Meridian Tonight
| ITV News Meridian | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Also known as |
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| Presented by | Sangeeta Bhabra Fred Dinenage (Programme presenters) Amanda Piper (GMB opts newsreader) Simon Parkin (Weather presenter) |
| Country of origin | England, UK |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Robin Britton (Head of News) |
| Location(s) | Whiteley, Hampshire, England |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (main 18:00 show) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Meridian |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV Meridian, ITV Central |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
| Original release | 4 January 1993 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | ITV News, South Today, South East Today |
| External links | |
| Website | |
ITV News Meridian is the regional news programme for the ITV Meridian region and part of the ITV Central region, serving South East England.
The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux in Didcot, Brighton, Maidstone, Poole and Reading. The programme is currently EDF Programme of the Year for London and the South East (for coverage of the 70th anniversary of D-Day) and the Royal Television Society's Southern Centre Programme of the Year (for coverage of the Eastbourne Pier fire)
Meridian's flagship regional news programme was launched as Meridian Tonight on 4 January 1993 – three days after Meridian replaced TVS. Three sub-regional editions of the programme were simultaneously, from studios in Southampton, Maidstone, and Newbury; the original set design was by Eye-Catching Design. The three original sub-regional services for Meridian News/Tonight were:
ITV Meridian updates during GMTV in the South and West sub-regions were shared while the East received its own bulletins.
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. News gathering operations in all areas were retained.
In December 2006, the updates during GMTV became pan-regional. Weekend bulletins had become pan-regional across the South Coast and South 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 the ITV Central South sub-region took place, forming the non-franchise ITV Thames Valley news service, broadcasting Thames Valley Today/Tonight from the same studio at Whiteley. The merger saw Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Swindon area being added to the region for news purposes. The former ITV Central South sub-region headquarters at Abingdon was retained as the main news gathering base for ITV Thames Valley, but the studio presentation facility was mothballed.
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Wikipedia