''Thames Valley Tonight'' was a regional news programme broadcast to part of the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
Network in the
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
area of southern England. The
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
news region was launched on Monday 4 December 2006 and ceased to exist on 8 February 2009.
Like all regional news programmes on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in England and Wales and
ITV Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
, it used the generic ITV font and idents.
History
The region was created by a merger between
Meridian West and
Central South's regional news services, and broadcast to the Meridian West sub-region from the
Hannington transmitter, and the Central South sub-region from the
Oxford transmitter. The Thames Valley operation covered Berkshire, Buckinghamshire (west including Aylesbury), Hampshire (north of and including Winchester), Oxfordshire, Surrey (west and including Camberley) and Wiltshire (east and including Swindon). In all the population of the patch was around 3 million people.
The main presenters were
Mary Green and Wesley Smith (with Hannah Shellswell co-presenting with Smith on Fridays). Chris Maughan, Victoria Bennett and David Reilly presented the Sports News, either in the studio or from the newsroom. While the newsgathering arm of the operation was based at the old Central South location at Abingdon in Oxfordshire, the presentation studio (formerly used for Meridian West) was based at Meridian's headquarters in Whiteley, Hampshire. Bureaux offices were located at Swindon, Reading and Westminster. The view projected on to the screen behind the newsreaders was of the Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading, chosen presumably as the town lay in the heart of the new region – previously it sat in an overlap of the now replaced Central South and Meridian West sub-regions – therefore avoiding accusations of favouritism towards one side or the other.
In just over two years on air, ''Thames Valley Tonight'' won a number of awards, including the RTS Southern Centre 'Programme of the Year' Award in 2007 for coverage of the summer floods and the 2008 EDF News Programme of the Year Award for its coverage of the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
Merger
On 12 September 2007, it was reported that
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
boss
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...
wanted to cut down its number of regional newsrooms from seventeen to nine by merging some services, which could save between £35m and £40m per year. This would involve combining the Meridian and Thames Valley regions. In the Thames Valley, the merger would signal the end of ''Thames Valley Tonight''/''Thames Valley Today'' and would be replaced by a pan-regional edition of ''
Meridian Tonight
''ITV News Meridian'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Meridian.
Overview
The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux i ...
''. The current Thames Valley region would be merged with the ''Meridian South'' sub-region for opt-outs within the main weekday programme, a late night bulletin and localised weather forecasts.
Robin Britton, previously Head of News for ITV Thames Valley and Regional Editor for Meridian West, was subsequently appointed Head of News for the new operation.
The final main edition of ''Thames Valley Tonight'' was broadcast on Friday 6 February 2009. The last Thames Valley news bulletin was broadcast at 6.10 pm on Sunday 8 February 2009.
In September 2013, a Thames Valley service was reintroduced by ''
ITV News Meridian
''ITV News Meridian'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Meridian.
Overview
The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux in ...
'' in the form of a ten-minute opt out during the 6 pm programme and a full late night bulletin after ''
ITV News at Ten
''ITV News at Ten'' (or more commonly ''News at Ten'') is the flagship evening news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in July 1967. The bulletin was the first permanent 30-mi ...
'' on weekdays.
Former on air team
*Victoria Bennett
*
Sally Biddulph
Sally Anne Biddulph (née Mules; born 16 October 1975 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is an English journalist and presenter employed by ITN.
Career
After a short stint working in business after university, Sally started her new career in journa ...
(née Mules, now with ''
ITV News'')
*
Andrea Byrne (now with ''ITV News'' and ''
ITV News Cymru Wales'')
*Martyn Davies (emigrated to Australia)
*Juliette Fletcher (
freelance with ''
ITV News Meridian
''ITV News Meridian'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Meridian.
Overview
The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux in ...
'')
*
Mary Green (now with
BBC Radio Berkshire
BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds studios at Thames Valley Park near Reading.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...
)
*
Gemma Humphries
*Gillian Kelly
*Mark Lipscomb
*Chris Maughan (continues with ''ITV News Meridian'')
*Simon Parkin (continues with ''ITV News Meridian'')
*David Reilly
*Reshma Rumsey
*Hannah Shellswell (née Stewart-Jones)
*Wesley Smith (freelance journalist)
Production Team
Head of News
Robin Britton
Producer
Kim Hewitt
Output Producers
Caroline Asker
Caroline Ferguson
Natalie Kenny
Emma Pyne
Assistant Producer
Janet Hayman
News Editor
Jim Stevens
Features Producer
Reshma Rumsey
Forward Planning Editor
Kate Taylor
Studio Directors
Keith Peries
James Tee
Technical Co-ordinator
Steve Atkey
Graphic Designer
Amanda Hall
References
{{ITV Local News
2006 British television series debuts
2009 British television series endings
ITV regional news shows
Mass media in Berkshire
Mass media in Buckinghamshire
Mass media in Hampshire
Mass media in Oxford
Mass media in Wiltshire
Television news in England
English-language television shows