ITV News: Rotas & Presenters

Geraint Vincent returns to newscasting next week whilst the likes of Natasha Kaplinsky continue to fill in for Mary on the EN.

Will be interesting to see how that goes down! Although the guide says Natasha and Geraint on Wednesday somehow I think it won't be as Natasha hasn't worked Wednesdays for months and Julie only does NaT on Wednesday. So with Mary away it could be Nina or dare I say a return to Geraint and Romilly! If so brace yourself for a long closing theme haha

Anything could happen at the moment as there will be pilots going ahead for the new format. I doubt the main newscasters are "away" in the usual sense of the word; they'll be rehearsing with the new set etc.

So the "new set" then will at the very least have a new desk.

I hope they keep the current theme music. I really like it and I think it works really well now - its very ITV News!!

I really hope nina co-hosts. used to love the days with geraint and nina every friday!

Hmmm ever since Natasha has been on the National I've actually grown to like her, even more so than Nina. Natasha fits well into the National really good and seems to present alongside Alastair really good as well.

As for Geraint, I've often thought he was a bit fidgety when he was presenting, always moving about. Wouldn't be my main choice....but these are just my humble opinions.

I agree with Gaz. Geraint is one of their best reporters, but I've never taken to his presenting style. He looks almost like a rabbit caught in the headlights. There are other good ones, Chris Ship in particular who I don't believe has presented for quite some time.

Although I have got used to her on ITV News, I'm still not too keen on Natasha Kaplinsky. I was never a big fan of Nina but I now appreciate whenever she presents a bulletin!



I do agree that the current music is quite nice, particularly some of the longer pieces (such as the closing) which include nice orchestral string arrangements and build-ups. But I do hope that if they keep the music, they remix it somewhat - I do tend to agree with comments made by itsrobert a while back that the main opening sounds like an annoying police siren. If they tone it down or get rid of that bit I'll be happy.

Mark and Julie tonight were hilarious! Also I didn't think Geraint was as jumpy tonight, the camera though did have to be repositioned a few times on air.0

I'd say the current theme is excellent - I disagree with the "siren" comment, I like the brassiness of the theme. Obviously, being a synthesised piece, it's a lot easier to tweak it, so I think that they will be quite likely to do so.

Caught tonight's close for those who missed;

I like Natasha a lot. I never really liked her on the BBC or Channel 5, she always seemed to give off the impression that she was above it. But at ITV she has really come into her own. Where is Mary these days? Is she doing another series of Britains Best Dish or something?

With regards to the theme tune, I think its fine it just needs tweaking. I'm not sure how to describe it but it just needs a bit more 'scale'. When you compare it to BBC and Sky, when a big story breaks there is just something about those theme tunes which isn't quite there with ITV News. They both just sound more 'epic' (sorry, I really can't think of any more appropriate words to get my point across).