| Meridian Tonight | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Meridian News |
| Format | Regional News |
| Presented by | Sangeeta Bhabra Fred Dinenage |
| Country of origin | England, UK |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Robin Britton (Head of News) |
| Location(s) | Whiteley, England, UK |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (main 6pm show) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Meridian |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV1 Meridian |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
| Original run | January 4, 1993 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | ITV News, South Today, South East Today |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Meridian Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Meridian (formerly Meridian Broadcasting), serving the South and South East of England (including the Thames Valley), and usually broadcast at 6pm and 10.30pm every weeknight. Other bulletins are branded as Meridian News. In February 2010 the programme won the Royal Television Society's Award for Best Nations & Regions News Coverage.[1]
Contents |
Meridian Tonight launched on 4 January 1993 – three days after Meridian replaced TVS. The programme broadcast three local editions simultaneously, from studios in Southampton, Maidstone, and Newbury; the original set design was by Eye-Catching Design.[2] The three original sub-regional services for Meridian Tonight and Meridian News were:
GMTV bulletins in the South and West sub-regions were shared while the East received its own bulletins.
Studio production of the West edition moved from Meridian's Newbury studios to the main studios at Northam in Southampton in 2001, following the closure of the Newbury complex. Presentation for all three services moved to new smaller studios at Whiteley, near Fareham on Saturday 4 December 2004; the studios in Southampton and near Maidstone were closed at this time. Newsgathering operations in all areas were retained.
In December 2006, the GMTV bulletins became pan-regional. Weekend bulletins had become pan-regional across the South and East only, whilst the West retained its own weekend bulletins right up until 3 December 2006, when ITV Thames Valley was launched.
On 4 December 2006, the long expected merger between West and Central South, took place to form the non-franchise ITV Thames Valley service, broadcasting Thames Valley Today/Tonight from the same studio at Whiteley. The merger saw Oxfordshire, the Swindon area, and Buckinghamshire being added to the region for news purposes. The former Central South headquarters at Abingdon was retained as the main newsgathering base for ITV Thames Valley, but the studio presentation facility was mothballed.
Bulletins during GMTV became pan-regional across the entire combined ITV Meridian and ITV Thames Valley areas, and branded as GMTV News. Weekend bulletins continued to be separate Meridian News (pan-regional for South and East) and Thames Valley Today/Tonight services.
At the end of 2008, in light of a restructuring through the ITV regional news network, around 100 staff across the Meridian & Thames Valley areas were made redundant and all sub-regional services in the Thames Valley were axed. A single news programme for the entire region was launched. Within this, two sub-regions remained - the new West, comprising the former South & Thames Valley areas combined, and the East, consisting of the former South-East region.
The remaining sub-regional elements are:
Both sub-regional editions utilise exactly the same presenter(s) and studio/set, therefore one of the two opt-outs - depending on the day's news - is pre-recorded 'as live' shortly before broadcast.
The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux in Maidstone, Brighton, Reading, Abingdon and Poole. The Head of News is Robin Britton who previously launched Thames Valley Tonight and the West edition of Meridian Tonight.
Meridian News airs on Meridian seven days a week. Meridian provides three news bulletins during Daybreak. The lunchtime edition of the programme follows on from the ITV News at 1:30, giving a five minute round-up of developments between 1.55pm and 2.00pm. The main evening edition of Meridian Tonight begins at 6.00pm, and ends at 6.30pm. The late news update from the Meridian sub-regions follows the ITV News at Ten, airing between 10.30pm and 10.35pm, Mondays to Fridays.
Meridian News airs two bulletins at weekends: one on Saturday, in the late afternoon, and one on Sunday: in the early evening.
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