BBC North West Tonight

Watch out for Penny Haslam making her debut on North West Tonight, this evening at 6:30 with Roger!

The demolition of New Broadcasting House has started.

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1587389_british-bulldozing-corporation-landmark-bbc-manchester-base-on-oxford-road-is-demolished?rss=yes

I'm amused by the comment on that page:-

Here's Penny on the lunchtime bulletin.

Will post evening bulletin with Roger later on.

Oh dear, bitter ex staff maybe!?

No, I don't think so, just the general public's perception of the BBC. She just assumed the only product of that building was NWT and Radio Manchester. No idea any network production that took place there ?

Actually, there are plenty of people that believed Capital Radio occupied the whole of Euston Tower !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euston_Tower

The Beeb need to try harder to ensure Joe Public doesn't assume everything is made in Shepherds Bush.

They don't really advertise the fact Breakfast and the Sports Bullys come from Salford (although Daily Mail readers are probably more aware of that )

Well I have to say that Penny is awful. Very wooden and seems to lack any form of interaction with the weather presenter, although Eno is just as bad.

I think back to this time last year when I would argue NWT was one of the best regional news programmes. How I long for the days of lunchtimes with Gordon and Heather, and I even miss Ranvir. I think the programme could do with a complete overhall. A return to single-headed presentation for the evenings, shared between Roger and Anabelle (with the pair also sharing the lunch and late bulletins). Oh, and replace the sofa with a desk; presenters always look awkward on it, and whilst I think it suits Breakfast, I'm not convinced it does for NWT, particularly when there is often just one presenter sitting gormlessly in the centre. When it seemed all BBC regional news was abandoning desks back around 2004/5, the North West resisted, and now with the majority returning to desks, we've abandoned it!

It does seem VERY much like that doesn't it!? I remember Midlands Today being one of the first to go sofa (but kept a decent desk, none of this coffee table rubbish) - very ahead of its time, but by around 2007 it was tired and old, it'd sacrificed the gravitas of the programme and relaxed it into nothing more than a regional One Show!

Back to North West Tonight, I think the biggest reasons for not having a proper desk is how close it'd appear to those plasmas, things are really tight in there with the frying pan, something will have to change. I'd LOVE to see a return to a desk up there mind, their sofa doesn't work (I think it's comparative to the size of the screens it just looks cheap and cheapens the programme). Single headed might not be a bad solution - Roger Johnson just doesn't seem to get on with anybody he's sat next to!

I'd also like to see the frosting dropped on NWT's backdrop, that's just dreaming mind - it makes it look really really fake!

In my region the programme quality has really improved with new editorial decisions and the removal of that sofa system, so I hope somebody at BBC North West sees sense!

I'm not an avid viewer of NWT, but I usually see bits and pieces, maybe 2 or 3 times per week. For years you always knew it would be Gordon with Diane on the weather, and occasionally a relief like Martin Henfield, Stuart Flinders et al. But now, it's the total opposite... every time I tune in the programme is being presented by different people. It doesn't make for comfortable viewing and/or continuity at all. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I think Roger is awful. He's got no personality and tries way too hard to be chatty and interesting. Last night with that Penny was absolutely cringeworthy. Tony is alright but was better on sport. I don't know what all the fuss is about regarding Rachael Hodges. Nothing amazing in my opinion, probably better suited to network radio and television, as I thought she was rather too serious for regional news.

Anyway, it just feels like the programme no longer has any sort of routine. And don't even get me started on the closing moments of each programme, 9 times out of 10 they fall totally flat with no-one really saying goodbye. NWT was a brilliant programme with Gordon at the helm, but I don't think anyone can credibly argue that point any more.

Roger has grown in to his role I think, Annabelle and Roger certainly have a better on screen chemistry compared to him and Ranvir. Tony is just a little bit too 'cocky' for the main role, Roger seems far more down to earth. I agree the end of the programme is always a highlight for the awkward banter, notice how Dianne always has to have the last word, queen bee jealousy perhaps that she's not ruling the roost in the main presenter role that she's been tried out for? I think the inconsistency over the last few weeks is just down to holiday leave.

Well, if I'm honest, I think Diane has every right to be like that. She's been there longer than anyone and has never been given the main co-hosting role. After almost 20 years on the programme, she's still stuck doing the same weather forecasting role. And some of the women they've brought in over the years have been dreadful. If I was still stuck in the same entry-level job in an organisation after 2 decades, I think I'd be rather bitter too. They may have 'tried her out' but only on the odd occasion. She's never been given the programme for a substantial amount of time.

I fear that NWT is often just going to get the left-overs from Breakfast when a cover presenter is needed, meaning we could end up with more of the likes of Penny. The lack of continuity is certainly a problem but Roger has grown on me. I still think single-headed presentation would reduce the lack of continuity as there would one less role to fill. I've said it many times before but I really don't get why Stuart Flinders wasn't given Gordon's job, unless he himself turned it down. I haven't seen him present the programme for years.

Regarding Diane, I remember the last edition of the programme before the 2007 relaunch when it was in Liverpool, Gordon said he would be joined by a new co-presenter and that we would "Singh her praises", to which Diane replied "so it's not me then?". I don't think she has any reason to have expected the main presenter role. She's a trained meteorologist, and I think the only one from the NWT team, and I can't think off the top of my head any major journalistic roles, unless you count her work on regional radio. I think Diane is being utilised in the best possible way; any of the rare times she did present the programme, she wasn't very good.