| Central Tonight | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Central News |
| Format | Regional News |
| Presented by | Sameena Ali-Khan Bob Warman |
| Country of origin | England, UK |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Liz Hannam (Head of News) |
| Location(s) | Birmingham, England, UK |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (main 6pm show) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Central |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV1 Central |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
| Original run | January 1, 1982 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | ATV Today |
| Related shows | ITV News, BBC Midlands Today, BBC East Midlands Today |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Central Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Central, serving the English Midlands.
Contents |
Originally, the main weekday evening programme did not have a different title from other bulletins (unlike most other ITV regions, e.g., HTV News/Wales at 6). This finally changed in the late 1990s, when the title Central News at Six was adopted – coinciding with being rescheduled from 18:25 to 18:00. By Monday 24 July 2006, the 18:00 programme had been renamed again, to Central Tonight (except for the South Midlands edition, which retained the Central News at Six name until its final 6pm programme on 1 December 2006).
Launched on 1 January 1982, replacing ATV Today, Central News was initally a pan-regional service based in Birmingham airing a 6pm programme on weeknights alongside shorter weekday bulletins after ITN's News at One and News at Ten. During the rest of the decade, the region was eventually broken up into three sub-regions, which would receive their own news service:
By December 2006, Central News bulletins during GMTV had become pan-regional across all three sub-regions. Weekend bulletins became pan-regional across the West and East Midlands earlier in the year, whilst the South Midlands retained its own weekend bulletins right up until the end of Central News South on 3 December 2006.
On 4 December 2006, the South Midlands sub-region was disbanded, as follows:
Central News bulletins during GMTV were now pan-regional across the West Midlands and East Midlands only. Meanwhile, in what had now become the ITV Thames Valley region, bulletins during GMTV were pan-regional across the entire combined ITV Meridian and ITV Thames Valley regions (i.e., the entire South and South East of England), and branded as GMTV News. While weekend Meridian News bulletins were pan-regional in the South and South East sub-regions, Thames Valley Today/Tonight continued to produce its own weekend bulletins.
As of the 23 February 2009, lunchtime and early evening bulletins in the West and East Midlands on weekdays became pan-regional. The final sub-regional 6pm editions of Central Tonight were broadcast on Friday 20 February 2009. The remaining sub-regional elements are:
Both sub-regional editions utilise the same presenter(s) and studio, therefore one of the two opt-outs (depending on the days news) is pre-recorded 'as live' shortly before broadcast.
As of 9 February 2009, the ITV Thames Valley service was closed and merged with ITV Meridian, which now broadcasts Meridian Tonight to both regions. Rather than being retained as a separate sub-region, the Thames Valley area was also merged with the existing Meridian South sub-region, which airs a 15-minute opt out during the main 6pm programme and a full weeknight late bulletin. The Abingdon newsroom was retained.
In addition, ITV West merged with ITV Westcountry to form ITV West and Westcountry on 16 February 2009. In addition to the 6pm opt outs and late bulletins, both regions also receive separate daytime bulletins. Central's former Gloucester newsroom has been retained.
Central News airs on ITV Central seven days a week. On weekdays, Central provides three pan-regional news bulletins during Daybreak. The lunchtime edition of the programme begins at 13:55, following on from the ITV News at 1:30, giving a six minute round-up of the days developments.
The main evening edition of Central Tonight begins at 18:00 each weeknight and ends at 18:30, immediately preceding the networked ITV News at 6:30. The late news update from the Central sub-regions follows the ITV News at Ten, airing between 22:30 and 22:35 every weeknight.
A pan-regional bulletin is aired in the early evening on Saturdays and Sundays. This bulletin is presented by one reporter/correspondent on a rotating basis.
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N.B. Reporters marked with a * also act as newsreaders.
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Weather presenters
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