''LWT News'' was a regional news service provided by London Weekend Television, serving the

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

area in various formats between January 1982 and 3 January 1993.

History

On Friday 1 January 1982, LWT began extending its broadcasting hours on Friday evenings - taking over from the ITV London weekday franchise Thames Television at 5:15 pm, rather than the previous start time of 7pm. The Independent Broadcasting Authority's decision to award extended hours to LWT meant that the station became contractually responsible for providing the regional news programme on Friday evenings. Prior to the franchise round, the regulator had warned that the winning London contractors were expected to provide an improved regional news service for the capital throughout the week. The Authority suggested that the two companies provide a jointly produced seven-day news service, but the idea was rejected by both Thames and LWT as unfeasible. The companies argued there would be little news to justify a full bulletin (as had been proven in other ITV regions). LWT director of programmes, Michael Grade, described the proposal for a joint service as ''impractical for various reasons'' but insisted the company would provide regional news on all three days, irrespective of how it was achieved. The company also claimed a lack of resources and cost reasons would prevent them from producing a service – despite the company employing around 90 journalists for its current affairs output, such as '' Weekend World'' and ''The London Programme''. Up until December 1981, Thames aired a Friday edition of its nightly '' Thames News'' programme at 6pm followed by a half-hour sports magazine show, ''Thames Sport''. LWT believed Thames' regional output on Fridays – particularly, ''Thames Sport'' – was leaving them with a low viewing audience when it began transmissions at 7pm. According to press reports at the time, Thames staff felt LWT's replacement for their Friday evening news would resemble more of a chat show and entertainment format, despite the company's success in local current affairs and social action programming. In September 1981, LWT reached an agreement with Thames to provide 16 minutes of local news coverage on Friday evenings for a reported £500,000 a year, as part of their new light-hearted magazine programme, ''

The Six O'Clock Show ''The Six O'Clock Show'' was a regional television magazine show broadcast in the Greater London area and produced by London Weekend Television between 1982 and 1988. The Friday evening programme was launched on Friday 8 January 1982 and prese ...

''.

London News Headlines

Following the start of the new franchise period on 1 January 1982, LWT began broadcasting short ''London News Headlines'' bulletins, usually in mid-afternoon and late evening slots. These bulletins usually consisted solely of the duty continuity announcer in-vision reading copy sourced from the Independent Local Radio station LBC, and later, from local wire agencies. Regular newsreaders included Peter Lewis, Sue Peacock, Ruth Anders, Keith Harrison and

Trish Bertram Trish Bertram is a British television continuity announcer and voice-over artist. Career Bertram started her career in 1982 with London Weekend Television. She joined the pan-European satellite channel Super Channel in 1987 as an announcer and p ...

The Six O'Clock Show

Rather than produce a conventional regional news programme on Fridays, LWT opted to air an hour-long local magazine show entitled ''

'', which was launched in January 1982 and presented by Michael Aspel with a team of various co-hosts and reporters including Danny Baker,

Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...

and

Fred Housego Fred Housego (born 25 October 1944, Dundee, Scotland) is a former London taxi driver who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz ''Mastermind'' in 1980. He did not give up his taxi licence when ...

. The programme also included a fifteen-minute news bulletin produced by Thames Television titled '' Thames Weekend News'' until December 1987. By the end of the first series, the programme had outperformed what Thames was offering in the same timeslot and for the rest of its run, ''The Six O'Clock Show'' became one of the most watched regional programmes in Britain. Despite its popularity, LWT's overall approach towards local news provision was criticised by the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

LWT News

During 1987, LWT finally responded to the IBA's concerns by announcing plans to launch a full-strength weekend news service for the first time. The company decided to outsource production of ''LWT News'' (on a two-year contract worth around £3.5 million) to the news agency ''Screen News'', after beating around twenty applications from other groups. The service launched on Friday 8 January 1988, providing at least eight bulletins of local news, sport and weather each weekend. Production switched to Chrysalis Television in January 1990. The bulletins were later supplemented by a weekly in-depth review programme entitled ''LWT News Weekend''. At the time, LWT's head of news was Mark Sharman, who would later become ITV's controller of news and sport. Presenters included Lynda Dryburgh,

Pam Royle Pamela “Pam” June Royle (born 30 June 1958) is a British television journalist and presenter. Biography Royle was born in Leicester, Leicestershire and was brought up mostly in North Yorkshire, but also in South Africa and Devon. After gra ...

, Anna Maria Ashe, Ed Boyle and Lindsay Charlton, who would later become head of factual at London News Network and managing director of

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

. ''LWT News'' ceased operation on Sunday 3 January 1993 to make way for the launch of a new seven-day news service jointly run by LWT and

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...

, in a joint venture known as London News Network.

Friday Now!

As part of the launch of ''LWT News'', ''The Six O'Clock Show'' was axed in July 1988 and replaced on 7 October 1988 by a smaller-scale current affairs programme entitled ''Friday Now!'', presented by

with reporters

Charles Colville General Sir Charles Colville (7 August 1770 – 27 March 1843) was a British Army officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He was an ensign in 1781. He served in the West Indies from 1791 to 1797 and while serving there was promoted to li ...

, Rob Sprackling,

Jeni Barnett Jeni Barnett (born 24 March 1949 in London) is an English actress and TV presenter who grew up in Borehamwood. Acting career As an actress Barnett appeared on several TV shows, including ''Revolting Women'' (BBC2, 1981) and ''Doctors'', and has a ...

and Chris Serle. Originally intended to air for 50 weeks each year, the programme was axed after just ten months due to poor ratings, airing its final edition on Friday 28 July 1989.

Six O'Clock Live

''Six O'Clock Live''BFI entry - Six O'Clock Live
/ref> was an hour-long news magazine programme launched on Friday 1 September 1989 and presented by

Frank Bough Francis Joseph Bough (; 15 January 1933 – 21 October 2020) was an English television presenter. He was best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including ''Grandstand'', '' Nationwide'' and '' Breakfast Time'', whi ...

and Jeni Barnett with reporters including Danny Baker, Jo Sheldon and

Nick Owen Nicholas Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme ''TV-am'' and the BBC's local news show ''Midlands Today'' since 1997. He was also the chairman of Luton ...

. Unlike its predecessor, the programme (produced in-house) also incorporated ''LWT News'' bulletins from Screen News, and later, Chrysalis. ''Six O'Clock Lives last programme aired on Friday 21 August 1992 in preparation for the launch of London News Network the following year, which would be run as a joint venture between LWT and the incoming ITV contractor for London weekdays,

References

External links

Ultimate LWT website
{{ITV Local News 1982 British television series debuts 1993 British television series endings ITV regional news shows Television series by ITV Studios Television news in London London Weekend Television shows English-language television shows