ITV News Changes from March

[Mr Q]

Seems like a no-brainer to me. Using news as part of a wider move to shorten primetime and reduce programming costs makes complete sense in a world of streaming. It's much harder to attract eyeballs to linear TV, but news and soaps in fixed timeslots provide a level of predictability that are probably quite effective in locking in viewer habits.

I think it'll be interesting to see if/how the BBC responds. One option could be to bring forward the BBC News at 10 to 9.30pm - or even a return to 9pm.

[Adsales101]

I’m a bit at a loss why so many posters are up in arms over this :?

ITV is doing what commercial networks all over the world are doing and is building on what has been done for mornings.

It’s a fact, whether us TV geeks like it or not, that News and soft talk shows are cheaper than fictional content.

So ITV has filled 6am to 2pm with cheap, entertaining live programming and news.

It is now adding 30 additional minutes of news in the evening and is moving the soaps into a 90 minute block.

The news ratings don’t matter in the grand scheme of things and the costs are negligible but more ads can be shown during the soaps and later on. Win for ITV.

If the soaps lose a few viewers, no problem either as those viewers are likely to move to Hub.

The ad breaks will still be sought after to a greater extent than those during the random stuff that’s shown between the soaps. Another win for ITV.

More jobs being created in TV news (I think 20 have been mentioned) is a great thing in these times, so a win for everybody.

Times are changing and linear TV is becoming more and more about those things that don’t lend themselves to VOD services. If a network manages to adapt in such a way that keeps advertisers happy then it’s good news.

[BBI45]

Is this why they're extending it?

[CameronYoung]

Is this why they're extending it?

I think if it is, they'd have already extended it by now. Not wishing to delve too much into politics, it's looking increasingly likely we'll have a new PM come March/April, and would there be much point uncovering scandals regarding an already ousted PM?

[Brekkie]

Did they mention the changes on the bulletin?

[JAS84]

I dont think kylie can do that for the near future. She will be going on maternity leave soon and the extended show doesn't start till April

It starts in March. Which is mentioned in the thread title.

[Toby brown]

I dont think kylie can do that for the near future. She will be going on maternity leave soon and the extended show doesn't start till April

It starts in March. Which is mentioned in the thread title.

Im sorry i didnt notice that. I was told by someone earlier today it was april

[XIII]

Seems like a no-brainer to me. Using news as part of a wider move to shorten primetime and reduce programming costs makes complete sense in a world of streaming. It's much harder to attract eyeballs to linear TV, but news and soaps in fixed timeslots provide a level of predictability that are probably quite effective in locking in viewer habits.

I think it'll be interesting to see if/how the BBC responds. One option could be to bring forward the BBC News at 10 to 9.30pm - or even a return to 9pm.

There’s no chance BBC One will go to 9pm news, that would be gifting the slot to the other networks and it made no sense having programmes starting later

[London Lite]

If anything I doubt the current arrangement for ITV News London will change. Only part of the bulletin is live and they normally go to pre-rec when the weather starts, which allows for the cameras to be rearranged for the Evening News.

Using the virtual set means they can quickly change the background without major disruption.

[Brekkie]

Yes, I'd be surprised if the set up changed but they do have the digital studio space which could be upgraded I guess if they did need to bump London out.

Hopefully News at Ten retains some original reporting - would be a shame if they lost their one or two exclusive reports in order to fill the extra half hour earlier in the evening.

[bfgarmy]

To echo what I posted in the main ITV News thread - whatever the rights or wrongs of this upcoming change one positive aspect is Mary having an even more prominent role as a result of this change. She's an excellent newscaster and probably doesn’t get the recognition she deserves. She’s been anchoring the news for well over two decades and is strong as ever and for all the changes at ITV News over the years Mary on the evening news has been a constant.
This does mainly seem to be an effort to try to keep ratings as consistent as ITV can by having their strong performing shows like the Evening News, Corrie and Emmerdale take up more of the evening than they currently do by having an extra half hour of the news. The question I guess is how they fill the extra half hour of news without putting in too much filler and if viewers will stay around for a full hour of news.

[Brekkie]

Hopefully they throw an extra 30-60 seconds from the extra half hour in the direction of the weather forecast which would certainly benefit from being slightly longer.

[XIII]

If anything I doubt the current arrangement for ITV News London will change. Only part of the bulletin is live and they normally go to pre-rec when the weather starts, which allows for the cameras to be rearranged for the Evening News.

Using the virtual set means they can quickly change the background without major disruption.

Is ITV London fully live if the ITV Evening News is on location or do they stick to the current setup?

[chris]

Hopefully they throw an extra 30-60 seconds from the extra half hour in the direction of the weather forecast which would certainly benefit from being slightly longer.

This will be happening and the weather forecast will be integrated into the bulletin, like it is on the BBC.

[Stuart]

I really don't understand this move by ITV News. I certainly have no desire to watch a 90 minute news segment in early evening, complete with extra 'padding', when all I just want is a bulletin while having my tea and a cuppa.

I suspect that the best ITV will get is people just dipping in/out, and then use the aggregated figures as justification. I think this is MORE likely to encourage the demise of linear broadcast viewing than to encourage it.