ITV has been granted approval from the Independent Television Commission (ITC) to move its 10 o’clock news bulletin to 10.30pm in 2004.
The decision to reschedule to 10.30pm, five nights a week from Monday to Friday, will re-establish a fixed timeslot for the late evening news bulletin on ITV and end head to head news scheduling with BBC One.
Nigel Pickard, ITV Director of Programmes said: “This decision is absolutely in the public interest. Head to head news on the two main channels has not served viewers well. This solution enhances choice for news audiences, and restores a fixed slot for ITV’s main evening bulletin. Now that a resolution has been agreed our news team can focus on delivering the strongest possible editorial proposition with a distinctive bulletin at 10.30pm.”
The 10.30pm bulletin, produced for ITV by ITN, will be a half hour programme combining national, international and regional news.
Steve Anderson, Controller of ITV News and Current Affairs, said: “This decision finally brings to an end the scheduling uncertainties of the past and enables us to concentrate on establishing a high quality news programme at 10.30pm. A fixed start time five nights a week gives viewers a clear appointment to view and allows ITV News to develop in a new and exciting direction.”
David Mannion, Editor of ITV News said: "The new schedule presents an exciting opportunity to produce a new and reinvigorated programme. We firmly believe that a fixed time slot five days a week will make the programme more competitive and more attractive to viewers. The 10.30pm slot is different in character to 10pm, and will provide us with a great opportunity to build on the outstanding coverage of the past few months and consolidate ITV News' reputation for journalistic excellence.”
There will be no change to the scheduling of ITV’s 6.30pm news, which meets the regulatory requirement to provide a half hour national news bulletin in peak time. Regional news magazines will continue to be scheduled at 6pm. The change will also see most of the regional non-news programmes currently shown at 10.30pm move into peak time.
The decision to reschedule to 10.30pm, five nights a week from Monday to Friday, will re-establish a fixed timeslot for the late evening news bulletin on ITV and end head to head news scheduling with BBC One.
Nigel Pickard, ITV Director of Programmes said: “This decision is absolutely in the public interest. Head to head news on the two main channels has not served viewers well. This solution enhances choice for news audiences, and restores a fixed slot for ITV’s main evening bulletin. Now that a resolution has been agreed our news team can focus on delivering the strongest possible editorial proposition with a distinctive bulletin at 10.30pm.”
The 10.30pm bulletin, produced for ITV by ITN, will be a half hour programme combining national, international and regional news.
Steve Anderson, Controller of ITV News and Current Affairs, said: “This decision finally brings to an end the scheduling uncertainties of the past and enables us to concentrate on establishing a high quality news programme at 10.30pm. A fixed start time five nights a week gives viewers a clear appointment to view and allows ITV News to develop in a new and exciting direction.”
David Mannion, Editor of ITV News said: "The new schedule presents an exciting opportunity to produce a new and reinvigorated programme. We firmly believe that a fixed time slot five days a week will make the programme more competitive and more attractive to viewers. The 10.30pm slot is different in character to 10pm, and will provide us with a great opportunity to build on the outstanding coverage of the past few months and consolidate ITV News' reputation for journalistic excellence.”
There will be no change to the scheduling of ITV’s 6.30pm news, which meets the regulatory requirement to provide a half hour national news bulletin in peak time. Regional news magazines will continue to be scheduled at 6pm. The change will also see most of the regional non-news programmes currently shown at 10.30pm move into peak time.
