[TJTSW]

It will be intresting to see the new set for Spotlight, the current set has worked pretty well and has been a great use of space and versitle for different stories for the soft area, and now they use it for special graphics when doing some stories.

[Former Member 406]

I don't think we've had either of the usual ITV West Country weather presenters (Charlie Powell or Kate Haskell) at all this week. We've instead been getting forecasters from other regions, and therefore no pre-/post-forecast banter but just the pre-recorded forecast itself.

Tonight, we had ITV Cymru Wales' Ruth Dodsworth.

I think we've had certain days in the previous couple of weeks with similar relief from other regions' forecasters.

Last night, we were "treated" to Central's Des Coleman, whose hyperactive/eccentric style I find to be irritating rather than endearing. I originally hail from Central land, but thankfully it ceased being my region of residence pre-Coleman.

[XIII]

I don't think we've had either of the usual ITV West Country weather presenters (Charlie Powell or Kate Haskell) at all this week. We've instead been getting forecasters from other regions, and therefore no pre-/post-forecast banter but just the pre-recorded forecast itself.

Tonight, we had ITV Cymru Wales' Ruth Dodsworth.

I think we've had certain days in the previous couple of weeks with similar relief from other regions' forecasters.

Last night, we were "treated" to Central's Des Coleman, whose hyperactive/eccentric style I find to be irritating rather than endearing. I originally hail from Central land, but thankfully it ceased being my region of residence pre-Coleman.

It's interesting to see what the stand ins are for each region, London usually uses the ones from Anglia and Meridian like Philippa Drew or Chris Page when Sally Williams is off although I would be interested to know if Sally covers those regions when they're off.

[London Lite]

Monday was Shireen Jordan (Channel) who also did the weekend forecasts, Tuesday Ruth Dodsworth (Wales), Wednesday Jo Blythe (Granada), Thursday Des Coleman (Central), Friday Ruth Dodsworth again.

[Superman1986]

Monday was Shireen Jordan (Channel) who also did the weekend forecasts, Tuesday Ruth Dodsworth (Wales), Wednesday Jo Blythe (Granada), Thursday Des Coleman (Central), Friday Ruth Dodsworth again.

UTV had production journalists over the bank holiday weekend

[Former Member 406]

West Country has had Anglia's Chris Page a few times in recent years, and we've even (at least) once had TT&B's Ross Hutchinson.

[Andrew]

I’m currently on holiday in the South West. Is Taunton an overlap area between South West and West or are Spotlight going slightly outside of their patch?

As I notice the story of the student who was murdered in Nottingham who was from Taunton was the main headline on Points West and is also the main headline tonight on Spotlight

[London Lite]

I’m currently on holiday in the South West. Is Taunton an overlap area between South West and West or are Spotlight going slightly outside of their patch?

As I notice the story of the student who was murdered in Nottingham who was from Taunton was the main headline on Points West and is also the main headline tonight on Spotlight

The Taunton student murder was shown pan-regionally on ITV News West Country in the week while stories from that part of Somerset are shown on both sub-opt bulletins.

[Former Member 406]

I’m currently on holiday in the South West. Is Taunton an overlap area between South West and West or are Spotlight going slightly outside of their patch?

As I notice the story of the student who was murdered in Nottingham who was from Taunton was the main headline on Points West and is also the main headline tonight on Spotlight

The Minehead-Taunton area (at least) is indeed very much *the* reception/editorial overlap zone of the West and South West BBC/ITV regions.

In all English Regions, ITV tends to have a rather more liberal interpretation of overlap zones for editorial purposes than Auntie Beeb does.

For example: The "HTV" version of West Country has been known to mention places from well into the Exmoor part of west Somerset or all the way down to Weymouth on Dorset's south coast. They even mark Dorchester on the weather map. Conversely, the "Plymouth" edition of West Country may venture at least as far east as Yeovil, and sometimes as far north as Burnham-on-Sea.

Points West and Spotlight are less likely to do any/all of the above (or similar). Even though at least some north-NW parts of Dorset (e.g. Sherborne) are a de facto part of Point West land (exclusively so?), it's a miracle if Dorset gets more than about a single token annual mention!

EDIT:
If I were in charge, I'd have at least some of the ITV regions record alternative outdoor backdrops (in cases where a legitimate overlap town/city exists) to show on their faux "windows" whenever there are ah-hoc forays into being pan-regional, rather than the naff CGI "gallery" backdrop. In the case of West Country, I'd choose a view of the A3027 Town Bridge over the River Tone in Taunton as the pan-regional backdrop.

[London Lite]

The South West (West Country West) edition had a live from Glastonbury during the main bulletin despite it being clearly in the old HTV West editorial area.