (which became News at One), News at 545 and News at Ten - having its own look and feel.
suggested launching a half-hour news bulletin for ITV, every weeknight. ITV executives, however, were skeptical of that idea, because it was thought that viewers would not want a full 30 minutes of news every Monday to Friday (there had only been one half-hour news programme in Britain previously - BBC2's Newsroom
, launched in 1964). However, the idea was approved on the condition it ran for a 13-week trial, and News at Ten was born on 3 July 1967. ITN's head newscasters - Alastair Burnet, Andrew Gardner
, and George Ffitch - presented the first News at Ten, and the bulletin became so popular with viewers that it was kept in the schedules after its initial 13 weeks. The programme's titles utilised an excerpt of The Awakening, a piece of dramatic music composed by Johnny Pearson
. The famous chimes of the Westminster Clock Tower - affectionately known as the bongs - separated each headline as it was read out. The early opening title sequences were simplistic; a (live) night-time camera pan across London and the Houses of Parliament
, followed by a sharp zoom into the face of "Big Ben" showing the time of 22:00. The text "Independent Television News" was shown at the start of the sequence, followed by the individual words "NEWS", "at" and "TEN", all in time to the title music.
1969 saw the beginning of colour television. As such, a new ITN logo was introduced - it was simply a sans-serif outline of the phrase "ITN" (the basic concept of the logo remains today). On 16 October 1972, a twenty-minute lunchtime bulletin was introduced into the ITV schedule - First Report, which was hosted by Robert Kee
and ran from 12:40 to 13:00. This was followed on September 6, 1976 by the introduction of a new evening bulletin, the News at 545, which ran from 17:45 to 18:00; Michael Nicholson
and Leonard Parkin
alternated in the newscaster chair. By this time, with three regular ITN bulletins throughout the day - and each having their own look and specially-composed music - the original ITN Non-Stop theme music was only seen on generic summaries and weekend bulletins. In 1982, it was finally replaced with a synthesised alternative.
First Report was moved to 13:00 and retitled News at One in 1976; Leonard Parkin and Peter Sissons
alternated in the presenter's chair. Michael Nicholson continued as main newscaster of the News at 545, with Martyn Lewis
replacing Parkin as the relief presenter. In 1986, Nicholson left newscasting to return to war reporting and was replaced by Alastair Stewart
. Leonard Parkin retired in 1987, and Peter Sissons became a main newscaster for ITN's Channel 4 News
(before moving to the BBC in 1989) - it was at this point that the programme revamped. It was moved to 12:30, and appropriately became the News at 12:30. Julia Somerville
joined ITN from the BBC's Nine O'Clock News to host the new programme, with John Suchet
and Jon Snow
acting as relief presenters. In 1988, the programme returned to its original slot and once again became the News at One; the presenting line-up remained unchanged. In 1989, Somerville left the programme to become a main presenter of News at Ten, leaving Suchet to become the main lunchtime newscaster - the programme was revamped once more. In 1991, the programme moved back to the 12:30 slot, but retained the studio setting. In 1992, graphics were relaunched to bring it in line with other ITN news bulletins.
News at 545 was replaced by the News at 540 in 1989 (following the introduction of the ITV National Weather
forecast), and a new presenting team was formed comprising Carol Barnes
, Nicholas Owen, Trevor McDonald
, Fiona Armstrong
, and Alastair Stewart. The programme lasted until March 1992 when it was renamed and relaunched, in line with other ITN bulletins.
News at Ten continued to rate as the most popular news programme on television. In 1988, the programme launched specially-made opening titles featuring a computer generated
travel through London
, up the River Thames until the camera stops at the "Big Ben" clockface.
ITN's regular newscasting team in the 1980s included Alastair Burnet, Sandy Gall, Leonard Parkin, Alastair Stewart, Trevor McDonald, Julia Somerville, Carol Barnes, Fiona Armstrong, John Suchet, Nicholas Owen, and a host of well-known reporters and correspondents.
). From this year, ITN news programmes revamped and moved to be presented from the ITV newsroom, foremostly to show the impressive atrium in the newly-purchased headquarters - with the exception of the lunchtime programme which continued with its own studio and music, but took on elements of the new revamp - such as the serif font style newly-introduced for ITN bulletins. The News at 12:30 bulletin itself was renamed the Lunchtime News in 1992. The main lunchtime newscasters between 1992 and 1995 were Nicholas Owen and Carol Barnes. Dermot Murnaghan
, Sonia Ruseler
and Julia Somerville acted as relief newscasters until 1995, when Murnaghan and Somerville became the bulletin's regular newscasters. News at 540 was renamed the Early Evening News in March 1992 and presented from the ITV newsroom adjacent to the ITN atrium. John Suchet was the main newscaster for the Early Evening News, and relief presenters included Carol Barnes, Nicholas Owen and Dermot Murnaghan.
News at Ten underwent a revamp in November 1992 after the departures of newscasters Alastair Burnet
(in August 1991) and Sandy Gall
(in early 1992, though he did remain at ITN filing special war reports for News at Ten). A new set was created for the programme, featuring television monitors, a large video screen, and a curved desk with "News at Ten" inscribed into it. Trevor McDonald became the sole newscaster of the programme. John Suchet, Dermot Murnaghan, and Julia Somerville were relief presenters for the bulletin. Initially, the new-look News at Ten was presented from the same studio as the Early Evening News, adjacent to the ITV newsroom.
In 1995, all ITN programmes relaunched with a unified look, using blue colours (the corporate colour of ITN at the time). A new set was created in the former Early Evening News studio, adjacent to the atrium and next to the ITV newsroom. The glass walls were coated in semi-transparent blue perspex; the left wall looked onto the lobby of ITN's building, whilst the right showed the busy atmosphere of the ITV newsroom. Different variations on the theme music distinguished the main bulletins. Design firm Lambie-Nairn
devised the new look, which saw special arrangements of the famous News at Ten music being used for the other bulletins (as composed by Dave Hewson
).
1999 saw the biggest and largest change to news bulletins on ITV. On 8 March 1999, all ITN programmes were rebranded under the name ITV News. Under the leadership of Granada
chairman Charles Allen, the channel also controversially decided to axe the flagship News at Ten bulletin. Replacing the 22:00 bulletin (and in turn the old 17:40 News at 540) as the flagship ITN programme was the ITV Evening News at 18:30 (fronted by Trevor McDonald). The ITV Nightly News was also introduced, presented by Dermot Murnaghan and airing at 23:00 every weeknight. However, the loss of News at Ten was a massive blow to both ITV and ITN. By the start of the year 2000, viewing figures for news programmes on ITV had dropped by about a million viewers due to the loss of the 22:00 bulletin. The regulating ITC
ordered ITV to perform a review of the new news time slots and whether or not they were working. There was much opposition towards ITV from the viewing public, politicians such as Gerald Kaufman
, former ITN faces including editor Nigel Ryan and newscaster Alastair Burnet, and some of ITN's then-current staff including political editor Michael Brunson
. After a lengthy battle with the ITC, a half-hearted ITV News at Ten was introduced (hosted by McDonald) in January 2001, although as part of the agreement, the bulletin was only shown at 22:00 for 3 days a week in order to accommodate other programming. The programme returned with a massive 8 million viewers, but figures soon fell drastically. Cashing in on the 1999 loss of News at Ten, BBC director-general Greg Dyke
announced that the Nine O'Clock News would be moved to 22:00. Whereas the 2001 ITV News at Ten was at 22:00 for only three nights a week, the BBC's Ten O'Clock News was a firm fixture at ten for six nights a week. ITV rarely started this incarnation of News at Ten on time; time starts ranging from 21:55 to 22:10 led to the programme being disparaged as "News at When?" and viewers soon switched to the BBC. Also in 2001, the ITN name was removed from the voiceovers at the start of bulletins and reporter name-checks. The ITN name and logo is now only seen on the production slide, and is only used in ITV bulletins when referring to footage shot by ITN camera teams working for other clients (for example: the ITN name is used when both News at Ten and Channel 4 News broadcast the same piece of footage).
With the outbreak of warfare in Iraq in 2003, ITV replaced the ITV News at Ten with a special 45-minute long ITV News at Nine every Monday to Friday, hosted by Trevor McDonald in Kuwait City
and John Suchet in the ITV News studio in London. The News at Nine proved to be very popular, reaching 9.1 million viewers on the first night in comparison to the 5 to 6 million for the BBC's late evening news. The ITV Evening News was extended to 60 minutes, and various ITV news specials ran throughout the schedules. A simulcast of the ITV News Channel
aired from 00:00 to 05:30 every night on ITV1. ITN also managed to persuade big name newscasters to return to the organisation to present the special war coverage on ITV: Alastair Stewart, Carol Barnes, Angela Rippon
, Jon Nicholson and Anne Leuchars were all back presenting news bulletins and regular slots on the ITV News Channel.
Since 2004, ITV plc's 40% stake in ITN has been held as part of (and the company's ITV News operations integrated into) the ITV News Group. The ITV News Group also comprises the ITV regions in England and Wales, and ITV Sport. Its director is Michael Jermey, formerly a programme editor with ITN.
On 2 February 2004, ITV News unveiled a £1 million virtual studio
, with a rounded green screen (the set was nicknamed the "Theatre of News") for presenters to stand up in front of and present graphics to viewers. As part of the revamp, the ITV News at Ten was axed due to low ratings and replaced with the News at Ten Thirty, hosted once again by McDonald (from Monday-Thursday), and by Mark Austin on Fridays. The new programme did not fare any better in the ratings; News at Ten had once gained audiences of 10 million or more, though the News at Ten Thirty now struggled to reach 2 million viewers on any one night (though the flagship ITV Evening News regularly attracted audiences of around 6 million). In addition, ITV abandoned its 24-hour news channel towards the end of 2005, saying it was not "commercially viable". The ITV News Channel was replaced by mens channel ITV4 and the recently relaunched CITV channel in March 2006.
On 16 January 2006, to reflect the launch of the new ITV logo, ITV News revamped with a teal-coloured look. The music was remixed to become slightly 'heavier', and new opening titles were made based around the famous Big Ben clock face (see right). A specially-made VR view of the ITN atrium now adorned the "Theatre of News" screen (an earlier version had been used for ITV's Election 2005 a year previously). In November 2006, the teal-colours of the name-strap designs and other on-screen graphics - including the atrium design - were replaced with blue. The teal-coloured opening titles and stings remained unchanged.
In April 2007 ITN announced that ITV had awarded it a 6-year contract to produce ITV News, at a cost of £250 million. However, ITN announced that the new budget meant it would have to cut staff despite already operating on a smaller budget than its two main rivals BBC News
and Sky News
.
On 2 December 2007, ITV News and the ITV regional newsrooms switched from the traditional 4:3 format to 16:9 widescreen.
was reported as saying that the axing of the original News at Ten was "the worst mistake ITV ever made"; not long afterwards, plans were made for the famous bulletin to return to ITV. News at Ten returned on 14 January 2008, with a revised version of the original theme tune, presented by Trevor McDonald (temporarily, until November of that year, after which point Mark Austin took over) and former Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham
. The studio contained a VR view over night-time London (with an outline of the Big Ben clockface superimposed on top), with dark blue and black being the primary colour scheme; VR glass 'sheets' also provided News at Ten logos on them.
In 2007, The Guardian
reported that ITV planned to take its news output "back to basics" by paring back graphics and having newscasters adopt a more formal style of presenting from behind the desk instead of standing up. This was confirmed when, on 9 February 2009, ITN refreshed ITV News to bring it more in line with the News at Ten studio set. All news bulletins began to be presented from behind a desk; a VR view over London appeared as the backdrop (different coloured versions were used depending on the time of day). Continuing the cohesive look across all programmes, VR glass screens also appeared in the studio to provide graphics and live links with correspondents and reporters. Almost all of the teal-coloured graphics of 2006 were replaced with reworked blue versions to provide some consistency with the rest of the ITV News look, but the teal clockface opening animation remained on the ITV News-branded bulletins. Jib camera pans across the studio replaced the previous title sequence; these shots were pre-recorded 10 to 15 minutes before transmission, because it is a difficult shot to achieve and cannot be done if other studio cameras are already in place.
In July 2009, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the NASA moon landings, ITN produced five special 10-minute programmes for ITV
titled Mission to the Moon - News from 1969. The programmes took the form of news bulletins, reporting on the day's events of 1969. John Suchet, a former ITN newscaster, was the presenter of these specials; he was aided by a team of correspondents including Andrea Catherwood
(who had left ITV News in 2006) and Peter Snow
, who was an ITN newscaster and correspondent between 1962 and 1979. The first Mission to the Moon programme aired at 22:35 on ITV on Wednesday 15 July and continued the following Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday (Friday in Scotland, on STV).
In August 2009, it was announced that after 16 years co-hosting London Tonight
, Alastair Stewart was to leave the regional magazine programme to become the main co-anchor of the ITV Evening News. Mark Austin, as the channel's lead newscaster, concentrates his energies on News at Ten but continues to present some editions of the 18:30 bulletin. It was also revealed that, following his successful stint as presenter of Election Night Live: America Decides in 2008, Stewart was to present the ITN/ITV coverage of the UK general election in 2010.
The semi-circular "Theatre of News" studio set, in use for five years, was last broadcast on Sunday 1 November 2009.
In December 2009, the ITV News at Ten won the award for Best National Television Programme from the Plain English Awards.
In April 2010, it was announced that after 12 years working at ITN, Katie Derham was to leave the organisation to front the BBC's coverage of the Proms for BBC Two and BBC Radio 3. A spokesman for BBC Radio 3 confirmed the appointment but declined to give any further details.
In February 2009, ITV News bulletins were refreshed to be more cohesive with the branding and look of News at Ten, with the studio featuring a VR view of London and an outline of the Big Ben clockface filling the "theatre of news" screen.
On 22 October 2009, it was announced that the "Big Ben" branding would be removed from ITV News from 2 November to avoid perceptions of London-centricity, thus marking the first time that the clock tower has not been used in programme titles for ITN bulletins on ITV since before 1967. However, a clockface was retained as part of ITV News studio design.
and Ted Heath
, utilised two computer machines that Burnet described as bringing in numerous pieces of data and statistical information - Burnet also quipped, "I'll let you into a secret - it can sing as well". The 1974 general election results were presented under the title The Nation Decides by Peter Snow
. Technology had also vastly improved. "VTF30", a piece of technology based upon a knitting-pattern machine, provided moving computer graphics for the first time in television election coverage history.
The team of Alastair Burnet and Peter Sissons
provided many memorable election night programmes on ITV, including the 1984 European elections and Election 87, but by 1992 the faces of ITV's political coverage had changed somewhat. Election 92 was anchored by Jon Snow
, with Alastair Stewart providing graphical commentary and Julia Somerville assisting with regular news summaries. Stewart and Somerville were again present for ITV's 1997 coverage of the John Major
-Tony Blair
election - aptly titled Election 97 - with Jonathan Dimbleby
as the anchor. Dimbleby returned for Election 2001 and Election 2005, aided both times by ITV News' political editors John Sergeant
(in 2001) and Nick Robinson
(in 2005) and a team of correspondents and newscasters around the country at polling stations.
The US presidential election of November 2008 was covered by ITN on the ITV network between 23:15 and 06:00 in a programme titled Election Night Live: America Decides, which saw ITN team up with fellow news organisation NBC
; Alastair Stewart hosted from the studio in London, supported by MORI-founder Bob Worcester
and a team of studio guests throughout the evening. Julie Etchingham
, James Mates
, Bill Neely
and John Irvine
provided the all-important presenting and reporting duties from the United States. Stewart also presented ITN coverage of the European Elections of 2009, an intimate affair with the newscaster and ITV News election analyst Colin Rallings
in the studio. Political Editor Tom Bradby and Senior Political Correspondent Chris Ship
provided regular updates, and a team of dedicated reporters gave results as they were counted around the country.
The UK general election campaign of 2010 was covered by ITV under the banner Campaign 2010, prominent in all its news and current affairs programming. There were special election-themed editions of the Tonight
programme presented by ITN reporters and newscasters. Alastair Stewart was the moderator for The First Election Debate, the first ever debate between leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, transmitted on 15 April between 20:30 and 22:00. A weekly discussion programme also began on that date: Campaign 2010 with Jonathan Dimbleby
. The weeks of special programming culminated in the May 6 election night coverage on ITV: Election 2010, which was broadcast between 21:55 and 06:00 and presented by Alastair Stewart
. Julie Etchingham
fronted the traditional ITV election night graphics, Mary Nightingale
hosted the ITV election party on the bank of the Thames, and ITV News Election Analyst Colin Rallings
provided the all important psephological information. GMTV
dedicated its entire May 7 programme to the Election, with contributions from ITV newscasters Etchingham, Nightingale and James Mates
. Mark Austin and Katie Derham
continued the ITN coverage following GMTV: Election 2010 returned between 09:25 and 10:50. Alastair Stewart then returned with the programme at 12:30 until 15:00. ITV1 Wales, STV and UTV
provided additional programming relevant to their coverage areas.
which most mornings is at around 2:30am.
In the event of any major breaking story, ITV News will interrupt normal programming to broadcast either a brief news report or a special rolling bulletin.
); home affairs correspondents (with Keir Simmons
as UK editor), political correspondents (headed by political editor Tom Bradby); specialist correspondents (covering media and arts, science and medicine, consumer affairs, economic, and crime. James Mates
acts as senior correspondent, with Penny Marshall as a freelance specialist correspondent); sports correspondents; and a dedicated team of news correspondents (the longest serving is Tim Ewart, who joined ITN in 1981).
ITN/ITV News picked up both Royal Television Society (RTS) and Broadcast awards for coverage of the Beslan school siege, and Alastair Stewart won the RTS News Presenter of the Year award in 2006. The 18:30 ITV Evening News held the title of RTS News Programme of the Year for four years running, starting in 2004. News at Ten was nominated for the award in the RTS Journalism Awards 2007/2008, but lost out to the BBC News at 10. However, in the BAFTA Television Awards
ceremony held on Sunday 26 April 2009, News at Ten won in the category News Coverage for their coverage of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake
. It was up against its ITN rival Channel 4 News
and Sky News
, who had two nominations. News at Tens coverage of the earthquake also won the International Emmy
award for News Coverage in September 2009. In June 2010, the programme won the News Coverage BAFTA for the second year running, for their coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake
.
There have been over 70 RTS awards for both domestic and international coverage, with the first coming for the 1969 Apollo moon landing. Home based issues including the miners' strike, the Iranian embassy siege, the Tottenham riots, the Kings Cross fire, the death of Labour leader John Smith and coverage of Dunblane have all been voted the Best Journalism of the Year by the RTS. RTS awards for foreign coverage range from conflicts in Vietnam, Eritrea, Poland, El Salvador, Beirut, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Africa, Russia, Chechnya, Bosnia, Israel and Albania as well as humanitarian disasters including Romania, the Mozambique floods and the Asian tsunami. Coverage of the aforementioned Mozambique floods in 2000 also won an Emmy award.
From the United States there has been recognition of ITN's journalism, from the prestigious Emmy awards, the New York Television Programming Festival and the White House News Photographers' Association. ITN was the first non-US news broadcaster to win a News and Documentary Emmy when it was awarded top prize for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for the 1992 discovery of the Serb camps. The famous footage of emaciated men behind barbed wire went round the world and helped change the course of the conflict in Bosnia.
In addition to many BAFTA, Emmy and RTS awards, ITN/ITV News has also claimed awards from the Monte Carlo Gold Nymphs, prizes from the News Festival of Angers in France, the Television and Radio Industries Club
, the Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards and the Broadcasting Press Guild as well as many others.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Since 1955, ITV's news bulletins have been produced by Independent Television News (ITN). The channel's news coverage has won awards from the Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
, Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s and BAFTAs
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
. Between 2004 and 2008, the ITV Evening News held the title of "RTS News Programme of the Year". The flagship ITV News at Ten has won numerous BAFTA awards, the most recent in June 2010.
ITV News has the second-largest television news audience in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, second only to BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
(other broadcasters such as Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
and 5 News count their audiences in hundreds of thousands). However, its £43 million annual news budget is dwarfed by that of the publicly-funded BBC, which spends £89.5 million annually on news-gathering, plus a further £23.1 million on its rolling news channel.
September 1955 to July 1967
ITN was set up by the Independent Television AuthorityIndependent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
to provide a new type of news service for the upcoming commercial television service Independent Television (ITV). Both ITN and ITV were launched on 22 September 1955, and the news service immediately broke new ground by introducing in-vision newscasters and reporter packages (incidentally, the first roster of regular ITN newscasters and reporters included marathon runner Christopher Chataway
Christopher Chataway
Sir Christopher John Chataway is a British former middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and a Conservative politician...
, Robin Day
Robin Day
Sir Robin Day, OBE was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in the Guardian stated that "he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation...
, and Reginald Bosanquet
Reginald Bosanquet
Reginald Bosanquet was a British journalist, best known for presenting ITN news in the 1970s.-Early life:He was the son of the cricketer Bernard Bosanquet, inventor of the "googly" and a cousin of the public relations executive Christopher Bosanquet...
). The unique, probing reporting style of Robin Day caused shock among politicians, finding themselves questioned continually for information - this had never been the case with the BBC. ITN also boasted the first British female newsreader, Barbara Mandell, in 1956. Into the 1960s, reporters such as George Ffitch, Alastair Burnet
Alastair Burnet
Sir Alastair Burnet is a British journalist and broadcaster, known for his work in news and current affairs programmes.- Early life :...
, Gordon Honeycombe
Gordon Honeycombe
Ronald Gordon Honeycombe is an author, playwright and stage actor, well known in the United Kingdom as a national television newscaster....
, Huw Thomas
Huw Thomas
Hywel Gruffydd "Huw" Thomas was a Welsh broadcaster, barrister and Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:Huw Thomas was born in Pen-bre, near Llanelli, and was a fluent Welsh speaker...
and Sandy Gall
Sandy Gall
Henderson Alexander Gall, CMG, CBE , known as Sandy Gall, is a Scottish journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter. His career as a journalist spans over 50 years.-Education:...
emerged as aspiring newscasters, under the leadership of editor Geoffrey Cox
Geoffrey Cox (journalist)
Sir Geoffrey Sandford Cox, CNZM, CBE was a New Zealand-born newspaper and television journalist. He was a former editor and chief executive of ITN and a founder of News at Ten....
.
The original ITN logo, featuring the letters "I" and "N" with an oversized "T" (all in the centre of a circle), was used from 1955 up to 1969 and the advent of colour television. The original ITN theme tune was an excerpt of Non-Stop, a piece of light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
composed by John Malcolm, used from 1955 up to 1982. By its end it was only used on generic bulletins, with each of the other regular ITN bulletins - First Report (which became News at One), News at 545 and News at Ten - having its own look and feel.
July 1967 to January 1991
In 1967, ITN editor Geoffrey CoxGeoffrey Cox (journalist)
Sir Geoffrey Sandford Cox, CNZM, CBE was a New Zealand-born newspaper and television journalist. He was a former editor and chief executive of ITN and a founder of News at Ten....
suggested launching a half-hour news bulletin for ITV, every weeknight. ITV executives, however, were skeptical of that idea, because it was thought that viewers would not want a full 30 minutes of news every Monday to Friday (there had only been one half-hour news programme in Britain previously - BBC2's Newsroom
Newsroom (BBC programme)
Newsroom was the BBC2 channel's main news programme during the 1960s and early 1970s.The programme began on the day BBC2 started transmission, 20 April 1964 and continued until 1973. The programme was initially broadcast late at night but was moved to a 7.30 - 8.00pm time-slot in 1968...
, launched in 1964). However, the idea was approved on the condition it ran for a 13-week trial, and News at Ten was born on 3 July 1967. ITN's head newscasters - Alastair Burnet, Andrew Gardner
Andrew Gardner (newsreader)
Andrew Gardner was a newscaster on Independent Television News in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1977. He was also one of the original presenters of News at Ten when it began in 1967....
, and George Ffitch - presented the first News at Ten, and the bulletin became so popular with viewers that it was kept in the schedules after its initial 13 weeks. The programme's titles utilised an excerpt of The Awakening, a piece of dramatic music composed by Johnny Pearson
Johnny Pearson
John Valmore Pearson known as Johnny Pearson, was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist...
. The famous chimes of the Westminster Clock Tower - affectionately known as the bongs - separated each headline as it was read out. The early opening title sequences were simplistic; a (live) night-time camera pan across London and the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, followed by a sharp zoom into the face of "Big Ben" showing the time of 22:00. The text "Independent Television News" was shown at the start of the sequence, followed by the individual words "NEWS", "at" and "TEN", all in time to the title music.
1969 saw the beginning of colour television. As such, a new ITN logo was introduced - it was simply a sans-serif outline of the phrase "ITN" (the basic concept of the logo remains today). On 16 October 1972, a twenty-minute lunchtime bulletin was introduced into the ITV schedule - First Report, which was hosted by Robert Kee
Robert Kee
Robert Kee CBE is a British broadcaster, journalist and writer, known for his historical works on World War II and Ireland....
and ran from 12:40 to 13:00. This was followed on September 6, 1976 by the introduction of a new evening bulletin, the News at 545, which ran from 17:45 to 18:00; Michael Nicholson
Michael Nicholson
Michael Nicholson OBE is an English journalist and former ITN Senior Foreign Correspondent.- Journalistic career :Born in Romford, Essex, Nicholson attended the University of Leicester. Nicholson was a war reporter for ITN, who reported from wars in Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, Cambodia,...
and Leonard Parkin
Leonard Parkin
Leonard Parkin, Leonard Parkin, Leonard Parkin, (2 June 1929 - 20 September 1993 in Thurnscoe, Yorkshire, England, was a British TV journalist and newscaster who worked for both the BBC and ITN.He was educated at Hemsworth Grammar School, Yorkshire...
alternated in the newscaster chair. By this time, with three regular ITN bulletins throughout the day - and each having their own look and specially-composed music - the original ITN Non-Stop theme music was only seen on generic summaries and weekend bulletins. In 1982, it was finally replaced with a synthesised alternative.
First Report was moved to 13:00 and retitled News at One in 1976; Leonard Parkin and Peter Sissons
Peter Sissons
Peter George Sissons is a broadcast journalist in the United Kingdom. He was the presenter of the BBC Nine O'Clock News and the BBC News at Ten between 1993 and 2003, as earlier a newscaster for ITN, providing bulletins on ITV and Channel 4. He is also a former presenter of the BBC's Question Time...
alternated in the presenter's chair. Michael Nicholson continued as main newscaster of the News at 545, with Martyn Lewis
Martyn Lewis (journalist)
Martyn Lewis CBE is a British television news presenter and journalist.-Early life:Lewis was born in Swansea, West Glamorgan, though was educated at the co-educational Dalriada School in Northern Ireland and graduated with a BA degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He then joined BBC Northern...
replacing Parkin as the relief presenter. In 1986, Nicholson left newscasting to return to war reporting and was replaced by Alastair Stewart
Alastair Stewart
Alastair James Stewart OBE is an English journalist and newscaster. Stewart is currently employed by ITN where he is a main newscaster for ITV News.-Early life:...
. Leonard Parkin retired in 1987, and Peter Sissons became a main newscaster for ITN's Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
(before moving to the BBC in 1989) - it was at this point that the programme revamped. It was moved to 12:30, and appropriately became the News at 12:30. Julia Somerville
Julia Somerville
Julia Mary Fownes Somerville is a British television news anchor and reporter, who has worked for the BBC and ITN.-Education:...
joined ITN from the BBC's Nine O'Clock News to host the new programme, with John Suchet
John Suchet
John Suchet is a British news reader and television presenter.Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is David Suchet, a British actor. His father was Jack Suchet, who emigrated to England from South Africa in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London...
and Jon Snow
Jon Snow
Jon Snow is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.-Early life:...
acting as relief presenters. In 1988, the programme returned to its original slot and once again became the News at One; the presenting line-up remained unchanged. In 1989, Somerville left the programme to become a main presenter of News at Ten, leaving Suchet to become the main lunchtime newscaster - the programme was revamped once more. In 1991, the programme moved back to the 12:30 slot, but retained the studio setting. In 1992, graphics were relaunched to bring it in line with other ITN news bulletins.
News at 545 was replaced by the News at 540 in 1989 (following the introduction of the ITV National Weather
ITV Weather
ITV Weather is the national and regional forecast shown on UK terrestrial network ITV, and is provided by the Met Office...
forecast), and a new presenting team was formed comprising Carol Barnes
Carol Barnes
Carol Lesley Barnes was a British television newsreader and broadcaster. She worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004.-Early life:...
, Nicholas Owen, Trevor McDonald
Trevor McDonald
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He had a long career as a news presenter with ITN...
, Fiona Armstrong
Fiona Armstrong
Fiona Armstrong, Lady MacGregor of MacGregor is a freelance Scottish television journalist.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Preston, Lancashire. As a child she lived for ten years in Nigeria, where her father was in the colonial service. She became Lady MacGregor of MacGregor when she...
, and Alastair Stewart. The programme lasted until March 1992 when it was renamed and relaunched, in line with other ITN bulletins.
News at Ten continued to rate as the most popular news programme on television. In 1988, the programme launched specially-made opening titles featuring a computer generated
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
travel through London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, up the River Thames until the camera stops at the "Big Ben" clockface.
ITN's regular newscasting team in the 1980s included Alastair Burnet, Sandy Gall, Leonard Parkin, Alastair Stewart, Trevor McDonald, Julia Somerville, Carol Barnes, Fiona Armstrong, John Suchet, Nicholas Owen, and a host of well-known reporters and correspondents.
January 1991 to February 2004
In 1991, ITN moved into its new building at Gray's Inn Road, London (previously owned by The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
). From this year, ITN news programmes revamped and moved to be presented from the ITV newsroom, foremostly to show the impressive atrium in the newly-purchased headquarters - with the exception of the lunchtime programme which continued with its own studio and music, but took on elements of the new revamp - such as the serif font style newly-introduced for ITN bulletins. The News at 12:30 bulletin itself was renamed the Lunchtime News in 1992. The main lunchtime newscasters between 1992 and 1995 were Nicholas Owen and Carol Barnes. Dermot Murnaghan
Dermot Murnaghan
Dermot Murnaghan is a British journalist and television presenter.He is well known for his work as a presenter of ITV and BBC News as well as the shows Eggheads and Treasure Hunt . He co-presented BBC Breakfast from Monday to Thursday as well as regularly fronting national BBC news bulletins...
, Sonia Ruseler
Sonia Ruseler
Sonia Ruseler , anchored for CNN International from 1993 to 2001. An Argentine and Dutch national, she is currently a Senior Vice President at The McGinn Group, a strategic communications consultancy based in Washington D.C..-References:...
and Julia Somerville acted as relief newscasters until 1995, when Murnaghan and Somerville became the bulletin's regular newscasters. News at 540 was renamed the Early Evening News in March 1992 and presented from the ITV newsroom adjacent to the ITN atrium. John Suchet was the main newscaster for the Early Evening News, and relief presenters included Carol Barnes, Nicholas Owen and Dermot Murnaghan.
Alastair Burnet
Sir Alastair Burnet is a British journalist and broadcaster, known for his work in news and current affairs programmes.- Early life :...
(in August 1991) and Sandy Gall
Sandy Gall
Henderson Alexander Gall, CMG, CBE , known as Sandy Gall, is a Scottish journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter. His career as a journalist spans over 50 years.-Education:...
(in early 1992, though he did remain at ITN filing special war reports for News at Ten). A new set was created for the programme, featuring television monitors, a large video screen, and a curved desk with "News at Ten" inscribed into it. Trevor McDonald became the sole newscaster of the programme. John Suchet, Dermot Murnaghan, and Julia Somerville were relief presenters for the bulletin. Initially, the new-look News at Ten was presented from the same studio as the Early Evening News, adjacent to the ITV newsroom.
In 1995, all ITN programmes relaunched with a unified look, using blue colours (the corporate colour of ITN at the time). A new set was created in the former Early Evening News studio, adjacent to the atrium and next to the ITV newsroom. The glass walls were coated in semi-transparent blue perspex; the left wall looked onto the lobby of ITN's building, whilst the right showed the busy atmosphere of the ITV newsroom. Different variations on the theme music distinguished the main bulletins. Design firm Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn is an international branding agency within the WPP Group, headquartered in London with offices in Munich, Madrid, Abu Dhabi and Prague...
devised the new look, which saw special arrangements of the famous News at Ten music being used for the other bulletins (as composed by Dave Hewson
David Hewson (composer)
David Graham Hewson is a British composer of scores for television and films.Hewson began composing at the age of 11, influenced by his primary school music education, which had been based entirely on the Schulwerk. This influence stayed with David and shaped a lot of his much later music...
).
1999 saw the biggest and largest change to news bulletins on ITV. On 8 March 1999, all ITN programmes were rebranded under the name ITV News. Under the leadership of Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
chairman Charles Allen, the channel also controversially decided to axe the flagship News at Ten bulletin. Replacing the 22:00 bulletin (and in turn the old 17:40 News at 540) as the flagship ITN programme was the ITV Evening News at 18:30 (fronted by Trevor McDonald). The ITV Nightly News was also introduced, presented by Dermot Murnaghan and airing at 23:00 every weeknight. However, the loss of News at Ten was a massive blow to both ITV and ITN. By the start of the year 2000, viewing figures for news programmes on ITV had dropped by about a million viewers due to the loss of the 22:00 bulletin. The regulating ITC
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
ordered ITV to perform a review of the new news time slots and whether or not they were working. There was much opposition towards ITV from the viewing public, politicians such as Gerald Kaufman
Gerald Kaufman
Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
, former ITN faces including editor Nigel Ryan and newscaster Alastair Burnet, and some of ITN's then-current staff including political editor Michael Brunson
Michael Brunson
Michael Brunson OBE is a British political journalist.He was educated at Bedford School, a boys' independent school in Bedford, Bedfordshire, and read Theology at Queen's College, Oxford University. Michael Brunson began his broadcasting career at the BBC and later served as Washington...
. After a lengthy battle with the ITC, a half-hearted ITV News at Ten was introduced (hosted by McDonald) in January 2001, although as part of the agreement, the bulletin was only shown at 22:00 for 3 days a week in order to accommodate other programming. The programme returned with a massive 8 million viewers, but figures soon fell drastically. Cashing in on the 1999 loss of News at Ten, BBC director-general Greg Dyke
Greg Dyke
Gregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
announced that the Nine O'Clock News would be moved to 22:00. Whereas the 2001 ITV News at Ten was at 22:00 for only three nights a week, the BBC's Ten O'Clock News was a firm fixture at ten for six nights a week. ITV rarely started this incarnation of News at Ten on time; time starts ranging from 21:55 to 22:10 led to the programme being disparaged as "News at When?" and viewers soon switched to the BBC. Also in 2001, the ITN name was removed from the voiceovers at the start of bulletins and reporter name-checks. The ITN name and logo is now only seen on the production slide, and is only used in ITV bulletins when referring to footage shot by ITN camera teams working for other clients (for example: the ITN name is used when both News at Ten and Channel 4 News broadcast the same piece of footage).
With the outbreak of warfare in Iraq in 2003, ITV replaced the ITV News at Ten with a special 45-minute long ITV News at Nine every Monday to Friday, hosted by Trevor McDonald in Kuwait City
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...
and John Suchet in the ITV News studio in London. The News at Nine proved to be very popular, reaching 9.1 million viewers on the first night in comparison to the 5 to 6 million for the BBC's late evening news. The ITV Evening News was extended to 60 minutes, and various ITV news specials ran throughout the schedules. A simulcast of the ITV News Channel
ITV News Channel
The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and...
aired from 00:00 to 05:30 every night on ITV1. ITN also managed to persuade big name newscasters to return to the organisation to present the special war coverage on ITV: Alastair Stewart, Carol Barnes, Angela Rippon
Angela Rippon
Angela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...
, Jon Nicholson and Anne Leuchars were all back presenting news bulletins and regular slots on the ITV News Channel.
February 2004 to January 2008
On 2 February 2004, ITV News unveiled a £1 million virtual studio
Virtual studio
The term virtual studio can refer to any number of technological tools which seek to simulate a physical television and/or movie studio. One such use of the term follows....
, with a rounded green screen (the set was nicknamed the "Theatre of News") for presenters to stand up in front of and present graphics to viewers. As part of the revamp, the ITV News at Ten was axed due to low ratings and replaced with the News at Ten Thirty, hosted once again by McDonald (from Monday-Thursday), and by Mark Austin on Fridays. The new programme did not fare any better in the ratings; News at Ten had once gained audiences of 10 million or more, though the News at Ten Thirty now struggled to reach 2 million viewers on any one night (though the flagship ITV Evening News regularly attracted audiences of around 6 million). In addition, ITV abandoned its 24-hour news channel towards the end of 2005, saying it was not "commercially viable". The ITV News Channel was replaced by mens channel ITV4 and the recently relaunched CITV channel in March 2006.
On 16 January 2006, to reflect the launch of the new ITV logo, ITV News revamped with a teal-coloured look. The music was remixed to become slightly 'heavier', and new opening titles were made based around the famous Big Ben clock face (see right). A specially-made VR view of the ITN atrium now adorned the "Theatre of News" screen (an earlier version had been used for ITV's Election 2005 a year previously). In November 2006, the teal-colours of the name-strap designs and other on-screen graphics - including the atrium design - were replaced with blue. The teal-coloured opening titles and stings remained unchanged.
In April 2007 ITN announced that ITV had awarded it a 6-year contract to produce ITV News, at a cost of £250 million. However, ITN announced that the new budget meant it would have to cut staff despite already operating on a smaller budget than its two main rivals BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
and Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
.
On 2 December 2007, ITV News and the ITV regional newsrooms switched from the traditional 4:3 format to 16:9 widescreen.
January 2008 to November 2009
In 2007, ITV plc's newly-appointed chairman Michael GradeMichael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
was reported as saying that the axing of the original News at Ten was "the worst mistake ITV ever made"; not long afterwards, plans were made for the famous bulletin to return to ITV. News at Ten returned on 14 January 2008, with a revised version of the original theme tune, presented by Trevor McDonald (temporarily, until November of that year, after which point Mark Austin took over) and former Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham is an English television newsreader and journalist. She is currently co-presenter of ITV News at Ten and is the presenter of the current affairs programme Tonight, having replaced Sir Trevor McDonald....
. The studio contained a VR view over night-time London (with an outline of the Big Ben clockface superimposed on top), with dark blue and black being the primary colour scheme; VR glass 'sheets' also provided News at Ten logos on them.
In 2007, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that ITV planned to take its news output "back to basics" by paring back graphics and having newscasters adopt a more formal style of presenting from behind the desk instead of standing up. This was confirmed when, on 9 February 2009, ITN refreshed ITV News to bring it more in line with the News at Ten studio set. All news bulletins began to be presented from behind a desk; a VR view over London appeared as the backdrop (different coloured versions were used depending on the time of day). Continuing the cohesive look across all programmes, VR glass screens also appeared in the studio to provide graphics and live links with correspondents and reporters. Almost all of the teal-coloured graphics of 2006 were replaced with reworked blue versions to provide some consistency with the rest of the ITV News look, but the teal clockface opening animation remained on the ITV News-branded bulletins. Jib camera pans across the studio replaced the previous title sequence; these shots were pre-recorded 10 to 15 minutes before transmission, because it is a difficult shot to achieve and cannot be done if other studio cameras are already in place.
In July 2009, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the NASA moon landings, ITN produced five special 10-minute programmes for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
titled Mission to the Moon - News from 1969. The programmes took the form of news bulletins, reporting on the day's events of 1969. John Suchet, a former ITN newscaster, was the presenter of these specials; he was aided by a team of correspondents including Andrea Catherwood
Andrea Catherwood
Andrea Catherine Catherwood is a Northern Irish television presenter and journalist.-Early life:Andrea Catherwood was born and raised in Belfast where her mother, 'Adrienne McGuill', was an announcer and newsreader at Ulster Television from 1959 to 1969, and also presented 'The Romper Room', from...
(who had left ITV News in 2006) and Peter Snow
Peter Snow
Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...
, who was an ITN newscaster and correspondent between 1962 and 1979. The first Mission to the Moon programme aired at 22:35 on ITV on Wednesday 15 July and continued the following Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday (Friday in Scotland, on STV).
In August 2009, it was announced that after 16 years co-hosting London Tonight
London Tonight
London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...
, Alastair Stewart was to leave the regional magazine programme to become the main co-anchor of the ITV Evening News. Mark Austin, as the channel's lead newscaster, concentrates his energies on News at Ten but continues to present some editions of the 18:30 bulletin. It was also revealed that, following his successful stint as presenter of Election Night Live: America Decides in 2008, Stewart was to present the ITN/ITV coverage of the UK general election in 2010.
The semi-circular "Theatre of News" studio set, in use for five years, was last broadcast on Sunday 1 November 2009.
November 2009 to Present
On 22 October 2009, it was jointly announced by ITN and ITV that ITV News would be rebranded from Monday 2 November. At the heart of the revamp was the removal of the famous image of the Big Ben clock tower from the opening sequence of ITV News programmes including News at Ten; ITV executives felt, after "months of deliberation", that the imagery of the landmark promoted London-centricity to viewers outside the capital. A clockface remains as part of the studio backdrop and also appears within the opening titles and the headline bongs have also been retained. The November revamp included a newly-designed rectangular set and new graphics featuring a colour scheme of black and gold to complement the ITV1 image and branding. A newly composed piece music called 'News Centre' was introduced, which incorporates only a few elements of 'The Awakening', the previous ITV News theme. The ITV News revamp was developed by ITN, ITV and design agency Bruce Dunlop Associates. ITV-plc regional news programmes continue to use their studio sets introduced in 2004, but with an updated colourscheme and news titles reflecting the ITV News rebrand.In December 2009, the ITV News at Ten won the award for Best National Television Programme from the Plain English Awards.
In April 2010, it was announced that after 12 years working at ITN, Katie Derham was to leave the organisation to front the BBC's coverage of the Proms for BBC Two and BBC Radio 3. A spokesman for BBC Radio 3 confirmed the appointment but declined to give any further details.
'Big Ben' branding
Trademarks of ITN and ITV News are the inclusion of the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament in its programme titles, along with the chimes of Big Ben (known popularly as the "bongs") between headlines. The "bongs" were originally introduced for News at Ten in 1967; the other ITN bulletins utilised different studio designs, individual graphic sets and individual music. In 1992, News at Ten was relaunched following the decision to move to a single newscaster - Trevor McDonald won the role - and composer Dave Hewson was assigned with the responsibility of musical changes. The famous theme tune was re-arranged by Hewson and re-recorded in a slightly higher pitch but the timpani and chimes remained. In 1995 ITN adopted a unified look for all ITV bulletins except News at Ten, extending the use of the Big Ben clockface and branding to all bulletins on the channel; Hewson again composed the music. In March 1999, the "ITV News" brand was introduced and, with the loss of News at Ten, the "bongs" were extended to all ITN bulletins (despite all but one of them starting on the half-hour). The ITN name was dropped from the start of bulletins and, in 2001, from reporter sign-offs. "The Awakening" was re-arranged again in February 2004 as part of a major revamp of ITV News, and again in January 2006 with a further revamp of ITV News bulletins. Despite the 2008 return of News at Ten, the other bulletins continued to use the "bongs".In February 2009, ITV News bulletins were refreshed to be more cohesive with the branding and look of News at Ten, with the studio featuring a VR view of London and an outline of the Big Ben clockface filling the "theatre of news" screen.
On 22 October 2009, it was announced that the "Big Ben" branding would be removed from ITV News from 2 November to avoid perceptions of London-centricity, thus marking the first time that the clock tower has not been used in programme titles for ITN bulletins on ITV since before 1967. However, a clockface was retained as part of ITV News studio design.
Election coverage
ITN has, like the BBC, run special through-the-night coverage on the day of general elections in Britain since its formation in 1955. Election 64 - The Result was hosted by Alastair Burnet, the fast-rising face of politics on ITV, and contained many visual gimmicks to keep the audience interested in the coverage. The BBC started the trend with its "swingometer" device. ITN's 1964 coverage presented a contraption referred to by Burnet as "KDF9" which aimed to pull in the results faster than its competitor over at the BBC. ITN's Election 66, again hosted by Burnet and providing nine-hour coverage of the results of the election between Harold WilsonHarold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and Ted Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, utilised two computer machines that Burnet described as bringing in numerous pieces of data and statistical information - Burnet also quipped, "I'll let you into a secret - it can sing as well". The 1974 general election results were presented under the title The Nation Decides by Peter Snow
Peter Snow
Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...
. Technology had also vastly improved. "VTF30", a piece of technology based upon a knitting-pattern machine, provided moving computer graphics for the first time in television election coverage history.
The team of Alastair Burnet and Peter Sissons
Peter Sissons
Peter George Sissons is a broadcast journalist in the United Kingdom. He was the presenter of the BBC Nine O'Clock News and the BBC News at Ten between 1993 and 2003, as earlier a newscaster for ITN, providing bulletins on ITV and Channel 4. He is also a former presenter of the BBC's Question Time...
provided many memorable election night programmes on ITV, including the 1984 European elections and Election 87, but by 1992 the faces of ITV's political coverage had changed somewhat. Election 92 was anchored by Jon Snow
Jon Snow
Jon Snow is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.-Early life:...
, with Alastair Stewart providing graphical commentary and Julia Somerville assisting with regular news summaries. Stewart and Somerville were again present for ITV's 1997 coverage of the John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
-Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
election - aptly titled Election 97 - with Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby.-Education:Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse School, a...
as the anchor. Dimbleby returned for Election 2001 and Election 2005, aided both times by ITV News' political editors John Sergeant
John Sergeant (journalist)
John Sergeant is a British television and radio journalist and broadcaster.-Biography:The son of a missionary who was also a distinguished linguist, Sergeant is of Russian Jewish origin on his mother's side. Sergeant's early life meant that he followed his father's work, and was raised in...
(in 2001) and Nick Robinson
Nick Robinson
Nicholas Anthony "Nick" Robinson is a British journalist and political editor for the BBC. Robinson was interested in politics from a young age, and went on to study a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics degree at Oxford University, where he was also President of the Oxford University Conservative...
(in 2005) and a team of correspondents and newscasters around the country at polling stations.
The US presidential election of November 2008 was covered by ITN on the ITV network between 23:15 and 06:00 in a programme titled Election Night Live: America Decides, which saw ITN team up with fellow news organisation NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
; Alastair Stewart hosted from the studio in London, supported by MORI-founder Bob Worcester
Robert Worcester
Sir Robert Milton Worcester, KBE, DL is the founder of MORI and a member and contributor to many voluntary organisations. He is a well known figure in British public opinion research and political circles and as a media commentator, especially about voting intentions in British and American...
and a team of studio guests throughout the evening. Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham is an English television newsreader and journalist. She is currently co-presenter of ITV News at Ten and is the presenter of the current affairs programme Tonight, having replaced Sir Trevor McDonald....
, James Mates
James Mates
James Mates is a British newsreader and journalist.Mates is currently employed by ITN where he presents on ITV News whilst also being senior correspondent.-Personal life:James Mates is the son of Conservative party politician Michael Mates...
, Bill Neely
Bill Neely
Bill Neely is International Editor for ITV News, the news service produced by ITN for British commercial broadcaster ITV. He has been a broadcaster since 1981...
and John Irvine
John Irvine (journalist)
John Irvine is the principal ITV News overseas journalist. He is Northern Irish television news journalist. He is always the correspondent that ITV prefer to use....
provided the all-important presenting and reporting duties from the United States. Stewart also presented ITN coverage of the European Elections of 2009, an intimate affair with the newscaster and ITV News election analyst Colin Rallings
Colin Rallings
Colin Rallings is a British academic, Professor of Politics in the School of Sociology, Politics & Law at the University of Plymouth.With his colleague Michael Thrasher, Rallings has written extensively on electoral systems, results and British politics. He is Co-Director of the Local Government...
in the studio. Political Editor Tom Bradby and Senior Political Correspondent Chris Ship
Chris Ship
Chris Ship is a British journalist and newscaster, working for ITV News.He studied Media and French at Sussex University and was appointed Senior political correspondent for the ITN-produced service in 2008 - promoted from political correspondent, as part of a reshuffle of ITV's political...
provided regular updates, and a team of dedicated reporters gave results as they were counted around the country.
The UK general election campaign of 2010 was covered by ITV under the banner Campaign 2010, prominent in all its news and current affairs programming. There were special election-themed editions of the Tonight
Tonight (TV series)
Tonight is a British television newsmagazine, produced by ITV Studios and ITN for the ITV network. Since 1999, Tonight replaced the long-running investigative series World in Action...
programme presented by ITN reporters and newscasters. Alastair Stewart was the moderator for The First Election Debate, the first ever debate between leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, transmitted on 15 April between 20:30 and 22:00. A weekly discussion programme also began on that date: Campaign 2010 with Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby.-Education:Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse School, a...
. The weeks of special programming culminated in the May 6 election night coverage on ITV: Election 2010, which was broadcast between 21:55 and 06:00 and presented by Alastair Stewart
Alastair Stewart
Alastair James Stewart OBE is an English journalist and newscaster. Stewart is currently employed by ITN where he is a main newscaster for ITV News.-Early life:...
. Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham
Julie Etchingham is an English television newsreader and journalist. She is currently co-presenter of ITV News at Ten and is the presenter of the current affairs programme Tonight, having replaced Sir Trevor McDonald....
fronted the traditional ITV election night graphics, Mary Nightingale
Mary Nightingale
Mary Nightingale is an English newsreader and television presenter. She is a newsreader for ITN on ITV News, and presents the cookery series Britain's Best Dish on ITV1.-Education:...
hosted the ITV election party on the bank of the Thames, and ITV News Election Analyst Colin Rallings
Colin Rallings
Colin Rallings is a British academic, Professor of Politics in the School of Sociology, Politics & Law at the University of Plymouth.With his colleague Michael Thrasher, Rallings has written extensively on electoral systems, results and British politics. He is Co-Director of the Local Government...
provided the all important psephological information. GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
dedicated its entire May 7 programme to the Election, with contributions from ITV newscasters Etchingham, Nightingale and James Mates
James Mates
James Mates is a British newsreader and journalist.Mates is currently employed by ITN where he presents on ITV News whilst also being senior correspondent.-Personal life:James Mates is the son of Conservative party politician Michael Mates...
. Mark Austin and Katie Derham
Katie Derham
Katie Derham is a British newscaster and a presenter on television and radio.-Early life:Derham was born in Stockport to John and Margaret Derham, and grew up in Wilmslow...
continued the ITN coverage following GMTV: Election 2010 returned between 09:25 and 10:50. Alastair Stewart then returned with the programme at 12:30 until 15:00. ITV1 Wales, STV and UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
provided additional programming relevant to their coverage areas.
On air
Each weekday, ITV News airs three main bulletins on the main ITV network at 1:30pm, 6:30pm and 10:00pm alongside a late morning summary at 11:25am during This Morning. A lunchtime summary and two evening bulletins are broadcast on Saturday and Sunday in varying timeslots. In addition, an early morning half-hour bulletins airs every day at 5:30am for most of the year as well as an overnight summary airing after the The ZoneThe Zone (ITV)
The Zone is the name given to the strand of shopping and gaming programming on ITV1 and a television channel available on Freeview. The programme is an interactive home shopping and gaming show, featuring items from QVC up for sale, with gaming segments from Jackpot247...
which most mornings is at around 2:30am.
In the event of any major breaking story, ITV News will interrupt normal programming to broadcast either a brief news report or a special rolling bulletin.
Newscasters
- Mark Austin (ITV News at Ten)
- Faye BarkerFaye BarkerFaye Barker is a British newsreader and journalist currently employed by ITN where she presents on ITV News and ITV London.-Personal life:Faye Barker is from Devon, England and is married. Her wedding took place at Bickleigh Castle, Devon, in 2007...
(ITV News at 5:30) - Julie EtchinghamJulie EtchinghamJulie Etchingham is an English television newsreader and journalist. She is currently co-presenter of ITV News at Ten and is the presenter of the current affairs programme Tonight, having replaced Sir Trevor McDonald....
(ITV News at Ten) - Mary NightingaleMary NightingaleMary Nightingale is an English newsreader and television presenter. She is a newsreader for ITN on ITV News, and presents the cookery series Britain's Best Dish on ITV1.-Education:...
(ITV News at 6:30) - Alastair StewartAlastair StewartAlastair James Stewart OBE is an English journalist and newscaster. Stewart is currently employed by ITN where he is a main newscaster for ITV News.-Early life:...
(ITV News at 1:30, ITV News at 6:30) - Charlene WhiteCharlene WhiteCharlene White is a British journalist and newsreader. White is currently employed by ITN where she presents on ITV News and ITV London.-Early life:White was born in South London...
(ITV News at 5:30)
Reporters
The current reporting team at ITV News is divided into: international correspondents (headed by international editor Bill NeelyBill Neely
Bill Neely is International Editor for ITV News, the news service produced by ITN for British commercial broadcaster ITV. He has been a broadcaster since 1981...
); home affairs correspondents (with Keir Simmons
Keir Simmons
Keir Simmons is the UK Editor for ITN' s ITV News who has covered stories as diverse as the Tsunami, the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the death of Russian Alexander Litvinenko...
as UK editor), political correspondents (headed by political editor Tom Bradby); specialist correspondents (covering media and arts, science and medicine, consumer affairs, economic, and crime. James Mates
James Mates
James Mates is a British newsreader and journalist.Mates is currently employed by ITN where he presents on ITV News whilst also being senior correspondent.-Personal life:James Mates is the son of Conservative party politician Michael Mates...
acts as senior correspondent, with Penny Marshall as a freelance specialist correspondent); sports correspondents; and a dedicated team of news correspondents (the longest serving is Tim Ewart, who joined ITN in 1981).
Awards
ITN has won many key industry awards for its news coverage on ITV during the past fifty years. Legendary editor Geoffrey Cox was the recipient of ITN's very first award - a BAFTA in 1962. Since then BAFTA has gone on to present ITN with a total of 26 awards, for coverage on ITV ranging from Francis Chichester's home-coming in 1967 to the Northern Ireland troubles, the Iranian Embassy siege, wars in the Falklands, Lebanon and the Gulf, the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, the discovery of the Serb camps, the genocide in Rwanda, the storming of the Moscow White House, and the conflict in former Yugoslavia.ITN/ITV News picked up both Royal Television Society (RTS) and Broadcast awards for coverage of the Beslan school siege, and Alastair Stewart won the RTS News Presenter of the Year award in 2006. The 18:30 ITV Evening News held the title of RTS News Programme of the Year for four years running, starting in 2004. News at Ten was nominated for the award in the RTS Journalism Awards 2007/2008, but lost out to the BBC News at 10. However, in the BAFTA Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
ceremony held on Sunday 26 April 2009, News at Ten won in the category News Coverage for their coverage of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
. It was up against its ITN rival Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
and Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, who had two nominations. News at Tens coverage of the earthquake also won the International Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
award for News Coverage in September 2009. In June 2010, the programme won the News Coverage BAFTA for the second year running, for their coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
.
There have been over 70 RTS awards for both domestic and international coverage, with the first coming for the 1969 Apollo moon landing. Home based issues including the miners' strike, the Iranian embassy siege, the Tottenham riots, the Kings Cross fire, the death of Labour leader John Smith and coverage of Dunblane have all been voted the Best Journalism of the Year by the RTS. RTS awards for foreign coverage range from conflicts in Vietnam, Eritrea, Poland, El Salvador, Beirut, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Africa, Russia, Chechnya, Bosnia, Israel and Albania as well as humanitarian disasters including Romania, the Mozambique floods and the Asian tsunami. Coverage of the aforementioned Mozambique floods in 2000 also won an Emmy award.
From the United States there has been recognition of ITN's journalism, from the prestigious Emmy awards, the New York Television Programming Festival and the White House News Photographers' Association. ITN was the first non-US news broadcaster to win a News and Documentary Emmy when it was awarded top prize for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for the 1992 discovery of the Serb camps. The famous footage of emaciated men behind barbed wire went round the world and helped change the course of the conflict in Bosnia.
In addition to many BAFTA, Emmy and RTS awards, ITN/ITV News has also claimed awards from the Monte Carlo Gold Nymphs, prizes from the News Festival of Angers in France, the Television and Radio Industries Club
Television and Radio Industries Club
The Television and Radio Industries Club is a British institution chartered in 1931 to "promote goodwill in the television and radio industries"...
, the Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards and the Broadcasting Press Guild as well as many others.