[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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Could this have been the first NaT from the basement? www.youtube.com 

Most likely - I have seen a News at Ten from August 1994 and they were still in their newsroom set, so I guess September 1994 was when the move happened. 

I don't understand why they moved into the basement studio, as not only did they have to share with Channel 4 News, they also just rebuilt the same set design. 

There was no change to the look. They even had a blue screen CSO cloth, to put in a newsroom view shot to be used.

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.