ITV News Tyne Tees

Overview

The news programme is made and sent out from studios at The Watermark in Gateshead, with extra reporters working from a Teesside base in Billingham. ITV News Tyne Tees and Lookaround share the same presenters and studio set, so one of the two shows is recorded 'as live' just before it airs, depending on the day's news. The Tyne Tees service covers Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Northumberland, Teesside, the Alston part of Cumbria, and sections of North Yorkshire. In some parts of North Yorkshire, viewers' aerials are aimed at the Bilsdale transmitter, which carries ITV News Tyne Tees, but most in the county use Emley Moor or Oliver's Mount to get ITV News Calendar from Leeds. People in Scarborough and a few in Filey receive Calendar via the Oliver's Mount relay.

History

The story of ITV News Tyne Tees begins on 15 January 1959, when the station first put out short evening bulletins alongside a weekly Friday magazine called North East Roundabout. By 30 March 1964, the nightly news had a new name: North East Newsview. Colour arrived in 1969 with the launch of Today at Six. The region’s longest-running news programme, Northern Life, started on 6 September 1976, with presenters like Paul Frost and Pam Royle. It ran until 5 October 1992, when Tyne Tees Today took over. From 31 March 1993, a sub-regional service called Network North served the southern part of the area. Both titles were dropped in November 1995 in favour of Tyne Tees News, though separate north and south editions continued. A lifestyle show, Tonight, joined the schedule in January 1996.

A major change came on 2 September 1996, when Mike Neville, who had spent 32 years at BBC Look North, moved to Tyne Tees. His arrival led to the launch of North East Tonight, which replaced the two separate news services and the Tonight programme. In August and November 2005, the station tried out sub-regional editions of North East Tonight. The northern edition covered Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and northern County Durham, broadcasting from Pontop Pike and Chatton. The southern edition covered North Yorkshire, Tees Valley, and southern County Durham, using the Bilsdale transmitter. These trials happened after Mike Neville went on leave in July 2005. Other bulletins, such as those for GMTV, weekday lunchtime and late slots, and weekend early evenings, remained pan-regional. The sub-regional editions became permanent in January 2006. Neville announced his retirement on 5 June 2006, after nearly a year off sick. In September 2007, ITV plc said it planned to merge the Tyne Tees newsroom with ITV Border, pending Ofcom approval. Ofcom gave the go-ahead on 26 September 2008, allowing ITV to cut £40 million a year by axing weekday mid-morning and weekend lunchtime bulletins, merging regions, and dropping most non-news regional programmes.