ITV News at 6:30
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| ITV News at 6:30 | |
|---|---|
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| Format | National and International news |
| Presented by | Mary Nightingale Alastair Stewart |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | ITN |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original airing | 6 September 1976 - |
The ITV News at 6:30 is the early evening news bulletin on the British television network ITV. It is produced by ITN.
The ITV News at 6:30, presented by main newscasters Mary Nightingale and Alastair Stewart, is a twenty-five minute news programme covering British national and international news stories, broadcast at 18:30 from Monday to Friday. In the event of a major news story, one of the programme's presenters will front the first ten to fifteen minutes of the programme from the scene of the story. The other newscaster will remain in the studio and read the day's other news.
On Bank Holidays, the main evening bulletin usually airs at either 6:15 or 6:45, running for 15 minutes.
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[edit] History
The chronology of the programme begins in 1976 with News at 545. It marked a major departure in presentational style from the old ITN News presented by Gordon Honeycombe, that immediately preceded it. Alastair Burnet was the first presenter of the News at 545, and immediately after the visual 'roll' and electronic audio at the beginning, the announcer intoned in a hushed tone: "The news at 5:45, with Alastair Burnet". In contrast to the former programme's light blue background with a single camera, the News at 545 made extensive use of chromakey to inlaid images behind the newscaster, several studio cameras, interviews with correspondents in the studio and on a TV monitor, and wide screen shots of the studio set at the beginning and end of the programme, and when handing over to correspondents. Michael Nicholson presented the show on Fridays, and was also a relief presenter, before continuing as a regular host from 1980 when Burnett moved on to present News At Ten until September 1986. Other newscasters in the early days included Leonard Parkin, who at the time also regularly hosted the News at One, and Martyn Lewis. Initially, the bulletins were broadcast from the Police Five studio and intended as a round-up of the day's headlines and looking at stories to be covered in more length by that evening's edition of News at Ten. In 1988, the News at 545 underwent some cosmetic changes, being given a new look and a computer-generated opening sequence for the first time, with Alastair Stewart replacing Nicholson as the main anchor and the programme being moved to the main newsroom within the ITN headquarters building, and with full-length reports now also being featured as part of the programme. In 1989, the introduction of a national weather forecast at the end of the programme led to the bulletin's timeslot being extended in length to 20 minutes and the title being changed to News at 540.
Due to the Gulf Crisis of 1991, ITN were temporarily granted a full half-hour slot each evening; the continual change of time (and length) of the bulletin around this time led to the News at 540 being knows at the ITN News before returning to 5:40 after the Gulf War ending. In 1992, the bulletin was re-branded as the Early Evening News, with John Suchet as the programme's main newscaster, though the bulletin stayed at 5:40 and kept the Early Evening News name, until it was cancelled in 1999. The 18:30 ITV Evening News was then launched, with Trevor McDonald as its main presenter. He left to present the revived and short-lived News at Ten in 2001 and subsequently became main presenter on the ITV News at 10.30 (and later on, a third incarnation of News at Ten in November 2008). Following McDonald's departure from the ITV Evening News in 2001, Dermot Murnaghan and Mary Nightingale became the programme's main newscasters. Mark Austin replaced Murnaghan following the latter presenter's defection to BBC News in 2002.
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 main co-anchor of the ITV Evening News. Mark Austin, as the channel's lead news anchor, now concentrates his energies on News at Ten but continues to present some editions of the 6.30pm bulletin.[1]
[edit] Newscasters
[edit] Current newscasters
| Years | Newscasters | Current role | Other roles | Previous roles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 - present | Mary Nightingale | Main newscaster | ||
| 2009 - present | Alastair Stewart | Main newscaster | ITV News at 1:30 newscaster | Relief newscaster from 2003-2009 |
| 2002 - present | Mark Austin | Relief newscasters | ITV News at Ten newscaster | Main newscaster from 2002-2009 |
| 2002 - present | Katie Derham | ITV News at 1:30 and London Tonight newscaster | ||
| 2009 - present | Julie Etchingham | ITV News at Ten newscaster | ||
| 2002 - present | James Mates | Senior correspondent |
[edit] Former newscasters
- Fiona Armstrong - presenter, 1985-1989
- Carol Barnes - relief presenter, 1982-1994
- Felicity Barr - relief presenter, 2001-2005
- Andrea Catherwood - relief presenter, 2003-2006
- Shiulie Ghosh - relief presenter, 1998-2006
- Nina Hossain - relief presenter, 2004-2008
- Trevor McDonald - relief presenter, 1983-2001
- Lucy Meacock - relief presenter, 2007-2009
- Dermot Murnaghan - relief presenter, 1989-2002
- Bill Neely - relief presenter, 2006-2008
- Michael Nicholson - presenter, 1976-1986
- Lucy Owen - relief presenter, 2004-2006
- Nicholas Owen - relief presenter, 1990-2007
- Leonard Parkin - relief presenter, 1976-1987
- Steve Scott - relief presenter, 2005-2009
- John Suchet - presenter, 1991-1999
- Geraint Vincent - relief presenter, 2006-2009
- Romilly Weeks - relief presenter, 2006-2009
- Kirsty Young - presenter, 2000-2002
[edit] Guest presenters
Between 19 September and 23 September 2005, former ITN newscasters returned to present the ITV Evening News alongside either Mark Austin or Mary Nightingale as part of ITV and ITN's 50th birthday celebrations:
- Julia Somerville - presenter of News at One and News at Ten, 1987-2001
- Martyn Lewis - presenter of ITN News at 545 and News at Ten, 1976-1986
- Selina Scott - presenter of News at Ten, 1977-1982
- Gordon Honeycombe - presenter of ITN bulletins, 1965-1977
- Anna Ford - presenter of News at Ten, 1975-1981
[edit] References
- ^ "More Mark Austin on News at Ten". MediaGuardian. 19 August 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/19/mark-austin-news-ten. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
[edit] External links
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