NEWS at TEN - January 2016 Relaunch

Evening all! Yes, I'm back, but don't worry. It's only a flying visit. A shot across the bows, so to speak. I saw something online about Tom Singleton leaving and for some reason I found myself thinking about TVForum and what the folk here thought of the comings and goings at Gray's Inn Road. Curiosity, of course, got the better of me and I stumbled across this gem of a post.

I'm going to regret this, but what makes a news programme 'cool'? A bright red Ford Gran Torino with a white vector stripe is cool. Yup, I've dated myself with that one, but hey ho... Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction is cool. I'm at a loss as to identify anything about a news programme that can be 'cool'.

GMc is, by his own admission, "flabbergasted" at the idea of the current (not present) News at Ten theme tune being an appropriate backing track for video of police and terrorists shooting it out. Flabbergasted? I'm downright gobsmacked that a) nobody has really challenged the comment yet and b) not one of the mods has thought to offer a friendly word of advice. Does nobody remember the outcry when ITV News matched the collapse of the World Trade Centre to the drums of its music? Out of interest, should ITV News use a different piece of music for stories that don't include gun battles between the police and terrorists? Maybe something on the cello or violin for sombre occasions? Perhaps something with a hint of brass bands and a choir for anything patriotic or regal?

As for the opening sequence being "action-packed"... No. I really don't see it. Don't get me wrong - I like it, but if anything, it's an evolution of the BBC titles. If you ignore the colour schemes, there really isn't that much of a difference between the two. Do they feature a globe? Yes. Do they feature a representation of major cities around the world? Yes - the BBC titles use text, the ITV titles use images. Do they feature a 'motif' of sorts? Yes - the BBC titles feature the circles and pulses, the ITV titles use blocks. There are only so many ways to reinvent the circle.

I'm overjoyed that people find Bradby and Peston "amusing". No, really, I am. The thing is, I don't want the anchor of a flagship newscast to be amusing. I don't want a political editor to be amusing. I want serious. I want "This is what happened today". I know Martyn Lewis was a proponent of 'good news' but, more often than not, there are sufficient serious stories that can be covered in the broadcast. Let's not sacrifice space in the running order for something important just because there's a really nice bit of VT for the "And finally..." segment.

My memory may be playing tricks on me - after all, 15 years is a long time - but I seem to recall it was BBC News that matched the images of the WTC collapse to the drums in their sombre opening/closing music. I don't recall ITV News doing it, but then again I could well be wrong.



To be fair, though, it was the original ITN News at Ten that pioneered interesting news titles in this country. While the BBC had basic logos, maps of the world and strange "venetian blinds" effects in the 60s, 70s and 80s, News at Ten pioneered titles with representations of major world cities, globes and clocks - most of which the BBC copied from them along the way. I would say that throughout history, ITN has been far more innovative with its presentation elements and design than the BBC which has mostly remained quite conservative in its approach.

You're going to be disappointed... Kevin Lygo confirmed it at a Bafta session a few weeks ago.
It's going to be at 10 pm, to offer an alternative to BBC NAT and better utilise the 9pm ratings lead ins.
It is more of an entertainment show than chat show. It has a huge budget btw, so big that they can afford to record 2 entire weeks of nightly pilots in December....

Then continuing to call the bulletin "News at Ten" would defy credibility. Due to Bradby's American-style presentation of the bulletin, why not go all the way - bring back the "Nightly News" title?! After all, for 8 weeks (and probably permanently), it will be, like the main evening NBC network bulletin, on at half-past the hour.

How is the style American?

I'd say the presentation has more in common with the prime-time US cable news programmes than the network evening newscasts - albeit in a very watered-down way.

On the former, the presenters frequently give their two penneth on the stories they're covering, but the latter are much straighter programmes.

Bradby's conversational-style presentation of the bulletin is American.

Rubbish.

His presentation has been referred to on other fora online as "American-style".

Anything that isn't in the style of British TV circa 1980 tends to be described as American Style, usually in a negative manner.

I thought tonight's NEWS At TEN with Tom Bradby in Washington was very good. The music was good at the end too as the camera panned over the White House.

Strangely Tom Bradby seems to be more bearable if he's presenting the Ten on location. Much better delivery and none of the usual awkwardness during the closing seconds of the programme.