Westcountry Live was the flagship regional news programme of ITV Westcountry

Westcountry Television

Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...

, serving the South West of England.

History

The programme was first broadcast on Monday 4 January 1993 - four days after Westcountry Television took over the ITV regional franchise from Television South West

Television South West

Television South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...

. The programme ended on Friday 13 February 2009.

The Westcountry Live main newscasters upon the programme's axing were Richard Bath, Alexis Bowater

Alexis Bowater

Alexis Bowater is a former British television journalist and presenter.-Biography:The daughter of Sir Euan, 3rd Baronet Bowater and Lady Bowater, Alexis was born and brought up in Chagford, Devon. She graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with a Bachelor's Degree in English and...

 and Jemma Woodman.

Merger

Following ITV Westcountry's merger with ITV West to form ITV West & Westcountry

ITV South West

ITV West & Westcountry, also known as ITV South West, is a non-franchise ITV regional station covering the South West of England and incorporating the former ITV West and ITV Westcountry regions.-History:...

, the new pan-regional programme The West Country Tonight

The West Country Tonight

The West Country Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, also including local sports news and local features of interest, produced by ITV West & Westcountry at its studios in Bristol...

launched on Monday 16 February 2009. A 15-minute opt-out for the current Westcountry region is featured within the 18:00 programme alongside a fully separate late night bulletin and localised weather forecasts. Weekday daytime bulletins for the Westcountry region were reintroduced in September 2011.

Depending on the day's news, either the West or Westcountry bulletins are pre-recorded. The service is presented from Bristol with newsrooms in Plymouth, Truro and Exeter covering the region. Former Westcountry Live newscasters at time of closure Richard Bath, Alexis Bowater and Jemma Woodman were made redundant. Bath and Woodman presented the final main edition of the programme on Friday 13 February 2009, which featured a special highlights compilation with contributions from presenters, reporters and production staff.

Newsrooms in Plymouth, Barnstaple, Penzance, Torbay and Weymouth were closed. A new, smaller Plymouth newsroom opened at the offices of independent production company Twofour

Twofour

Twofour is a UK independent media group that was founded in 1988 by Charles Wace, a former TV news producer and brother of financier Ian Wace. It has grown to become one of the largest independent media groups in the UK, employing over 350 people internationally....

.