The West Tonight

The West Tonight was the flagship news programme in the ITV West region. It was broadcast at 6pm every weeknight. It launched in 1968 as Report West and ceased broadcasting on 15 February 2009.

History

Previously known as HTV News and ITV West News, the The West Tonight name was originally introduced in 1997 as part of a relaunch to coincide with the opening of a digital broadcast centre at HTV's Bath Road studios in Bristol. The branding was discontinued two years later but reintroduced in 2005 when Lisa Aziz rejoined ITV West from Sky News.

As well as the main programme at 6pm, before the merger with Westcountry Live, ITV West produced news bulletins during GMTV (now Daybreak), an update at around 11:15am during This Morning, the lunchtime news at 13:55, a late news update from 22:30 - 22:35/22:45, as well as weekend news bulletins.

The West Tonight's main anchors were Lisa Aziz and Steve Scott, who went on to present The West Country Tonight. However, the merged programme is now presented by ITV Westcountry's Vanessa Cuddeford, alongside former Meridian Tonight presenter Ian Axton. The West Tonight's weather presenters, Bob Crampton (a former news presenter & reporter for HTV - ITV West's predecessor), and Alex Beresford continue to present the weather for The West Country Tonight.

Merger

Following the ITV West merger with ITV Westcountry to form ITV West & Westcountry, the new dual-regional programme The West Country Tonight launched on Monday 16th February 2009. A 15-minute opt-out for the former West region features within the 6pm programme, alongside fully separate Daybreak, lunchtime & late night bulletins and localised weather forecasts. Depending on the day's news, either the West or Westcountry bulletins are pre-recorded.