[itsrobert]

The original News at 5.40 branding is something we haven't discussed much over the years. It seems to get forgotten between the original News at 5.45 branding from 1976 and the John Suchet era Early Evening News from 1992.

It's always been one of my favourite examples of ITN branding. Although the colour scheme dates it quite badly now, for the time it had quite a modern and futuristic design. I particularly like the lack of opening titles; instead it starts with the logo flying in across the images of the day's headlines. The theme music was good too - I'm a fan of those simple synthesised themes from the late 80s.

youtu.be 

And I loved the closing sequence with the lights going down and the 540 logo rotating in time with the music. Simple but effective!

Of course, it evolved from the shortlived April 1988 rebranding of the News at 5.45. When the bulletin moved to 5.40pm in February 1989, the music was tweaked to remove the voice over and it got a better set with different camera angles rather than a straightforward CSO set-up.

youtu.be 

In 1991, with the move to Grays Inn Road, the 5.40's music was changed to a stereo mix and, strangely, was lowered in pitch ever so slightly. No idea why!

youtu.be 

youtu.be 

The design finally bowed out in March 1992 when ITN decided to relaunch the bulletin as the Early Evening News and make better use of the new HQ. It remains one of those frequently overlooked brands in ITN's history.

---

Between 1992 and 1994, News at Ten was presented from an atrium-side newsroom studio, as had the Early Evening News and Weekend News. However, the Lunchtime News had been in one of the basement studios alongside Channel 4 News. News at Ten moved to the basement in 1994 to allow redevelopment of the newsroom studio so that it could accommodate all daytime bulletins, including the Lunchtime News, from 1995 onwards.

They did move down one floor though. The newsroom was based on an upper floor, but come 1994 they had moved the newsroom down one floor. 

This can be seen when you look at the 1992 Early Evening News opening titles, and compare it to the 1994 titles - we can see there was a move down one floor. Maybe the floor below had better space and more room for a larger news studio, for the 1995 revamp, where the Morning News, Lunchtime News, Weekend News and news summaries all came from the newsroom studio?

That's right, when Grays Inn Road opened in December 1990 it had three studios. Studios 1 and 2 were in the basement and controlled by PCR1. Studio 3 was alongside the atrium on the first floor and controlled by PCR2. That's where the weekend bulletins came from and eventually the EEN as well. I do know that a second atrium studio was built on the ground floor and was named Studio 4. That was still the name of that studio when it was used by the ITN News Channel and ITV London in the 2000s. Studio 3 must have been removed at some point, although I'm not absolutely certain of when and why. For instance, did News at Ten join the EEN in Studio 3 in November 1992? Or was Studio 4 built for NAT in 1992 and the EEN and NAT were from different studios on separate floors? Or did the move to Studio 4 happen at some point in 1993 or 1994? I'm afraid I'm not certain about that. Certainly by 1995 they were in Studio 4 on the ground floor.

[Yorksman]

Which studio did John Suchet do that all nighter from when the Gulf War started in 1991?

[JMT1985]

They did move down one floor though. The newsroom was based on an upper floor, but come 1994 they had moved the newsroom down one floor. 

This can be seen when you look at the 1992 Early Evening News opening titles, and compare it to the 1994 titles - we can see there was a move down one floor. Maybe the floor below had better space and more room for a larger news studio, for the 1995 revamp, where the Morning News, Lunchtime News, Weekend News and news summaries all came from the newsroom studio?

That's right, when Grays Inn Road opened in December 1990 it had three studios. Studios 1 and 2 were in the basement and controlled by PCR1. Studio 3 was alongside the atrium on the first floor and controlled by PCR2. That's where the weekend bulletins came from and eventually the EEN as well. I do know that a second atrium studio was built on the ground floor and was named Studio 4. That was still the name of that studio when it was used by the ITN News Channel and ITV London in the 2000s. Studio 3 must have been removed at some point, although I'm not absolutely certain of when and why. For instance, did News at Ten join the EEN in Studio 3 in November 1992? Or was Studio 4 built for NAT in 1992 and the EEN and NAT were from different studios on separate floors? Or did the move to Studio 4 happen at some point in 1993 or 1994? I'm afraid I'm not certain about that. Certainly by 1995 they were in Studio 4 on the ground floor.

I believe News at Ten in 1992 was on the same floor as the early evening news. The moving down one floor didn't happen until 1994, at the same time the News at Ten moved into the basement studio. So it seems News at Ten was on the same floor as the EEN from November 1992 until around September 1994. 

ITN must have felt that moving down one floor had better studio space for them, and so used this chance in 1994 to move News at Ten into the basement to share with Channel 4 News, and then make a better atrium studio with Studio 4

[JMT1985]

Which studio did John Suchet do that all nighter from when the Gulf War started in 1991?

Probably Studio 2 in the basement

[nwtv2003]

Here’s a nice clip, from about 04:00 in, it’s the end of News at One from Christmas Eve 1981, with Peter Sissons explaining why newsreaders don’t smile more:

youtu.be 

[Michael Kenchington]

It's been 23 years ago today that all ITN news bulletins were rebranded as ITV News.

[James2001]

24 years, surely? .

[Brekkie]

And a year today since the Evening News was extended to an hour.

[EJnutz]

And a year today since the Evening News was extended to an hour.

For me personally it has been a success. Yes sometimes you can see they are padding it out a bit. However I do dislike the constant dropping to 30 minutes when trying to accommodate the soaps

[Kojak]

This came up on my YouTube just - Mark Austin's goodbye package:

www.youtube.com 

An excellent broadcaster, though I still can't quite get used to seeing him on Sky. I think it's because he was at ITN/ITV for such a long time, so I find it a bit unusual seeing him on another channel. I'll never understand why ITV ousted him for Tom Bradby.