| ITV Evening News | |
|---|---|
 ITV News opening sequence | |
| Genre | News and Current Affairs |
| Presented by | Mary Nightingale |
| Theme music composer | Dave Hewson |
| Opening theme | "Global Broadcast" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Production locations | ITN headquarters, London, England |
| Editors | Rachel Corp[1] (Editor, ITV News) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30–60 minutes |
| Production company | ITN |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 22 September 1955 (1955-09-22) – present |
| Related | |
| |
TheITV Evening News is the evening news programme produced byITN on the British television networkITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm usually until 7.30pm (since March 2022) though the finishing time of the bulletin can occasionally be brought forward to 7pm in cases of coverage byITV Sport or other special programmes airing on ITV. TheITV Evening News covers British national and international news stories and is presented byMary Nightingale.
On 22 September 1955 when the ITV television service was launched,ITN provided an early evening news service at 5:50pm. It was known simply asITN News, and usually presented byGordon Honeycombe. This simple bulletin made use of a single camera, and was intended as a round-up of the day's headlines and (from 1967) looking at stories to be covered in more length by that evening's edition ofNews at Ten.
On 6 September 1976,ITN News moved to 5:45pm and was renamedNews at 545. The545 marked a major departure in presentational style from theITN News that had preceded it. Initially, the bulletins were broadcast from thePolice 5 studio, which enabled the producers to make extensive use of chromakey to display images behind the newscaster, several studio cameras, interviews with correspondents in the studio and on a TV monitor, and wide screen shots of the studio set at the beginning and end of the programme, and when handing over to correspondents.[citation needed]
Alastair Burnet was the original presenter of theNews at 545.Michael Nicholson fronted the bulletin on Fridays, and was also a relief presenter. Immediately after the animated visual 'roll' and electronic theme music at the beginning, an announcer intoned in a hushed tone: "The news at 5:45, with Alastair Burnett/Michael Nicholson". Other relief presenters in the late 1970s includedLeonard Parkin, who at the time also regularly hosted theNews at One, andMartyn Lewis. In March 1980, when Burnet departed the545 to presentNews at Ten, Nicholson replaced him as lead presenter, withCarol Barnes taking over as relief presenter. In September 1986, Nicholson left the545 to return to war reporting, and was replaced byAlastair Stewart.
On 4 April 1988, theNews at 545 underwent some cosmetic changes, with the animated visual 'roll' logo and electronic theme music being dropped in favour of a new computer-generated opening sequence and a more contemporary theme tune; the studio images were still inlaid using chromakey, although these were now also generated by computer. The programme was moved to the main newsroom within the ITN headquarters building, and full-length reports were now featured as part of the programme. ITN dispensed with the "main" presenter and relief host format, and instead a "team" of newscasters –Alastair Stewart,Fiona Armstrong,Nicholas Owen,Trevor McDonald,Sue Carpenter andCarol Barnes – began presenting the show on a "rotation" basis. On 13 February 1989, the introduction of anational weather forecast at the end of the programme led to the bulletin's timeslot starting earlier at 5:40pm, being extended in length and the title being changed toNews at 540.[2]
Due to the Gulf Crisis of 1991, ITN were temporarily granted a full half-hour slot each evening; the continued change of time (and length) of the bulletin around this time led to theNews at 540 being known simply as theITN News.
On 2 March 1992, theITN News at 540 was renamed as theITN Early Evening News - a name previously used now and again in the 1980s on occasions when the bulletin did not air at its usual time for any reason (usually as the result of a live sporting event overrunning). The new look made good use of ITN's impressive headquarters in London with opening sequence consisting of a camera panning across the building towards the newsdesk giving a panoramic view of the newsroom.John Suchet became the lead presenter, a role in which he continued until 1999. Barnes and Owen acted as relief presenters.
On 5 June 1995, theITN Early Evening News was relaunched, bringing it into line with theLunchtime News which relaunched on 6 March. By the end of July, all of ITN's news programmes on ITV had been relaunched with a more unified look, with exception toNews at Ten which maintained its separate identity. The new look, however, brought elements ofNews at Ten to ITN's other bulletins such as the use of the clockface ofBig Ben and theNews at Ten theme-tune, however the tune was rearranged differently. The studio at the time made heavy use of the colour blue – ITN's corporate colour at the time. The intro showed different images ofBig Ben's clockface with the hands of the clock eventually striking the time at 5:40 – the time at which the programme began. Around this time,Dermot Murnaghan became the main relief presenter in addition to his role as the lead presenter of theLunchtime News.[3]
On 8 March 1999, theITN Early Evening News moved from 5:40pm to 6:30pm and renamed theITV Evening News, coinciding with major changes to the scheduling of news programmes on ITV.[4]
The axing ofNews at Ten proved unpopular at the time and caused an outcry from politicians and the general public, and ratings for ITV's news programmes fell.[5][6]ITV News at Ten returned on 22 January 2001, with McDonald once again at the helm; Murnaghan and Young became the lead presenters of the dual-headedEvening News.Mary Nightingale replaced Young a few months later when Young decided not to return following maternity leave.Mark Austin replaced Murnaghan following his defection toBBC News in late 2002.
The programme relaunched on 2 February 2004 in what was then a state of the art virtual studio set dubbed theTheatre of News by the media, along with the other ITV News programmes.[7] The move saw the ITN newscasters standing (or walking) in front of a news-wall and presenting graphics to viewers. TheTheatre of News was scaled back following a relaunch on 9 February 2009, with a return to a more traditional style of presenters sat behind a desk.[citation needed]
On 3 August 2009, it was announced that after 16 years co-presentingLondon Tonight, Alastair Stewart was to leave the regional news programme to become lead co-presenter of theITV Evening News. Mark Austin would focus onITV News at Ten, but continue as a relief presenter for the 6.30pm bulletin.[8]
On 2 November 2009, the programme was retitled as theITV News at 6:30. The studio set was virtual, using a new green screen electronic compositing system known as 'Ultimatte'. Virtual sets can be created instantly and at low cost.[9] Unlike traditionalChroma key systems, Ultimatte allows for such things as full camera movement and can generate artificial reflections on glass and metallic surfaces.[citation needed]
It was announced in June 2015 that, as part of a wider restructure at ITV News, Mark Austin would return to the programme full-time, alongside Mary Nightingale from October 2015. Alastair Stewart continued to appear on the programme as a relief presenter, alongside his duties on theITV Lunchtime News.[10] Coinciding with the main presenter line-up, the programme is once again being referred to as theITV Evening News.[11]
After thirty years withITV News, it was announced on 26 October 2016 that Austin would leave at the end of the year.[12] It was later confirmed on 13 December 2016 that Nightingale would become the sole presenter of theITV Evening News from January 2017 onwards.[13] Austin presented his final bulletin alongside Nightingale on 22 December 2016.
On 24 January 2022, ITV announced that theITV Evening News would be extended to an hour from 7 March 2022, following the biggest expansion of the ITV News Network in 20 years. The move involved hiring 27 new staff including journalists, producers and camera operators. The move aimed to ensure more live coverage would be provided from more locations across the UK, with an emphasis to cover more stories around Britain. The regional news programmes were scheduled to remain at 30 minutes in the usual 6:00pm slot.[14]
ITV Border Scotland,ITV Cymru Wales,STV andUTV have the option of opting-out of the Friday edition of the programme at 7pm to broadcast regional shows.[15]
On 7 March 2022, the first newly extendedITV Evening News was broadcast at 6:30pm on ITV with Mary Nightingale, who continues to be main anchor of the show, with slightly tweaked on screen graphics, and with the addition of the nationalITV Weather bulletin, usually presented by Alex Beresford now being broadcast during the hour show in the studio. The set was altered very slightly, with the screens either side of the presenter changing. The rest of the set and the theme tune stayed the same.[16][17]The bulletin's length is occasionally shortened back to 30 minutes in the event ofITV Sport coverage airing on ITV, to allow displaced editions ofEmmerdale to begin at 7pm, and some one-off programmes.
ITV Evening News was watched by an average of 3.2 million viewers (a 21% share of viewing) in 2021.[18]
The opening title music has been composed byDave Hewson since 1992. The current title sequence was designed byLambie Nairn and the music is called "Global Broadcast".[citation needed]
| Preceded by | RTS: Television Journalism News Programme of the Year 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | RTS: Television Journalism News Programme of the Year 2005–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | RTS: Television Journalism News – Home (Selly Oak – A Soldier's Story) 2007 | Succeeded by |